Since 1975, the Concord Theatricals Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival (aka the OOB Festival) has uplifted emerging playwrights and their plays. What started as the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival has celebrated the short works of over 1,000 playwrights in the half-century of its existence. Winning writers’ work is compiled in the 49 collections (and counting!) of the Off Off Broadway Festival Plays Series (US/UK).
Many of these authors went on to have other plays published and licensed by Concord Theatricals throughout their careers. Some notable participants include Will Arbery, Rachel Bonds, Bekah Brunstetter, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Sheila Callaghan, Audrey Cefaly, khat knotahaiku, Gracie Gardner, Miranda Rose Hall, Jeremy O. Harris, Shirley Lauro, Martyna Majok, Theresa Rebeck, Harrison David Rivers, Jen Silverman, Leah Nanako Winkler, Lauren Yee and Steve Yockey.
To celebrate our 50th year, explore all of the 50+ OOB alumni authors who have additionally joined the Concord Theatricals catalog, organized by decade below.
Decade 1 [OOB 1 to OOB 10]
Shirley Lauro (OOB 4)
For OOB: Nothing Immediate (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 2w)
Suspense builds when two women are thrown together in a motel in Iowa.
Featured Work: A Piece of My Heart (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6w, 1m)
A powerful, true drama of five nurses and a country western singer booked by an unscrupulous agent to entertain the troops in Vietnam.
Other works: All Through the Night (US/UK), Clarence Darrow’s Last Trial (US), Open Admissions (US), Speckled Birds (US), The Contest (US) and The Radiant (US/UK)
For more, visit Shirley Lauro’s author page: US/UK
Tom Dudzick (OOB 5)
For OOB: Me Too, Then! (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 2m)
Vera tries to overcome her dependence on material goods and discovers that laughter is the key.
Featured Work: Greetings! (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
When Andy brings his fiancé home to meet the folks on Christmas, family wounds begin to heal with the help of the word “Greetings!” and an ancient, witty spirit.
For more, visit Tom Dudzick’s author page: US/UK
Luigi Jannuzzi (OOB 6, 20 & 21)
For OOB 6: A Bench at the Edge (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2 any gender)
A person sits on a bench at the edge of an abyss. Comic and terrifying concepts mix with these lives that are drawn to the edge and the conclusion that life is precious after all.
For OOB 20: The Appointment (US/UK)
(Short Play, Comedy / 3w, 1m)
This is a lighthearted comedy about a man who has a 3 o’clock appointment with God. An excellent play to showcase the results of bullying and pre-judging.
For OOB 21: With or Without You (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m, 1 girl)
Sweet, adorable George is waiting for Mary in a restaurant. He loves her. She does not love him. In response, he has alphabetized her mail, rotated her tires, and followed her dates to prove to Mary the unfaithfulness of her new dates.
Featured Work: All the King’s Women (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 17w, 7 any gender adult)
The story of Elvis Presley told through the eyes of 17 women – some enthralled, some appalled, all obsessed!
Other works: A Crazy Little Café Called Love (US/UK), Exhibit This! The Museum Comedies (US/UK), For the Love of Juliet! (US), Night of the Foolish Moon (US), You Make My Frame Shake (US/UK)
For more, visit Luigi Jannuzzi’s author page: US/UK
Decade 2 [OOB 11 to OOB 20]
Ivan Menchell (OOB 11)
For OOB: Daddy’s Home (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
A teenager and his mother are packing to move out of their house after the father has moved out, leaving his son and wife to deal with feelings of rejection.
Featured Work: The Cemetery Club (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 1m)
Three Jewish widows meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands’ graves.
For more, visit Ivan Menchell’s author page: US/UK
Matthew Witten (OOB 11)
For OOB: The Ties That Bind (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 1m)
Suppose you met a fascinating woman in a singles bar who invites you up to her apartment, where you meet her hostile roommate. The women are lovers who want a child and you have been chosen to father it. Would you say “thanks, but no thanks” – or would you do the gentlemanly thing and help the ladies?
Featured Work: The Deal (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4m)
Concerned that he might be transferred to Alaska because of his failure to obtain a conviction in the past three years, Alex, an FBI supervisor, decides to quicken his pursuit of a local political boss by setting up a sting operation.
Other works: Washington Square Moves (US)
For more, visit Matthew Witten’s author page: US
Catherine Butterfield (OOB 13)
For OOB: No Problem (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2w, 1m)
Paula, a goofy aspiring actress, arrives late for a lunch date with her friend Terry. Terry is the picture of the cool businesswoman – until the waiter takes too long to bring back the steak she returned to the kitchen to be recooked.
Featured Work: Where the Truth Lies (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 2m)
Elaine Flanagan enjoys a seemingly perfect existence. Enter sister Leslie, the high-living beauty from Los Angeles. Elaine’s organized life and marriage is thrown into turmoil, and the aftermath illuminates what glues a family or marriage together and what makes it all fall apart.
Other works: Backflip (US), Brownstone (US), Joined at the Head (US), Snowing at Delphi (US), The Sleeper (US), To the Bone (US/UK) and the anthology Life in the Trees (US), including the short plays Chemistry (US) and The Last Time I Saw Timmy Boggs (US)
For more, visit Catherine Butterfield’s author page: US
Lori Goodman (OOB 13)
For OOB: Reservations for Two (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Jim met Anne at a party and has asked her out to dinner. After dessert, he makes his move. This launches Anne into a hilarious tirade against the way men – in general, of course – try to seduce women.
Featured Work: Coming Soon!
For more, visit Lori Goodman’s author page: US
Le Wilhelm (OOB 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, & 27)
From OOB 13: Strawberry Preserves (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 3m)
Three partners in a successful landscaping company, are having a few beers on a rainy day when the brains of the operation announces he is quitting. The decision has a lot to do with the Big Questions and a little to do with strawberry preserves.
Featured Work: Blackberry Frost (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 5w, 4m)
The town’s most controversial citizen dies an untimely and mysterious death in the final installment of the author’s The Missouri Trilogy, which spans several months in a drought-stricken Ozarks community in the late 1950s.
Other works: Maiden’s Progeny (US), One Eyed Venus and the Brothers (US), Pie Supper (US) and more
For more, visit Le Wilhelm’s author page: US/UK
Stanley Taikeff (OOB 14 & 21)
For OOB 14: Civilization and Its Malcontents (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
A woman studying nutrition desperately needs help in a music course and enlists the class whiz guy, resulting in a conversation about art and comestibles.
