New Queer Theatre: A Decade of LGBTQIA+ Shows

A 16-year-old girl obsessed with a movie star. A Black, queer writer struggling to write a musical about a Black, queer writer. An inquisitive graphic novelist. Two closeted State Department employees. A Spartan youth and a Greek god. These LGBTQIA+ characters span the spectrum of human experience.

Here’s a dynamic collection of plays and musicals from the past ten years – ranging from outrageous comedy to heart-rending drama – featuring LGBTQIA+ characters in complex and compelling stories.

Plays

17/18 by Joe Calarco (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 4m, 1gnc)
There are two sides to every story. In 17/18, a pair of stories – the night of a birthday party and the day after – explore how one breakup makes two friend groups contend with anxieties about growing up, their identities and the future.

46 Beacon by Bill Rosenfield (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2m)
Boston, July 1970. Robert, a visiting English actor appearing in a local theatre, invites Alan, a somewhat naive usher, back to his hotel room after the performance. They talk. They laugh. They learn from one another and not surprisingly, they have sex. By the end of the evening, they’ve learned more about each other and themselves than they bargained for.

A Case for the Existence of God by Samuel D. Hunter (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2m)
A thoughtful and meditative two-hander, this extraordinary play is both intimate and expansive as it explores themes of parenthood, financial insecurity and empathy. Keith, a gay mortgage broker, and Ryan, a straight plant worker seeking to buy a plot of land that belonged to his family decades ago, realize they share a “specific kind of sadness.” At this desk in the middle of America, loan talk opens up into a discussion about the chokehold of financial insecurity and a bond over the precariousness of parenthood.

A Very Sordid Wedding by Del Shores (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 12w, 15m)
Based on the 2017 hit film, this wacky comedy explores the questions, bigotry and fallout when gay marriage comes to a community that is not quite ready to accept it. It’s 2015, 17 years after Sordid Lives and Peggy’s unfortunate death caused by tripping over G.W.’s wooden legs, and life has moved on for the residents of Winters, Texas. Bigoted “religious freedom,” marriage equality and cultural acceptance are all explored with Del Shores’ trademark approach, using uproarious comedy and his beloved characters to address important social issues.

Ain’t No Mo’ by Jordan E. Cooper (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 2m)
Through a blend of sketch, satire, avant-garde theatre and a dose of drag, Ain’t No Mo’ answers the incendiary question: What if the United States government offered Black Americans one-way plane tickets to Africa? A kaleidoscope of moments surrounding this great exodus are told by an ensemble cast featuring Peaches, a larger-than-life flight agent boarding the final plane leaving the U.S.

Alabaster by Audrey Cefaly (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w)
This all-female, darkly comic southern drama explores the meaning and purpose of art. June, an artist, lost her family in an Alabama tornado and emerged physically and emotionally scarred. Alice, a photographer, comes to take pictures of June, and what the two women need from each other transcends the physical. Alabaster asks: What does it mean to be truly “seen?” A play about women. About art. About healing.  

2019 Florida Repertory Theatre Production of Alabaster (Nick Adams)

All the Natalie Portmans by C.A. Johnson (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 1m)
Too smart, “too gay” and too lonely to fit in, 16-year-old Keyonna escapes into a world of rom coms, red carpets and all the iconic characters played by her muse, Natalie Portman. But when “all the Natalie Portmans” start talking back to her, Keyonna finally has to face her off-screen drama in this wildly imaginative new play. 

Amani by a.k. payne (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
Amani grows up building a rocket ship with her father, who vows to make it to outer space… where his child can breathe easy, where there are no gangs to take his first love’s life, nor prisons to take Black boys’ best years. As Amani moves into adulthood, she seeks her voice and her own dreams.

Angry Fags by Topher Payne (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 4w, 3m)
Bennett broke up with his boyfriend and moved in with his best friend, Cooper. When Bennett’s ex is attacked in the parking lot of a gay bar, they learn that the assault can’t be classified as a hate crime; in Georgia, hate crimes against homosexuals don’t legally exist. Their frustration and fear eventually turn to rage, as they realize that “acceptance” simply isn’t enough. They’re not respected. They’re not feared. It’s time for that to change. 

At the Wedding by Bryna Turner (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 2m, 1 any gender)
In this raucous and bittersweet comedy, a woman named Carlo guides the audience through her ex-girlfriend’s wedding–to a man–and talks to several friends and family members about love, life, and how to cope with both. 

Aunt Jack by Nora Brigid Monahan (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 4m)
After a crushing breakup with his long-term boyfriend, Norman moves across the country to get away from his former life, much to the dismay of his fathers, George and Jack. When some troubling news brings Norman back home, he returns with his new partner, Andy, to make amends. The long-anticipated reunion is challenged when differences in politics, sexual identity and love threaten the bonds Norman has come to rebuild.

Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w)
In this chronicle about a deeply committed lesbian relationship, a moving love story spans decades in an instant – from marriage, children, skydiving and the infinite moments that make a life together.

Bull in a China Shop by Bryna Turner (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w)
Inspired by the real letters between Mary Woolley and Jeanette Marks spanning from 1899-1937, this fast-paced comedy asks: What is revolution? What does it mean to be at odds with the world? How do we fulfill our potential? And how the hell do we grow old together? 

