Hope's Arbor
Hope, late teens
Jean, 40's
Peter, 40's
Chris, 20's
Caitelynne, late teens
Saiko, late teens
comedy/drama
2 acts
95 minutes
  • Winner of Best Play at 2006 Baltimore Playwrights Festival
  • 2008 Equity Showcase production in New York by Gallery
    Players/Engine 37.
Hope is 17 and a student at
Thwaite Academy. She’s been
placed on the fast track to
success and wants out. A
horrifying act of cruelty drives her
to run away from the world she
knows, but the idealized world of
her online acquaintances
proves just as hard to navigate.
Hope's struggle to define and
assert her identity is a coming -
of-age tale for the age of
technology.
Photos by Jennifer Maufrais
and Bella Muccari
  • Baltimore City Paper wrote, “What happens next had the audience laughing and clapping
    before intermission....it’s the epitome of modern...” Read the full review
  • The Baltimore Sun wrote, “writing that’s impressive...breathe(s) drama into the play’s
    wireless universe.”
  • Broadway World wrote, “Brilliant, highly effective and alarming... The extremely high quality
    of the script is testimony to its inclusion in this year’s Baltimore Playwrights Festival, and
    this nearly perfect presentation of it speaks volumes for Spotlighters’ increasingly
    consistent, professional quality theatre...don’t miss this one!” Read the full review.
  • The Baltimore Messenger wrote, “...one of the best entries in this summer’s Baltimore
    Playwright’s Festival, because Espey skillfully develops the emotional ramifications of
    being an insecure teen in our technology-driven culture...Espey’s up-to-date sensibility
    makes the most of the intriguing technological twists...Espey’s taut writing keeps the
    psychological dynamics flowing.”