person or persons uknown

After a shocking multiple murder at a suburban diner, a grieving daughter, a seasoned newscaster, and an ambitious reporter become entangled in a shifting web of truth, image, and exploitation. The play juxtaposes the public performance of grief with the private ache of loss.

When four bodies are discovered in a small-town diner—including the owner, Burt Franco—the media seizes the narrative. Julie, Burt’s estranged daughter, returns after a decade away and becomes the emotional centerpiece of the story—interviewed, manipulated, and eventually disillusioned. Bill Foster, a smooth-talking young reporter, sees the tragedy as a stepping stone to national fame. Chris Taylor, his older, sidelined colleague, knows there’s more at stake than ratings, but her own past clouds her integrity.

But the investigation leads nowhere, and the media turns its spotlight on a suspect who may be innocent or not, raising questions about narrative bias, truth distortion, and the toll of unresolved violence.

Told in interwoven scenes—newsroom broadcasts, raw interviews, and haunted recollections—Person or Persons Unknown captures a society obsessed with spectacle and a group of people forced to decide: tell the story or survive it.

Cast of 8 (4W, 4M)

Open set