A note from the author:

It all started at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota when I came up with the idea to write my own romance novel. The Boy in the Basement was a gift to my three housemates, about whom the story is loosely based.

It was the beginning of our senior year when my friends and I went on a garage sale shopping spree to find appliances with which to furnish our house. Being in college that meant a couch, microwave and toaster. Failing to find any of those items, we did return with what turned out to be a surprisingly useful find - a huge cardboard box filled to the top with contemporary romance novels, the whole of which cost a whopping 25 cents.

Over the next month we pored over the books with an insatiable obsession, dog earring the sex scenes as a courtesy for future readers. Weeks later when one of our housemates mentioned a fellow student needed a room to rent, and proposed he live in our basement, my first thought was: This sounds like a romance novel. Then again by that point of over-saturation, everything did. So began The Boy in the Basement.

Written satirically by playing on all of the stereotypes of your average bodice ripper and using my unique housemates as character inspiration, I finally finished and self published it in 2002. Years later while performing in a four woman show, our director suggested that the cast do a staged reading for fun. Some more readings and revisions later, I was able to adapt it for the stage.

This project is the result of a lot of inspiration, support, and time on my hands. There are innumerable people to thank but first and foremost I would like to dedicate this play to my original ladies- Courtney, Amanda and Christine, and of course the Boy, Erik.

- Katharine Heller

Oh, and my housemates wanted me to tell you none of the stuff in this play actually happened even though it all did.