Lindsay Joelle

Lindsay Joelle is a playwright and librettist who writes big-hearted comedies about the collision of different worldviews. Published plays include TRAYF (Theater J, Geffen Playhouse, LA Drama Critics Circle for Best Writing) and THE GARBOLOGISTS (Philadelphia Theatre Company, City Theatre, Northlight Theatre, among others). She is the recipient of the Goldberg Award for Graduate Playwriting, Desert Theater League Award for Best Original Writing, and commissions from Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Project and Audible Theater's Emerging Playwrights Fund for "The Messengers," recorded by Audible. Lindsay is a proud NNPN, Playwrights Foundation, New Georges, and American Theatre Wing affiliated artist. Former Playwright-in-Residence at Curious Theatre and alumna of Nashville Rep’s Ingram New...

Lindsay Joelle is a playwright and librettist who writes big-hearted comedies about the collision of different worldviews. Published plays include TRAYF (Theater J, Geffen Playhouse, LA Drama Critics Circle for Best Writing) and THE GARBOLOGISTS (Philadelphia Theatre Company, City Theatre, Northlight Theatre, among others). She is the recipient of the Goldberg Award for Graduate Playwriting, Desert Theater League Award for Best Original Writing, and commissions from Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Project and Audible Theater's Emerging Playwrights Fund for "The Messengers," recorded by Audible. Lindsay is a proud NNPN, Playwrights Foundation, New Georges, and American Theatre Wing affiliated artist. Former Playwright-in-Residence at Curious Theatre and alumna of Nashville Rep’s Ingram New Works Lab, The Great Plains Theatre Conference, PlayPenn New Play Conference, the BMI Workshop (lyricist), Columbia University (BA), and Hunter College (MFA). www.Lindsayjoelle.com

Scripts

THE GARBOLOGISTS

by Lindsay Joelle

Synopsis

Danny’s a white, blue-collar, New York City sanitation worker. Marlowe’s the Black, Ivy-educated newbie who just joined his route. Thrown together in the cab of a nineteen-ton garbage truck, they spend their first shifts sparring, one-upping each other, and practicing the secret art of mongo: hunting for discarded treasure. But as their lives become increasingly intertwined, these two essential workers discover...

Danny’s a white, blue-collar, New York City sanitation worker. Marlowe’s the Black, Ivy-educated newbie who just joined his route. Thrown together in the cab of a nineteen-ton garbage truck, they spend their first shifts sparring, one-upping each other, and practicing the secret art of mongo: hunting for discarded treasure. But as their lives become increasingly intertwined, these two essential workers discover common ground in uncommon times.

TRAYF

by Lindsay Joelle

Synopsis

Orthodox teens and lifelong best friends Zalmy and Shmuel are intent on saving the world, one mitzvah at a time. But when a curious outsider draws Zalmy into the forbidden secular pleasures of 1990s New York City, Shmuel must do everything in his power to keep their dreams intact or risk losing his friend forever. This road-trip bromance is a funny and heartwarming ode to the turbulence of youth, the universal...

Orthodox teens and lifelong best friends Zalmy and Shmuel are intent on saving the world, one mitzvah at a time. But when a curious outsider draws Zalmy into the forbidden secular pleasures of 1990s New York City, Shmuel must do everything in his power to keep their dreams intact or risk losing his friend forever. This road-trip bromance is a funny and heartwarming ode to the turbulence of youth, the universal suspicion that we don't quite fit in, and the faith and friends that see us through.

DALLOWAY

by Lindsay Joelle

Synopsis

Clarissa is a tree-climbing, free-spirited Victorian teenager with no interest in entertaining the slew of suitors found by her money-strapped father. But when she unexpectedly falls for a charismatic and plucky suffragette, she must decide if her heart is brave enough to forge a new path. A stand-alone rom-com prequel to Virginia Woolf’s beloved "Mrs. Dalloway." (2F, 2M, 90 min.)

Clarissa is a tree-climbing, free-spirited Victorian teenager with no interest in entertaining the slew of suitors found by her money-strapped father. But when she unexpectedly falls for a charismatic and plucky suffragette, she must decide if her heart is brave enough to forge a new path. A stand-alone rom-com prequel to Virginia Woolf’s beloved "Mrs. Dalloway." (2F, 2M, 90 min.)

Mud & Fire: The Pottery Play

by Lindsay Joelle

Synopsis

​​(3f, 2m, 90 min) Rayna Zimmerman accepts a pottery apprenticeship at Sam Ortega's studio in Tucson, AZ, hoping to learn from a master. But her ambition and impulsive energy clash with the quiet life of privacy and discipline he's cultivated after the burnout of unwelcome fame. As Ray tries to coax Sam to help launch her career, the desert has other lessons for her about climate, borders, community, and what it...

​​(3f, 2m, 90 min) Rayna Zimmerman accepts a pottery apprenticeship at Sam Ortega's studio in Tucson, AZ, hoping to learn from a master. But her ambition and impulsive energy clash with the quiet life of privacy and discipline he's cultivated after the burnout of unwelcome fame. As Ray tries to coax Sam to help launch her career, the desert has other lessons for her about climate, borders, community, and what it means to be forged through fire.

Hasidic Rom Com

by Lindsay Joelle

Synopsis

When Leah, a reserved New York City lawyer, falls in love with Jonathan, a charismatic and outspoken artist, she thinks she's met her perfect match...Until he reveals he's converting to Hasidic Judaism. In this zippy, irreverent comedy, a culturally Jewish atheist discovers how deep into orthodoxy she'll go for love.

When Leah, a reserved New York City lawyer, falls in love with Jonathan, a charismatic and outspoken artist, she thinks she's met her perfect match...Until he reveals he's converting to Hasidic Judaism. In this zippy, irreverent comedy, a culturally Jewish atheist discovers how deep into orthodoxy she'll go for love.

THE MESSENGERS

by Lindsay Joelle

Synopsis

In the midst of a decades-long intergalactic war, a Soldier and a Messenger discover that they share more than a mission...while a Runner and a Refugee find an unexpected path to freedom that will link their lives forever. A dark comedy about survival, connection, and the messages we carry in our bones.

In the midst of a decades-long intergalactic war, a Soldier and a Messenger discover that they share more than a mission...while a Runner and a Refugee find an unexpected path to freedom that will link their lives forever. A dark comedy about survival, connection, and the messages we carry in our bones.

A SMALL HISTORY OF AMAL, AGE 7

by Lindsay Joelle

Synopsis

Amal, an imaginative orphan confined to a hospital bed in Mumbai, lives a day of jungle adventures, high-speed train chases, and Bollywood love scenes, befriending the hospital's staff and patients. But when Mumbai's commuter trains are hit by a terrorist attack and the hospital struggles beyond capacity to treat the survivors, Amal gets lost in the shuffle. Now, it’ll take an explorer’s heart and a little...

Amal, an imaginative orphan confined to a hospital bed in Mumbai, lives a day of jungle adventures, high-speed train chases, and Bollywood love scenes, befriending the hospital's staff and patients. But when Mumbai's commuter trains are hit by a terrorist attack and the hospital struggles beyond capacity to treat the survivors, Amal gets lost in the shuffle. Now, it’ll take an explorer’s heart and a little Bollywood magic to defeat the God of Death. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's "The Post Office" and true historical events, this is an ensemble-centered, magical-realism story for all ages that explores the meaning of a life well-lived.