Aaron Coleman

AARON COLEMAN is a New York City-based playwright and lyricist originally from Los Angeles. He is an '22-'23 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow and a First Year Member of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. His play TELL ME I’M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD is a Finalist for the 2023 O'Neill NPC and was placed on the 2022 Short List for the Yale Drama Series Prize. His play UNCLE REMUS, HIS LIFE AND TIMES, AS TOLD TO AARON COLEMAN was part of The Old Globe's 2023 Powers New Voices Festival.

In February 2022, his play WHERE HAVE ALL THE FAIRIES GONE? was presented by Brave New World Repertory Theatre. Recently, his original short family musical LEO’S BIG DAY OUT (music by Chuck Pelletier) was virtually staged by Circle in the Square Theatre School, where he is the Playwright-in-Residence...

Over the past few years, Aaron has been a Semi-Finalist for the Princess Grace Award, a two-time Finalist for the Jerome Fellowship at The Playwrights’ Center (2022, 2021), Finalist for New York Theater Workshop's 2050 Fellowship (2020), Finalist for The Civilians’ R&D Group (2020, 2021), Finalist for Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship (2019), and a Finalist for the Playwrights’ Week at The Lark (2019). He's been a Finalist a whole heck of a lot! He has also been a Semi-Finalist for the Creative Residency at SPACE on Ryder Farms. He has developed work with The Workshop Theater and others.

Other projects include lyricist for the Off-Broadway musical IMELDA written with East West Players and New Musicals Inc. (Pan Asian Rep, David Henry Hwang Theatre), and co-book writer for STAY FOREVER: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF DUSTY SPRINGFIELD (Renberg Theatre). As a lyricist with New Musicals, Inc. in Los Angeles, Aaron has developed musicals for McCoy Rigby Entertainment, the Celebration Theatre, and American Folklore Theatre.

Aaron is also a director with work presented with New Musicals, Inc., New York’s Prospect Theater Company and the Hudson Theatre Los Angeles.

MFA graduate: Writing for Screen and Television from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
B.A.: in Drama from the University of California, Irvine.

He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and The Playwrights' Center.

TELL ME I'M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, The Last Gay Play

by Aaron Coleman

Cast Size

Genre

comedy,

commedia dell'arte,

dark comedy,

fantasy,

farce,

horror,

satire,

verse

2023 Finalist, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
2023 Semi-Finalist, Blue Ink Award, American Blues Theater
2023 Workshop Production, UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television
2022 Short List, Yale Drama Series Prize

YAS, BISH! This will be #BestSummerEver!
The party rages on in a fierce Fire Island home, and nothing can stop it. Not even two unexpected houseguests, who set off a reckoning of...

YAS, BISH! This will be #BestSummerEver!
The party rages on in a fierce Fire Island home, and nothing can stop it. Not even two unexpected houseguests, who set off a reckoning of apocalyptic proportions. TELL ME I’M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD blows up the tropes of the gay party play—and shakes up theatrical genres quicker than a cosmo laced with poppers—to tell the tale of a Black gay man and an Asian-American gay man seeking a place in the mainstream gay community. But the world has other plans.

by Aaron Coleman

Cast Size

Genre

drama,

fable/folktale,

period

- Reading, The Old Globe, Powers New Voices Festival 2023
- Semi-Finalist, 2021 Princess Grace Award
- Selected for 2019 Primary Stages/ESPA Drills Reading Series

THERE'S MORE TO THE TALE THAN ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH.
Uncle Remus’s Brer Rabbit folktales have enchanted Americans for over a century—no one more so than Aaron Coleman, a writer trying to find his own story in today’s world. Needing inspiration, Aaron finds himself in a plantation cabin in the late 1800s, face-to-face with the legend himself. As Remus starts spinning his wild stories, conjuring up a fantastical world of rabbits and foxes, he also reveals his untold life growing up in the antebellum South—a life that inspired his tales of family, courage, and survival.

UNCLE REMUS, HIS LIFE AND TIMES, AS TOLD TO AARON COLEMAN is a new play about visiting the stories of the past to understand the present—and reveals the ultimate truths about being a black storyteller in America.

by Aaron Coleman

Cast Size

Genre

comedy,

drama,

period,

romantic comedy

In a Greenwich Village gay bar in 1968, two strangers meet. One is a Southern Black man who moved to New York to escape a world of intolerance. The other is an extravagant white man who escapes into old movies and gin martinis. As they stand at the intersection of the Civil Rights Movement and the nascent Gay Liberation Movement, the two men form a burgeoning relationship. What they discover is that the true...

by Aaron Coleman

Cast Size

Genre

adventure,

comedy,

musical,

young audiences

*Virtual Production, Circle in the Square Theater School, 2021

It’s the perfect new musical for a brand new spring in New York! 8-year-old Leo has a dream: to go outside and sing with a real-life musician—if only his worrywart aunt would let him. But when their cat, Gata, escapes out the brownstone window, it’s up to Leo to save her. With the help of a couple fabulous new friends, Leo takes a big step outside...

*Virtual Production, Circle in the Square Theater School, 2021

by Aaron Coleman

Cast Size

Genre

comedy,

dark comedy,

drama,

melodrama,

tragedy,

zoom

This 10-minutes play wonders, Will the two characters ever get out of this Zoom play?

