I write plays, solo and in collaboration with The Associates. Over the past nine years, I have consulted on original scripts for the drag opera extravaganzas created by Heartbeat Opera and collaborated on new translations of supertitles for their radical adaptations of classic operas.
My plays contemplate the slippery essence of identity—how it shifts in relation to the beholder, and how it confronts us with the paradox: We are so different and we are all exactly the same. I write my plays as invitations. I’m inviting artists and audiences to gather together, physically and emotionally; to engage critically with the issues we face as fellow citizens; and to transcend the boundaries around our selves.
Redemption Story
production: May 4-19, 2024, Gural Theatres at the ART/NY Theatres
semi-finalist for the 2023 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference
workshop with The Associates, dir. Christina Roussos (2022)
INT. DINER - LOS ANGELES, 1971. CONNIE LEE (50s, hardened glamor) drinks coffee, fingers her cigarettes. A MAN (20s, blond and eager) pushes through the door, and Connie does a double-take, then turns away. She's already made the worst mistake of her life, and a fresh face can't fix it.
On The Prowl with Ada Tsiao
developed at 59E59’s Space Lab, dir. Sarah Blush (2023)
workshop with The Associates, dir. Emily Moler (2023)
developed at Fresh Ground Pepper’s BRB Retreat (2023)
Ada Tsiao is a sex and intimacy therapist with a very popular podcast and a very problematic rumor spreading: that she herself has never had sex, much less sustained a romantic relationship. This is why she’s hired Bethany, who has a PR strategy to win over the skeptics—though the plan goes against Ada’s principles and sacrifices the remaining scrap of her privacy.
Mabel Bidewell, Tough Woman
workshop with The Associates, dir. Sarah Cameron Hughes (2023)
Mabel Bidewell ponders the agony of a woman who will not, cannot compromise. Mabel’s husband is ten years dead and her beloved son left home five weeks ago. She cannot accept the sudden rift in the relationship with her son, nor can she tend to the widening gulf between her and her teenage daughter. How should a mother behave to preserve her selfhood?
The Cousinhood
in process
devised in collaboration with The Associates (2018-2020)
staged reading at The Center at West Park, dir. Lauren Zeftel (2019)
The Cousinhood tells the story of a matriarchal religious group guided by love and pacifism in an America after climate collapse. Beyond the dogma, behind the apocrypha, and within the squabbles of hobbyist reenactors, there lies the elusive core of the Cousins’ faith—and, beneath that, our own desire for meaning.
Sheila
devised in collaboration with The Associates
premiere production by The Associates at A.R.T./New York Theatres, dir. Jamal Abdunnasir (2018)
September 1987. The edge of town. Gloria opens her door to the woman she hasn’t seen since she disappeared from home ten years ago. Mary sees the face that has haunted her memories of childhood and dreams of womanhood. A thrillingly intimate drama, Sheila pits two women against the world: not to conquer it—to survive it.
Maggie and Winnie in The 13th Time
written in collaboration with The Associates
finalist in the National Ten-Minute Play Contest
premiere production in The Tens at Actors Theatre of Louisville (2018)
Maggie and Winnie are best friends. And they’ve been through a lot. A lot of near-death experiences. Twelve, so far. So what’s in store for The 13th Time?
Black Protagonist
devised in collaboration with The Associates
premiere production by The Associates at 124 Bank Street Theatre (2015)
New York Innovative Theater nomination for Best Original Script
Can a person build an identity – white or black – that outsmarts racism? A well-intentioned white man puts his conscience on the page, at the risk of exposing his prejudice and imposing his ideals on his partner. What he writes strands them in a shifting landscape of secrets, fantasies, and shaded identities.
