Austria of Rome
by Aaron Magloire
(april 2026, yale university production
)
It’s spring break. Jane is bored. Bored unto death, as it happens. And just like they do every year, her parents have fled to their vacation home, in the name of giving Jane and her brother, Charles, the privacy that any self-respecting, progressive parents owe their college-aged children.
With the house all to herself, Jane employs her usual defenses against boredom: her boyfriend, Auggie, and her old friend, Ellen, who are by now used to being live-in guests at Jane’s almost-mansion. Joining them this year, too, is Austria, a quiet but charming transfer student whom Jane has made it her mission to mold into something of a social butterfly. As the week progresses, however, the group’s carefree romp begins to curdle, strained by Ellen’s uncharacteristic quietude and cryptic messages that Austria can’t help but interpret as warnings; Auggie’s wandering eyes that seem to keep landing on his girlfriend’s new friend; and Austria’s kleptomaniacal tendencies, for which Jane’s home is a sort of Eden.
Through it all, Jane is still bored—bored enough to pretend she sees far less than she does; bored enough to decide that anything can be a game, so long as at least one person knows it’s being played. When Jane proposes a party to close out the week of vacation, Austria is too late to discover that Jane’s definition of fun is the same as her definition of danger. Austria of Rome is a play about the potent restlessness that only a college recess can breed, and the cruelty that comes about when there is simply nothing better to do.
Cast
Austria / Layla Felder
Jane / Abigail Murphy
Auggie / Prentiss Patrick-Carter
Ellen / Amara Neal
Charles / Thomas Kannam
Jane / Abigail Murphy
Auggie / Prentiss Patrick-Carter
Ellen / Amara Neal
Charles / Thomas Kannam
Director / Emiliano Cáceres Manzano
Producer / Victoria Mnatsakanyan
Producer / Gbemiga Salu
Stage Manager / Jack Dozier
Set Designer / Karen Loewy Movilla
Lighting Designer / Dora Fields
Costume Designer / Isabelle Ruppe
Props Designer / Angelica Peruzzi
Sound Designer / Dorothy Ha
Dramaturg / Mia Van Deloo
Graphic Designer / Mateo Felix Castillo
Photography / Amanda Whiteley