Deb Hiett

Playwright Deb Hiett’s play “Circle Forward” was selected for 2024 Durango Playfest, the 2023 Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival (FL), and the Antaeus Theatre Company “Lab Results” Series (Los Angeles), as well as being a Finalist for the 2024 Local Theater Company Lab 13 Festival and a Semifinalist for the 2024 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Some of Deb’s full-length plays include “The Super Variety Match Bonus Round!” (premiered at Rogue Machine Theater, Los Angeles), “Miss Keller Has No Second Book” (premiered at Gulfshore Playhouse, Naples, FL), “The Escape Thingy” and “The Clearing in the Jacoby,” (both Finalists for the Reva Shiner Comedy Award). Her play “Call Time” was a Semifinalist in the 2022 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival. She’s thrice been a...

Playwright Deb Hiett’s play “Circle Forward” was selected for 2024 Durango Playfest, the 2023 Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival (FL), and the Antaeus Theatre Company “Lab Results” Series (Los Angeles), as well as being a Finalist for the 2024 Local Theater Company Lab 13 Festival and a Semifinalist for the 2024 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Some of Deb’s full-length plays include “The Super Variety Match Bonus Round!” (premiered at Rogue Machine Theater, Los Angeles), “Miss Keller Has No Second Book” (premiered at Gulfshore Playhouse, Naples, FL), “The Escape Thingy” and “The Clearing in the Jacoby,” (both Finalists for the Reva Shiner Comedy Award). Her play “Call Time” was a Semifinalist in the 2022 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival. She’s thrice been a Semifinalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and her play “The Presentation” was selected for the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival.

Her short comedy film “Gratitude Jar Time Capsule” won “Best Comedy Television Pilot” in the Atlanta Comedy Film Festival. Deb’s short film “Open House” won Los Angeles Film Festival/FunnyorDie’s “Make ‘Em LAFF” Showcase, Best Comedy Short at the Women in Comedy Festival Film Night, and Best Video Short at iOWest’s Funny Women LA Festival. Her short film “A Bit of Counseling” (co-written with Richard Kuhlman) won the Audience Awards at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival.

She’s also an actress, musician, and regular panelist on the NPR comedy/quiz show “Says You!” More at www.DebHiett.com.

Scripts

Miss Keller Has No Second Book

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

*World Premiere Gulfshore Playhouse, March/April 2018
*Staged Reading at Writers Theatre of New Jersey, January 2019
*Staged Reading at New Jersey Repertory Company, March 2017
*Selection, 2016 Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival
*Finalist, 2017 Ashland New Play Festival
*Finalist, 2017 Local Lab 2017 New Play Festival (Boulder)
*Finalist, 2015-2016 Route 66 Theatre Company New Play...

*World Premiere Gulfshore Playhouse, March/April 2018
*Staged Reading at Writers Theatre of New Jersey, January 2019
*Staged Reading at New Jersey Repertory Company, March 2017
*Selection, 2016 Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival
*Finalist, 2017 Ashland New Play Festival
*Finalist, 2017 Local Lab 2017 New Play Festival (Boulder)
*Finalist, 2015-2016 Route 66 Theatre Company New Play Workshop (Chicago)
*Semifinalist, 2016 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
*Semifinalist, 2016 PlayPenn New Play Development Conference
*Semifinalist, 2016 Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship

It’s been nearly 50 years since the notoriously reclusive Agnes Keller published her first and only book. Now, in the wake of a life-changing event, Agnes must face the pressures from outside her small sanctuary as she grapples with the inevitability of change, the tangled tethers of family, and the question of an artist’s obligation to the world.

Circle Forward

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager, Ethan, who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When Ethan and his mom Lexi come to Mia's house for lunch, Mia must face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.
Selected for Durango Playfest workshop 2024 (Colorado), Gulfshore Playhouse’s New Works Festival (Naples, FL), September 2023; and the Antaeus...

Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager, Ethan, who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When Ethan and his mom Lexi come to Mia's house for lunch, Mia must face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.
Selected for Durango Playfest workshop 2024 (Colorado), Gulfshore Playhouse’s New Works Festival (Naples, FL), September 2023; and the Antaeus Theatre Company “Lab Results” Staged Reading Series, April 2022; Finalist for Local Theatre Company New Play Festival 2024 (Boulder, CO); Semi-Finalist for 2024 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and 2023-2024 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting.

The Super Variety Match Bonus Round!

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

"Top Ten World Premiere Plays 2016-2017" -- StageSceneLA
"Ingenious..." -- The Los Angeles Times
"Undeniably hilarious, unexpectedly moving, and utterly unique..." -- StageSceneLA

For Mags Eagleton, the world has become a scary place kept fiercely at bay by the confines of her well-worn recliner. When her loving husband Erns surprises her by renting their late son's bedroom to a very modern kid who is visiting...

"Top Ten World Premiere Plays 2016-2017" -- StageSceneLA
"Ingenious..." -- The Los Angeles Times
"Undeniably hilarious, unexpectedly moving, and utterly unique..." -- StageSceneLA

For Mags Eagleton, the world has become a scary place kept fiercely at bay by the confines of her well-worn recliner. When her loving husband Erns surprises her by renting their late son's bedroom to a very modern kid who is visiting their rural Texas town for a three-day desert music festival, things take a turn for the trippy. This rollicking comedy explores the risks of desperate love, the exemplary form of the 1970s game show, and the psychedelic side effects of fear your doctor may not have warned you about.

