REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY meets FLEABAG in this hilarious and tender account of twentysomething recovering alcoholic Emma, who's just reached one year of sobriety—except this milestone that she thought would signal stability has left her feeling even more unhinged.
A recovering alcoholic, Emma is relieved to be celebrating a milestone she never thought she’d reach: one year sober. She has spent the past year shutting out the world beyond her steady rotation of group meetings and her 9-5 office job where she is only known as deeply-functional Work Emma and not as someone who had to recently admit to giving her mother crabs when she used her towel or ran into a one-night-stand she apparently met at an Ed Sheeran concert. She’s hoping that achieving one year sober will wash away the last of her shame and regret, and that she’ll finally feel shiny and brand new.
But just as Emma crosses what she thinks will be her finish line, she’s suddenly pushed out of the safe social bubble she’s built around herself. Her estranged father mysteriously reappears just as she’s assigned to plan her office holiday party (something she has zero expertise in as a socially awkward recovering alcoholic) and meets Ben, a swoon-worthy IT guy who laughs when she calls her flakey computer Mrs. Bennett and doesn’t balk when she talks about her past. Between her father, Ben, and the rest of the party planning committee, Emma is forced to open up her life, face down difficult relationships, and grapple with maybe never being the perfect version of herself.
A sharp debut that explores complicated families, in the vein of REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY by Monica Heisey, GHOSTS by Dolly Alderton, and FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK by Elissa Sussman—with a sober twist, OPEN MEETING will make you laugh, cry, and long for an office meet-cute.