For OOB 21: Dolorosa Sanchez (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
A drama major seeks help with Aristotle’s Poetics from a professor who realizes that she cannot grasp the main ideas. Dolorosa tries to communicate her frustration and finally convinces him to let her enact a scene.
Featured Work: Ah, Eurydice! (US)
(One-Act Play, Lyrical Fantasy / 1w, 2m)
This imaginative and humorous retelling of the Orpheus/Eurydice legend places modern characters in a classic setting with theatrical effect.
For more, visit Stanley Taikeff’s author page: US
Peter Morris (OOB 15)
For OOB: The Heartbreak Tour (US/UK)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2w, 2m)
Real and make-believe stories ingeniously commingle as a troupe of actors visit schools to perform a play about Stephen Foster before assemblies of rowdy students.
Featured Work: Howard Crabtree’s Whoop-Dee-Doo! (US)
(Musical Revue/Cabaret, Comedy / 9m)
This outrageous, hilarious, dizzy collage of songs and sketches is a spectacle on a shoestring and a valentine to classic musical theatre.
Other works: Guardians (US), Pop Star (US)
For more, visit Peter Morris’ author page: US/UK
Theresa Rebeck (OOB 15)
For OOB: Does This Woman Have a Name? (US/UK)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2w, 1m)
Mel and Sarah have a lucrative enterprise: Mel writes and Sarah performs sexually explicit phone fantasies.
Featured Work: Dig (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 4m)
With wit, intelligence and depth, Theresa Rebeck’s riveting play about lonely people connecting in a small-town plant shop asks the question, “Can a soul beyond saving be saved?”
Other works: Bad Dates (US/UK), Bernhardt/Hamlet (US/UK), Dead Accounts (US/UK), I Need That (US/UK), Mauritius (US/UK), Ominum Gatherum (US/UK), Seared (US/UK), Seminar (US/UK), What We’re Up Against (US/UK) and more
Read more about Theresa’s latest 3 works on Breaking Character.
For even more, visit Theresa Rebeck’s author page: US/UK
Decade 3 [OOB 21 to OOB 30]
Carolyn Gage (OOB 23)
For OOB: Harriet Tubman Visits a Therapist (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 2w)
Harriet Tubman, suspected of plotting an escape on the Underground Railroad, has been sent to a therapist for evaluation.
Featured Work: The Second Coming of Joan of Arc (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w)
Defiant, irreverent and unfailingly true to her own visions, Joan of Arc returns to share her story with contemporaries and unmask the brutal misogyny behind male institutions.
Other works: The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women (US/UK), The Poorly-Written Play Festival (US/UK)
For more, visit Carolyn Gage’s author page: US/UK
Arlene Hutton (OOB 23, 24 & 26)
For OOB 23: Studio Portrait (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
In this bittersweet comedy of missed opportunities, Robert is a professional photographer whose easygoing manner helps Abigail overcome her nerves during a session.
For OOB 24: The Price You Pay (US)
(Short Play, Dark Comedy / 3w)
In this absurdist comedy about those who marry older men, two wealthy women find themselves in a power struggle when a stranger enters their odd world.
For OOB 26: A Closer Look (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 5w)
A behind-the-scenes look at the host and crew of a daytime television talk show as they spar during a break between taping segments.
Featured Work: Last Train to Nibroc (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
In the initial play of Hutton’s best-known trilogy set during the Second World War, an east-bound cross-country train carries the bodies of the great American writers Nathanael West and F. Scott Fitzgerald – and also May, sharing her seat with a charming young flyer, Raleigh.
Other works: As It Is in Heaven (US), Capturing the Fort (US), Closing Costs (US), Gulf View Drive (US), Here Comes the Drone (US), I Dream Before I Take the Stand (US), Home for the Holidays (US), Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry (US), Letters to Sala (US), Looking Back (US), One Christmas Eve at Evergreen Mall (US), Running (US), See Rock City (US), Susie Sits Shiva (US), The Gorges Motel (US), We Need a Little Christmas (US)
For more, visit Arlene Hutton’s author page: US/UK
Steven Fechter (OOB 24)
For OOB: The Last Cigarette (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
In the last smoking bar in Santa Monica, a beautiful woman in a green evening dress sits alone, smoking and drinking martinis. She has a past, a secret and no future. Watching her from the bar while he drinks doubles is a man with little to lose.
Featured Work: The Woodsman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 4m, 1 girl)
Walter is a quiet man who must lead a quiet life. Fresh out of state prison, he sees no choice. In this play, Walter is forced to confront his past… will he find the compassion to help and not hurt?
For more, visit Steven Fechter’s author page: US/UK
David Riedy (OOB 28)
For OOB: Quick & Dirty (A Subway Fantasy) (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
There’s an attractive woman and a good-looking man. Eyes meet. The attraction is obvious, but where does fantasy end and reality begin? A wake-up call for daydreamers.
Featured Work: Something from Nothing (US)
(One-Act Play / 1w, 2m)
A stranger’s intimate gesture on a New York subway causes a couple to reexamine their relationship while another person gets punched in the face.
Other works: Everything You Want (US), Late Night in the Women’s Restroom of the Jungle Bar (US), Short Shorts (US), Two Guys Moving Heavy Stuff (US)
For more, visit David Riedy’s author page: US/UK
Seth Bauer (OOB 29)
For OOB: The Casseroles of Far Rockaway (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 1m)
A father and his three daughters travel from Manhattan to Far Rockaway via the A train to meet the father’s new girlfriend.
Featured Work: Iphigenia (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 6m)
In this modern take on the classic tale, King Agamemnon prepares to lead the greatest coalition of armies in the history of the world to retrieve Helen of Troy.
For more, visit Seth Bauer’s author page: US/UK
David Caudle (OOB 29)
For OOB: Feet of Clay (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2m)
Two men sit out a rainstorm in a mountain cabin while their wives are out shopping.
Featured Work: The Sunken Living Room (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 2m)
November, 1978. Wade Minnick, 16, is a slender, effeminate bookworm in suburban Miami. With his distracted mother out playing bridge, and his pilot father away on a trip, Wade settles down in the family’s showpiece living room to read A Passage to India.
For more, visit David Caudle’s author page: US/UK
Aurin Squire (OOB 30)
For OOB: Defacing Michael Jackson (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2w, 4m)
Thriller, the Pepsi fire, cocaine cowboys, and a white family moving into a Black neighborhood: it’s 1984 in a rural Florida town of Opa-Locka, and life is about to get a whole lot more confusing for a group of kids who want to be the “gloved one.”