The Rogue Machine Theatre Production (World Premiere) opened November 2016, was "Ovation Recommended" (L.A. Stage Alliance), voted "Top World Premieres of 2016/2017" by StageSceneLA, and was extended twice by popular demand.

The Escape Thingy

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

FINALIST: 2018 Reva Shiner Comedy Award. SEMIFINALIST: 2018 Ashland New Play Festival, 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2018 Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival. Two very different couples meet in an "Escape Room" game night, each needing very different types of escape. The clock is literally ticking as they attempt to solve the puzzles, distinguish facts from alternative facts, and weigh the risks of...

FINALIST: 2018 Reva Shiner Comedy Award. SEMIFINALIST: 2018 Ashland New Play Festival, 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2018 Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival. Two very different couples meet in an "Escape Room" game night, each needing very different types of escape. The clock is literally ticking as they attempt to solve the puzzles, distinguish facts from alternative facts, and weigh the risks of unlocking the door to the dangerous world outside.

This Is Crazy

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

Sometimes life throws you a curveball, or, in Laila and Jackson's case, a giant, pointy, mysterious (and possibly intergalactic) Thing. Will they be able to hold on to their understanding of how the world works, achieve their hard-earned dreams, and still look their oddball neighbors in the eye again? Life is full of surprises, but this is crazy.

Sometimes life throws you a curveball, or, in Laila and Jackson's case, a giant, pointy, mysterious (and possibly intergalactic) Thing. Will they be able to hold on to their understanding of how the world works, achieve their hard-earned dreams, and still look their oddball neighbors in the eye again? Life is full of surprises, but this is crazy.

Rolling

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

When The Besto Pesto Palace hires a formerly-famous, classically-trained, somewhat recalcitrant celebrity to shoot their first television commercial, nothing goes as planned. (10-minute play)

When The Besto Pesto Palace hires a formerly-famous, classically-trained, somewhat recalcitrant celebrity to shoot their first television commercial, nothing goes as planned. (10-minute play)

The Presentation

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

*Finalist, 2017 Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival *Finalist, 2017 Heideman Award, Actor's Theatre of Louisville

A young woman struggles to understand what happened on the day of her first big corporate presentation. Ten-minute play.

*Finalist, 2017 Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival *Finalist, 2017 Heideman Award, Actor's Theatre of Louisville

A young woman struggles to understand what happened on the day of her first big corporate presentation. Ten-minute play.

Chain Link

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

Two young people from very different worlds find themselves connected by an unlikely string.

Two young people from very different worlds find themselves connected by an unlikely string.

The Clearing in the Jacoby

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

FINALIST: 2019 Reva Shiner Comedy Award, 2019 Garry Marshall New Works Festival. In an ancient Australian forest famous for being an international destination for committing suicide, five very different people find themselves in need of elusive answers, each other, and a government employee named Sharon.

FINALIST: 2019 Reva Shiner Comedy Award, 2019 Garry Marshall New Works Festival. In an ancient Australian forest famous for being an international destination for committing suicide, five very different people find themselves in need of elusive answers, each other, and a government employee named Sharon.

Call Time

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

A group of misfit drama kids break into their abandoned high school auditorium in search of one last night of connection, hope, rhymes, and Fritos. (SEMIFINALIST, Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival 2022 & Ashland New Play Festival 2019)

A group of misfit drama kids break into their abandoned high school auditorium in search of one last night of connection, hope, rhymes, and Fritos. (SEMIFINALIST, Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival 2022 & Ashland New Play Festival 2019)

Recess

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

Two former classmates meet under unusual circumstances.

Two former classmates meet under unusual circumstances.

DaisyChain

by Richard Kuhlman and Deb Hiett

Synopsis

A modern adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's 'La Ronde' using 2 actors, bending genders and giving each actor 5 roles to work.

A modern adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's 'La Ronde' using 2 actors, bending genders and giving each actor 5 roles to work.

Holding

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

*Semifinalist, 2015 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference

Three worldviews collide when a wealthy American woman finds herself stuck with an Egyptian traveler, questioned by a small-town sergeant in a police holding room in Ireland.
Marisa is desperate for anything that might help her get out of the handcuffs in which she wakes up, and Omar, her Egyptian roommate, might be someone different than he appears...

*Semifinalist, 2015 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference

Three worldviews collide when a wealthy American woman finds herself stuck with an Egyptian traveler, questioned by a small-town sergeant in a police holding room in Ireland.
Marisa is desperate for anything that might help her get out of the handcuffs in which she wakes up, and Omar, her Egyptian roommate, might be someone different than he appears to be. Sergeant McGovern struggles to maintain his small-town authority in a post-9/11 world, and the three of them must face how their perceptions affect their perceived positions.

Safe Haven: A Video Call Play

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

A social worker tries to help a young woman who is struggling to free herself from an abusive relationship, but in the world today, it's hard to find a safe haven.

A social worker tries to help a young woman who is struggling to free herself from an abusive relationship, but in the world today, it's hard to find a safe haven.

Momma Peg's Kitchen

by Deb Hiett

Synopsis

Unlikely cooking sensation Momma Peg attempts her first live studio audience broadcast cooking show and finds the recipes she's baking are not the only things that are falling apart.

Unlikely cooking sensation Momma Peg attempts her first live studio audience broadcast cooking show and finds the recipes she's baking are not the only things that are falling apart.