Mad Gravity (Published by Playscripts)

by William Missouri Downs

FINALIST AT THE EUGENE O'NEILL - WINNER OF THE REVA SHINER COMEDY AWARD from Bloomington Playwrights Project - Runner Up for the McNERNEY PLAYWRITING AWARD - PUBLISHED BY PLAYSCRIPTS

Also available in Spanish "Fuera de órbita"

"For a wildly different evening of fun theater." - Bloomington Herald times

You've heard of reality television; think of it as reality theatre. Mad Gravity is a comedy about Archie and...

FINALIST AT THE EUGENE O'NEILL - WINNER OF THE REVA SHINER COMEDY AWARD from Bloomington Playwrights Project - Runner Up for the McNERNEY PLAYWRITING AWARD - PUBLISHED BY PLAYSCRIPTS

Also available in Spanish "Fuera de órbita"

"For a wildly different evening of fun theater." - Bloomington Herald times

You've heard of reality television; think of it as reality theatre. Mad Gravity is a comedy about Archie and Eudora, two Dada performance artists who have built a theatre in their living room. Every night before a live audience, they act out their lives. They want to build a second experimental space in their kitchen, but they just cannot take any more kitchen-sink realism. Artaud would be proud of them.

Tonight's Theatre of Cruelty performance concerns their teenage daughter, who wants to marry the son of Joe and Mary. All the parties involved have been invited to the house/theatre. But when the kids forget to tell Joe and Mary about the live audience, all hell breaks loose.

Things go from bad to worse when they discover that a comet has been spotted in the night sky. There is a 50/50 chance it will hit the earth. Everyone, including the audience, may have only an hour to live. This forces the parents to stop arguing about insignificant things like marriage and start arguing about great philosophical questions of life: Is the comet a sign from God, or is it just gravity? And what the hell is performance art?

The one-page second act (that's right, the second act is one page long) does something no play has ever attempted in the history of theatre - it lets the audience in on the meaning of life.

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Mad Gravity (Published by Playscripts)

Recommended by

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center: Mad Gravity (Published by Playscripts) by William Missouri Downs

“

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend William Missouri Downs and their play Mad Gravity as a finalist for our 2013 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one finalist out of hundreds of submissions, the strength of this play’s writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process.

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend William Missouri Downs and their play Mad Gravity as a finalist for our 2013 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one finalist out of hundreds of submissions, the strength of this play’s writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process.

”

Character Information

MARY

An Unadventurous Professional Mother

Character Age

40ish

Character Race/Ethnic Identity

Any

Character Gender Identity

Cisgender Female
Can be played by:
- Actor Age
  
  40s,
  
  50s
- Actor Gender Identity
  
  Female
Dr. JOE

A Dentist Who Dreams Of A Life In The Theatre

Character Age

40ish

Character Race/Ethnic Identity

Any

Character Gender Identity

Cisgender Male
Can be played by:
- Actor Age
  
  40s,
  
  50s
- Actor Gender Identity
  
  Male
ARCHIE

Dakota’s father - A Outgoing Performance Artist

Character Age

40ish

Character Race/Ethnic Identity

Any

Character Gender Identity

Cisgender Male
Can be played by:
- Actor Age
  
  40s,
  
  50s
- Actor Gender Identity
  
  Male
DAKOTA

A Teenager In Love

Character Age

teenager

Character Race/Ethnic Identity

Any

Character Gender Identity

Cisgender Female
Can be played by:
- Actor Age
  
  Teens
- Actor Gender Identity
  
  Female
EUDORA

Dakota’s mother - A Upbeat Bubbly Epicurean

Character Age

40ish

Character Race/Ethnic Identity

Any Race

Character Gender Identity

Cisgender Female
Can be played by:
- Actor Age
  
  40s,
  
  50s
- Actor Gender Identity
  
  Female

Development History

Type Reading, Organization Eugene O'Neill Finalist, Year 2014

Production History

Type University, Organization Fresno State University, Year 2022
Type Community Theater, Organization Spark Theatre Company, Year 2019
Type Professional, Organization QUIVER Productions (India), Year 2019
Type Community Theater, Organization Mesa Encore Theatre, Year 2018
Type Community Theater, Organization Mesa Encore Theatre, Inc, Year 2018
Type Community Theater, Organization SALT, Year 2018
Type Community Theater, Organization Ol Church Theatre, Year 2017
Type Professional, Organization Riverfront Playhouse, Year 2017
Type Professional, Organization Grand Teatro De Huelva Theatre in Huelva, Spain, Year 2016
Type Community Theater, Organization Flying H Group, Year 2015
Type Professional, Organization The Bards Theatre, Louisville, KY , Year 2015
Type Professional, Organization The Flying H Group Stage , Ventura, CA, Year 2015
Type Professional, Organization The No Strings Theatre Company , Year 2015
Type Professional, Organization Bloomington Playwrights Project, Year 2014
Type University, Organization College of Charleston , Year 2014

Awards

The Reva Shiner Comedy Award

Bloomington Playwrights Project

Winner

2013
Eugene O'Neill

Eugene O'Neill

Finalist

2014

Genre

comedy,

farce

Subject Matter Keywords

comedy,

end of the world,

Farce

Length

90 minutes to two hours

Cast Size

Age of Intended Audience

ages 18 and up

Narrative Attributes

Centers Female Characters

Supporting Materials

Published Script

https://Playscripts.com

Script Sample

MAD GRAVITY - sample.pdf

Reviews

Bloomington Herald Times

“
"For a wildly different evening of fun theater."
”
Louisville Weekly

“
"Exquisitely smart, with brilliant comic riffs on Dadaism, religion, domestic relations and personal morality (after all, if the world is actually going to end in an hour, figuring out whether looting, praying or having sex is the best way to validate the significance of life becomes a question of some
”
Bloomington Herald Times

“
"For a wildly different evening of fun theater."
”
Arts Louisville

“
"Downs is playing clever, agile games with reality, perception and identity here. This play is a highly elastic exercise in irony and self-awareness of from that put me in mind of The Stunt Man, and perhaps I'm a sucker for this stuff, but Mad Gravity is inspired satire and one
”
Insider Louisville

“
"Funny, fast and thought-provoking"
”
Insider Louisville

“
“A few minutes into “Mad Gravity,” my mouth was hanging open and a goofy grin was splattered across my face. For the first 30 or 40 minutes of its run time, The Bard’s Town’s latest production is nearly perfect. It’s funny, fast and thought-provoking. It’s meta as all get out,
”
Lautrec Bombin Critical (Spain)

“
“This text by William Missouri speaks of the nature of people. How we condition the environment and especially the circumstances. Man is an animal by nature, although that animal and wild side we have very well kept inside and only comes when we cannot suppress it. When we can more
”
ETimes - India

“
“a crackerjack comedy… Typical of the playwright’s style, the narrative stirs up the audience, but in a subtle manner. It makes people realise that, sometimes, it’s not enough to sit in the dark and watch life unfold.”
”