Featured Work: Black in Blue (US)
(One-Act Play, Comedy / 2m)
After one act of police brutality too many, one man decides to do something. But in trying to get “street justice,” he threatens his life, his brother and his job.
Other works: Freefalling (US)
For more, visit Aurin Squire’s author page: US/UK
Decade 4 [OOB 31 to OOB 40]
Bekah Brunstetter (OOB 31 & 33)
For OOB 31: Sick (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 5w, 5m)
“B” drags her promiscuous best friend “E” with her to the clinic to get tested after an unfortunate drunken encounter with Birthday Man.
For OOB 33: F*cking Art (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
A pretty cheerleader who has her heart set on goodness visits a cancer-ridden classmate and is determined to take his virginity.
Featured Work: The Game (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 5w, 1m)
Bekah Brunstetter’s hilarious and heartfelt play about a group of women who decide to withhold sex from their video game-addicted partners brings technology and community together in the most unexpected ways.
Other works: Be A Good Little Widow (US/UK), Cuddle (US), Fat Kids on Fire (US), Going To A Place Where You Already Are (US/UK), I Used to Write on Walls (US), Nothing is the End of the World (except for the end of the world) (US), OOHRAH! (US), The Cake (US/UK), The Final Rose (US), The Oregon Trail (US/UK)
For more, visit Bekah Brunstetter’s author page: US/UK
Robin Rothstein (OOB 31)
For OOB: Libretto (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
In this tender drama about the unifying power of art, Douglas and Claire, two strangers from very different social backgrounds, meet at a performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Featured Work: Mad Libs Live! (US/UK)
(Short Musical, Comedy / 2w, 2m, 1 any gender)
Mad Libs Live! is a new interactive musical based on the most popular word game of all time. The show follows four teenagers, Virtuosa, Gogo, Geyser and Merrily, as they band together to win a singing competition. When they realize their songs have some holes, it’s up to the audience to help them out!
For more, visit Robin Rothstein’s author page: US/UK
Sharyn Rothstein (OOB 31)
For OOB: Relationtrip (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2w, 2m)
Carrie, an intelligent young professional in her 20s, and her sister Julie, a party-girl with a hangover, join Carrie’s charismatic boyfriend on a train bound for a cousin’s wedding.
Featured Work: All the Days: A Family Play in Two Weeks (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
Miranda has done everything in her power to create a family completely different from the one she came from. A heart-filled comedy about the scars of childhood and finding love, all grown up.
Other works: A Good Farmer (US), By the Water (US), Home for the Chalidays (US), How to Speak Man (US), Landladies (US), and Remind Me Again (US)
For more, visit Sharyn Rothstein’s author page: US/UK
Michael Lew (OOB 32)
For OOB: The Roosevelt Cousins, Thoroughly Sauced (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
It’s prohibition. FDR and Eleanor are still fairly young, stuck in Georgia at a polio clinic and getting drunk on illegal moonshine.
Featured Work: Bike America (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
A wildly theatrical picaresque journey that crams the entire continent onto one stage with a cross-country bike trip from Boston to California, with stops all along the way.
Other works: In Paris You Will Find Many Baguettes but Only One True Love (US), microcrisis (US), Moustache Guys (US), Roanoke (US), Teenage Dick (US), Tiger Style! (US), tiny father (US/UK), Virtual Congress (US)
For more, visit Mike Lew’s author page: US/UK
Steve Yockey (OOB 32)
For OOB: Bright. Apple. Crush. (US)
(Short Play, Dark Comedy / 1w, 2m)
Three monologues intermingle as each character explains what drove them to murder and how.
Featured Work: Reykjavík (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 4m)
This tour-de-force collision of sex and danger told through eight interconnected vignettes is a thrilling journey through a world in which the supernatural is closer than we think.
Other works: Over 30 plays, including Bellwether (US/UK), Blackberry Winter (US/UK), Cartoon (US/UK), Disassembly (US/UK), Large Animal Games (US/UK), Mercury (US/UK), Octopus (US/UK), Pluto (US/UK), Sleeping Giant (US/UK), The Fisherman’s Wife (US/UK), The Thrush & The Woodpecker (US/UK), Wolves (US/UK), and the short play collections Curiosities (US/UK), Niagara Falls & Other Plays (US/UK) and Very Still & Hard to See (US/UK)
For more, visit Steve Yockey’s author page: US/UK
Sheila Callaghan (OOB 33)
For OOB: Ayravana Flies, or A Pretty Dish (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Frazzled cook Olivia has an idea for a delicious dish, and only a fearful elephant from an exotic land can appreciate it – and her.
Featured Work: Lascivious Something (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 1m)
On a secluded Greek island, an American ex-pat pursues his passions: wine-making and his breathtaking young wife. Inspired by Greek tragedy, Lascivious Something combines evocative language with sympathetic yet deeply flawed characters straight out of Euripides.
Other works: Blue Lila Rising (US), Crawl, Fade to White (US), Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) (US), Dead City (US), Everything You Touch (US/UK), Fever/Dream (US), Hold This (US), Kate Crackernuts (US), New Shoes (US), Roadkill Confidential (US), Scab (US), Star-Crossed Lovers (US), That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play (US), Tumor (US), We Are Not These Hands (US), Women Laughing Alone with Salad (US)
For more, visit Sheila Callaghan’s author page: US/UK
Janine Nabers (OOB 33)
For OOB: Juniper; Jubilee (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
Juniper is a 13-year-old South African girl who has just moved to America and is homesick for the country she left behind.
Featured Work: Letters to Kurt (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 7w, 2m, 9 any gender)
16-year-old outcast Molly doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. When the only comfort in her life, music, is disrupted by the death of Kurt Cobain, Molly’s world is turned upside down.
For more, visit Janine Nabers’ author page: US/UK
Matthew Paul Olmos (OOB 33)
For OOB: Wild Follows the Queen
(Short Play, Drama / 2w, 1m)
A mother and son wake up on September 11th to find that his father may be trapped under the towers at the World Trade Center.
Featured Work: So Go the Ghosts of Mexico (Part One) (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 4m)
In this chilling drama, a 22-year-old woman volunteers to replace her town’s beheaded police chief when no one else is willing to stand up.
