''Home Front'' is a play by

Warren Leight Warren Donald Leight (; born January 17, 1957) is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and television producer. He is best known for his work on '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' and '' Lights Out'' and as the showrunner for ''In ...

. It tells the story of an

interracial couple Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different "Race (classification of human beings), races" or Ethnic group#Ethnicity and race, racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United Sta ...

, Annie and James, who meet while celebrating

V-J Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on wh ...

, and was inspired by the famous photo of a kiss in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

. The story showcases the daily life of the couple in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and the

deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

, where James is stationed awaiting his final release.

Production history

The character of James was inspired by the men of the Golden 13 and Eddie, the neighbor, by Leight's uncle. The show, whose first scene was written as part of a benefit event in 1998 and had an original run under the name ''James and Annie'' in 2003, had readings in 2011 and 2018 before a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

inquiry brought fresh eyes to it. It made its West Coast premiere in January 2023 at the Victory Theater Center in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, with

Austin Highsmith Garces Austin Highsmith Garces, also credited as Austin Highsmith (born March 3, 1981), is an American actress. Garces played Phoebe in '' Dolphin Tale'' as well as the sequel, '' Dolphin Tale 2'' and Garces later co-wrote a Lifetime film based on the s ...

as Annie, C.J. Lindsey as James and

Jonathan Slavin Jonathan Slavin (born November 8, 1969) is an American actor. Early life Slavin was born in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Career Slavin portrayed illustrator Andy Richter Controls the Universe#Character ...

as their

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

neighbor. The show's set design was by Evan Bartoletti, sound design by Noah Andrade, and costume design by Carin Jacobs. The run was extended through February 26, 2023.

References

2003 plays 2023 plays Interracial marriage in the United States Plays about marriage Plays set in the 1940s Plays set in New York City Plays set in the United States Theatre in California {{2000s-play-stub