Bunny by Hannah Moscovitch (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 3m)
Sorrel is obsessed with Victorian literature and the sexual revolution. She doesn’t fit the strict societal norms of her small-town high school and heads to college as a self-proclaimed loser with no girlfriends, until Maggie. Maggie’s support, loyalty, and unwavering friendship bring Sorrel’s moral questions to face her sexual desire in this thoughtful look at two women and their relationship to each other and themselves over time. 

Cardboard Piano by Hansol Jung (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m)
Northern Uganda on the eve of the millennium: The daughter of American missionaries and a local teenage girl steal into a darkened church to seal their love in a secret, makeshift wedding ceremony. But when the surrounding war zone encroaches on their fragile union, they cannot escape its reach. Confronting the religious and cultural roots of intolerance, Cardboard Piano explores violence and its aftermath, as well as the human capacity for hatred, forgiveness, and love. 

Charm by Philip Dawkins (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 3m, 3gnc)
When Mama Darleena Andrews – a 67-year-old Black transgender woman – takes it upon herself to teach an etiquette class at Chicago’s LGBTQ community center, the idealistic teachings of Emily Post clash with the very real-life challenges of identity, poverty and prejudice faced by her students. Inspired by the true story of Miss Gloria Allen and her work at Chicago’s Center on Halsted, Charm asks: How do we lift each other up when the world wants to tear us down? For more by the same author, check out Le Switch (US/UK).

2021 Broadway Production of Chicken & Biscuits (Emilio Madrid)

Chicken & Biscuits by Douglas Lyons (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 3m)
Can sisters Baneatta and Beverly bury their father without killing each other? In this celebration of Black joy, grief and healing, an extended family – including Baneatta’s son Kenny and his neurotic boyfriend, Logan – is brought back to St. Luke’s Church to inter their patriarch, Bernard Jenkins. Told with warmth and delicacy, Chicken & Biscuits is a touching and often hilarious ode to the people in our lives we can’t choose.

Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties by Jen Silverman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 5w)
Jen Silverman’s hilarious play, which The New York Times called “a full-tilt lesbian/bi-curious/genderqueer/Shakespearean comedy for everyone,” explores anger, sex, love and the “thea-tah” through the experiences of five women named Betty. 

Corners Grove by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 16 any gender)
A nod to Our Town, this new play shifts Thorton Wilder’s masterpiece into the 21st century, to a small town about 40 miles south of San Francisco. George, Emily and their friends are determined to live their lives on their own terms and to shed versions of themselves they’ve outgrown, whether that be their high school sweetheart or their gender identity. Life has only spun forward, and the only way for the residents of Corners Grove to keep up is to embrace the unknown and commit to their own truths.

Cowbois by Charlie Josephine (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 8m, 3gnc adult, 1 boy)
In a sleepy town in the Wild West, the women drift through their days like tumbleweed. Their husbands, swept up in the gold rush, have been missing for almost a year and show no sign of returning. In fact, the town is almost cut off from outsiders entirely, with only one drunken sheriff for protection. That is until handsome bandit Jack Cannon swaggers up to the town’s saloon, looking for a place to hide from the bounty hunters on his tail. Armed with whiskey and a wink, and a gun by their side for good measure, Jack’s explosive arrival inspires a gender revolution and starts a fire under the petticoat of every one of the town’s repressed inhabitants in this silly and surreal shakeup of a Western.

Discus by Becca Schlossberg (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m, 3 any gender)
Boldly reimagining the often-overlooked queer love story of Apollo and Hyacinth, this heartbreaking, candid and contemporary take on the Greek myth explores powerfully relevant themes of class, power, justice, accountability and – above all – change.

Dr. Ride’s American Beach House by Liza Birkenmeier (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w)
It’s 1983, the evening before Dr. Sally Ride’s historic space flight. Hundreds of miles from the launch, a group of women with passionate opinions and no opportunities sit on a sweltering St. Louis rooftop watching life pass them by. Their uncharted desires bump up against American norms of sex and power in this intimate snapshot of queer anti-heroines. 

Draw the Circle by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1gnc, expandable up to 19 actors)
The hilarious and deeply moving story of conservative Muslim mother at her wits’ end, a Muslim father who likes to tell jokes, and a queer American woman trying to make a good impression on her Indian in-laws. In a story about family and love and the things we do to be together, one immigrant family must come to terms with a child who defies their most basic expectations of what it means to have a daughter. This unique play compassionately brings to life the often ignored struggle that a family goes through when their child transitions from one gender to another.

Fat Ham by James Ijames (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 4m)
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames reinvents Shakespeare’s masterpiece with his new drama, a delectable comic tragedy. Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. From an uproarious family barbecue emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy. 

Gently Down the Stream by Martin Sherman (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3m)
Beau, a pianist expat living in London, meets Rufus, an eccentric young lawyer, at the dawn of the internet dating revolution. This remarkably moving, brilliantly funny love story reflects the triumphs and heartbreaks of the entire length of the gay rights movement, celebrating and mourning the ghosts of the men and women who led the way for equality, marriage and the right to dream.

Goldie, Max & Milk by Karen Hartman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 1m)
It’s 2009; Max is unemployed, her house is falling apart, and her ex, Lisa, is on the loose. On top of all that, she has no clue how to nurse her newborn baby. Can Goldie, an Orthodox Jewish lactation consultant, guide Max into motherhood? Or will conflicting family values get the better of them both? A play about cultural differences, motherhood and the many ways to love children.