Other works: The Nature of Captivity (US/UK), i put the fear of mexico in ’em (US/UK)
For more, visit Matthew Paul Olmos’ author page: US/UK
Jason Gray Platt (OOB 33 & 34)
For OOB 33: Checkpoint (US/UK)
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 3m)
Running late for work, a man encounters a mysterious military checkpoint on the street outside his apartment.
For OOB 34: The Hardly Wonder (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 3m, 1 girl)
Mayor, Baker, Seamstress, Blacksmith and Dog work together to help a young girl decide whether or not to cross the street.
Featured Work: Some Prepared Remarks and Some Unexpected Dialogues (US/UK)
(Collection / Anthology)
A collection of short plays, the first of which was presented at the Humana Festival in 2014, including Some Prepared Remarks (US/UK), Cyanocitta (US/UK), Aequinoctium (US/UK) and more.
For more, visit Jason Gray Platt’s author page: US/UK
Eric Coble (OOB 34)
For OOB: H.R. (learn more)
(Short Play)
The collapse of civilization will come with seven words: “Human Resources wants to meet with you.”
Featured Work: For Better (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
In this plugged-in world of email, text-messaging and camera phones, do a bride and groom really need to be in the same country to go on a honeymoon? A romantic comedy for the digital age.
Other works: Bright Ideas (US), Gold in the Bones (US), Huck Finn (US), In a Grove: Four Japanese Ghost Stories (US), My Barking Dog (US), Natural Selection (US), Nightfall With Edgar Allan Poe (US), Pinocchio 3.5 (US), Sacagawea (US), The Dead Guy (US), The Velocity of Autumn (US), truth: The Testimonial of Sojourner Truth (US), Waiting for the Matinee (US)
For more, visit Eric Coble’s author page: US/UK
Drew Fornarola (OOB 34)
For OOB: Thucydides (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2m)
A young soldier and a college student meet at their hometown airport. In learning about each other’s lives in Iraq and Princeton, each forms new conclusions about his own.
Featured Work: Uncle Pirate (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Genre / 3w, 3m)
With help from Uncle Pirate and his faithful talking penguin, maybe, just maybe, Wilson can survive the fourth grade.
For more, visit Drew Fornarola’s author page: US/UK
Tony Glazer (OOB 34)
For OOB: Doll Play
(Short Play, Comedy )
Two guys attempt to give their best friend sexual tips with the aid of a large stuffed animal.
Featured Work: Safe (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 1w, 4m)
Five people are coerced into a bank vault during a robbery. This dark comic thriller, part survival story and part cautionary tale, enthralls and surprises from the opening scene.
Other works: Stain (US/UK), The Substance of Bliss (US/UK)
For more, visit Tony Glazer’s author page: US/UK
George Cameron Grant (OOB 34)
8-time OOB Finalist!
For OOB: Foreclosure
(Short Play, Drama)
A middle-class family caught up in the calamity of today’s fierce economic downturn and the solution fate unexpectedly provides to save them.
Featured Work: Push (US/UK)
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 1m, 3 girls, 3 boys, 1 any gender)
What would it take to push your child over the edge? Eve has fallen asleep in the corner of a deserted subway station, not far from the platform edge her brother chose to leave this world.
Other works: Epitaph (US) and a collection of holiday one-acts called 4 X’MAS (US/UK), including Balls (US), The First Noel (US), The Office Party (US), Santa’s Clara (US), and Santa Comes to the King David (US)
For more, visit George Cameron Grant’s author page: US/UK
Trish Harnetiaux (OOB 34 & 38)
For OOB: Oh, How He Loved Baklava & The Dorsal Striatum (Short Plays)
Featured Work: California (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 2w, 3m)
A family road trip takes an unexpected turn when, in the dark of night, on the plains of eastern Oregon, reality splits.
Other works: How To Get Into Buildings (US/UK), If You Can Get to Buffalo (US/UK), Magic Valley Community Theatre’s Little Women (US/UK), Tin Cat Shoes (US/UK), Welcome to the White Room (US)
For more, visit Trish Harnetiaux’s author page: US/UK
Harrison David Rivers (OOB 34)
For OOB: (baptism)
(Short Play, Comedy / 3w)
Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Three women deal with the aftermath of a breakup.
Featured Work: the bandaged place (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 3m, 1 girl)
Struggling to recover after an assault, Jonah realizes the only way to heal is by mending the relationships with his family. A brutal and lyrical portrait of the things we hang on to and the price of moving forward, the bandaged place tells of one man’s attempt to free himself from the abuses of his past.
Other works: This Bitter Earth (US/UK)
For more, visit Harrison David Rivers’ author page: US/UK
Jen Silverman (OOB 34)
For OOB: The Education of Macoloco
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 2m)
Anessa has given her son Macoloco an arsenal of facts for every occasion. Now Macoloco must teach himself how to become an adult, and Anessa must confront the one thing she has failed to learn.
Featured Work: Witch (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 4m)
An inventive retelling of a Jacobean drama, Jen Silverman’s sharp, subversive fable debates how much our souls are worth when hope is hard to come by.
Other works: Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties (US/UK), Spain (US/UK), The Moors (US/UK), The Roommate (US/UK), Wink (US/UK) and the collection Real American Dinner Party & Other Short Plays (US/UK), which includes Real American Dinner Party (US/UK), Hippos of the Eastern Enclosure (US/UK), Phoebe in Winter (US), Pirates in the Cafeteria (US), The Visitations (US/UK), Trick (US), Ubu Anew (A Play for Strange People) (US/UK) and Your Mother in the Night Sky (US/UK)
For more, visit Jen Silverman’s author page: US/UK
Dennis A. Allen II (OOB 35)
For OOB: The Mud is Thicker in Mississippi (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dark Comedy / 2w, 3m)
Dwight gets stuck neck-deep in mud and is forced to seek help from the girlfriend he’s abused for years and her overprotective older brother.
Featured Work: When We Wake Up Dead (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 4m)
When a family comes together to say goodbye to an ailing patriarch, his dying sets in motion events that will change their worlds forever. An exploration of grief, mental illness and the fragility of familial bonds.
Other works: How I Feel (US/UK), The Odds Are… (US/UK), Thy Will Be Done (US/UK)
For more, visit Dennis A. Allen II’s author page: US/UK
Mary Lynn Dobson (OOB 35)
For OOB: Skin Deep (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 6w)
Just because it glitters, doesn’t mean it’s pretty! A scathing mockumentary comedy about the world of child beauty pageants told by women.
