Eleanor Burgess

Eleanor's plays have been produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, the Huntington Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage Company, and Centenary Stage, and presented or developed at The New Group, New York Theatre Workshop, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Lark Play Development Center, the Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA Playwrights Workshop, Ryder Farm and Luna Stage. She is currently a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, a member of The Civilians' R&D Group, and a member of P73's writers' group, I73. She has also been the recipient of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award, an EST/Sloan commission, a Keen Teens Commission, and the Susan Glaspell Award for Women...

Eleanor's plays have been produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, the Huntington Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage Company, and Centenary Stage, and presented or developed at The New Group, New York Theatre Workshop, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Lark Play Development Center, the Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA Playwrights Workshop, Ryder Farm and Luna Stage. She is currently a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, a member of The Civilians' R&D Group, and a member of P73's writers' group, I73. She has also been the recipient of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award, an EST/Sloan commission, a Keen Teens Commission, and the Susan Glaspell Award for Women Playwrights. She grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, studied history at Yale College, and recently completed the M.F.A in Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch.

read more

Scripts

Galilee, 34

by Eleanor Burgess

1
Cast Size
8—10
Genre
biography,
drama,
period,
tragedy

With Yeshua dead, his disciples are determined to keep spreading his message. The only trouble is the Roman Empire might want them dead. And they don't have a leader. And they can't quite agree on what Yeshua's message was...

With Yeshua dead, his disciples are determined to keep spreading his message. The only trouble is the Roman Empire might want them dead. And they don't have a leader. And they can't quite agree on what Yeshua's message was...

Wife of a Salesman

by Eleanor Burgess

Cast Size
3
Genre
adaptation,
drama,
period

What if a 1950s housewife from a particularly well-known American play drove from Brooklyn to Boston to confront her husband’s mistress? Would the encounter be explosive? Or would the two women discover they have more in common than one might assume? Taking inspiration from Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, this world premiere play imagines how a potentially combustible confrontation brings themes of marriage...

What if a 1950s housewife from a particularly well-known American play drove from Brooklyn to Boston to confront her husband’s mistress? Would the encounter be explosive? Or would the two women discover they have more in common than one might assume? Taking inspiration from Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, this world premiere play imagines how a potentially combustible confrontation brings themes of marriage, duty and division to the surface—and the ways in which the world has, and hasn’t, changed across generations.

read more

Sparks Fly Upward

by Eleanor Burgess

1
Cast Size
5
Genre
drama,
experimental,
fable/folktale,
fantasy,
movement/physical,
tragedy

As winters get colder and food gets more scarce, a makeshift tribe of cavemen struggles to decide whether to remain in the land they call home, following the lifestyle of their ancestors, or to embrace new inventions and new ways of life. This play explores the lives that we evolved to lead, our relationship with nature, our place in the universe, and what relationships mean in a time of survival.

As winters get colder and food gets more scarce, a makeshift tribe of cavemen struggles to decide whether to remain in the land they call home, following the lifestyle of their ancestors, or to embrace new inventions and new ways of life. This play explores the lives that we evolved to lead, our relationship with nature, our place in the universe, and what relationships mean in a time of survival.

The Niceties

by Eleanor Burgess

11
Cast Size
2
Genre
drama,
political

Zoe, a black student at a liberal arts college, is called into her white professor’s office to discuss her paper about slavery’s effect on the American Revolution. What begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history, and power.

Zoe, a black student at a liberal arts college, is called into her white professor’s office to discuss her paper about slavery’s effect on the American Revolution. What begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history, and power.

Chill

by Eleanor Burgess

6
Cast Size
4
Genre
comedy,
drama

On a Friday night in the Spring of 2001, four teenagers have gathered to hang out and blow off some steam. Jenn likes Ethan. Ethan likes Alli. Alli likes Stu. Stu has a girlfriend. None of them can decide which movie to watch from the pile they got at Blockbuster. Over the course of the evening, they all break each others' hearts in a million tiny ways. Ten years later, they reunite to try and do it all again.

On a Friday night in the Spring of 2001, four teenagers have gathered to hang out and blow off some steam. Jenn likes Ethan. Ethan likes Alli. Alli likes Stu. Stu has a girlfriend. None of them can decide which movie to watch from the pile they got at Blockbuster. Over the course of the evening, they all break each others' hearts in a million tiny ways. Ten years later, they reunite to try and do it all again.

Start Down

by Eleanor Burgess

1
Cast Size
6
Genre
dark comedy,
drama,
political

Inspired by his girlfriend who's a public school teacher, a San Francisco programmer has an idea for a startup that will help teachers in the classroom. But as the company begins to take off, it becomes unclear whether the software will help teachers - or replace them.

Inspired by his girlfriend who's a public school teacher, a San Francisco programmer has an idea for a startup that will help teachers in the classroom. But as the company begins to take off, it becomes unclear whether the software will help teachers - or replace them.

These Dying Generations

by Eleanor Burgess

Cast Size
7
Genre
drama

When Annabel Foley refuses treatment after a stroke, her estranged daughter Helen bribes the beloved granddaughter, Madison - a semi-employed millenial musician from Brooklyn – to take on the role of caregiver. But as the experience brings Annabel and Madison closer, how will Helen compete with her own daughter for her family's love?

When Annabel Foley refuses treatment after a stroke, her estranged daughter Helen bribes the beloved granddaughter, Madison - a semi-employed millenial musician from Brooklyn – to take on the role of caregiver. But as the experience brings Annabel and Madison closer, how will Helen compete with her own daughter for her family's love?