How to Live Forever (6-12F)
When 1590s midwife Anne links across time with modern-day wellness guru Gwendolyn, they struggle to rewrite a 14th century witch trial that has already reached a verdict. Anne’s protégé Bridget flees to the 21st century to escape persecution following an abortion, but is dismayed to find the present so like the past. Through interweaving narratives spanning continents and centuries, HOW TO LIVE FOREVER depicts six women as they seek forgotten magic to craft a brighter future.
Thesis workshop production of Act I, Carnegie Mellon/City Theatre Pittsburgh 2019, dir. Nora Gair.
Krav Maga! (2M, 3F)
When Monica begins taking Israeli special forces fighting (AKA Krav Maga!) as a self-defense class (and also a form of therapy) she starts to believe in a version of herself that is confident, strong, empowered. Then she punches multiple people that she loves in the face, and has to deal with the consequences. Krav Maga! explores intimacy, love, and the rules of dating through a lens of exercise, violence, and food.
Reading: Mildred’s Umbrella’s Consenting Bodies Series 2019. Finalist: B Street Theatre New Comedies Festival 2019.
Susan’s mother has always believed that Susan is a changeling, but Susan’s sister Bernice has protected and befriended her all their lives. Now that Susan is about to get married, she is more and more restless–does she really belong here? could she belong somewhere else? She goes in search of fairies, and begins to wonder: can she ever belong anywhere? A play with Appalachian folk music.
Production: Everyday Inferno Theatre, 2019, dir. Katie Pedro. Developed: Edward Albee Foundation 2017.
What the Ladies Do (One Act, 3F)
Three proper 19th century ladies (cousins, in fact!) sit in interminable boredom, embroidering, reading the Bible in Latin, smoking cigarettes, and getting naked. Being a good girl and a lady is a full time job, but Elizabeth knows what God wants them to do.
Productions: Blunt Objects Theatre, dir. Kendra Wells 2016; Collective 48, dir. Brandy N. Carie.
Bunker Cycle
Currently in development, the completed Bunker Cycle will consist of seven full-length plays exploring Americana, Doomsday, and the meaning of “the end.”
Tomorrow Game (2F)
Bell and Roe live in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. They each live in isolation, until they happen to meet. Bell shows Roe a game: take off your mask and see if you can breathe. Try this vegetable, and see if you wake up. Read a poem. Do more than just not-die. Bell may also have ulterior motives. Roe’s shelter is stocked with years worth of canned goods and other priceless resources. Is their friendship true – or just another game?
Readings: Barter Theatre, Echo Theatre Dallas, Kennedy Center. Awards: Kennedy Center National Student Playwriting Award 2019. Princess Grace Finalist 2018. Leah Ryan’s FEWW Emerging Playwright Prize Finalist 2019. Developed: Edward Albee Foundation 2017.
Everybody’s Dead: A Comedy (2F, 1M)
Annika is the unlikely multi-millionaire CEO of a doomsday prepper subscription box service. She is also trapped inside the massive custom bunker that she built to house herself…and her sex robot…and no one else! At all! Now, she’s suffering from cabin fever and skyrocketing guilt over the people–especially the cute guy–she left behind to die in a radioactive holocaust! Time to get out of here!
Reading: FemFest HoustonMildred’s Umbrella Theatre; City Theatre “In Their Own Voices” Online 2020. Developed: PTC Playlab at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Playwright’s Center Core Apprentice finalist 2019.
the end and the end and the end (4F, 3M)
It’s the end of the world as we know it and America is in ruins and everything is changing and no one is safe. Over. And over. And over. A meditation on epoch, “we,” and the meaning of “the end.”
Guns in Trees (5M, 5F)
Minnesota beavers Reggie and Ronnie try to build a lodge before the frost sets in–and Ronnie tries to convince Reggie that it’s ok to be small, and it’s better to be safe than brave and dead. Meanwhile, Al goes home from the big city to find that her family are full-fledged doomsday preppers now–just like on TV! A play about whiteness and also death.
Reading: Pittsburgh Dramatists Guild, “At Rise” An evening of First Scenes.
Brandy N. Carie 