New Dramatists
424 West 44th Street, NYC, 10036
(212) 757-6960
http://newdramatists.org
Or:
AO International
1963 W. Foster Ave. #2,
Chicago, IL 60640
aoegel@aoegelinternational.com
FULL LENGTH PLAYS
1001
A postmodernist take on The Arabian Nights, by way of Edward Said, Azar Nafisi, Borges, Hitchcock, Calvino, and Monty Python, among many others. Premiered at Denver Center Theater in 2007, subsequent productions at The Contemportary American Theater Festival, Page 73, Theater @ Boston Court, Mixed Blood, Rorschach Theater, Collaboraction, Just Theater, UCSD, UW-Milwaukee, Montclair University, and DePaul University, 2007-10 (click here for reviews). Developed in Soho Rep Writer/Director and Phase 2 Labs, The O'Neill Playwrights' Conference, and Colorado New Play Summit, 2005-07. Staged readings at Baltimore Centerstage and New York Theater Workshop. 2F, 4M, 1hr 50 min.
Box Americana
A commission from The Working Theater, this play is a surreal vision of the Wal-Martization America. Inspired by the largest class-action suit in history (a sex discrimination suit against Wal-Mart), this play follows a group of hapless American women and their encounters with the Ghost of Sam Walton (who seems to be channeling Jean Baudrillard). Developed at The Lark, The Playwrights' Foundation's "In The Rough" Series, Portland Center Stage's JAW/West Festival, and The O'Neill Playwrights' Conference, 2006-08; staged readings at Playwrights' Horizons and Woolly Mammoth Theater, 2008. 3F, 3M. 90 minutes.
Civilization (All You Can Eat)
In progress; a commission from Clubbed Thumb. Conceived as a Joint-Stock style play about food, this play follows a group of hapless people living through upheaval of the 2008 election and economic crash. Features a director and cast of a racist Twix commercial, a failed academic peddling chaos theory to middle managers, a waitress and her retail worker daughter who turns to porn to avoid a foreclosure, and a factory farm hog who wants to be feral, then eventually civilized. Kind of like a Robert Altman movie with a Mac Wellman character running around in it. In addition to Clubbed Thumb, developed at Sundance and The Denver Center's Colorado New Play Summit, and presented in translation at the Voices of Change Festival, Bielefeld, Germany, 2009-10. 4F, 2M, 75 minutes.
Darwin's Challenge
A broad farce in which the young Charles Darwin winds up on a 21st-century reality show, said show based on a total mangling of Darwinism. A Sloan Commission from Ensemble Studio Theatre, developed at The Lark, 2008-10. 3F, 3M, running time 90 minutes.
Hamilton Township
Based on a true story, this play chronicles my own history with murder, resurrection, and environmental catastrophe in suburban New Jersey. guest-starring the Jersey Devil, or someone a lot like him. Premiered at Salvage Vanguard in 2008 (click here for reviews). Developed in Soho Rep Writer/Director and Phase 2 Labs, 2006-07. 2F, 2M. 70 minutes.
Maria/Stuart
I adapted Friedrich Schiller's Maria Stuart without actually reading it, sort of (I eventually read it). Contains elements of Kaufman & Hart, Chekhov, and nuts or traces of nuts (i.e., my family. Though any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental, gramma!). Premied at Woolly Mammoth, 2008; subsequent productions at Theater Schmeater and REDEYE, 2009-10 (click here for reviews). Developed in Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, and read at Dog & Pony in Chicago, 2007-09. 5F, 1M, 110 minutes.
Moloch and Other Demons
A totally insane thing I wrote that had a really terrible production (no offense, actors, it wasn't your fault). It's about an invasion of hell by heaven, and it turns out pretty much like the Iraq War did. Heavily inspired by the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Francis Bacon. I'm thinking of rewriting it with act one as a Beijing Opera and act two as a tight one-act about war. Developed with HERE, Salvage Vanguard, The Brick, and Circle X, 2002-04. Cast and length flexible, not too many if you use a lot of puppets.
The New Jersey Book of the Dead
A labor drama in an office park in Jersey City. Contains surveillance and mystical elements. Premiered in Indiana at the Bloomington Playwrights Project in 2004, produced in Austin, TX, with The Vestige Group, 2007.
This Storm is what we Call Progress
My Jewish identity play, about heresy, the Kabbalah, the price of power, and schizophrenia. Also featuring the historically inaccurate Yiddishized ghosts of Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin. Premiered with Rorschach Theater, 2008 (click here for reviews). Developed with Soho Rep, The Lark, Theater J, and P73, 2003-06. 3F, 2M, 2 hours.
SHORT PLAYS
(Anti)gone
A dark comedy. Antigone is charged with the crime of burying her brothers -- even though the war left no bodies for her to bury. Haemon could take over the kingdom if he ever stops playing video games and trying to kill his father. And airline pretzels and huge corporate deals cannot satisfy Erisycthon's hunger. In this postmodern take on Antigone, daily life becomes mythic in the urban non-landscape of malls, highways, and airports. 2 females, 2 males, 2 either (5-22 actors possible: 2-10 females, 3-12 males). Staged reading at The Williamstown Theater Festival, 2005. Published in Three Classics, from Playscripts Inc.
In His Bold Gaze My Ruin Is Writ Large
A wacky short take on Racine's Phaedra, using found text from martial arts message boards, some puppets, and lots of cheap red wine. Developed at the Orchard Project with members of Radiohole, The Production Company, and Drama of Works, 2007, and published in KNOCK, and in Three Classics, from Playscripts Inc. Cast flexible. 20 minutes.
The Island of Never Giving Way on Your Desire
A site-specific play about the secret origin of Roosevelt Island, inspired by the writings of Anne Carson and Antonin Artaud, and I don't know, Brigadoon? Performed site-specifically with Sanctuary Playwrights Theatre, 2004. Published in KNOCK. 1F, 3M, 15 minutes.
Luna
A creation myth of the sun and moon, as told by a cokehead. Premiered at Theatre of NOTE, 2007. A very short piece for three actors.
Prometheus Rendered
Basically Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, using the officially sanctioned torture techniques used at Guantanamo Bay. Fun for the whole family! Written for Theaters Against War, where it was directed by HERE's Kristin Marting, 2007. Published in Three Classics, from Playscripts Inc. 1M, 3 any, 15 minutes.
The Southridge High Forensics Team Presents Assorted Tales of Robin Hood
A YA comedy commissioned and produced by The Keen Company and Playscripts Inc.'s "Keen Teens" program, 2009. A high school forensics team tries to do Robin Hood and it goes off the rails. Hilarity ensues! 30 minutes, large cast, for kids, published by Playscripts Inc.
Yetsi'at Metzrahim
A goofy take on the story of Exodus, meant to be performed with a flexible cast making puppets out of whatever can be found at a dinner table, including the food. Originally written for The Foundry Theater's Thanksgiving Dinner, fully produced at Collaboraction's Sketchbook X Festival, 2009-10.