Grangeville by Samuel D. Hunter (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2m)
Two estranged half brothers – one in Grangeville, Idaho; one in Amsterdam – reconnect virtually in discussions surrounding the care of their ailing mother. With his signature emotional breadth and depth, playwright Samuel D. Hunter expands on the brotherly estrangement narrative by integrating the effects of family trauma on spouses alongside the evergreen conversation of how adult children take care of their aging parents. A play about the fallibility of memory, the stories we tell to make sense of our suffering, and the complexity of forgiveness.

Grief Hotel by Liza Birkenmeier (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy /  3w, 2m, 1gnc adult)
News of a missing acquaintance brings old friends (and ex-lovers) back together. Relationships re-form around natural and unnatural disasters, and everyone ends up at Aunt Bobbi’s house, even though her parties are cursed. Loss is fast, but grief is slow, and Aunt Bobbi’s going to try to make everyone feel better. Liza Birkenmeier’s new play is a dark comedy about the commodification of healing.

Hir by Taylor Mac (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 1w, 2m, 1gnc)
Somewhere in the suburbs, Isaac has returned from the wars to help take care of his ailing father, only to discover a household in revolt. The insurgent: his mom. Liberated from an oppressive marriage, with Isaac’s newly out transgender sibling as her ally, she’s on a crusade to dismantle the patriarchy. But in Taylor Mac’s sly, subversive comedy, annihilating the past doesn’t always free you from it.

Homos, or Everyone in America by Jordan Seavey (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 3m)
“Love is love” – but is navigating it any less complicated today? What does it mean to be in a committed relationship? Is monogamy just monotony? Told through interweaving glimpses into the life of an everyday couple unexpectedly confronted by a vicious crime, Homos, or Everyone in America is a fearless, funny, heart-on-its-sleeve examination of the moments that can bring two people together – or pull them apart. 

How Black Mothers Say I Love You by Trey Anthony (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w)
A powerful and touching tale of immigration, family and sacrifice. Hard-working Daphne left her two young daughters in Jamaica for six years to create a better life for them in America. Now, 30 years later, proud and private, Daphne is relying on church and her nearby dutiful daughter to face a health crisis. But the arrival of feisty activist Claudette stirs up family ghosts and the burning desire for unconditional love. 

Hurricane Diane by Madeleine George (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 1gnc)
Meet Diane, a permaculture gardener dripping with butch charm. She’s got supernatural abilities owing to her true identity – the Greek god Dionysus – and she’s returned to a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac to gather mortal followers and restore the Earth to its natural state. Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George pens a hilarious evisceration of the blind eye we all turn to climate change and the bacchanalian catharsis that awaits us, even in our own backyards. 

2022 Shakespeare’s Globe Production of I, Joan (Tristram Kenton)

I, Joan by Charlie Josephine (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 6m, 1gnc)
A powerful and joyous new play, this retelling of Joan of Arc’s story is alive and queer and full of hope. The men are all fighting, again. An endless war. From nowhere, an unexpected leader emerges. Young, poor and about to spark a revolution. Rebelling against the world’s expectations while questioning the gender binary, Joan finds their power within, and their belief spreads like fire. 

I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and Juliet by Andrew Rincón (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
Snow in July, comets falling from the sky… the world is thrown into chaos as Cupid (a Latine god) rips off her wings and gives up on love. But her old flame Saint Valentine has a plan to bring her spirits back up, and it involves reigniting the flame between Alejandro and Benny, two queer folk who are going through a breakup. Moving from the heavens to Hackensack, this comedy is a love story of epic proportions that captures the many flavors of queer love. 

I Wanna Fucking Tear Your Apart by Morgan Gould (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 1m)
Samantha and Leo are a team—best friends and roommates, fat girl and gay guy against the world—until a new friend upends their cozy co-dependent diet of mutual self-loathing and Grey’s Anatomy marathons. An ode to the complications of friendship in its many fucked-up forms, with a special nod to a kind of love that sometimes looks a lot like rage.

Indecent by Paula Vogel (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, this deeply moving play is inspired by the true events surrounding the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance – a play seen by some as a seminal work of Jewish culture, and by others as an act of traitorous libel. Indecent charts the history of an incendiary drama and the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it.

Last Night and the Night Before by Donnetta Lavinia Grays (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 1m, 1 girl)
When Monique and her 10-year-old daughter Samantha show up unexpectedly on her sister’s Brooklyn doorstep, it’s the beginning of the end for Rachel and her partner Nadima’s orderly lifestyle. Monique is on the run from deep trouble, her husband Reggie is nowhere to be seen and Samantha becomes ever haunted by the life in southern Georgia she was forced to leave behind. Poetic, dark and often deeply funny, this play explores the power, necessity, and beauty of loss.

Lewiston/Clarkston by Samuel D. Hunter (US/UK)
(Full-Length Plays, Drama / 2w, 1m and 1w, 2m)
Lewiston/Clarkston consists of two deeply moving works by award-winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter. Through quiet rhythms and characters torn between nostalgia and escapism, they elucidate an unnameable quality that unites Americans and, simply, people living on the planet. Set at a firework stand off a rural Idaho highway, Lewiston explores the emotional frontiers of a family struggling to make a home in the vastness of the American landscape. In Clarkston, two very different men on night shift at the Costco in a rural American town form an unusual bond while stocking shelves. 

