John Jiler

JOHN JILER is a writer of both drama and prose. He was the recipient of both the Richard Rodgers Award and the Kleban Librettists' Award for his musical AVENUE X, which played in New York at Playwrights' Horizons and in some fifty cities around the world. He was a runner-up for the Weissberger Prize for his first full-length play SOUR SPRINGS. His work has been seen coast to coast, from the Eugene O'Neill National Playwright's Conference to the Kennedy Center to Seattle Rep and many places in between. His most recent book, Sleeping With The Mayor, was named a New York Times' "Most Notable Book." His first, Dark Wind, was called by the Village Voice "a classic." His most recent solo show, THE ROSENBERG\STRANGE FRUIT PROJECT, was seen at New Jersey Rep, 59E59, and the Edinburgh Festival...

JOHN JILER is a writer of both drama and prose. He was the recipient of both the Richard Rodgers Award and the Kleban Librettists' Award for his musical AVENUE X, which played in New York at Playwrights' Horizons and in some fifty cities around the world. He was a runner-up for the Weissberger Prize for his first full-length play SOUR SPRINGS. His work has been seen coast to coast, from the Eugene O'Neill National Playwright's Conference to the Kennedy Center to Seattle Rep and many places in between. His most recent book, Sleeping With The Mayor, was named a New York Times' "Most Notable Book." His first, Dark Wind, was called by the Village Voice "a classic." His most recent solo show, THE ROSENBERG\STRANGE FRUIT PROJECT, was seen at New Jersey Rep, 59E59, and the Edinburgh Festival, where it was nominated for a British Offie.
As a journalist he has also written for the NY Times, The Nation, and the Village Voice, where the stories that led to AVENUE X and Sleeping With The Mayor first appeared.
Among his current theatrical projects are BIG RED SUN, a World War Two-era story with composer Georgia Stitt, and his one man show RIPE, seen at both Playwrights Horizons and Theatre For The New City.
He has just completed his first novel, North Of Here, and three new plays; HALF MOON BAY, seen last year at the Nylon Fusion Theatre, SIROCCO, unveiled at the Actors Studio Playwrights\Directors Unit, and CHANNEL, recently workshopped at the Labyrinth Theatre.

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Scripts

THE ROSENBERG\STRANGE FRUIT PROJECT

by John Jiler

Cast Size
1
Genre
biography,
docudrama/historic,
drama,
immersive,
musical,
political

A one-person show about the youngest child of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Following the public execution of his parents, he was adopted by the man who wrote the song 'Strange Fruit,' seared into our consciousness by Billie Holiday. A single actor plays all the parts....the child, Holiday, W. E. B. DuBois (who arranged he adoption), the judge who handed down the sentence, and various other heroes and villains of...

A one-person show about the youngest child of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Following the public execution of his parents, he was adopted by the man who wrote the song 'Strange Fruit,' seared into our consciousness by Billie Holiday. A single actor plays all the parts....the child, Holiday, W. E. B. DuBois (who arranged he adoption), the judge who handed down the sentence, and various other heroes and villains of our politics from then 'til now.

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MALT POINT

by John Jiler

Cast Size
5
Genre
dark comedy,
drama

A dying man decides to pursue a long-lost love-----to the fury of his current wife.

A dying man decides to pursue a long-lost love-----to the fury of his current wife.

THE WIND

by John Jiler

Cast Size
5
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama

THE WIND is the tale of an inter-racial lesbian couple in desperate flight from the law as they dodge and weave through 21st Century America. The play seeks to explore the nature of love, and how its difficulties are exacerbated when boundaries of race and gender are crossed, and laws---of all kinds---are broken.

THE WIND is the tale of an inter-racial lesbian couple in desperate flight from the law as they dodge and weave through 21st Century America. The play seeks to explore the nature of love, and how its difficulties are exacerbated when boundaries of race and gender are crossed, and laws---of all kinds---are broken.

HALF MOON BAY

by John Jiler

1
Cast Size
4
Genre
dark comedy,
drama

HALF MOON BAY is the story of a Manhattan architect on a brilliant career path who becomes fascinated and ultimately obsessed by a simple-minded waitress……….sabotaging his marriage and his career.

HALF MOON BAY is the story of a Manhattan architect on a brilliant career path who becomes fascinated and ultimately obsessed by a simple-minded waitress……….sabotaging his marriage and his career.

THE BADGER HOUSE

by John Jiler

Cast Size
5
Genre
comedy,
drama

THE BADGER HOUSE is about a family thrown into chaos by the departure of its eldest son, a gifted dreamer, into thin air.

THE BADGER HOUSE is about a family thrown into chaos by the departure of its eldest son, a gifted dreamer, into thin air.

SIROCCO

by John Jiler

Cast Size
5
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy

SIROCCO is about a middle-class family that attempts to save the life of its dying matriarch by putting on a play, an enterprise about which they know nothing. The family hopes that the woman’s fragile grip on reality and general ennui---which has led her to stop eating----will be overcome by getting her to design the set of an avant-garde musical. The project lumbers into being despite many impediments; the...

SIROCCO is about a middle-class family that attempts to save the life of its dying matriarch by putting on a play, an enterprise about which they know nothing. The family hopes that the woman’s fragile grip on reality and general ennui---which has led her to stop eating----will be overcome by getting her to design the set of an avant-garde musical. The project lumbers into being despite many impediments; the chronic womanizing of the young director, the gambling addiction of the general manager, and the general naivete of everyone else about the intricacies and treacheries of the theatre….all of this as opening night approaches with life-or-death stakes.

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REVOLUTION

by John Jiler

Cast Size
7
Genre
adventure,
comedy,
dark comedy,
fable/folktale,
political

REVOLUTION, inspired by my time as a volunteer medic with the Occupy Wall Street movement, takes place on a luxury cruise ship in the Mediterranean, and seeks to find the point at which an ordinary shlemiel—even a privileged passenger—is pushed to the point of rebellion.

REVOLUTION, inspired by my time as a volunteer medic with the Occupy Wall Street movement, takes place on a luxury cruise ship in the Mediterranean, and seeks to find the point at which an ordinary shlemiel—even a privileged passenger—is pushed to the point of rebellion.

CHANNEL

by John Jiler

1
Cast Size
2
Genre
drama,
immersive

CHANNEL is a two-character piece about a volatile white actor and an erudite black doctor who come together, in an explosive way, over the health of a child.

CHANNEL is a two-character piece about a volatile white actor and an erudite black doctor who come together, in an explosive way, over the health of a child.