Elemeno Pea Explained

Elemeno Pea is a play written in 2011 by Molly Smith Metzler. It premiered on March 8, 2011 as part of the 35th anniversary of the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Kentucky.^[1] In July, 2024, Netflix announced that Metzler had adapted her play into a miniseries called Sirens, starring Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy, Kevin Bacon,and Milly Alcock.^[2]

Plot summary

Summer is almost over when blue collar social worker Devon visits her sister Simone at the wealthy estate where she works on Martha's Vineyard. Simone is the personal assistant to the wife of a billionaire. The owners are supposed to be away, but trouble ensues when the trophy wife Michaela unexpectedly returns. The story plays out in the luxurious guest house of the estate and includes an eccentric boyfriend and a put upon servant. Unexpected depths of character emerge as wise cracking Devon, ambitious aspiring author Simone, and universally despised Michaela interact with alternately comic and touching effect!

Production history

• March 2011: World premiere at Actors Theatre of Louisville in Louisville, KY^[3]
• February 2012: West Coast premiere at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA^[4]
• February 2013: Mixed Blood Theatre Company in Minneapolis, MN^[5]
• August 2013: Carolina Actors Studio Theatre in Charlotte, NC^[6]
• October 2013: California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles, CA ^[7]
• January 2014: B Street Theatre in Sacramento, CA

Notes and References

1. Web site: Actors Theatre of Louisville: to produce Elemeno Pea . 2013-09-14 . 2012-01-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120118054742/http://actorstheatre.org/shows/elemeno-pea-2010-2011/ . dead .
2. Web site: Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock to Star in Dark Comedy Series Sirens . 2024-07-19 .
3. http://theatre-louisville.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-elemeno-pea.html Review by Sherry R. Deatrick: Elemeno Pea, Theatre Louisville, March 24, 2011
4. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/02/theater-review-elemeno-pea-at-south-coast-repertory.html Theater review: 'Elemeno Pea' at South Coast Repertory, Los Angeles Times, February 5, 2012
5. http://blogs.mprnews.org/state-of-the-arts/2013/02/the-reviews-are-in-for-elemeno-pea-at-mixed-blood/ The reviews are in for ‘Elemeno Pea’ at Mixed Blood, by Marianne Combs, Minnesota Public Radio, February 27, 2013
6. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/08/30/4276072/grapes-of-wrath-grown-in-marthas.html#.UkmseWTXhXc Toppman, Lawrence (August 30, 2013) “‘Elemeno Pea’ attacks the self-absorbed rich and the gullible poor in equal measure”
7. http://www.csun.edu/mike-curb-arts-media-communication/theatre/elemeno-pea Announcement of Fall 2013 season lineup, August, 2013