Log Cabin by Jordan Harrison (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 3m)
It’s a faraway age of hope and inclusivity; in other words, it’s 2015. When a tight-knit circle of married gays and lesbians – comfy in the new mainstream – see themselves through the eyes of their rakish transgender pal, it’s clear that the march toward progress is anything but unified. With stinging satire and acute compassion, Jordan Harrison’s pointed comedy charts the breakdown of empathy that happens when we think our rights are secure, revealing conservative hearts where you’d least expect. 

Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood by Adam Szymkowicz (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 4m, 6 any gender)
A gender-bending, patriarchy-smashing, hilarious new take on the classic tale. Robin Hood is (and has always been) Maid Marian in disguise, and leads a motley group of Merry Men (few of whom are actually men) against the greedy Prince John. As the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, who will stand for the vulnerable if not Robin? 

Merry Me by Hansol Jung (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 2m, 1 any gender)
An intoxicating queer cocktail of restoration comedy and the Greeks, served with a heavy garnish of ridiculous. On a military-occupied island, Lieutenant Shane Horne satisfies the libidinous needs of all the women on the base – including the jealous general’s wife. But her own merries will not… come. 

Mother Play by Paula Vogel (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 1m)
It’s 1962, just outside of D.C., and matriarch Phyllis has strong ideas about what her teenage children need to do and be to succeed. Bolstered by gin and cigarettes, the family endures – or survives – the changing world around them, even as the children grow up to address their own sexuality. Blending flares of imaginative theatricality, surreal farce, and deep tenderness, this beautiful roller coaster ride reveals timeless truths of love, family and forgiveness. 

2020 Signature Theatre Company Production of The Hot Wing King (Monique Carboni)

My Big Gay Italian Christmas by Anthony Wilkinson (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 8w, 2m)
Hold on to your cannolis and get ready for a snowy ride! Over-the-top characters, a bisexual love triangle and heated political conversations run amok all come to a head when a snowstorm forces the Pinnunziato family indoors this holiday season. Fan favorite characters Anthony Pinnunziato and Aunt Toniann are just a few of the ingredients in this Big Gay Italian Christmas lasagna. 

On That Day in Amsterdam by Clarence Key Coo (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 4m)
Kevin is a first-generation Filipino-American college student who, on his last night in Amsterdam, has a one-night stand with Sammy, a guy he meets in a bar. But when his flight gets delayed, Kevin finds himself spending the day with Sammy and what began as a one-night stand becomes a deeper connection. Years later, Kevin is still trying to capture that day in writing. Weaving in historical figures who also were touched by art and the uncertainty of life, this play explores love, art, loss and what it means to live.

one in two by Donja R. Love (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3m)
Three Black queer men sit in an ethereal waiting room. One is about to be chosen to live the unforgiving story of a man diagnosed with HIV, struggling to be defined by more than his status. Ten years after his own diagnosis, Donja R. Love has written a fearless account of the reality for too many Americans. A deeply personal call to action, one in two shines a light on the people behind a statistic and the strength of the community they make up.

Open by Crystal Skillman (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w or 1gnc)
Open is a magic act that reveals itself to be a resurrection. A woman called the Magician presents a myriad of tricks for our entertainment, yet her performance seems to be attempting the impossible: to save the life of her partner, Jenny. But is our faith in her illusions enough to rewrite the past? The clock is ticking, the show must go on, and, as impossible as it may seem, this Magician’s act may be our last hope against a world filled with intolerance and hate.

Orange Julius by Basil Kreimendahl (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 2m, 1 any gender)
Nut grew up the youngest child of Julius, a Vietnam vet, in working-class America. As Julius suffers the toxic effects of Agent Orange, Nut worries their time together may run out before they can embrace something essential about their relationship. Paging through forgotten photo albums and acting out old war movies, Nut leaps through time and memory, tracing the complex intimacy between father and child when the child is transgender, fighting for a mutual recognition before it’s too late.

Perfect Arrangement by Topher Payne (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 3m)
Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the gay rights movement, this brilliant historical play merges madcap sitcom-style laughs with provocative drama as two closeted U.S. State Department employees struggle to maintain their cover – and their sanity – in 1950s America. 

Plot Points In Our Sexual Development by Miranda Rose Hall (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 1 trans man)
Theo and Cecily want to be honest about their sexual histories, but what happens when telling the truth jeopardizes everything? A contemporary queer love story, Plot Points in Our Sexual Development explores gender, intimacy, and the dangers of revealing yourself to the person you love. 

Shhhh by Clare Barron (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6 any gender)
Penny flirts at a morbid anatomy museum. Kyle tells stories of dismemberment. Sally turns you on with tea and biscuits, and Shareen prepares a mysterious potion. A study in kink, trauma, pleasure, and revenge… Through a series of disquieting scenes, Shhhh explores the vulnerability of women’s bodies, the role of kink in relationships, and the blurry line between pleasure and pain. 

Six Years Old by Daphne Silbiger (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 3w, 1m, 2 any gender, 2gnc)
Adalaide is six, and she knows a few things: her stupid babysitter Kim is stupid, her younger brother Dewey is a naked mole rat, and she does NOT like being treated like a girl. Though some take Adalaide’s frustrations seriously, others discourage her, leaving her to seek out dangerous measures in order to transform into who she was born to be (her hero, Han Solo). A comic and poignant play reflecting on the wild fantasies and serious desires of queer childhood.

