Ayibatari Owei

Ayibatari Owei is an Illinois-born, Maryland-raised playwright who writes plays about Black women’s rage and how violence can manifest in the smallest of actions. She received her BA in Theatre at Smith College. Currently, she’s attending Carnegie Mellon University for her MFA in Dramatic Writing. In 2025, her play, Born All Wrong, was selected as a Semi-Finalist for the National Playwrights Conference and a finalist in Rorschach Theatre’s Magic in Rough Spaces New Play Lab. Her play, La Mer, was selected for Abingdon Theatre Company’s Virtual Festival of Short Plays in 2024. Her most recent short play, Her Watery Tomb, was produced by Rapid Lemon Productions for their 20th annual Variations Project in Baltimore. On a regular day, Ayibatari can be found cracking jokes and singing along to...

Ayibatari Owei is an Illinois-born, Maryland-raised playwright who writes plays about Black women’s rage and how violence can manifest in the smallest of actions. She received her BA in Theatre at Smith College. Currently, she’s attending Carnegie Mellon University for her MFA in Dramatic Writing. In 2025, her play, Born All Wrong, was selected as a Semi-Finalist for the National Playwrights Conference and a finalist in Rorschach Theatre’s Magic in Rough Spaces New Play Lab. Her play, La Mer, was selected for Abingdon Theatre Company’s Virtual Festival of Short Plays in 2024. Her most recent short play, Her Watery Tomb, was produced by Rapid Lemon Productions for their 20th annual Variations Project in Baltimore. On a regular day, Ayibatari can be found cracking jokes and singing along to ABBA.

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Scripts

The Choir Laughs

by Ayibatari Owei

1
Cast Size
10—50
Genre
dark comedy,
farce,
satire

Gather here! Gather here! Come and see the splendid, humorous, and scrumdiddlyumptious negroes of Southwick – America’s best minstrel show. They’ll make you laugh! They’ll make you cry. And, maybe, you can even take one of them home. Go ahead and laugh all you want. The negro is made to entertain. Don’t think too hard about their pleas. Don’t worry about the gun shot offstage. This is the minstrel! You’re here...

Gather here! Gather here! Come and see the splendid, humorous, and scrumdiddlyumptious negroes of Southwick – America’s best minstrel show. They’ll make you laugh! They’ll make you cry. And, maybe, you can even take one of them home. Go ahead and laugh all you want. The negro is made to entertain. Don’t think too hard about their pleas. Don’t worry about the gun shot offstage. This is the minstrel! You’re here to laugh at the negroes, so laugh. You won’t regret it.

*Script available upon request*

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A New Year's Blessing

by Ayibatari Owei

Cast Size
2
Genre
drama,
movement/physical

Carée and Iris are tasked to remember the almost-forgotten dead and preserve their memories and the fact that they had lived. On New Year’s Day, the women receive a request from a very familiar person.

Carée and Iris are tasked to remember the almost-forgotten dead and preserve their memories and the fact that they had lived. On New Year’s Day, the women receive a request from a very familiar person.

A Terrible Fixation

by Ayibatari Owei

Cast Size
3
Genre
drama,
science fiction

It’s difficult having a crush in 2093. Half of the people walking around are androids who are prone to breaking down at any minute. Today, Cin’s crush, Bleu, is on her way out. She’s glitching and her joints are smoking. There’s no way to save her from the disposal unit - except for a “shared existence,” a new update that allows androids to share a human’s body. Cin’s cousin, Olie, warned her against touching...

It’s difficult having a crush in 2093. Half of the people walking around are androids who are prone to breaking down at any minute. Today, Cin’s crush, Bleu, is on her way out. She’s glitching and her joints are smoking. There’s no way to save her from the disposal unit - except for a “shared existence,” a new update that allows androids to share a human’s body. Cin’s cousin, Olie, warned her against touching Bleu and consenting to a shared existence, but Bleu is too captivating, and, hey, Cin’s only human.

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Born All Wrong

by Ayibatari Owei

1
Cast Size
9—10
Genre
drama,
horror,
period

In this Southern Gothic, an estranged daughter returns home after three years, only to find that the weird now torments her family. Death takes on a human form and clings onto the estranged daughter and her mother.

In this Southern Gothic, an estranged daughter returns home after three years, only to find that the weird now torments her family. Death takes on a human form and clings onto the estranged daughter and her mother.

Her Watery Tomb

by Ayibatari Owei

1
Cast Size
4
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama

Four friends come together to mourn their drowned friend, but every attempt at honoring the dead is ruined by a pesky, hungry bird.

Four friends come together to mourn their drowned friend, but every attempt at honoring the dead is ruined by a pesky, hungry bird.

La Mer

by Ayibatari Owei

2
Cast Size
2
Genre
drama,
experimental

In a house eroding into the sea, two ex-lovers, Anathiel and Jayda, are stuck in an interminable cycle, repeating both poignant and seemingly meaningless conversations from the past, including reliving the final moments of their relationship.

In a house eroding into the sea, two ex-lovers, Anathiel and Jayda, are stuck in an interminable cycle, repeating both poignant and seemingly meaningless conversations from the past, including reliving the final moments of their relationship.