The Function of Dysfunction

The Function of Dysfunction: A Play in Two Acts

“Secrets live to be exposed! And this family has them.”

Sometimes zany, sometimes dramatic, always entertaining, The Function of Dysfunction tells the story of the Joneses, a seemingly normal Christian Midwestern family - a Mom and Dad with four kids - and a granddaughter they appear to be raising. Like most families, if asked, they'd say there were doing okay. But are they?

Dad's name is Carson and he works hard at doing it God's way while Mom, Sarah, takes care of the home and does her best to track her oldest daughter, Sandi, in the Gossip columns.

Sandi left home abruptly when she was 18, foundered for a while, but ended up a bright, yet tarnished Hollywood star. She speaks to her folks rarely, sees them even less, and over the years has managed to nurture a well deserved wild-child, bad-girl reputation.

Their next daughter, Sylvie, is a never-married, single mom, with an 8-year old daughter. She's always been self-centered and that hasn't changed. Now she's trying to start a catering business, romancing some guy nobody likes, and leaves her daughter day and night at her folks house for them to raise.

Next comes their college age son, Jonny. He's creative, but a lousy student, and after nearly flunking out of college, he convinced his dad to let him bury himself in the basement and invent "things." His latest effort, brussel sprout ice cream, may be his last.

About the time their oldest left for Hollywood, their youngest daughter, Barb, now 17, started a battle with drugs and may, since then, have won. She's been clean for over a while, she has good Christian friends, and is vying for a full college scholarship that will assure her future. Things are looking good. But unknown to her family, hers is a precariously balanced victory.

So, perhaps it's not that they're doing well, but rather, they've achieved an acceptable level of pain.

God wants more for this family. And, to that end, He's about to stir things up. Sandi, their wild-child, Hollywood daughter, has a secret, one that has her asking some provocative questions that only her family can answer. On the day of Barb's scholarship test, Sandi arrives on the Jones' doorstep to find those answers. In doing so, she not only reveals her secret, but also exposes a secret her family has kept hidden for years.