“America is dead. Yes.  But I bet your algorithm ain’t posted it yet.  They ain’t contrived how to sell it to you for a dollar.  But it is true!  It happened last night…”— “Taffeta”, played by Roger Q. Mason in Bill.

Presented by PlayPenn, Open Jar Studios in New York City was the location for a 2026 New Play Development Conference Reading of Bill: A Prayer by Roger Q. Mason, with Song by Amyra Leon.  The reading was directed by Danilo Gambini with dramaturgy by Amrita Ramanan. Bill is a follow-up to Mason’s earlier work Lavender Men, which premiered in 2022 at Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles and was adapted into a feature film in 2024.  That film, in which Mason played the main role of “Taffeta”, would go on to win several awards.  Like Lavender Men, Bill is a smart, bold, and unflinching honest look at the trajectory of American history, with a perspective and outlook that defies the simple concepts of time and place.  Most importantly, Mason’s new piece asks the question: In a country with a patently wide variety of ethnic and racial identities, lifestyles, ages, and economic statuses, what exactly does it MEAN to be an American, particularly an American belonging to a marginalized group?   A musical segment of the show, featuring truly haunting vocals by the gifted Amyra Leon, asks that question, ostensibly to the main character– but Leon’s supple yet hard-hitting vocals will have everyone who hears them pondering the answer to “Who ARE you?…” as well.

Bill promises to challenge the audience member in very much the same way as Lavender Men.  The synopsis is described as: “In the not-too-distant future, democracy is dead, and the American experiment has come to an end.  Taffeta, a Black, queer femme living in the barren remains of what was once Philadelphia, arrives to give the nation a proper burial, appointing herself freedom’s only mourner.  But before she can lay it to rest, the ghosts of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine return.  Only Jefferson refuses to believe the republic is dead.  The others come not to mourn it, but to reckon with its end, until a man named Bill, the only other living soul in America, stumbles upon the gravesite and confronts Taffeta as the living consequence of what America has left behind.”

Thanks to Mason’s vivid development of their characters and the skill of the actors in bringing them to life, the reading of Bill at Open Jar Studios really showed the promise of a provocative and exciting full production.  As mentioned in the synopsis, the play takes place at the remains of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, a city awash in American history.  Ironically, the day the piece takes place would indeed be part of history: the day after the Death of America.  Taffeta (Played by Mason) is the very first character to appear.  Surrounded by pieces of America’s history– from a slave shackle, to Judy Garland’s red shoes from The Wizard of Oz, to the Constitution itself– she is quite literally digging a grave.   Taffeta is soon joined by two other characters: frenemies Thomas Jefferson (Charlie Thurston) and Thomas Paine (Nick Jonczak).  Jefferson, calling himself “the father of democracy”, can’t quite see why his own sense of superiority– which is symbolically represented in part by his casual and copious use of “nigger” and “you people”– is problematic.  While Jefferson may be the more well-known figure in history (even to the point where the audience giggles at the witty references to Jefferson’s famous, uhm… “dalliances”), audiences may be inspired to do some independent research on Mr. Paine, arguably the lesser known of these two Founding Fathers Muthafuckaz.   Benjamin Franklin (David Ingram) soon joins this mad tea party as well.  The conclusion of Bill brings the appearance of the mysterious title character, played by Anthony Martinez Briggs, who challenges Taffeta to question her own future pathway as an American. The final scenario between the two of them is a stunner…

As with Lavender Men, Mason’s new piece also incorporates a meta aspect of fantasy.  That said, the themes explored in Bill are both (1) as real as could be, and (2) most definitely COULD be real as can be, as we enter the later segment of 2026.  There is a claim that no empire lasts longer than 250 years: a claim that originated from mid-20th-century essays, particularly by British General John Glubb.  Uhm, how old is America? The economic, gender-based, and race-based hierarchies that were established early on in our history are still, sadly, very much with us.  Despite the heavy subject matter– and Bill often gets VERY heavy– the play is also very funny at times.  Most of the humor comes from our shero Taffeta, who never feels the need to hold back her opinions.  (After the apocalypse, why bother having a “filter” anyway?!)  The character will inevitably be labeled as “sassy” and “scrappy”, but no one would argue that Taffeta, with her gift of transgenerational insight, is the smartest one in the room: a fact that endlessly irritates Mr. Jefferson. 

Let’s hope this piece gets a full production soon!

The cast of Bill was: Roger Q. Mason as Taffeta, Nick Jonczak as Thomas Paine, Charlie Thurston as Thomas Jefferson, David Ingram as Benjamin Franklin, Amyra Leon as HER and narrator of stage directions, and Anthony Martinez-Briggs as Bill.  

Visit http://www.rqmason.com for more.