Baylee Shlichtman

Baylee Shlichtman writes plays about love, autonomy, and magic in the mundane. Recently, her play SYMBIOTIC was awarded the 2026 Louise Wigglesworth Award for Excellence in Playwriting prize, and additional works were featured with Full Circle Players Emerging Voices, PlayGround Festival of New Works, and Theater Masters Take Ten. She has produced or developed her plays with AlterTheatre Ensemble, Curtis Theatre, Flamboyán Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Commons, New Relic Theatre, PlayGround-LA, UC Irvine, Urbanite Theatre, The Vagrancy Theatre, and The Workshop Theatre, among others. Upcoming publications with Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Company, Smith and Krauss, and Concord Theatricals. MFA, UC Riverside '27.

Baylee Shlichtman writes plays about love, autonomy, and magic in the mundane. Recently, her play SYMBIOTIC was awarded the 2026 Louise Wigglesworth Award for Excellence in Playwriting prize, and additional works were featured with Full Circle Players Emerging Voices, PlayGround Festival of New Works, and Theater Masters Take Ten. She has produced or developed her plays with AlterTheatre Ensemble, Curtis Theatre, Flamboyán Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Commons, New Relic Theatre, PlayGround-LA, UC Irvine, Urbanite Theatre, The Vagrancy Theatre, and The Workshop Theatre, among others. Upcoming publications with Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Company, Smith and Krauss, and Concord Theatricals. MFA, UC Riverside '27.

Scripts

Crone Story

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

It's Julia's 51st birthday, and she's just learned her dad is dead (bummer). Lucky for her, her moms are here to make up for it by throwing her the best fifty-first birthday party ever!! Part Roman history, part Fefu and Her Friends, CRONE STORY is a play about aging, story-telling--and chocolate cake.

It's Julia's 51st birthday, and she's just learned her dad is dead (bummer). Lucky for her, her moms are here to make up for it by throwing her the best fifty-first birthday party ever!! Part Roman history, part Fefu and Her Friends, CRONE STORY is a play about aging, story-telling--and chocolate cake.

Good Romans

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

It's 44 BCE, and Julius Caesar has been assassinated. Now, two siblings find themselves at the center of a deadly power struggle. Octavian wants his destiny. Octavia wants to be safe. Both of them want what's good for each other, but what is"good" when you're building an empire? In conversation with Shakespeare's ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, GOOD ROMANS is a play about power, patriarchy--and poetry.

It's 44 BCE, and Julius Caesar has been assassinated. Now, two siblings find themselves at the center of a deadly power struggle. Octavian wants his destiny. Octavia wants to be safe. Both of them want what's good for each other, but what is"good" when you're building an empire? In conversation with Shakespeare's ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, GOOD ROMANS is a play about power, patriarchy--and poetry.

The House of Flightless Birds

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

Updated 2/23/26

When undiagnosed autistic Manuel tosses a wish to a satellite to make him feel less alone, an injured sparrow crashes from the heavens into his apartment patio. Manuel takes the bird inside to nurse it back to health in secret from his family, but all does not go according to plan. A play about masculinity, family, and care.

Updated 2/23/26

When undiagnosed autistic Manuel tosses a wish to a satellite to make him feel less alone, an injured sparrow crashes from the heavens into his apartment patio. Manuel takes the bird inside to nurse it back to health in secret from his family, but all does not go according to plan. A play about masculinity, family, and care.

How the League of Evil Cowboy Clowns Took Down the Flapman For Good

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

The League of Evil Cowboy Clowns has been operating without their founding member for several months now, much to the dismay of number three Clown and League accountant Baby Blue. But when a new Junior Clown shows up to shake things up, long-buried questions of love and loyalty rise to the surface. A play about found family, fatalism, and living for the punchline.

The League of Evil Cowboy Clowns has been operating without their founding member for several months now, much to the dismay of number three Clown and League accountant Baby Blue. But when a new Junior Clown shows up to shake things up, long-buried questions of love and loyalty rise to the surface. A play about found family, fatalism, and living for the punchline.

In the Mouth of the Beast

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

A father-daughter caving team enters the treacherous Maw, a cave of unknown origin where the laws of physics and reality bend. Their goal is to retrieve an object theorized to possess properties that could be a game changer in clean energy research and the fight against climate change. But the Maw has an agenda of its own, one that will put their relationship to the test.

A father-daughter caving team enters the treacherous Maw, a cave of unknown origin where the laws of physics and reality bend. Their goal is to retrieve an object theorized to possess properties that could be a game changer in clean energy research and the fight against climate change. But the Maw has an agenda of its own, one that will put their relationship to the test.

Penelope: A Lesson in Drowning

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

*UPDATED 5/30/24*

Autistic Princess Penelope of Sparta has put off marriage for years by having her suitors challenge her father to a foot race she's rigged to ensure they'll never win. Self-proclaimed scoundrel Odysseus of Ithaca is sure he'll be the one to succeed by making Penelope fall so madly in love with him that she'll reveal the secret to winning. But Penelope won't be won over so easily, not when...