Featured Work: Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 6m)
Sometimes the best show isn’t onstage but in the parking lot. A comedy about the unsung heroes who call the show, man the spotlights, sew the costumes, count the tickets and suffer through every flubbed line, forgotten prop and missed cue.
For more, visit Mary Lynn Dobson’s author page: US/UK
Nick Jones (OOB 35)
For OOB: Smart Phone (Short Play)
Featured Work: The Coward (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 1w, 7m)
A cowardly young gentleman named Lucidus initiates a pistol duel, then finds that he can’t go through with it. He hires a common criminal to fight in his place, only to have the scoundrel make a bloody mess of things.
Other works: Important Hats of the Twentieth Century (US/UK), The Nosemaker’s Apprentice: Chronicles of a Medieval Plastic Surgeon (US/UK), Trevor (US), Verite (US/UK)
For more, visit Nick Jones’ author page: US/UK
Josh Koenigsberg (OOB 35)
For OOB: Dance Lessons (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Diner employees Sue and Norm get ready for another dreary day of dreary work in a dreary world – until Norm reveals that he’s secretly been taking dance lessons.
Featured Work: The Mnemonist of Dutchess County (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 4m)
Meet Milo Mazowski – a campus security guard who’s determination to woo a lovely local bar owner is only hampered by one thing: his unlimited memory. A bittersweet comedy about learning how to forget.
Other works: Al’s Business Cards (US)
For more, visit Josh Koenigsberg’s author page: US/UK
E.M. Lewis (OOB 35)
For OOB: The Incident Report
(Short Play, Drama / 3 any gender)
When someone is killed onboard a plane, Connor must find out who is responsible.
Featured Work: How The Light Gets In (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m)
This richly human play is a heartfelt and poignant look at four grieving individuals who understand that personal connection, though messy, may be their best path to healing.
Other works: Infinite Black Suitcase (US), Song of Extinction (US), The Gun Show (US/UK), You Can See All the Stars (US/UK)
For more, visit E.M. Lewis’ author page: US/UK
Saviana Stanescu (OOB 35)
For OOB: White Embers (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 3w, 1m)
The East confronts and comforts the West in this play about international adoptions and how can they impact a child’s life in major and painful ways.
Featured Work: Ants (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 1m)
A quirky dramedy exploring the biochemistry of job loss, motherhood, desire and the personal science of turning worker ants into queens.
Other works: Aliens With Extraordinary Skills (US). Read more about this show from the playwright herself on Breaking Character.
For more, visit Saviana Stanescu’s author page: US/UK
Lauren Yee (OOB 35)
For OOB: Caution
(Short Play, Comedy)
In CAUTION: the (Roughly) True Story of My Parents’ Romance, writer Lauren Yee tries to distill her parents’ “how we met” story into a frothy romantic comedy
Featured Work: The Hatmaker’s Wife (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
When a young woman moves in with her boyfriend expecting domestic bliss, their new house reveals the magical tale of its previous inhabitants: an old hat-maker and his long-suffering wife, who runs away with his favorite hat.
Other works: Cambodian Rock Band (US/UK), Ching Chong Chinaman (US), Hookman (US/UK), In A Word (US/UK), King of the Yees (US/UK), Samsara (US/UK), The Great Leap (US/UK), and The Lost Girl (or First Chair) (US/UK). Learn more about these works from the writer herself on Breaking Character.
For more, visit Lauren Yee’s author page: US/UK
Daniel M. Pearle (OOB 36)
For OOB: The Truth About Christmas (US)
(Short Play, Dark Comedy / 5w)
At a private girls’ school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, one student’s behavior leads to a series of escalating acts of violence.
Featured Work: A Kid Like Jake (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 1m)
On the eve of the admissions cycle for Manhattan’s most exclusive private schools, Alex and Greg have high hopes for their son Jake, a precocious four-year-old who happens to prefer Cinderella to G.I. Joe. The story of a husband and wife struggling to do right by their son, this play is a study of intimacy and parenthood.
For more, visit Daniel Pearle’s author page: US/UK
Michael Gordon Shapiro (OOB 36)
For OOB: H.M.S. Headwind (Learn More)
(Short Musical)
A comedy following the adventures of a plucky band of Royal Navy sailors & a parliamentary bureaucrat, a la Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Savoy” operettas.
Featured Work: Super Sidekick: The Musical (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 1w, 3m, 3 any gender +Ensemble)
When famous superhero Blackjack the Bold is kidnapped by an evil sorcerer, it’s up to his assistant Inky to step up and save the day!
Read more about this show on Breaking Character.
For even more, visit Michael Gordon Shapiro’s author page: US/UK
Rachel Bonds (OOB 37)
For OOB: Anniversary (US/UK)
(Short Play, Drama / 2w, 2m)
While grappling with a significant loss, Penelope embarks on a new relationship, attempting to function in a world that seems to speed ahead without her.
Featured Work: Jonah (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 3m)
Ana is deeply alone at boarding school until she crosses paths with day student Jonah. As they navigate their new relationship, exultant desire shifts into more complex negotiations of intimacy and survival.
Other works: Five Mile Lake (US/UK), Sundown, Yellow Moon (US/UK), Swimmers (US/UK), Winter Games (US). Learn more about these plays from Rachel herself on Breaking Character.
For more, visit Rachel Bonds’ author page: US/UK
Greg Kalleres (OOB 37)
For OOB: Forgetting to Remember (US/UK)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 2m)
A man awakens to find a strange woman in his bed… only to discover that it’s his wife of 30 years.
Featured Work: Honky (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 6m)
When a young African American man is shot for a pair of basketball shoes, sales triple among white teens. A darkly comedic look at five people, white and Black, as they navigate the murky waters of race, rhetoric and basketball shoes.
For more, visit Greg Kalleres’ author page: US/UK
Catya McMullen (OOB 37)
For OOB: Missed Connection (US/UK)
(Short Play / 1w, 1m)
Two people meet up after one posts a Missed Connections on Craigslist, only to find out the person they are meeting is not who they expected to see.
Featured Work: Agnes (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 2m)
On the same night that Superstorm Agnes closes in on New York City, June’s brother, Charlie, who is on the autism spectrum, returns home after a two-week disappearance. Told with a unique blend of humor and heart, Agnes explores the necessity of human connection for all people, whatever the cost.
Other works: Georgia Mertching is Dead (US)
For more, visit Catya McMullen’s author page: US/UK
Kevin Mead (OOB 37)
For OOB: Edison/Tesla: Brian/Dave (US/UK)
(Short Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
“The War of the Currents” between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla becomes the backdrop to Brian and Dave’s unraveling friendship during their final presentation of high school.
