Stephen Douglas Wright

Stephen Douglas Wright is a playwright, theater director and actor. He grew up in Troy, MI, lived for ten years in Grand Rapids, MI. He moved to Taiwan, first living in Taitung, then between Taipei and Taoyuan, and now resides in Hualien.

He co-founded the Curious Arrow Theatre company through which he co-produced the ten minute play festival Lucid, featuring scripts from around the US. Curious Arrow theatre also produced readings part one of his play Polarea and the Cloud Weaver and Steven Bogart's The Behavior of Wings.

Before this, he produced the Here 2 There Festival ten minute play festival on the theme of connection, focusing on largely on scripts from Grand Rapids (with the exception of a script by a playwright from outside Michigan). And independent of a theater company, he...

Stephen Douglas Wright is a playwright, theater director and actor. He grew up in Troy, MI, lived for ten years in Grand Rapids, MI. He moved to Taiwan, first living in Taitung, then between Taipei and Taoyuan, and now resides in Hualien.

He co-founded the Curious Arrow Theatre company through which he co-produced the ten minute play festival Lucid, featuring scripts from around the US. Curious Arrow theatre also produced readings part one of his play Polarea and the Cloud Weaver and Steven Bogart's The Behavior of Wings.

Before this, he produced the Here 2 There Festival ten minute play festival on the theme of connection, focusing on largely on scripts from Grand Rapids (with the exception of a script by a playwright from outside Michigan). And independent of a theater company, he self-produced his full length play Collisions in 2017.

He founded ran the 1yr a theater company, which sought seeks produce original plays between the summers of 2015 and 2016. With this company, he wrote, directed and produced Journey to the Stars, Doctor Arthur, and The Moon Will Rise and Grow (co-directed with Brittany Devon), and Asteria Rising.

His ten minute plays Lulu and Beth and Eugeneakleas were produced by the Southside Theater Company's 24 hour festival, and his ten minute play The True Story of Creation was produced by The Stark Turn Players as part of the company's annual ten minute play festival. The Hot White Light and The Lakeside Special were semi-finalists in Actors' Theatre, Grand Rapids' ten minute play festival. An excerpt of his play Garlands was produced by the Khaos Company Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In September 2020, his short play Coffee for Muriel was produced in Taipei, Taiwan as part of the Taipei Shorts festival.

Recently, his comedy sketches have been produced by The Storefront Theater in Chicago, IL, and Late Night Grand Rapids.

As an actor, Stephen has frequently performed onstage with the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, The Murder Mystery Company (American Immersion Theater), and on screen with Vigorous Fizz Productions in the films Loogie Lad, Imago and Drama class.

He is also a poet and prose writer. His work has been published by Z Publishing Company in Michigan's Best Emerging Poets 2019: An Anthology, Written Tales' Renewal, Menteur Magazine, and Boundless 2021 (an anthology of poems from the Rio Grande International Poetry Festival), and several editions of Aquinas College's Sampler. His short stories Two Kites, Endra's Mask, and Sea and Sky, I Will Be, are published, respectively, by Harvard College Children's Stories, Bengalaru Review and Celestal Review.

Outside of the theater world, Stephen teaches English as a second language to young learners. Before working in education, he worked with people with disabilities in management and direct care positions. He remains a proud and active member of American Model United Nations.

Stephen holds a bachelor of arts degree from Aquinas College with majors in theater (with a performance emphasis), philosophy, and political science.

Scripts

Coffee For Muriel

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Lauretta and Muriel's mother is passing away in the next room as, late one night, they try to navigate their futures.

Lauretta and Muriel's mother is passing away in the next room as, late one night, they try to navigate their futures.

As Far as You Can Go

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Archie's imaginary friend Ernest returns after a skateboard journey through the universe to find God, on Archie's 33rd birthday (which happens to be on Christmas).

Archie's imaginary friend Ernest returns after a skateboard journey through the universe to find God, on Archie's 33rd birthday (which happens to be on Christmas).

Polarea and the Cloud Weaver

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Full length. 3-3.5 Hours. The Sun is depressed and refuses to rise. The Moon needs to pull a double shift to carry the light through the sky, to keep the world alive. Exhausted, she crashes. Polarea, a little girl, helps her to get the light back in the sky, but a thousand year old wizard and his daughter are bent on stopping them in order to create a machine god.

About three hours long. Flying squirrels...

Full length. 3-3.5 Hours. The Sun is depressed and refuses to rise. The Moon needs to pull a double shift to carry the light through the sky, to keep the world alive. Exhausted, she crashes. Polarea, a little girl, helps her to get the light back in the sky, but a thousand year old wizard and his daughter are bent on stopping them in order to create a machine god.

About three hours long. Flying squirrels, talking tortoises, elves, pirates, a cannibal restaurant owner, an angel that talks to the audience.

A children's play for adults.

*DRAFT VERSION. Editing is currently underway.

The Ghost of Jimmy Dean

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Full length. 60-70 Minutes. Movie star Sebastian has gone crazy while playing James Dean in a biopic, and has locked himself in his mansion. His best friend and lawyer, Germain, hires therapist Guinevere to "fix" Sebastian.

