In Defense of Beauty

For years I'd been intrigued with how my second cousin, M. Jean Herman, had stood her ground against one of the largest real estate development companies in the USA, forcing them to build their high-rise office tower around her and her tiny, brownstone, rent-controlled, walk-up apartment across the street from Bloomindale's on Manhattan's eastside. I started to work on this play in my 3rd semester of playwriting at UCLA and kept at it for years. I wrote the play centered on the dramatic tension between Jean and the fictional young man who is charged by the real estate development company with convincing Jean to take their offer. In the end, Jean prevails. But did she get what she really wanted?

Performance length: 90 minutes

Cast:
	1 male in his early twenty's; one (voice only) at least 60
	1 female in her 60's