Featured Work: Seasonal Allergies (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m, 1 any gender youth)
9 out of 10 people have Seasonal Allergies, but nobody has a case worse than Julia Shelby and her brother Peter.
For more, visit Kevin Mead’s author page: US/UK
Rona Siddiqui (OOB 37)
For OOB: The Tin
(Short Musical)
A young married couple, Mina & Azad, rush to flee Afghanistan in crisis. When a cherished family heirloom goes missing, it becomes a perfect opportunity for their cousin to try to convince them to stay.
Featured Work: Kirdle & Miffins: Curiosity Saved the Cats (US/UK)
(Short Musical, Comedy / 10 any gender)
A celebration of curiosity and wonder that follows two lovable alley cats who are whisked from the tough city streets to cushy living room life. What happens when they become so complacent that they don’t question those in power, even when trouble is afoot?
For more, visit Rona Siddiqui’s author page: US/UK
Ross Howard (OOB 38)
For OOB: Frisky & The Panda Man (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dark Comedy)
A conservationist struggles to rationalize his feelings for the last female panda on earth.
Featured Work: Arthur and Esther (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 1w, 1m)
A play of two worlds. This elemental and affecting two-hander explores love, its loss, and the lives we inherit and impose on others.
Other works: No One Loves Us Here (US/UK), Our Prospects for the Coming Season (US/UK), Our Walk Through The World (US/UK), Picture Ourselves in Latvia (US/UK), Relinquish (US/UK), Rules of Assortment (US/UK), The Viewing (US/UK), Tilly (An Introduction) (US/UK), Two of Us (US/UK)
For more, visit Ross Howard’s author page: US/UK
Adrian Einspanier (OOB 38, 40 & 46)
For OOB 40: The Convent of Pleasure (NPX)
(Short Play, Comedy / 5 actors)
Lovers Margaret and Katherine are moving. In this short play, ambitions of meadowy feminist utopias are plagued by 17th century men, mortality and ants.
Featured Work: Lunch Bunch (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 3m)
Seven public defenders search for meaning, belonging and something resembling order through their hurried quest for the perfect lunch.
For more, visit Adrian Einspanier’s author page: US/UK
Emily Feldman (OOB 38 & 40)
For OOB 40: Two Pigeons Exactly the Same
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2m, 1 any gender)
Thomas and Matt try repeatedly to get matching tattoos. Their resistant tattoo artist refuses to honor their request. A play about permanent marks and impermanent connections.
Featured Work: The Best We Could (a family tragedy) (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
A daughter’s road trip with her father becomes a theatrical journey across more than just state lines as both of their pasts rise to the surface, revealing difficult truths.
Learn more about this play from Emily herself on Breaking Character.
For more, visit Emily Feldman’s author page: US/UK
Arlitia Margaret Jones (OOB 38)
For OOB: Tornado (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Drama / 2m)
A man tries to buy his son his first football uniform, hoping he picks a good team.
Featured Work: Summerland (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 2m)
This play tells the mysterious tale of William H. Mumler, a spirit photographer with a talent for capturing haunting images of the dead from the world beyond the veil.
For more, visit Arlitia Margaret Jones’ author page: US/UK
Will Arbery (OOB 39)
For OOB: The Logic (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Drama / 2m)
Evan and Andrew reconnect on Facebook. While Evan is starting a career in publishing in New York, Andrew is incarcerated in a Texas prison.
Featured Work: Heroes of the Fourth Turning (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
On a chilly night in the middle of America, Will Arbery’s haunting play offers grace and disarming clarity, speaking to the heart of a country at war with itself.
Other works: Corsicana (US/UK), Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (US/UK), Plano (US/UK)
For more, visit Will Arbery’s author page: US/UK
Eleanor Burgess (OOB 39)
For OOB: Park Slope Minstrel Show – now made into a short film!
What happens to a family when something socially unacceptable happens, but it’s your school-age children who were responsible?
Featured Work: Wife of a Salesman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 1m)
When a devoted housewife – from a certain classic American drama – tracks down the woman who is sleeping with her husband, the two discover that they have more in common than society would like them to believe.
Other works: And Action (US/UK), Start Down (US/UK), The Niceties (US/UK)
For more, visit Eleanor Burgess’ author page: US/UK
Skylar Fox (OOB 39)
For OOB: A Wake for David’s Fucked Up Face (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 2m)
David did something stupid on the way home from prom. Now, Cal’s covered in blood, eating Funyuns in his room, and Cal’s mom doesn’t know what to do with him. Why doesn’t he seem sad? Are live-action role-playing fantasy games really the answer? And where is David’s head?
Featured Work: The Grown-Ups (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 3w, 2m)
A group of camp counselors are trying to mold the leaders of tomorrow when tomorrow is looking bleaker and bleaker. This play explores the traditions that change us, what it takes for us to change them, and how to change yourself when you’re hopelessly, tragically not prepared for this.
Learn more about this play from the authors themselves on Breaking Character.
For more, visit Skylar Fox’s author page: US/UK
Jeremy O. Harris (OOB 39)
For OOB: Xander Xyst, Dragon: Part 1 (Short Play)
Featured Work: Slave Play (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 4m)
Nominated for a record twelve 2020 Tony Awards, Slave Play rips apart history to shed new light on the nexus of race, gender and sexuality in 21st century America.
For more, visit Jeremy O. Harris’ author page: US/UK
Martyna Majok (OOB 39)
For OOB: John, Who’s Here From Cambridge (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Overworked, under-qualified, and broke, Jess takes on another job to make ends meet – as a personal caretaker for a beautiful graduate student with cerebral palsy named John.
Featured Work: Cost of Living (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m)
Drawing inspiration from her OOB Festival winner, the 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning Cost of Living features Eddie, an unemployed truck driver, who reunites with his ex-wife Ani after she suffers a devastating accident, and John, a brilliant and witty doctoral student, who hires overworked Jess as a caregiver. As their lives intersect, Majok’s play delves into the chasm between abundance and need and explores the space where bodies – abled and disabled – meet each other.
Other works: Ironbound (US) and Wondrous Strange (US), co-written with fellow OOB Festival alum Jen Silverman as well as Jiehae Park and Meg Miroshnik
For more, visit Martyna Majok’s author page: US/UK
Becca Schlossberg (OOB 39)
For OOB: Unkempt – Read about Becca’s experience at the Festival here.
