James Ijames

James is a Philadelphia based actor and playwright. He has appeared regionally at The Arden Theatre Company, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Wilma Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage and Interact Theatre Company. James is a founding member of Orbiter 3 Playwright Producing Collective, a member of the InterAct Core Writers Group and a mentor for The Foundry. James’ plays include The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, Moon Man Walk, WHITE, Kill Move Paradise, The Threshing Floor, and Osiris:Redux. ...Miz Martha was developed with PlayPenn and the Wilma Theater and received its world premiere with Flashpoint Theater. Moon Man Walk was world premiered with Orbiter 3 Playwright Collective. His play WHITE was apart of the 2015 PlayPenn New Play Conference and the...

James is a Philadelphia based actor and playwright. He has appeared regionally at The Arden Theatre Company, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Wilma Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage and Interact Theatre Company. James is a founding member of Orbiter 3 Playwright Producing Collective, a member of the InterAct Core Writers Group and a mentor for The Foundry. James’ plays include The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, Moon Man Walk, WHITE, Kill Move Paradise, The Threshing Floor, and Osiris:Redux. ...Miz Martha was developed with PlayPenn and the Wilma Theater and received its world premiere with Flashpoint Theater. Moon Man Walk was world premiered with Orbiter 3 Playwright Collective. His play WHITE was apart of the 2015 PlayPenn New Play Conference and the 2015 Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival. James is a recipient of F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist, two Barrymores for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play for Superior Donuts and Angels in America and a Barrymore for Best Direction of a Play for The Brother Size. Is an Independence Foundation Fellow and he is a 2015 Pew Fellow. James is the 2015 recipient of the Terrence McNally New Play Award for WHITE and the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize for ... Miz Martha. He received a BA in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a MFA in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James is Assistant Professor of Theatre at Villanova University and resides in South Philadelphia.

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Scripts

TJ LOVES SALLY 4EVER

by James Ijames

3
Cast Size
5—100
Genre
dark comedy,
movement/physical,
musical,
political,
satire

TJ is a University Dean. He’s in love with Sally. Sally does not love TJ. Sally is a student. This will not be easy. There’s a marching band, several step shows and the dismantling of the legacies that keep us tied down.

In short: Imagine if Thomas Jefferson was a University Dean and Sally Hemings was his work-study student. Isuncomfortable.

TJ is a University Dean. He’s in love with Sally. Sally does not love TJ. Sally is a student. This will not be easy. There’s a marching band, several step shows and the dismantling of the legacies that keep us tied down.

In short: Imagine if Thomas Jefferson was a University Dean and Sally Hemings was his work-study student. Isuncomfortable.

TANK STRANGER SEE THE FACE OF THE DIVINE IN THE CONDENSATION OF A WATER GLASS

by James Ijames

Cast Size
4
Genre
fable/folktale

The Stranger family are weird and Tank Stranger is the weirdest of them all. So weird he might be aliens...or part alien? Bi-terrestrial? In this, super black, super futuristic retelling of the birth of Dionysus, the Stranger family discover one of theirs is from another planet and has to choose whether to stay on this slowly warming dumpster fire called earth or go to another world in another galaxy where the...

The Stranger family are weird and Tank Stranger is the weirdest of them all. So weird he might be aliens...or part alien? Bi-terrestrial? In this, super black, super futuristic retelling of the birth of Dionysus, the Stranger family discover one of theirs is from another planet and has to choose whether to stay on this slowly warming dumpster fire called earth or go to another world in another galaxy where the people live like ghosts and drink sunlight like water.

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YOUTH

by James Ijames

3
Cast Size
6
Genre
comedy,
pageant,
young audiences

A young man discovers he likes boys, A youth pastor tries in vain to connect with a pizza delivery person and a small church is disrupted when a mysterious young man joins the youth group who has magical powers.

A young man discovers he likes boys, A youth pastor tries in vain to connect with a pizza delivery person and a small church is disrupted when a mysterious young man joins the youth group who has magical powers.

Kill Move Paradise

by James Ijames

3
Cast Size
4
Genre
dark comedy,
experimental

Kill Move Paradise takes the Elysium of Greek antiquity and flips the script. Set in a netherworld prepared for its newly deceased inhabitants, we follow Isa, Daz, Grif and Tiny as they try to make sense of the world they have been "untimely ripped" from and this new paradise they find themselves in. Inspired by recent events, Kill Move Paradise is a expressionistic buzz saw through the contemporary myth that...

Kill Move Paradise takes the Elysium of Greek antiquity and flips the script. Set in a netherworld prepared for its newly deceased inhabitants, we follow Isa, Daz, Grif and Tiny as they try to make sense of the world they have been "untimely ripped" from and this new paradise they find themselves in. Inspired by recent events, Kill Move Paradise is a expressionistic buzz saw through the contemporary myth that "all live matter" and a portrait of the slain, not as degenerates who deserved death but as heroes who demand that we see them for the splendid beings they are.

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WHITE

by James Ijames

4
Cast Size
4
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy

In this modern Frankenstein story, a young artist trying to get into a major contemporary art museum hires a woman to claim his work. This plays spins out of control as it explores issues of race, gender, sexuality, and art.

In this modern Frankenstein story, a young artist trying to get into a major contemporary art museum hires a woman to claim his work. This plays spins out of control as it explores issues of race, gender, sexuality, and art.

Moon Man Walk

by James Ijames

4
Cast Size
4
Genre
adventure,
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
romantic comedy,
science fiction

A young man learns the truth about his absent father after he travels home to attend his mother's funeral. This magical journey through space and time takes us literally to the moon and back.

A young man learns the truth about his absent father after he travels home to attend his mother's funeral. This magical journey through space and time takes us literally to the moon and back.

The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington

by James Ijames

14
Cast Size
7
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
farce,
period

The recently-widowed “Mother of America” lies helpless in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and cared for by the very slaves that are free the moment she dies. The fever dream of terrifying theatricality that follows investigates everything from Martha Washington’s family to her historical legacy.

The recently-widowed “Mother of America” lies helpless in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and cared for by the very slaves that are free the moment she dies. The fever dream of terrifying theatricality that follows investigates everything from Martha Washington’s family to her historical legacy.