Dates & Times

• The Playwright

• Loneliness on the Margins

• The Intersection of Disability and Privilege

• Discussion Questions

• The Playwright

“Ten years ago Martyna Majok was sleeping in a bathtub. She had just graduated from Yale School of Drama and, not having any money to put down for a security deposit on an apartment, the young playwright was couch-surfing and subletting while working at bars to make ends meet. One apartment she stayed at in Harlem had bedbugs. Which is how Majok found herself retreating to the bathroom, the only place free of the pests.” Read the rest of the article from American Theatre Magazine HERE

“I recalled when I was living in Chicago, I used to work as a caregiver to two men with disabilities. And so, I pulled from that experience to write the shorter version of the John and Jess story. At a certain point in that year, I wrote the first scene between Eddie and Ani. I didn’t realize it was them, but when I wrote their scene and listened to it, I realized the man sounded very similar to the man that I had written the monologue for, and I realized, “Oh, this must be his wife,” and, “Oh, I guess she’s dead, let’s find out how that happens.”  Read the full article from Broadway World HERE

“The playwright Martyna Majok has never met her father, so it was her grandfather who played the paternal role in her life. When he died, in Poland in August 2012, she didn’t have the money to travel to his funeral.”  Read the full article from the New York Times HERE

• Loneliness on the Margins

All the characters endure isolation due to the ways that they are marginalized and made invisible in society. Each guards the parts of themselves that are personal and sensitive, unwilling to burden others with their pain, even as they long desperately for someone to see them. 

About half of U.S. adults reported experiencing measurable levels of loneliness.In May 2023, the Surgeon General raised the alarm about the devestating impact of the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in the United States.  And it warns that the physical consequences of poor connection can be devastating, including a 29% increased risk of heart disease; a 32% increased risk of stroke; and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults.

“It’s hard to put a price tag, if you will, on the amount of human suffering that people are experiencing right now,”  In response, the advisory outlines the framework for a new national strategy. It is based on six foundational pillars, which are:

1. Strengthening social infrastructure, which includes things like parks and libraries as well as public programs.
2. Enacting pro-connection public policies at every level of government, including things like accessible public transportation or paid family leave.
3. Mobilizing the health sector to address the medical needs that stem from loneliness.
4. Reforming digital environments to “critically evaluate our relationship with technology.”
5. Deepening our knowledge through more robust research into the issue.
6. Cultivating a culture of connection.

• The Intersection Between Disability and Privilege

John and Ani are the two characters in the play with disabilities. The play juxtaposes them to show the way privilege and disability intersect, although the two never meet or even know of each other’s existence. John and Ani have many physical similarities. Both need a caretaker to perform daily bathing and bodily maintenance. They are fully consciousness of their disabilities and care that feels like a surrender of adult agency. Even though John is wealthy and Ani is poor, both characters experience marginalization that Eddie and Jess don’t quite understand.  

Tips on Interacting Respectfully with People with Disabilities

Disability and Other Identities: How Do They Intersect?

“Naming the Trope” by Cost of Living Director, Ben Raanan

• Discussion Questions

• What do you think does the title “Cost of Living” means and how does it inform your understanding of the play? 
• How would you describe the play’s structure? Why do you think Majok decided to disrupt the chronological narrative? How do you think the play would function differently if it were told in linear order? 
• How does the play use the characters to discuss ideas of privilege and oppression? Which characters have privilege and which characters don’t? How does it work when a character is both privileged and marginalized? 
• How does the theme of searching for connection function in the play? In what ways are the characters trying to connect with each other, and in what ways are they pushing each other away? 
• In the scenes between Eddie and Ani, how does music help or hurt their relationship? How did the sound design increase your understanding of the play?
• Ani suggests that Eddie is trying to do penance for what happened to her, that he is trying to make himself feel less guilty. What do you think? 
• John describes how his cerebral palsy works.  How is that similar to the way to the way Jess protects herself?
• What is the symbolism of Eddie’s phone?  How does Eddie’s phone connect to Ani’s emergency button and Jess’ phone call to her mother?
• When Ani was in her accident, she told the EMTs that she was driving to Maine. What do you think Maine represents for her? 
• Both John and Ani require a caretaker to bathe them, which means allowing another person to see and touch their naked bodies.  What are their different perspectives? 
• Eddie’s first line is “The shit that happens is not to be understood.”  What do you think he is talking about?  And how does the ending inform your understanding this line?

In Media