Courtney Taylor

Courtney Taylor is a playwright and speechwriter from Massapequa, NY. Her work has been recognized by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference (2024 semifinalist, Jenkins: An All-American Outing; 2023 semifinalist, No Entrance), the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival (2024 & 2023 finalist, No Entrance), the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator (2024 semifinalist, No Entrance), SheNYC Summer Theater Festival (2024 semifinalist, No Entrance), ScreenCraft's Stage Play Competition (2023 quarterfinalist, The Warren Commission Spectacular), and the J.L. Smith New Play Festival (2022 semifinalist, The Warren Commission Spectacular).

She was a finalist for Bechdel Project's 2022 Room of One's Own Residency, and is one of their inaugural Feminism Is For Everybody...

Courtney Taylor is a playwright and speechwriter from Massapequa, NY. Her work has been recognized by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference (2024 semifinalist, Jenkins: An All-American Outing; 2023 semifinalist, No Entrance), the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival (2024 & 2023 finalist, No Entrance), the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator (2024 semifinalist, No Entrance), SheNYC Summer Theater Festival (2024 semifinalist, No Entrance), ScreenCraft's Stage Play Competition (2023 quarterfinalist, The Warren Commission Spectacular), and the J.L. Smith New Play Festival (2022 semifinalist, The Warren Commission Spectacular).

She was a finalist for Bechdel Project's 2022 Room of One's Own Residency, and is one of their inaugural Feminism Is For Everybody fellows. Courtney's work has been developed at Athena Project, Imaginarium Theatre Company, and The Apartment Players. She received a 2019 Edward Guiliano Global Travel Fellowship to research and develop her play Jenkins: An All-American Outing at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library.

Courtney's one-act play Lights in the Sky has been produced across the U.S., opened Off-Off-Broadway in 2019. Her play No Entrance received a reading in March 2024 as part of the Neurodivergent New Play Series. Courtney's play "revelations..." received readings at The Makers' Ensemble and LimeFest at The Tank; posts about the play went viral, receiving 153.2k views on Twitter/X.

Scripts

revelations from the first and last ever rehearsal of THEY SAY I DID SOMETHING BAD: an unauthorized taylor swift parody musical about the life of the unabomber ted kaczynski presented by the bridgebrook college drama club

by Courtney Taylor

Synopsis

Riley, an edgy playwright in love with her closeted best friend Cheyenne, creates an unruly new musical about the Unabomber – written after the arrest of the high school teacher who groomed her. The piece takes a surreal turn with the arrival of Ecoterrorist Taylor and the Unabomber, forcing Riley and Cheyenne to search for connection and tenderness at the end of the world.

revelations... is a 75-minute...

Riley, an edgy playwright in love with her closeted best friend Cheyenne, creates an unruly new musical about the Unabomber – written after the arrest of the high school teacher who groomed her. The piece takes a surreal turn with the arrival of Ecoterrorist Taylor and the Unabomber, forcing Riley and Cheyenne to search for connection and tenderness at the end of the world.

revelations... is a 75-minute dramedy about college theatremakers, true crime, and rape culture, also ft. queer romance, Ecoterrorist Taylor, musical performances, and the end of the world. Trigger warning for discussion and themes of sexual violence throughout.

WEIRD GIRL SUMMER

by Courtney Taylor

Synopsis

Marlowe moves into Nellie’s house after her parents kick her out. Mix in The Sound of Music, murder plans, the concept of fanfiction, and a TV night that goes wrong, and then right.

[Trigger warnings: Themes of homophobia, discussion of domestic abuse and murder.]

Marlowe moves into Nellie’s house after her parents kick her out. Mix in The Sound of Music, murder plans, the concept of fanfiction, and a TV night that goes wrong, and then right.

[Trigger warnings: Themes of homophobia, discussion of domestic abuse and murder.]

Opening Night

by Courtney Taylor

Synopsis

An understudy for a production of Romeo and Juliet is called to fill a role...or four...just before the start of the show. A too-cheerful stage manager, and a techie who swears not to be interested, help the actor prepare.

An understudy for a production of Romeo and Juliet is called to fill a role...or four...just before the start of the show. A too-cheerful stage manager, and a techie who swears not to be interested, help the actor prepare.

The Guy Who Killed Bigfoot

by Courtney Taylor

Synopsis

Kennedy, a trans man in his twenties who shot Bigfoot and went viral, is tracked down unexpectedly by his cryptid-hunting ex.

Kennedy, a trans man in his twenties who shot Bigfoot and went viral, is tracked down unexpectedly by his cryptid-hunting ex.

Jenkins: An All-American Outing

by Courtney Taylor

Synopsis

Two unspecified and unserious agents assemble the mostly-true story of White House aide Walter Jenkins, who was arrested just before the 1964 election for indecent gestures with another man in a Y.M.C.A. bathroom. This offbeat and off-the-rails journey explores, imagines, and interrogates the bonds between Walter, his little-known wife Marjorie, and Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson. The play twists inside-out around...

Two unspecified and unserious agents assemble the mostly-true story of White House aide Walter Jenkins, who was arrested just before the 1964 election for indecent gestures with another man in a Y.M.C.A. bathroom. This offbeat and off-the-rails journey explores, imagines, and interrogates the bonds between Walter, his little-known wife Marjorie, and Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson. The play twists inside-out around the stakes and problems that come from including Walter’s story in the larger history of LGBTQIA Americans.

With singing, dancing, and experimental reveries, Jenkins: An All-American Outing cross-examines the tropes of queer biographical plays, creating something different – and messier – in its place.

This script was developed in part through a 2019 Edward Guiliano Global Travel Fellowship from Stony Brook University.

Lights in the Sky

by Courtney Taylor

Synopsis

Lights in the Sky tells the story of two best friends, Jack and Luis, who search for UFOs at night and confront their feelings for one another along the way. A pink lawn flamingo, and a call from an ex-girlfriend, change everything.

Lights in the Sky tells the story of two best friends, Jack and Luis, who search for UFOs at night and confront their feelings for one another along the way. A pink lawn flamingo, and a call from an ex-girlfriend, change everything.

The Warren Commission Spectacular

by Courtney Taylor

Synopsis

A party the night that the Warren Commission finishes their report on the Kennedy assassination takes a bizarre turn. Part weird history play, part chaotic comedy, all mildly true.

A digital theatre adaptation of the script is also available.

A party the night that the Warren Commission finishes their report on the Kennedy assassination takes a bizarre turn. Part weird history play, part chaotic comedy, all mildly true.

A digital theatre adaptation of the script is also available.

Ask Not: The True Story of the Kennedy Assassination

by Courtney Taylor

Synopsis

Ask Not reimagines the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, riffing on conspiracy culture and queering history. Here, JFK's head just "did that" at the moment a gunshot sounded, prompting an off-beat cast of famous characters to cover-up and uncover the truth...when they're not scheming, singing, dancing, and taking a whole lot of drugs.

Ask Not reimagines the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, riffing on conspiracy culture and queering history. Here, JFK's head just "did that" at the moment a gunshot sounded, prompting an off-beat cast of famous characters to cover-up and uncover the truth...when they're not scheming, singing, dancing, and taking a whole lot of drugs.