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
In preparation for their move, Millie and David are forced to pack up their only son’s room, discovering the truth about his absence and their turbulent marriage.
Featured Work: Discus (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m, 3 any gender)
This heartbreaking and candid contemporary reimagining of the Greek myth of Apollo and Hyacinth explores themes of class, power, justice, accountability and – above all – change.
Other works: Forever Friends (US), Just Like I Wanted (US), The Untold Yippie Project (US/UK)
For more, visit Becca Schlossberg’s author page: US/UK
Susan Soon He Stanton (OOB 39)
For OOB: Furball (NPX)
(Short Play, Dark Comedy / 5 actors)
Alona, an elderly Serbian immigrant, is afraid an intruder has broken in and enlists her dubious neighbor to help. What they initially identify as a furry animal surprises them both.
Featured Work: Today Is My Birthday (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 3m)
A comedy about loneliness in the age of connection, told through a lively mixture of phone calls, voicemails and live radio spots. After struggling in Manhattan, aspiring writer Emily goes home to Oahu seeking success in work, love, friendship and family relationships.
For more, visit Susan Soon He Stanton’s author page: US/UK
Leah Nanako Winkler (OOB 39)
For OOB: Taisetsu Na Hito (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Dark Comedy / 2w, 1m)
Bethany and Charles, a wholesome American couple, become owners of Android Minami, a Japanese robo-maid. As Minami becomes integrated into their mundane lives, repressed emotions arise and the line between servitude and fetishism begin to collide.
Featured Work: God Said This (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
When Masako is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer, her dispersed family is brought back to their Kentucky hometown to care for her.
Other works: Kentucky (US), Linus and Murray (US), Winifred & Myrtle Go to High School (US/UK)
For more, visit Leah Nanako Winkler’s author page: US/UK
Kelly Younger (OOB 39)
For OOB: Mandate (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Comedy / 2m)
Forced into a guys’ night out by their wives, a stay-at-home dad and a stay-in-his-cubicle accountant go on a disastrous “first date,” only to learn that friendship really is magic.
Featured Work: Kalamazoo (US)
(Full-Length Play, Romantic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Peg and Irv, two quirky but endearing baby boomers, bravely venture into the world of modern dating. A romantic comedy about life’s second act.
Other works: I Think You Think I Love You (US)
For more, visit Kelly Younger’s author page: US/UK
Gloria Calderón Kellett (OOB 40)
For OOB: Blind (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
While a man waits for his blind date to show, a female stranger catches his eye and ends up being exactly who he was looking for.
Featured Work: One of the Good Ones (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 3m)
This hilarious new comedy revels in the explosive reaction a Latina daughter sets off when she brings her very white-looking boyfriend home to meet the parents.
For more, visit Gloria Calderón Kellett’s author page: US/UK
Audrey Cefaly (OOB 40)
For OOB: The Gulf (US/UK) – now also published in a Full Length Version (US/UK)
(Short Play, Drama / 2w)
On a quiet summer evening, somewhere down in the Alabama Delta, Kendra and Betty troll the flats looking for red fish. After Betty begins diagnosing Kendra’s dead-end life with career picks from What Color is Your Parachute, their routine fishing excursion takes a violent turn. You can read more about this title on Breaking Character.
Featured Work: Maytag Virgin (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Set in small-town Alabama, this emotionally charged and darkly funny two-hander delivers Southern charm with Shakespearean tension. Think Sweet Home Alabama meets Taming of the Shrew – a slow-sparking collision between two smart, guarded schoolteachers on neighboring porches.
Other works: Alabaster (US/UK) and Love is a Blue Tick Hound (US/UK), a collection of one-act plays including Clean (US/UK), Fin & Euba (US/UK), The Gulf (above), and Stuck (US/UK). You can explore multiple Cefaly titles on Breaking Character.
For more, visit Audrey Cefaly’s author page: US/UK
Dipika Guha (OOB 40)
For OOB: A Brief History of America
(Short Play, Drama / 2w, 1m)
The play explores family, love, barriers and boundaries both personal and political.
Featured Work: Yoga Play (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
The headquarters of a successful athleisure company provide the setting for an exploration of cultural appropriation, exploitation, consumerism, fat shaming and yoga pants.
Other works: Blown Youth (US), The Betrothed (US/UK)
For more, visit Dipika Guha’s author page: US/UK
Simon Henriques (OOB 40)
For OOB: Narrators (US/UK)
(Short Play, Comedy / 4m)
Bill is a narrator. Walter is a narrator, too. Stephen is a stagehand for narrators, but he wishes he were a narrator.
Featured Work: The Grown-Ups (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 3w, 2m)
A group of camp counselors are trying to mold the leaders of tomorrow when tomorrow is looking bleaker and bleaker. This play explores the traditions that change us, what it takes for us to change them, and how to change yourself when you’re hopelessly, tragically not prepared for this.
Learn more about this play from the authors themselves on Breaking Character.
For more, visit Simon Henriques’ author page: US/UK
Bella Poynton (OOB 40 & 44)
For OOB 40: The Offer (NPX)
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
Grace was fired from NASA after the shuttle program was dismantled in 2009 along with 30,000 other astrophysicist and engineers. Now, her work is changing things for the space industry, making the prospect of human space exploration a dream more tangible than she ever imagined.
For OOB 44: A Rare Bird (NPX)
(Short Play, Dark Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Sarah has sought out bird expert Professor Shawn Jameson for a very peculiar problem: she seems to be turning into an endangered bird.
Featured Work: Medusa Undone (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 1m)
This theatrical retelling of Medusa’s origin story explores how rape culture reverberates through the ages and calls attention to the great injustice suffered by female victims of abuse.
For more, visit Bella Poynton’s author page: US/UK
Decade 5 [OOB 41 to OOB 50]
France-Luce Benson (OOB 41)
For OOB: Risen from the Dough (US/UK)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w)
In a small, rustic bakery located in the heart of “Little Haiti” Miami, FL, two Haitian-American sisters grapple with grief, identity and the complicated realities of immigrant life.
Featured Work: Talking Peace (US)
(One-Act Play, Drama / 5w)
A virtual healing circle comes undone when an outsider finds her way in, forcing the five women to deconstruct what it means to be Black, BIPOC, and bound by sisterhood.
For more, visit France-Luce Benson’s author page: US/UK
Lizzie Vieh (OOB 41)
For OOB: Monsoon Season (US)
(Short Play, Dark Comedy / 1m)
It’s monsoon season in Phoenix, and Danny hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. Things only get weirder when a decapitated body is found near Danny’s job.
