Baby-Sitters Club: Pandemic Portraits (Coming in 2021)
35 years later, the world has changed…but have they?
Kristy and the Great Mask Mandate
It takes a real fighter to get two PhDs — in epidemiology and sociology nonetheless — but Kristy was never one to back down from a competition. After spending the last year as Director of the Department of Health, Kristy is ready to brag about how her “bossy” mandates earned Connecticut one of the lowest infection rates in the country. When her stepdad Watson Brewer is hit by a car while rescuing a stray dog, however, the unexpected loss brings her old BSC BFFs back into town to offer socially distant support. But her mother is planning the funeral and inviting even more family and friends. Will Kristy break her own rules? Or can she innovate a mandate-amenable method of mourning?
Mary Anne and the Admissions Motherload
Mary Anne will tell you that everything in life is going perfectly according to her meticulously organized plan. Her knitwear and calligraphy Etsy shop is thriving, her husband is a partner in his firm, and her twins are on track to land spots in the nation’s top schools. While in Stoneybrook for Watson’s funeral, however, she learns that the twins’ ACT scores were merely average and Mary Anne’s dreams begin to crumble. Until a chance encounter with old flame Logan Bruno and his new “admissions consulting firm” present her with tantalizing opportunities. It almost seems too good to be true…
Dawn and the Trouble with Toxins
As much as Dawn misses her old friends, returning to Stoneybrook gets harder and harder. Ever since she invited them to improve their lives through doTerra — an offer they inexplicably declined — reunions aren’t as carefree. Now, with the fast-tracking of a vaccine full of ingredients no one can pronounce, Dawn feels the urgency to teach her friends how to protect their health in the most natural ways possible. Plus, she has to make sure they’ve seen those videos about the sinister truth behind the government’s vaccine rollout plan. Will Dawn go head to head with Kristy in a battle for the very souls of her friends? Or will the BSC face their biggest challenge yet: detoxing Dawn’s mind?
Mallory and the Mystery of the Bodice Rippers
Mallory is happily married and the mother of a practical total of two children who blessedly inherited their father’s straight brown hair. She is also the respected author of dozens of critically-acclaimed children’s books promoting socio-emotional development. As the BSC reconnects, no one can stop talking about Duke Wemblyton, the steamy new romance novel proven to be as infectious as the coronavirus. Kristy thinks it’s trash, Stacey thinks it’s intoxicating, and Mallory can’t bring herself to admit that she is J. A. Rollings, the reclusive mastermind behind the sultry sexy story. But with negotiations to develop an eight-book series, film rights discussions, and merchandise contracts, Mallory is going to have to decide: can she be an expert in both early childhood education and erotica?
Jessi and the Gig Economy
After decades as a professional dancer, Jessi is no stranger to keeping on her toes to make ends meet. She and her long-time partner have performed, taught, choreographed, bartended, nannied, flash-mobbed, massaged, canvassed, and plenty more. But since the shutdown, most of their go-to gigs have dried up. They can still balancé, but balancing the books is getting harder. Thankfully, Jessi recently landed a teaching position at Stoneybrook College. When the other adjunct professors stage a walkout over teaching in-person without effective safety precautions, Jessi worries about losing the one reliable job she has left. Will she abandon her principles and cross the picket lines? Or will she rent out her walk-in closet as a “Windowless Sleep Suite” on AirbnB?
Claudia and the Virtual Visual Art Initiative
Claudia spent quarantine in her tiny New York City studio practicing yoga and maintaining her blog “One in the Left, Two in the Right.” But with no clear end to the pandemic in sight, she moved back in with her parents in Stoneybrook. At 47. As friends and family return to honor Watson, she has a brilliant idea for a virtual art exhibition that blurs the line between reality and film, “because if we’re all on camera all the time, are we life imitating art or art imitating life?” Will Claudia’s endeavor break down barriers and open minds, or will it exhaust everyone around her because they’re all Zoom-ed the fuck out?
Stacey and the Virtue Signalling
When Claudia’s Zoom Art project documents a racially charged incident, the clip goes viral and protests consume Stoneybrook. Stacey sees opportunity as an influential fashion industry executive and quickly posts support of the movement across social media. But with increased attention comes increased scrutiny. When followers dig up past endorsements of cultural appropriation in fashion and patterns of only featuring Black designers in February, can Stacey learn to sit down and take notes? Or will she ask Jessi to tell everyone how she can’t possibly be racist because she has a Black friend?
Kate Mock Elliott is a wordsmith, grammar fiend, theatre artist, and musician based out of Cincinnati, OH. She thought she’d be a Claudia when she grew up, but she’s definitely a Mary Anne. She has been published by Points In Case and has a critically-acclaimed one woman show called seXmas Cards because why wouldn’t you talk about sex in your Christmas cards? Find her on Twitter @katemockelliott.
