Lifers at Boston Playwrights' Theatre

Change swirls around a struggling restaurant like secondhand smoke in Lifers, a wild new coming-of-age comedy by acclaimed local writing duo John Shea and Maureen Cornell presented at Boston Playwrights' Theatre. It's 2004, and a statewide smoking ban is about to go into effect in Massachusetts. No one's feeling the hurt of this "summer of change" more than the staff at a small local restaurant in Boston. With the restaurant's future on the line, manager Sherry tries to whip the staff into shape for the big re-launch -- but new hire Winfield finds himself in over his head as the restaurant prepares to rebrand itself to attract a new, more affluent clientele.