Sean Dunnington

Sean Dunnington is a New York-based playwright from Hawai‘i.

His plays include Inversion, Untitled Hitler Play, Jew Bash, The Children's Farm, Zap, Flat Fish, and Hawaiian Shake. His work has been produced nationally and internationally, with workshops and readings in Hawai’i, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, and Singapore, as well as in libraries, museums, old basements, public radio stations, indie film festivals, and LGBTQ+ centers.

Sean has held artistic residencies with the East-West Center, Ka Waiwai Collective, The Workshop Theater, Orchard Project (Audio Lab), and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office.

He has received fellowships from MacDowell, the Dramatists Guild Foundation, Magic Theatre, Creative Labs Hawai‘i...

Sean Dunnington is a New York-based playwright from Hawai‘i.

His plays include Inversion, Untitled Hitler Play, Jew Bash, The Children's Farm, Zap, Flat Fish, and Hawaiian Shake. His work has been produced nationally and internationally, with workshops and readings in Hawai’i, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, and Singapore, as well as in libraries, museums, old basements, public radio stations, indie film festivals, and LGBTQ+ centers.

Sean has held artistic residencies with the East-West Center, Ka Waiwai Collective, The Workshop Theater, Orchard Project (Audio Lab), and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office.

He has received fellowships from MacDowell, the Dramatists Guild Foundation, Magic Theatre, Creative Labs Hawai‘i, and the Culture of Health Leadership Institute for Racial Healing.

He won the 2021 California Arts Council’s Emerging Artist Award and was named a 2024-2025 Henry Luce Scholar, during which he spent a year in Singapore as a Visiting Resident Playwright at Centre 42.

He is the founding director of Tree Moss Hawaiʻi (est. 2021), a collective of emerging and established Hawaiʻi playwrights who center new play development, advocacy, and strengthening the theatrical landscape of Hawaiʻi.

Sean’s belief in the expansive potential of playwriting extends beyond the stage and into communal healing processes and queer StoryMaps. He views playwriting as a way for each of us to voice our narratives and foster mutual understanding.

Sean holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts (2024), a BA in Applied Playwriting from the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies at the University of Redlands (2019), and a Diploma in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (2017).

Scripts

Inversion

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

A crew of Earth’s best and brightest scientists lands on Mars, tasked with building the first colony. But when the mission goes awry, so does the chain of command. Stranded in an alien world with no orders or way home, the crew is forced to confront the question: without rules, how do they survive (each other), who calls the shots, and what happens next, after that, and way later? As the lines between here and...

A crew of Earth’s best and brightest scientists lands on Mars, tasked with building the first colony. But when the mission goes awry, so does the chain of command. Stranded in an alien world with no orders or way home, the crew is forced to confront the question: without rules, how do they survive (each other), who calls the shots, and what happens next, after that, and way later? As the lines between here and there blur, nothing feels as distant as it once seemed.

Jew Bash

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

Little Jew David is having a Bar Mitzvah that’s destined to make Hawai'i the new Promised Land, but that’s too bad because he doesn't want to be Jewish anymore! So he does the only logical thing and runs away from his ceremony and into a series of ancient lava tubes. Chased by his overbearing mother, secretly gay brother, and the rest of his mishmash congregation, Little Jew David’s faith is put to the ultimate...

Little Jew David is having a Bar Mitzvah that’s destined to make Hawai'i the new Promised Land, but that’s too bad because he doesn't want to be Jewish anymore! So he does the only logical thing and runs away from his ceremony and into a series of ancient lava tubes. Chased by his overbearing mother, secretly gay brother, and the rest of his mishmash congregation, Little Jew David’s faith is put to the ultimate test.

Untitled Hitler Play

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

A rising theatre group wants to make it big with their Nazi play, but they'll need to re-enlist a disenfranchised former member of the group - their only Jewish one - to play Hitler if they want to satisfy the producer.

A rising theatre group wants to make it big with their Nazi play, but they'll need to re-enlist a disenfranchised former member of the group - their only Jewish one - to play Hitler if they want to satisfy the producer.

The Children's Farm

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

Three latchkey kids build a fantastical world filled with gay imaginary friends & parental sock puppets, but when reality creeps in and secrets are revealed, the bonds that once held them together might break them apart.

Three latchkey kids build a fantastical world filled with gay imaginary friends & parental sock puppets, but when reality creeps in and secrets are revealed, the bonds that once held them together might break them apart.

Flat Fish

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

After Willy goes missing, his big sister Jill quests to bring him home. Using clues from his left-behind journal, she pieces together a life much darker than she once understood. She needs to find Willy before it's too late!

After Willy goes missing, his big sister Jill quests to bring him home. Using clues from his left-behind journal, she pieces together a life much darker than she once understood. She needs to find Willy before it's too late!

Hawaiian Shake

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

The Robinsons want a new home in Hawai'i but can't help but blow it up (literally)! Faced with a Hawaiian girl hellbound on exposing their nuclear secrets and three unhinged spirits on a haunt, paradise seems far.

The Robinsons want a new home in Hawai'i but can't help but blow it up (literally)! Faced with a Hawaiian girl hellbound on exposing their nuclear secrets and three unhinged spirits on a haunt, paradise seems far.

Zap

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

Jessie really does want to come out to her family, but every time she tries, she either gets electrocuted or shoved into an improv exercise! How will she escape this mindfuck memoryscape improv sequence nightmare?

Jessie really does want to come out to her family, but every time she tries, she either gets electrocuted or shoved into an improv exercise! How will she escape this mindfuck memoryscape improv sequence nightmare?

Corporate Jedis

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

Stacey wishes for a promotion, and maybe today, God's Business Partner (an IBM Infoprint 2085) will finally grant it. The only thing in Stacey's way is her work bestie, Gregg, and his vision for a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force.

Stacey wishes for a promotion, and maybe today, God's Business Partner (an IBM Infoprint 2085) will finally grant it. The only thing in Stacey's way is her work bestie, Gregg, and his vision for a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force.

espresso martini

by Sean Dunnington

Synopsis

Dom (maybe) cheated on Boon, and Boon (maybe) looked through Dom's Grindr, and someone is lying to the other, but the only way to figure out the truth is with a knife. Fingers and lives may be lost in the process.

Dom (maybe) cheated on Boon, and Boon (maybe) looked through Dom's Grindr, and someone is lying to the other, but the only way to figure out the truth is with a knife. Fingers and lives may be lost in the process.