Skintight by Joshua Harmon (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 4m)
Reeling from her ex-husband’s engagement to a much younger woman, Jodi Isaac turns to her famous fashion-designer dad for support. Instead, she finds him wrapped up in his West Village townhouse with Trey. Who’s twenty. And not necessarily gay. But probably an adult film star. At least, according to Jodi’s son. Who’s also twenty. And definitely gay. Skintight assays the nature of love, the power of attraction, and the ways in which a superficial culture teaches its children that all that matters is what’s on the inside.

Significant Other by Joshua Harmon (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 3m)
Jordan is single, and finding Mr. Right is much easier said than done. While surrounding himself with his close group of girlfriends it comes to pass that the only thing harder than looking for love is supporting the loved ones around you. 

Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 4m)
Nominated for a record twelve 2020 Tony Awards, Jeremy O. Harris’ groundbreaking play astonished critics and audiences alike. The Old South lives on at the MacGregor Plantation—in the breeze, in the cotton fields… and in the crack of the whip. Nothing is as it seems, and yet everything is as it seems. Slave Play rips apart history to shed new light on the nexus of race, gender and sexuality in 21st-century America. 

subText by Tyler Dwiggins (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 13w, 7m)
Even though everybody on the planet is just a text away, getting your message across has never been more complicated. subText is a hilarious series of vignettes detailing the awkwardness of dating in the digital age, from capturing the perfect selfie to making a relationship Facebook official.

Sugar in Our Wounds by Donja R. Love (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
On a Southern plantation, generations of slaves have been hanged from a mystical tree. But James is going to be different, as long as he keeps his head down and practices his reading. As the Civil War rages on, and the possibility of freedom looms closer than ever, James begins a striking romance with an intriguing stranger. This play is part one of a trilogy that explores Queer love through Black History (slavery, the Civil Rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement). Part two is the play Fireflies (US).

The Antiquities by Jordan Harrison (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 4w, 4m, 1 boy)
At the Museum of Late Human Antiquities, the curators are fiercely committed to bringing a lost civilization to life again: What were humans really like? What did they wear, what did they eat, how did they die out? By casting us into the far future, Jordan Harrison’s new play gives us an uncanny view of the present moment, as we straddle the analog world that was and the post-human world to come.

The Ask by Matthew Freeman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 1gnc)
What does it cost to get what we need? With comedic precision, The Ask dissects a tense visit between a struggling young fundraiser and an affluent liberal donor as they navigate the treacherous power dynamics at the heart of charitable giving.

the bandaged place by Harrison David Rivers (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. 

The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 1m)
In Bekah Brunstetter’s touching and topical dramatic comedy, a vivacious, conservative North Carolina baker named Della faces a crisis of conscience when Jen – whom she loves like a daughter – asks Della to bake a cake for her lesbian wedding. 

The Gulf by Audrey Cefaly (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w)
The divide between Kendra and Betty mimics the very world that devours them: a vast and polarizing abyss. On a quiet summer evening, somewhere down in the Alabama Delta, they troll the flats looking for redfish. At some point, this routine fishing excursion takes a violent turn. Also available: The Gulf (One-Act Version) (US/UK). 

The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6m)
Ready, set, fry! It’s time for the annual “Hot Wang Festival” in Memphis, Tennessee, and Cordell Crutchfield has the wings that’ll make him king. But when his beau Dwayne takes in his troubled nephew, it becomes a recipe for disaster. Suddenly, a first place trophy isn’t the only thing Cordell risks losing.

2019 Broadway Production of The Inheritance (Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)

The Inheritance, Part One by Matthew López (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 12m)
Decades after the height of the AIDS epidemic, The Inheritance tells the story of three generations of gay men in New York City attempting to forge a future for themselves. Inspired by E.M. Forster’s masterpiece Howards End, this two-part play is an epic examination of survival, healing and what it means to call a place home. Intended to be performed side by side with The Inheritance, Part Two (US).

The Mystery of Love & Sex by Bathsheba Doran (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 3m)
Deep in the American South, Charlotte and Jonny have been best friends since they were nine. She’s Jewish, he’s Christian, he’s Black, she’s white. Their differences intensify their connection until sexual desire complicates everything in surprising, compulsive ways. An unexpected love story about where souls meet and the consequences of growing up. 

The Remains by Ken Urban (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
It’s just another dinner with the in-laws, right? Kevin and Theo have been married for ten years, and for this dinner, they have decided its time to tell their nearest and dearest about their life-changing news. Balancing bitter and sweet with a deep sense of love, honesty and irony, The Remains is a story of moving forward together yet apart, wherever the heart may take you.

The Reservoir by Jake Brasch (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 4m)
Josh is on medical leave from NYU. He’s come home to Denver to get his life together but can’t manage to stay sober. Struggling with fogginess, memory loss, shame and regret, he finds unlikely allies in his four zany grandparents and resolves to bring them along on the road to recovery. When he can no longer help his grandparents, they begin to help him. Heartbreaking and hilarious, The Reservoir explores dementia and alcoholism with aching tenderness and lots of humor.

The Rolling Stone by Chris Urch (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 3m)
Set in Uganda, a country subjected to severe anti-homosexuality laws, The Rolling Stone is an intimate yet explosive family drama about two brothers at odds – one a gay man in a clandestine relationship, and the other a church pastor who fervently rails against the lifestyle his brother is forced to conceal.  

