Marilyn Schotland

Marilyn Schotland is a queer Jewish poet and playwright from Ann Arbor by way of Philadelphia. They are a Lambda Literary fellow, and a recipient of the Kennedy Center National Partners of the American Theater Julie Jensen Playwriting Award. Their work has been presented by Jewish Plays Project, The Ebell of Los Angeles, Villa Aurora, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. Marilyn holds a B.A. in History of Art, French, and History of Medicine from the University of Michigan, and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California.

Marilyn Schotland is a queer Jewish poet and playwright from Ann Arbor by way of Philadelphia. They are a Lambda Literary fellow, and a recipient of the Kennedy Center National Partners of the American Theater Julie Jensen Playwriting Award. Their work has been presented by Jewish Plays Project, The Ebell of Los Angeles, Villa Aurora, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. Marilyn holds a B.A. in History of Art, French, and History of Medicine from the University of Michigan, and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California.

Scripts

Somewhere Someone is Traveling Furiously Towards You

by Marilyn Schotland

2
Cast Size
5
Genre
dark comedy,
drama

Mourning her wife after a tragic accident, a recovering alcoholic and her nephew drive up the spine of Michigan to destroy the angel that killed her. Escaping their vengeance, the angel catches a ride with an ex-grad student searching for identity in the wake of his own loss. As the cars crisscross on the road, the world around them begins to collapse. Has all of this happened before? Will it be destined to...

Mourning her wife after a tragic accident, a recovering alcoholic and her nephew drive up the spine of Michigan to destroy the angel that killed her. Escaping their vengeance, the angel catches a ride with an ex-grad student searching for identity in the wake of his own loss. As the cars crisscross on the road, the world around them begins to collapse. Has all of this happened before? Will it be destined to repeat itself? A midwestern gothic exploring guilt and queer time, Somewhere Someone is Traveling Furiously Towards You is a play for every gay person who never learned how to drive.

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Perihelion

by Marilyn Schotland

2
Cast Size
6
Genre
docudrama/historic,
drama,
period

Summer, 1939: three friends are on the hunt for a comet in Paris. Vibrant astronomer Rosa dreams of fame, prickly medievalist Jude longs for an end to academic woes, and mercurial ex-thief Val hopes to be sober enough to see it. When Rosa's eager protégé Sigal enters the fold, the bonds uniting them all begin to fray. As the summer comes to an end, a betrayal splinters the group irreparably just as France...

Summer, 1939: three friends are on the hunt for a comet in Paris. Vibrant astronomer Rosa dreams of fame, prickly medievalist Jude longs for an end to academic woes, and mercurial ex-thief Val hopes to be sober enough to see it. When Rosa's eager protégé Sigal enters the fold, the bonds uniting them all begin to fray. As the summer comes to an end, a betrayal splinters the group irreparably just as France marches headlong into conflict with Germany. Six years later, Rosa has gone missing. The remaining friends tenuously reunite to look for her, but complications arise when Rosa’s impetuous younger brother shows up with Val’s ex-lover in tow. The comet hunters are forced to grapple with the choices they made before, during, and after the war.

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The Dybbuk on Orchard

by Marilyn Schotland

2
Cast Size
9
Genre
adaptation,
comedy,
drama,
period

In 1936 New York, mercurial ex-yeshiva boy Val Kaufmann owns a tea shop on Orchard Street. When not telling fortunes to the local Yiddish theater director or fencing stolen goods, he carries on a relationship with Misha Olkhovsky, a grumpy Russian-American P.I. with a past. Their precarious dynamic is put to the test with the simultaneous arrivals of Val's cousin from Nazi Germany and a glamorous starlet fleeing...

In 1936 New York, mercurial ex-yeshiva boy Val Kaufmann owns a tea shop on Orchard Street. When not telling fortunes to the local Yiddish theater director or fencing stolen goods, he carries on a relationship with Misha Olkhovsky, a grumpy Russian-American P.I. with a past. Their precarious dynamic is put to the test with the simultaneous arrivals of Val's cousin from Nazi Germany and a glamorous starlet fleeing scandal in Hollywood. Blending elements of noir, queer history, Shakespeare, and Jewish identity, 'The Dybbuk on Orchard' examines what thieves and lovers get up to in the dark.

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Zay Gezunt, Havana!

by Marilyn Schotland

Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
drama,
period

On the cusp of immigrating to America in 1965, Dora asks her best friend Zelda to help smuggle her husband's medical school diploma out of Cuba.

On the cusp of immigrating to America in 1965, Dora asks her best friend Zelda to help smuggle her husband's medical school diploma out of Cuba.

mushrooms & frogs & sh*t

by Marilyn Schotland

1
Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
satire

Two students confront their professor about an incident in class. A ten minute play about microagressions, miscommunication, and cottagecore.

Two students confront their professor about an incident in class. A ten minute play about microagressions, miscommunication, and cottagecore.

Hell's Bells

by Marilyn Schotland

Cast Size
3
Genre
dark comedy,
farce

Recently deceased court composer Fredemund is sent to Hell. His punishment? To write music, forever, on the posterior of another sinner. A demon torments them both. A five minute riff on Hieronymus Bosch's 'The Garden of Earthly Delights.'

Recently deceased court composer Fredemund is sent to Hell. His punishment? To write music, forever, on the posterior of another sinner. A demon torments them both. A five minute riff on Hieronymus Bosch's 'The Garden of Earthly Delights.'