Website: https://www.aaroncolemanwrites.com/

Artistic Statement

Representation

Jonathan Mills, Paradigm Talent Agency
jmills@paradigmagency.com

Recommended by

TRUNK BRIEF JOCK THONG

by DJ Hills

From the moment the play starts, DJ's razor-sharp, quick-as-lightning dialogue brings us into the acid-tongued, yet deeply vulnerable world of a group of queer friends searching for connection. In a culture that promotes the idea of BFFs, the play deftly explores the fragility of friendship, and the tragedy when friendships fall apart. Yet, DJ finds the gentle poetic beauty that lies within not only the characters, but all of us. Also, this play is an electric field day for actors, allowing them to stretch their comedic chops while also showing real heart. I hope theaters find this and produce...

From the moment the play starts, DJ's razor-sharp, quick-as-lightning dialogue brings us into the acid-tongued, yet deeply vulnerable world of a group of queer friends searching for connection. In a culture that promotes the idea of BFFs, the play deftly explores the fragility of friendship, and the tragedy when friendships fall apart. Yet, DJ finds the gentle poetic beauty that lies within not only the characters, but all of us. Also, this play is an electric field day for actors, allowing them to stretch their comedic chops while also showing real heart. I hope theaters find this and produce it!

read more
THE ROCKET MEN

by Crystal Skillman

An excellent and engrossing play that wraps up a fascinating history lesson in a propulsive character-rooted drama. An expertly-crafted, highly-theatrical page-turner, Crystal’s play reads like a contemporary thriller set mid-century. She takes a fascinating story about America’s ambitious space program and tackles compelling themes of assimilation, atonement for the past, the meaning of being American, and the challenges of valuing our heroes despite troublesome pasts. Most importantly, Crystal keeps the play entertaining while also finding the wider social themes. This is what theater is...

An excellent and engrossing play that wraps up a fascinating history lesson in a propulsive character-rooted drama. An expertly-crafted, highly-theatrical page-turner, Crystal’s play reads like a contemporary thriller set mid-century. She takes a fascinating story about America’s ambitious space program and tackles compelling themes of assimilation, atonement for the past, the meaning of being American, and the challenges of valuing our heroes despite troublesome pasts. Most importantly, Crystal keeps the play entertaining while also finding the wider social themes. This is what theater is about.

read more
Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson)

by Rachel Lynett

Hilarious, witty, bold, and ultimately deeply profound, Lynett’s daring deconstruction of the “Black play” kicks open the door to include Black folx standing at the intersection(ality) of race, ethnicity, culture, and sexuality. Her brilliant concept envisions an alternative American social order where everyone has self-segregated by race into self-governed states to ensure safe spaces. The reckoning comes from multi-racial citizens searching for where they belong. The themes are deep, but Lynett’s deft ear and humorous style make this play a joy to read from start to finish. I cannot wait to...

Hilarious, witty, bold, and ultimately deeply profound, Lynett’s daring deconstruction of the “Black play” kicks open the door to include Black folx standing at the intersection(ality) of race, ethnicity, culture, and sexuality. Her brilliant concept envisions an alternative American social order where everyone has self-segregated by race into self-governed states to ensure safe spaces. The reckoning comes from multi-racial citizens searching for where they belong. The themes are deep, but Lynett’s deft ear and humorous style make this play a joy to read from start to finish. I cannot wait to see it on stage!

read more
PULP VÉRITÉ

by Crystal Skillman

A timely, thrilling piece that gives an unwavering look at how conflicts in the Middle East trickle down to American lives today. It is a deft exploration on how youthful ideologies yearn to create a better world, but invariably face high-stakes challenges. It also shows how media--in this case filmmaking--influences the narrative, and how the result may be searingly unexpected. A great play for an ensemble cast looking to dig into rich material.

A timely, thrilling piece that gives an unwavering look at how conflicts in the Middle East trickle down to American lives today. It is a deft exploration on how youthful ideologies yearn to create a better world, but invariably face high-stakes challenges. It also shows how media--in this case filmmaking--influences the narrative, and how the result may be searingly unexpected. A great play for an ensemble cast looking to dig into rich material.
OPEN

by Crystal Skillman

Brilliantly imaginative! Crystal has written a piece that blends theatrical magic and illusion into a powerful tale of love and loss. The play presents a young woman who so thoroughly believes in magic that she uses the fantasy of it to cope with the realities of life. Written with deep humanity, the piece explores how we often deceive ourselves with emotional slights-of-hand. This is a serious piece, but not heavy. Crystal imbues it with her trademark energy, whimsy, and vibrant sense of play. Actor and director alike will have great fun exploring this wonderfully moving story.

Brilliantly imaginative! Crystal has written a piece that blends theatrical magic and illusion into a powerful tale of love and loss. The play presents a young woman who so thoroughly believes in magic that she uses the fantasy of it to cope with the realities of life. Written with deep humanity, the piece explores how we often deceive ourselves with emotional slights-of-hand. This is a serious piece, but not heavy. Crystal imbues it with her trademark energy, whimsy, and vibrant sense of play. Actor and director alike will have great fun exploring this wonderfully moving story.

Aaron Coleman

Scripts

TELL ME I'M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, The Last Gay Play

by Aaron Coleman

UNCLE REMUS, HIS LIFE AND TIMES, As Told to Aaron Coleman

by Aaron Coleman

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FAIRIES GONE?

by Aaron Coleman

LEO'S BIG DAY OUT

by Aaron Coleman

TWO CHARACTERS TRAPPED IN A ZOOM PLAY

by Aaron Coleman

TRUNK BRIEF JOCK THONG

THE ROCKET MEN

Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson)

PULP VÉRITÉ

OPEN