Theo by Martin Moran (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
After a fraught exodus almost a decade ago, Theo returns to his hometown in the Catskills, only to learn the health of his mother, Margaret, is deteriorating. What was supposed to be a quick reconciliation balloons into an extended stay, pulling Theo back into the orbits of people he hasn’t seen in years: his sister Beth, her transgender child Maddy and a former classmate Abe, who is now Theo’s mother’s nurse. As they help Margaret through the last phase of her life, they’re forced to lean on each other and to reveal parts of themselves they would much rather stay hidden. A tender, heartwarming play about family, forgiveness and the importance of being present.

This Bitter Earth by Harrison David Rivers (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2m)
Intimate, romantic and devastating, this gripping new play about a young Black writer and his white lover, a Black Lives Matter activist, asks, “What is the real cost of standing on the sidelines?” Over the years, Jesse and Neil negotiate the complex “firsts” of their relationship against a backdrop of political demonstrations and discord. With history unfolding around them every day, Jesse and Neil must contend with the fact that, no matter their response to social turmoil, they cannot remain untouched by it. 

This Much (or An Act of Violence Towards the Institution of Marriage) by John Fitzpatrick (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3m, 3 any gender)
Gar can’t decide between the man who plays games and the man on one knee with a ring. In fact, Gar can’t decide on anything because every choice seems like a compromise. Everyone wants answers but nothing lives up to the image he has in his head. Facades start crumbling, his world implodes around him, and Gar just wants to dance with his friends. This Much (or An Act of Violence Towards the Institution of Marriage) is a play about how we define ourselves: through objects, clothes, traditions and other people.

Trans Scripts, Part 1: The Women by Paul Lucas (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 7w, 7 any gender)
Based on over 70 interviews conducted around the world by playwright Paul Lucas, this unique play is a compelling exploration of the lives of trans women, as told in their own words. These compelling stories are honest, funny, moving, insightful and inspiring, but most of all, they are human, shedding light not on our differences but on what we all, as humans, share.   

Wolf Play by Hansol Jung (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 2m, 1 any gender, 1gnc)
When a white American father un-adopts his Korean-born son, he discovers that the new parents are a lesbian couple, so he spends the rest of the play trying to get the boy back. Wolf Play is a messy, funny, disturbing theatrical experience grappling with a wolf, a puppet and the very prickly problem of “What is a family, and what do we need from families today?” 

You Bury Me by Ahlam (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 3m, 1 any gender adult)
This story is about a city of exhaust fumes, drunken phone calls, first kisses, hysteria, sweat and laughter: Cairo. Coming of age in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, six young Egyptians navigate friendship, loss and secret Grindr dates in the city that made them. Winner of The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2020, You Bury Me is an explosive political debut from Ahlam about a generation emerging from a national trauma, determined to live and love freely.

Musicals

A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 6 any gender)
Meet Usher: a Black, queer writer writing a musical about a Black, queer writer writing a musical about a Black, queer writer. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical, Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, blisteringly funny masterwork exposes the heart and soul of a young artist grappling with desires, identity and instincts he both loves and loathes. Bold and heartfelt in its truth-telling, A Strange Loop is the big, Black and queer-ass Great American Musical for all!  

Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill: The Musical by Diablo Cody, Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 7w, 5m + Ensemble)
Based on Alanis Morissette’s world-changing music, this Tony and Grammy Award-winning new musical about a perfectly imperfect American family is brimming with joy, strength, love, courage and life. 

Diva: Live From Hell by Nora Brigid Monahan and Alexander Sage Oyen (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 1 any gender)
As president of the drama club at Ronald Reagan High School and the star of every school play, Desmond Channing spent most of his short life in the spotlight. But when Evan Harris, a hotshot transfer from New York, challenges his throne, Desmond responds, as any diva would, with lethal force. Now, stuck in the Seventh Circle, Hell’s most squalid cabaret venue, Desmond is forced to relive his disturbing tale of woe. As he presents his one-millionth consecutive show, Desmond performs with a desperate vigor in the hopes that he can prove he’s repented and be freed from this eternal, campy torment.

Ernxst, or The Importance of Being by Justin Elizabeth Sayre, Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 22 any gender)
This innovative, electro-pop musical romp through Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest maintains the original’s manners and misgivings in the search for love but adds to Wilde’s vision by breaking down boundaries around gender and identity, reminding us all of the importance of being exactly who we are. 

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie by Tom MacRae, Dan Gillespie Sells and Jonathan Butterell (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 8w, 10m)
Everybody’s talking about this ebullient, life-affirming musical! Instead of a traditional career, 16-year-old Jamie New of Sheffield dreams of becoming a drag queen. Supported by his brilliant, loving mum and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies, and steps out of the darkness into the spotlight.

Fun Home by Jeanine Tesori, Lisa Kron and Alison Bechdel (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4w, 2m, 1 girl, 2 boys)
When her father dies unexpectedly, graphic novelist Alison dives deep into her past to tell the story of the volatile, brilliant, one-of-a-kind man whose temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, Alison relives her unique childhood playing at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality, and the looming, unanswerable questions about her father’s hidden life.

2018 Broadway Production of Head Over Heels (Joan Marcus)

Head Over Heels by James Magruder, Jeff Whitty and The Go-Go’s (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4w, 3m, 1 any gender plus ensemble)
This laugh-out-loud love story is set to the music of the iconic 1980s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, including the hit songs, “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.” A hilarious, exuberant celebration of love, this bold musical comedy follows the escapades of a royal family on an outrageous journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction – only to discover the key to their realm’s survival lies within each of their own hearts. Also available in a High School Edition (US/UK).

