Spaghetti Ocean

Synopsis

A small-town pasta factory in Butler, Pennsylvania buzzes with activity as ambition and tradition clash.

Rachel Palumbo, a 30-year-old social media professional, reluctantly returns to her hometown after a career-ending Twitter mishap. Her mother Barb, the 55-year-old CEO of Ocean Pasta Inc., sees this as an opportunity to groom Rachel as her successor. As Rachel becomes immersed in the family business, she undergoes a dramatic physical and psychological transformation, embracing her Italian heritage to an extreme degree.

Sarah Kosar’s Spaghetti Ocean is a darkly comic exploration of identity, cultural appropriation, and the American Dream. Through surreal imagery and increasingly absurd situations, the play satirises the commodification of ethnicity and the dangers of unchecked ambition. Kosar’s use of exaggerated physical transformations and Italian language serves to highlight the characters’ internal struggles with authenticity and belonging. The intimate setting of Butler becomes a microcosm for broader questions about assimilation, family legacy, and the cost of success in modern America.