“Once upon a time…in a country far away…there were four children…who ran away from home…”
THE PLAYROOM unfolds like a dream wrapped around a family drama: four children in their attic hideaway make up a fantastic story, while downstairs their parents weave a drunken intrigue of their own. In a lyrical but gripping dual narrative, the story of the children’s life intertwines with the story they make up about their life–until the two stories collide and the delicate family structure collapses.
The action plays out through the eyes of Maggie Cantwell, a tempestuous teenager who turns reality into a game and make-believe into a life-or-death undertaking. But Maggie is getting too old to believe in the tales she spins for the younger children. Before the night is over, she must confront the truth and make a terrible choice.
Emotionally riveting and surprisingly funny, THE PLAYROOM is the story of how Maggie and her siblings survive the most fateful night of their lives.
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THE CANTWELL FAMILY AND FRIENDS
 Maggie Cantwell (Olivia Harris): Eldest of four and surrogate mother by default. At 16, she is teetering on the brink—one foot still in childhood while the other tries to leap the chasm into maturity. Tender, angry, provocative, fiercely intelligent, Maggie’s teenage insolence masks her real vulnerability. |  Donna Cantwell (Molly Parker):Pushing 40, reluctant mother of four. Voluptuous, gregarious, immature, alcoholic, the queen-baby of the family. A little bitter that she seems to have missed the women’s movement, but she’s not about to let the sexual revolution pass her by. |
 Christian Cantwell (Jonathon McClendon):13 years old, a boy in that ambiguous physical phase between childhood and manhood, his body seemingly composed all of extremities. Buried in his books, Christian’s reticence around his parents masks a vivid imagination that explodes into action when the kids are alone. |  Martin Cantwell (John Hawkes): Early 40s, attorney. A lukewarm husband to Donna, a gentle but distant father to their four children. Intellectually brilliant, Martin lives mostly in his head, but that doesn’t mean his instincts can’t be awakened when threatened. |
 Janie Cantwell (Alexandra Doke): 9 years old, the “good girl” who plays the foil to her sister Maggie, whom she nevertheless adores and idolizes. Janie consciously embodies the ideal of sugar, spice and everything nice—and trades on it to get the attention she craves. |  Clark Knott (Jonathan Brooks): 40-ish, he’s bored with his life and that makes him dangerous. His illicit affair with Donna is the most interesting thing to happen in a long time. Most significantly, it’s given him an identity—swinger—that he wears like a mustache. |
 Sam Cantwell (Ian Veteto): 6 years old, precocious, funny and self-sufficient beyond his years. Emotionally neglected by his mother, Sam looks to Maggie for care, comfort, education and authority. |  Nadia Knott (Lydia Mackay): Late 30s, childless. Nadia couldn’t tell you why she married Clark, but she’s painfully aware that he’s all she’s got. Insecure and socially inept, she’s no match for Donna—but she is tenacious, and she won’t come away from the evening empty-handed. |
Ryan (Cody Linley):
Maggie’s boyfriend. At 16, his adolescent passion for Maggie
is matched only by his anxiety in the face of her sexual bravado.