Lizzie by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Tim Maner and Alan Stevens Hewitt (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4w)
Rage! Sex! Betrayal! BLOODY MURDER! A rock-show retelling of the bloody legend of America’s first and favorite axe-wielding double-murderess and hometown girl, Lizzie Borden. This thrilling musical is set to a searing rock score reminiscent of Bikini Kill, the Runaways and Heart.

Southern Comfort by Dan Collins, Julianne Wick Davis, Kate Davis, Robert DuSold & Thomas Caruso (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 5w, 6m)
Based on the 2001 Sundance Film Festival documentary, Southern Comfort follows the last year of Robert Eads, a transgender man in Georgia, as he is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. He surrounds himself with his chosen family, who are predominantly transgender, as they share monthly potluck meals.

The Evolution of Mann by Douglas J. Cohen and Dan Elish (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 1m)
The Evolution of Mann follows Henry Mann, a thirty-something-year-old single New Yorker eager to settle down… or so he thinks. After receiving an invitation to his ex-fiancée’s wedding, Henry and his lesbian roommate embark on a quest to find his soulmate, his perfect date. 

The View UpStairs by Max Vernon (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 2w, 8m)
When a young fashion designer from 2017 buys an abandoned building in the French Quarter of New Orleans, he finds himself transported to the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant 70s gay bar, sparking an exhilarating journey of self-exploration that spans two generations of queer history. This smash off-Broadway hit, featuring a gritty glam-rock score and a tight-knit ensemble of unforgettable characters, asks what has been gained and lost in the fight for equality, and how the past can help guide all of us through an uncertain future. 

Scenes and Monologues

In partnership with the Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival, Concord Theatricals proudly publishes and licenses their collections of scenes and monologues specifically for gender-nonconforming actors. Read more about each below!

FIRST EDITION

Overheard: Fourteen Commissioned Monologues Written by TNB2S+ Artists for TNB2S+ Artists by A.A. Brenner, Victor I. Cazares, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin, Isaac Gómez, Sam Hamashima, Bianca Leigh, Azure D. Osborne-Lee, Sylvan Oswald, travis l. tate, UGBA, Else Went, Liqing Xu and Sharifa Yasmin (US)

For the grand finale of the inaugural Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival in October 2022, 14 transgender, non-binary and Two-Spirit+ (TNB2S+) playwrights were commissioned to create original monologues inspired by the prompt “overheard on a patio” to be performed by TNB2S+ performers in an evening co-conceived by L Morgan Lee and George Strus titled Overheard. In this collection, fourteen monologues explore varied themes such as love, friendship, accessibility, the supernatural, the Virgin Mary, perseverance, nature and more!

This collection includes, in this order:

Hot Ladies by A.A. Brenner (US)
(Monologue, Dramatic Comedy / 1 gnc)
Chris, a transmasculine guy who uses a wheelchair, sits before the steps to a bar’s outdoor patio. And, yes – those steps are completely inaccessible to any mobility device.

Orla by Bianca Leigh (US)
(Monologue, Comedy / 1 gnc)
Orla sits at a café table in a beautiful dress and large pair of sunglasses, contemplating what it means to age in relation to being a trans woman. For now, she must finish her Perrier.

I Brought the Rice or Honor to Us All by Sam Hamashima (US)
(Monologue, Comedy / 1 gnc)
Leah talks of dinner parties and making rice.

Mother Mary, Sinner Mary by Isaac Gómez (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
The virgin Mother Mary talks of pregnancy and her experiences after being trapped outside for 38,000 years.

The Trouble by Azure D. Osborne-Lee (US)
(Monologue, Dramatic Comedy / 1 any gender)
Someone’s favorite tree – lovingly named Sheila, complete with a plaque and all – has been cut down to a stump.

New Skin by travis l. tate (US)
(Monologue, Comedy / 1 gnc)
A waiter named Marci gossips about a couple they are serving, their most recent breakup and the nature of healing.

Heatwave by Sylvan Oswald (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
Ancient – a conduit for things heard and imagined, an antenna of sorts – contemplates a heatwave at a palimpset of times where our trancestors emerged.

Lost and Gained by Liqing Xu (US)
(Monologue, Dramatic Comedy / 1 gnc)
A person gets a gender-affirming haircut and is still figuring our their feelings about it.

Piazza Pizza Minerva by Victor I. Cazares (US)
(Monologue, Comedy / 1 any gender)
Tristán eats pizza and chats on the phone with a friend about a scheme to get the current tenants out of the building they just bought.

You Know That Feeling by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (US)
(Monologue, Comedy / 1 any gender)
星 / XING comments on human conversation and the social feeling of eating chips and salsa and wants to know… What have you heard lately?

A Moment with “Blonde” by Frank Ocean by UGBA (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
Jade sits by the phone, begging their partner to take them back after a mistake.

How to Become a Ghost – A Guide by Else Went (US)
A transfemme performer in a memorable dress muses on love, breakups and the ghosts of our lives.

Pick Me Girl by Sharifa Yasmin (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
Amina – an anxious trans woman – lets out her feelings about being a “pick me girl” as she decides what to do about a man she’s been seeing.