Full length. 60-70 Minutes. Movie star Sebastian has gone crazy while playing James Dean in a biopic, and has locked himself in his mansion. His best friend and lawyer, Germain, hires therapist Guinevere to "fix" Sebastian.

Garlands

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Full length. 60 Minutes. Abelard picks Dandelion and sells him for a sandwich. Dandelion's sentient aunts inject him with poison ivy concentrate, and Abelard will die in two days time if he can't track down Dandelion and receive the antidote.

Full length. 60 Minutes. Abelard picks Dandelion and sells him for a sandwich. Dandelion's sentient aunts inject him with poison ivy concentrate, and Abelard will die in two days time if he can't track down Dandelion and receive the antidote.

The Last Julius

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

5 Minutes. Aphra sits, presumably at the end of the world. Julius the bird comes and goes. Then another. Then another. And the last Julius dies.

5 Minutes. Aphra sits, presumably at the end of the world. Julius the bird comes and goes. Then another. Then another. And the last Julius dies.

Asteria Rising

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Full length. 60 minutes. A tree named Willow attempts to rescue her friend, a fairy named Wisp, after he is kidnapped by two hunters.

Full length. 60 minutes. A tree named Willow attempts to rescue her friend, a fairy named Wisp, after he is kidnapped by two hunters.

Collisions

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Full length. 70-75 Minutes. Asteria is going to lose her job as an astronomer when Pandora, a young woman who is homeless, moves into her office.

Full length. 70-75 Minutes. Asteria is going to lose her job as an astronomer when Pandora, a young woman who is homeless, moves into her office.

Rodgrod

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Full length. 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Rimple, a courtier for King Armensgaard of the Middle, must find the ingredients to make rodgrod, a red pudding, in order to inherit the king's lands before he dies.

Talking dogs (yes, more than one), a mummy, sly political commentary. (Very much) a work in progress. Minimum cast size estimated.

Full length. 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Rimple, a courtier for King Armensgaard of the Middle, must find the ingredients to make rodgrod, a red pudding, in order to inherit the king's lands before he dies.

Talking dogs (yes, more than one), a mummy, sly political commentary. (Very much) a work in progress. Minimum cast size estimated.

Journey to the Stars

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

Full length. 70 minutes. Peter is a clever little boy who dreams of going into space. He befriends Greg the Grasshopper, an insect-inventor who helps him to make this dream a reality by building a flying machine to journey to the Castle in the Sky, where Peter is invited to judge a beauty competition between Moon and Star. Peter's cleverness gets the best of him when he declares both Moon and Star the winner...

Full length. 70 minutes. Peter is a clever little boy who dreams of going into space. He befriends Greg the Grasshopper, an insect-inventor who helps him to make this dream a reality by building a flying machine to journey to the Castle in the Sky, where Peter is invited to judge a beauty competition between Moon and Star. Peter's cleverness gets the best of him when he declares both Moon and Star the winner, and runs off with their prizes. This angers Moon and Star, and Sun, who can't get any sleep above their wailing. All three swear revenge against Peter. Is Peter clever enough to dig himself out of the mess he's made?

Note: Cross-gendered casting is acceptable, but Mama, Winona, Star, and Moon should be played by women.

The Moon Will Rise and Grow

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

One Act. 45 Minutes. Eurydice is murdered on the night that she is to marry Orpheus. Orpheus attempts to travel to the underworld to retrieve her soul before it's too late, when the sun rises again over the earth. His impatience in several scenarios with talking trees and meta-theatrically aware bridesmaid's and ferrymen become his undoing. In the end, with all the choices he has made, he is asked whether he...

One Act. 45 Minutes. Eurydice is murdered on the night that she is to marry Orpheus. Orpheus attempts to travel to the underworld to retrieve her soul before it's too late, when the sun rises again over the earth. His impatience in several scenarios with talking trees and meta-theatrically aware bridesmaid's and ferrymen become his undoing. In the end, with all the choices he has made, he is asked whether he would do it all again, or annihilate his story completely.

Note: The most current version of the script was uploaded 1/12/20, after substantial rewrites. Prior to this, the play received a workshop production in 2015.

Eugeneakleas

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

10 Minutes. Eugene is Big Mama's "little dung beetle." His only escape is through comic books. So imagine his surprise when his favorite superhero comes to spice up his life.

10 Minutes. Eugene is Big Mama's "little dung beetle." His only escape is through comic books. So imagine his surprise when his favorite superhero comes to spice up his life.

The Golden Candy

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

5 Minutes. Jenny is trick or treating and knocks on the door of Margaret and her cat, Beelzebub, who is a demon. Jenny sets Beelzebub free on accident and then vanquishes him, also on accident.

5 Minutes. Jenny is trick or treating and knocks on the door of Margaret and her cat, Beelzebub, who is a demon. Jenny sets Beelzebub free on accident and then vanquishes him, also on accident.

How We Begin

by Stephen Douglas Wright

Synopsis

10 Minutes. Tim and Liz act out their marriage and its decay. They speak their actions as they perform them. Rain and Moon help.

10 Minutes. Tim and Liz act out their marriage and its decay. They speak their actions as they perform them. Rain and Moon help.