*UPDATED 5/30/24*

Autistic Princess Penelope of Sparta has put off marriage for years by having her suitors challenge her father to a foot race she's rigged to ensure they'll never win. Self-proclaimed scoundrel Odysseus of Ithaca is sure he'll be the one to succeed by making Penelope fall so madly in love with him that she'll reveal the secret to winning. But Penelope won't be won over so easily, not when getting married comes with the complete upheaval of the life she has worked so hard to order. A Greek Myth retelling/romcom about daddy issues, drowning, and occasionally awful disguises.

Symbiotic

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

Marichka, an aquarist at the Jellyfish Museum in Kyiv tries to keep the memory of her friend alive in the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian war. When a veteran starts to frequent the museum, the two form an unlikely connection that will alter the course of their lives. A play about cultivating hope and jellyfish.

Marichka, an aquarist at the Jellyfish Museum in Kyiv tries to keep the memory of her friend alive in the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian war. When a veteran starts to frequent the museum, the two form an unlikely connection that will alter the course of their lives. A play about cultivating hope and jellyfish.

This Road in the Shape of My Spine

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

UPDATED 3/28/25

An absurdist play about a man who walks through a desert, going somewhere, searching for something. His concerned friend tags along, much to the man's dismay. The two bicker about extinct animals, reminisce about Bjork, and eventually encounter the divine as they try to relearn how to be there for each other after drifting apart.

UPDATED 3/28/25

An absurdist play about a man who walks through a desert, going somewhere, searching for something. His concerned friend tags along, much to the man's dismay. The two bicker about extinct animals, reminisce about Bjork, and eventually encounter the divine as they try to relearn how to be there for each other after drifting apart.

Wilt

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

Updated 12/29/25

Evan is on the run. When he wraps his car around a tree, he’s rescued by two very different sisters and taken to their house. It's a place where objects appear at will, the walls are loud, and the flowers have their secrets. And then there's the stuffed elephant from his past that just won't go away. WILT is a gothic fairytale about want, food, and what nice guys ultimately deserve.

Updated 12/29/25

Evan is on the run. When he wraps his car around a tree, he’s rescued by two very different sisters and taken to their house. It's a place where objects appear at will, the walls are loud, and the flowers have their secrets. And then there's the stuffed elephant from his past that just won't go away. WILT is a gothic fairytale about want, food, and what nice guys ultimately deserve.

You'll Be Made of Ashes Too

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

After a mysterious camping accident, two sisters come together to bury their Mom and maybe repair their relationship. Here, memory is flammable. And there's a ghost in the house.

After a mysterious camping accident, two sisters come together to bury their Mom and maybe repair their relationship. Here, memory is flammable. And there's a ghost in the house.

The Club Oscuro Project

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

A researcher conducts an experiment with VR, only for the projection to develop humanlike responses.

A researcher conducts an experiment with VR, only for the projection to develop humanlike responses.

Dress (a sort of coda to Romeo and Juliet)

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

After a woman’s recent death, her mother and best friend choose a dress to bury her in.

After a woman’s recent death, her mother and best friend choose a dress to bury her in.

For Old Times' Sake

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

After making it in LA, a singer returns home to visit her childhood friend who happens to be a magical sentient mushroom. But the woods aren’t exactly what she remembers, neither is her friend. And neither is she.

After making it in LA, a singer returns home to visit her childhood friend who happens to be a magical sentient mushroom. But the woods aren’t exactly what she remembers, neither is her friend. And neither is she.

Good Romans

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

After the events of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, Octavia just wants to be a tree.

After the events of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, Octavia just wants to be a tree.

I hate your flowers

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

In a post-apocalyptic Earth abandoned by humanity, two sentient robots have a confrontation about the merits of gardening.

In a post-apocalyptic Earth abandoned by humanity, two sentient robots have a confrontation about the merits of gardening.

I think that this is where it's over for me

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

An autistic woman moves past a broken friendship by confronting her fear of drowning.

An autistic woman moves past a broken friendship by confronting her fear of drowning.

Undisputed

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

In this riff on KING LEAR, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia compete for their father's crown in a no-holds-barred wrestling match.

In this riff on KING LEAR, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia compete for their father's crown in a no-holds-barred wrestling match.

Witch Queen: A Snow White Reimagining

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

After years of no contact, Blanca unexpectedly drops in on her stepmother to ask for a deadly favor--one witch to another.

After years of no contact, Blanca unexpectedly drops in on her stepmother to ask for a deadly favor--one witch to another.

Woosh

by Baylee Shlichtman

Synopsis

The oldest palm tree in Los Angeles is visited by his friend the Santa Ana wind with an urgent message.

The oldest palm tree in Los Angeles is visited by his friend the Santa Ana wind with an urgent message.