The Impenetrable Darkness of the Fearful Human Heart by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
A Small Voice in the Nether Regions of Mankind muses on the nature of civilization and life.

SECOND EDITION

Bliss: A Collection of Commissioned Scenes and Monologues by TNB2S+ Artists for TNB2S+ Artists by R. Réal Vargas Alanis, Preston Max Allen, Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel, Shualee Cook, Dante Green, Nazareth Hassan, Dena Igusti, Haruna Lee, L Morgan Lee, Rob Madge, Noax and Kit Yan (US)

Following the success of Overheard, L Morgan Lee and George Strus joined forces again to create another collection for the grand finale of the second annual Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival. Inspired by the prompt “euphoria: a feeling of well-being or elation,” 12 transgender, nonbinary and Two-Spirit+ (TNB2S+) playwrights tackle what it means to find, feel and give bliss. Ranging from bitingly satirical to eerily supernatural to beautifully lyrical, this knockout series of monologues and scenes is deeply fulfilling.

This collection includes, in this order:

Life (Cont.) by Noax (US)
(Short Play, Drama / 1w, 1m, 3 gnc)
A group of friends sits on the beach watching the sunset in the evening in another world. While sipping on preferred beverages, they reminisce about Earth and their previous lives.

Pink Flowers by Rob Madge (US)
(Monologue, Dramatic Comedy / 1 gnc)
Ronnie reminisces on the memory of a community theatre meet-cute from 2008 and the notion of how one sees themself over time.

Super Mariodyssey by Shualee Cook (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2 gnc)
Found family Izzy and Dex talk about their experiences with gender euphoria and Super Mario Brothers while Dex packs to move out on their own for the first time.

cornucopia by nazareth hassan (US)
(Monologue, Comedy / 1 gnc)
Agent Phillips completes their last observation of the day.

Karaoke Night by Preston Max Allen (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3 any gender)
A group of friends visit a karaoke bar, where they chat about song selection, sobriety and relationships.

Two or Eight by Kit Yan (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
An older trans man muses about what we put in our bodies.

Love Is Other People by Dante Green (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
A person ruminates on the meaning of love.

Soledad’s Journey by Esperanza Rosales Balcárel (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
A Hollywood actress returns to the house of her non-affirming family for the first time in years.

Love Is Bliss by R. Réal Vargas Alanis (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3 gnc)
A group of friends – including two former lovers – make s’mores and chat about sexuality.

Awake, Unafraid by Dena Igusti (US)
(Short Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2 gnc)
Saphira helps their friend Mega with their death doula training. Together, they contemplate death and life.

Hallucination by Haruna Lee (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
A person recounts a time they hallucinated – and what happened in the aftermath.

The Learning Curve by L Morgan Lee (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 7 gnc)
It’s the Pride special on the show The Learning Curve – and they’re ready to discuss LGBTQIA+ representation in the arts.

THIRD EDITION

DARE: Scenes and Monologues for TNB2S+ Artists by Jayne Deely, Nikhil Mahapatra, Nora Brigid Monahan, D.A. Mindell, Esmé Maria Ng, Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Imani Russell, Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Jen Silverman, Ianne Fields Stewart, Sasha Velour and Dillon Yruegas (US)

In the third volume of plays from the Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival, George Strus and L Morgan Lee commissioned twelve transgender, nonbinary and Two-Spirit+ (TNB2S+) playwrights to write short scenes and monologues inspired by the prompt “truth // dare.”

This collection includes, in this order:

Trick by Jen Silverman (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
A mysterious being performs a life-altering magic trick.

Seed Between the Lines by Imani Russell (US)
(Scene, Dramatic Comedy / 2 gnc)
Junie finds themself somewhere unexpected, but at least Radio is there to lend a hand.

D.A.R.E., or Just Say Maybe by Nora Brigid Monahan (US)
(Monologue, Comedy / 1 gnc)
Miss D.A.R.E. shares some important information about the dangers of drugs.

Between Truth and Cahaba by Ianne Fields Stewart (US)
(Scene, Dramatic Comedy / 2 gnc)
A Black couple’s canoe trip opens new avenues for communication.

Do you think I’m funny? by Nikhil Mahapatra (US)
(Monologue, Dark Comedy / 1 gnc)
M has reached a breaking point.

eels by Sophie Sagan-Gutherz (US)
(Scene, Comedy / 2 gnc)
In this scene, two friends lounge outside an infinity pool, preparing for battle.

Branded by Jordan Ramirez Puckett (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1 gnc)
Evan has trouble forgetting their past.

Mind the Gap by Esmé Maria Ng (US)
(Scene, Comedy / 4 any gender)
A twenty-two-year-old wonders if a May-December romance is in their future.

Thanks Granny, Love Coyote by Dillon Yruegas (US)
(Monologue, Dramatic Comedy / 1 gnc)
A grandson lights a candle and connects with his grandmother’s spirit.

BBQ by Jayne Deely (US)
(Scene, Comedy / 3 gnc)
Chandy tells their friends a long-kept secret.

getting into drag in five minutes by Sasha Velour (US)
(Monologue, Dramatic Comedy / 1 gnc)
Getting into drag may take five minutes now, but for Venus, it’s really been a lifelong process.

Joe, Interrupted by D.A. Mindell (US)
(Scene, Satire / 6 any gender)
Joe Biden receives advice on his political future from an unlikely source.

For more great plays and musicals, visit Concord Theatricals in the US or UK.