Featured Work: Monsoon Season (Full-Length) (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Recently separated couple Danny and Julia are spiraling into bitingly humorous chaos in this romantic comedy for a toxic world, expanded from Vieh’s OOB play.
For more, visit Lizzie Vieh’s author page: US/UK
Miranda Rose Hall (OOB 42)
For OOB: What Happened at the Dolphin Show (US/UK)
(Short Play, Comedy / 5w)
Heidi, a distraught pubescent lesbian, wrestles with her greatest fear: looking at women at the Friday night dolphin show.
Featured Work: To Tell A Story About the Earth (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6 any gender (adult))
After a disastrous first production, a fledgling theatre company wants to call it quits. When the local librarian requests a new performance for Earth Day, the artists have a decision to make. Part scripted play, part guided introduction to devising methods, this unique work prompts ensembles everywhere to create and share an original show about the natural world close to home.
Other works: Plot Points In Our Sexual Development (US/UK)
For more, visit Miranda Rose Hall’s author page: US/UK
Sarah Hammond (OOB 42)
For OOB: Jack + Jill (US/UK)
(Short Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Jack and Jill are identical, inseparable, made-for-each-other best friends, but then Jack falls in love with Jill, which is a problem. A ten-minute musical about climbing hills, breaking eggs, and the perils of growing up.
Featured Work: Pete the Cat (US/UK)
(Short Musical, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
Everybody’s favorite guitar-playing cat takes his buddy Jimmy Biddle on a global adventure in this crowd-pleasing musical based on the hit book series.
Other works: Hum of the Arctic (US)
For more, visit Sarah Hammond’s author page: US/UK
Jessica Moss (OOB 42)
For OOB: Square Footage (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Comedy / 2 any gender)
Nate and Maggie love each other…right? So they should move in together…right? Was this apartment always that small? But Nate and Maggie still love each other…right?
Featured Work: Our Play (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6w, 5m, 3gnc)
A glimpse into the lives of high school students as they mount a production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, mirroring the classic’s style and structure in three acts: rehearsal, opening night and the unexpected tragedy that follows. A beautiful inspection of the hopes and fears of growing into a life.
For more, visit Jessica Moss’ author page: US/UK
Eliana Pipes (OOB 42 & 44)
For OOB 42: Stiletto Envy (NPX)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Melanie asks her old friend Shaun to teach her how to walk in heels before prom. In an unexpected turn, Melanie must decide between her upbringing and her heart.
For OOB 44: CrossTalk (NPX)
(Short Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Julius has a very close relationship with Cee – she’s bubbly, she’s captivating, and she’s also his cellphone. When Julius decides to go off the grid for good, Cee fights for her life in a spirited tug of war that illuminates the complex and sometimes painful role that technology plays in our lives.
Featured Work: DREAM HOU$E (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 2 any gender)
Two Latinx sisters prepare to sell their home on a reality TV show, hoping to capitalize on neighborhood gentrification. Once the cameras begin to roll, the sisters must reckon with the secrets held between the house’s walls.
For more, visit Eliana Pipes’ author page: US/UK
Gracie Gardner (OOB 43)
For OOB: Ballgirl (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w)
Marcy crouches on the sidelines at the U.S. Open, ready for anything.
Featured Work: I’m Revolting (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 4m)
At a skin cancer clinic in NYC, patients wait to find out how much of themselves they’re about to lose. A play about doctors, and medicine, and the space in between the two.
Other works: Athena (US/UK). Read more about Athena right on Breaking Character.
For more, visit Gracie Gardner’s author page: US/UK
Carissa Atallah (OOB 45)
For OOB: Voir Dire (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Drama / 4w, 4m, 1 any gender)
Four women – diverse in age, ethnicity, and style – are interviewed for jury duty on a sexual assault case in New York City.
Featured Work: Brown Face (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 1m)
Part play, part poetry slam, Brown Face follows a group of college students as they navigate their identities in the competitive world of spoken word poetry.
For more, visit Carissa Atallah’s author page: US/UK
Krista Knight (OOB 45)
For OOB: Crush! (US/UK)
(10 Minute Play, Dark Comedy / 1m)
Picking up roughly from where Kafka left off, a loner, squatter and rebel dares to love through a series of beatnik poetry performances.
Featured Work: For Feet’s Sake: The Wild Tail of a Little Mermaid (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 20w, 13m, optional ensemble)
Featuring a narrator-Emcee, a frustrated Mer-King, and a location-creating Chorus, this reimagining offers comic, tragic and surprising twists on a familiar story.
For more, visit Krista Knight’s author page: US/UK
Andrew Rincón (OOB 45)
For OOB: Love and the Fear of it All (NPX)
(Short Play, Comedy / 3m, optional ensemble)
Matt is trying to surprise his boyfriend, Rob, and enlists Rob’s brother Dan to help. Dan brings mayhem and a band to set the scene, which quickly derails
Featured Work: I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and Juliet (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
Moving from the heavens to Hackensack, this comedy is a love story of epic proportions with gods and mortals, realism and fantasy, and the shame and joy found in queer love.
For more, visit Andrew Rincón’s author page: US/UK
Christin Eve Cato (OOB 47)
For OOB: American Made (NPX)
(Short Play, Drama / 2m)
Two inmates talk about work and life inside a penitentiary.
Featured Work: Sancocho (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w)
As they prepare a beloved family recipe, two Puerto Rican sisters clash over cultural divides, unearth old wounds and reveal long-buried secrets.
For more, visit Christin Eve Cato’s author page: US/UK
Coming Soon… OOB 50!
The 50th OOB Festival will be at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater from July 29 – August 2, 2025. Visit oobfestival.com for tickets and more information about each play and playwright.
To continue exploring the OOB Festival, read the 50 years of OOB Collections in the US or UK or visit oobfestival.com.
Musical Revues
A wonderful array of songs and sketches are on display in these exciting revues, most featuring flexible cast sizes and simple settings.
The Truth Behind… Operation Mincemeat
The musical Operation Mincemeat is a hilarious and quick-witted portrait of a British WWII deception plot involving a corpse, two crashed airplanes and the creator of James Bond. But who were the real-life agents behind this historic event?
All About Austen: Stage Adaptations of Jane Austen Classics
The stage plays in this list, which includes adaptations of novels and works inspired by the 19th-century author, capture all of Jane Austen’s quick wit, charm and deep humanity.