In Process
Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (2W, 3M)
At the infamous (real-life!) Internet Research Agency, professional internet trolls work for days at a time to influence American popular opinion, creating the illusion of consensus—or conflict. There are floors for twitter, for facebook, memes, fake news, and comments sections.
RUSSIAN TROLL FARM imagines the daily lives of these workers as they invent characters, stage conflicts, and create conspiracies. What happens to your grasp on the truth when your whole job is lying? How does your identity shift when you impersonate Americans for a living? Does anybody want Thai food? From Thai Palace or Thai Pavillion?
[2020] Full Online Production at Theaterworks Hartford/Theater Squared/The Civilians (dir. Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson)
[2020] Online Workshop at TheaterSquared (dir. Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson)
[2019] Workshop and Reading at New Dramatists via the Play Time program (dir. Kip Fagan)
[2019] Workshop with New Dramatists (dir. Rachel Chavkin)
Maestro (2W, 2M and orchestra)
Musical with composer Ben Wexler
Grove/Whitman Commission
Rutka's Diary
Musical with composers Jocelyn MacKenzie and Jeremy Lloyd-Styles
Dramaturg Ken Cerniglia
Commissioned by David Schwartz and Amy Langer
The Hole (3W, 4M)
A workplace comedy about the problem with the patriarchy, set in a Florida morning zoo radio show in 1995.
Some background: “the hole” is an insider radio term* that refers to the member of a morning “zoo crew” whose job is to scold the show’s main shock jock by saying things like “come on, that’s not nice!” or “you guys are going to hell!” The hole is the show’s voice of reason, its wet blanket, the person who changes the subject. The hole makes the other personalities on air seem funnier by comparison. The hole is almost always the only woman in the room.
Struggling comedian Rocky has been forced to move back to Fort Carter (a part of New Jersey that happens to be in Florida) to take care of her dying dad. Broke and bored, she jumps at the chance to join the local morning zoo radio show — until she learns that her new boss, shock jock Booger, expects her to be his on-air “hole.” She needs the money, so she tries to fit herself into the format. The only problem is that Rocky is noticeably funnier than Booger, and keeps accidentally upstaging him. This play considers the inherent link between representation and revolution. It asks who gets to be in the center of our stories: “why do you get to talk and I have to laugh?”
[2018] Workshop and Reading with New York Stage and Film (dir. Danya Taymor)
[2018] Workshop and Reading with Asolo Rep (dir. Celine Rosenthal)
[2017] Commissioned by Asolo Rep and the Toulmin Foundation
Plus upcoming musical theater collaborations with Stephen Trask and Andrew Bancroft
And sound play commissions from Playwrights Horizons and New Dramatists
Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (2W, 3M)
At the infamous (real-life!) Internet Research Agency, professional internet trolls work for days at a time to influence American popular opinion, creating the illusion of consensus—or conflict. There are floors for twitter, for facebook, memes, fake news, and comments sections.
RUSSIAN TROLL FARM imagines the daily lives of these workers as they invent characters, stage conflicts, and create conspiracies. What happens to your grasp on the truth when your whole job is lying? How does your identity shift when you impersonate Americans for a living? Does anybody want Thai food? From Thai Palace or Thai Pavillion?
[2020] Full Online Production at Theaterworks Hartford/Theater Squared/The Civilians (dir. Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson)
[2020] Online Workshop at TheaterSquared (dir. Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson)
[2019] Workshop and Reading at New Dramatists via the Play Time program (dir. Kip Fagan)
[2019] Workshop with New Dramatists (dir. Rachel Chavkin)
Maestro (2W, 2M and orchestra)
Musical with composer Ben Wexler
Grove/Whitman Commission
Rutka's Diary
Musical with composers Jocelyn MacKenzie and Jeremy Lloyd-Styles
Dramaturg Ken Cerniglia
Commissioned by David Schwartz and Amy Langer
The Hole (3W, 4M)
A workplace comedy about the problem with the patriarchy, set in a Florida morning zoo radio show in 1995.
Some background: “the hole” is an insider radio term* that refers to the member of a morning “zoo crew” whose job is to scold the show’s main shock jock by saying things like “come on, that’s not nice!” or “you guys are going to hell!” The hole is the show’s voice of reason, its wet blanket, the person who changes the subject. The hole makes the other personalities on air seem funnier by comparison. The hole is almost always the only woman in the room.
Struggling comedian Rocky has been forced to move back to Fort Carter (a part of New Jersey that happens to be in Florida) to take care of her dying dad. Broke and bored, she jumps at the chance to join the local morning zoo radio show — until she learns that her new boss, shock jock Booger, expects her to be his on-air “hole.” She needs the money, so she tries to fit herself into the format. The only problem is that Rocky is noticeably funnier than Booger, and keeps accidentally upstaging him. This play considers the inherent link between representation and revolution. It asks who gets to be in the center of our stories: “why do you get to talk and I have to laugh?”
[2018] Workshop and Reading with New York Stage and Film (dir. Danya Taymor)
[2018] Workshop and Reading with Asolo Rep (dir. Celine Rosenthal)
[2017] Commissioned by Asolo Rep and the Toulmin Foundation
Plus upcoming musical theater collaborations with Stephen Trask and Andrew Bancroft
And sound play commissions from Playwrights Horizons and New Dramatists