2023
A Disorderly House
1w / 1m
Gun Violence Type(s): Hate Crime
Perspective: Family / Sibling
Narrative Style: Realism
By Sam Lee Victor
As two parents pack up their child’s dorm room, they come face to face with everything they thought they knew, and everything it is too late to know, about their child, themselves, and each other.
SYNOPSIS
In a dingy college dorm room, DIANE and JACK sort through their late child’s belongings. DIANE, crouched on the floor with a trash bag and suitcase, begins tossing out remnants of her child’s life with cold efficiency, while JACK arrives with cafeteria food and light humor, attempting to keep the tone casual. Their conversation meanders—through the state of the bathroom, the strangeness of dorm décor, and the logistics of moving out—but tension simmers beneath each exchange. As DIANE uncovers objects that complicate her understanding of her child, now dead from a shooting, her composure frays. JACK quietly salvages mementos, more willing to hold on.
They discover drawings, a personalized notebook, and finally a closet full of feminine clothing that forces DIANE to confront her child's gender identity. She pushes JACK to take over packing, then explodes when she sees him choosing dresses over familiar clothes. A shouting match reveals their grief, denial, and guilt. DIANE rails against Starr, the absent roommate she blames for influencing their child, while JACK tries to reason with her, insisting that what their child wore—or who she was—wasn’t the problem. The argument crescendos as DIANE rages through the room, clinging to her version of the truth, until JACK, nearly breaking down, pleads for them to see and honor their child as she was.
In the final moment, DIANE, hollow and quiet, observes that the suitcase won’t fit the picture. The weight of grief, identity, and denial settles over the room as the lights fade.
A quite mature and very solid piece that unfolded in wonderful layers. Really loved this... a very important piece for many audiences to see.
LAUREN GUNDERSON
Playwright & ENOUGH! panelist
themes & technique
THEMES
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Grief and Denial — Diane and Jack’s packing process becomes a battleground for how they process their child’s death—Jack with quiet mourning, Diane with avoidance and anger.
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Gender Identity and Misrecognition— The child's gender expression is central to the conflict, exposing the parents’ struggle to accept who their child really was.
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Parental Guilt — Both characters grapple with guilt—Jack for his silence, Diane for her resistance—each blaming themselves and each other in different ways.
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Cultural Expectations and Shame — Diane’s breakdown reveals how social pressure and personal discomfort influenced her parenting, with devastating consequences.
NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE
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Naturalistic Dialogue in Real Time — The playwright uses casual, overlapping conversation and small domestic actions to gradually reveal layers of tension and grief, making the emotional climax feel both sudden and inevitable.
"And you're gonna kill her again if you put Philip on her gravestone."
Sam Lee Victor
A Disorderly House
Playwright's Bio
Sam Lee Victor (he/him, New Jersey) is a playwright and actor currently studying acting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). When he is not in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina, he lives just outside of New York City (in other words, New Jersey). His monologue, Nameless, won the Silver Ear in the Hear Me Out Monologue Competition in 2022 and has been published by Smith & Kraus. His play, Just Like That, was a semifinalist in The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival in 2022. His work was also produced by the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival in 2023, where he was named the winner of their Young Voices competition.
