The people of this comedy are fresh, creative, and unpredictable. From the avaricious landlady who rents the pantry as a bedroom—so what if the bed has to be leaned against the wall—to the man on the roof trying to develop homing vultures, this is a rooming house filled with a wild assortment of characters. Each has his own problems, most of them weird and unsolvable, and the plot is involved with trying to solve them.

Roomers is about a small space filled with an alarming number of mostly alarming people. Unlike anything else Jerome McDonough has ever written, Roomers is a play in which madness rules with no hint of underlying black comedy or horror. In short, Roomers is fun. So much fun that he wrote another, FAUGH (Fine Arts Under Graduate Housing) with the same popular success.

The only remnant of what has come to be known as the McDonough style is the ensemble nature of the play. Most performers portray a single character from beginning to end but several put on a farcical mask in the course of the second scene. There has been a conscious attempt to balance the cast as much as possible and to avoid having the show become a star vehicle for any one person. The farce should be played to the hilt, but the characters should always be played consistently and never just for laughs. Each person has a reason, no matter how absurd, for being the way he or she is and this reason should not be violated simply to gain a laugh or to "punch up" the show.

Enjoy Roomers and share that enjoyment with your audience. Escape for an hour or so to a world that never existed—unfortunately.

One act; Set, a run-down Brownstone; Place, New York; Time, now.

"I remember reading in your catalog that 'Roomers was fun.' That's exactly what it was."—Beverly Davis, Drewry Mason High School, New Cuyama, Calif.
"This was a class project that turned out so well we decided to do public performances...The wide array of characters permits something for everyone."—Chris Bundy, W. Washington High School, Campbellsburg, Ind.
"I have never written to a play house in my 15 years involvement with high school productions, until now—Thank you for Roomers!...I have never laughed so hard during rehearsals in all my life...I will recommend this play to anyone wishing to produce a short comedy. It's funny!"—A. Felshen, Valley Central School, Sauquoit, N.Y.
"We performed at district competition and received a superior rating which advances us to state."—Laura Roberts, UMS-Wright Prep School, Mobile, Alabama.

Another McDonough comedy: B.A.T.S.