Kyle Therral Wilson

Kyle writes queer stories informed by his Arkansas preacher’s-kid roots and his fascination with secret histories.

In July 2024 his play, NORMAN JUDD: A LIFE IN CONCERT premiered to full houses at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, was a nominee for the StageCrafts Select Award, and an official selection in the StageCrafts Spotlight Series. Kyle's play YUCCA CORRIDOR was a finalist for the National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Theater Center. His work has also been developed or performed by Great Plains Theatre Conference, HBMG Foundation, La MaMa, The Lark, Theatricum Botanicum, The Blank Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Los Angeles, Psychic Visions Theatre, and L.A.'s Homo-Centric. His monologues were published in LGBTQ MONOLOGUES THAT ARE ACTUALLY FUNNY, edited by Alisha Gaddis...

Kyle writes queer stories informed by his Arkansas preacher’s-kid roots and his fascination with secret histories.

In July 2024 his play, NORMAN JUDD: A LIFE IN CONCERT premiered to full houses at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, was a nominee for the StageCrafts Select Award, and an official selection in the StageCrafts Spotlight Series. Kyle's play YUCCA CORRIDOR was a finalist for the National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Theater Center. His work has also been developed or performed by Great Plains Theatre Conference, HBMG Foundation, La MaMa, The Lark, Theatricum Botanicum, The Blank Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Los Angeles, Psychic Visions Theatre, and L.A.'s Homo-Centric. His monologues were published in LGBTQ MONOLOGUES THAT ARE ACTUALLY FUNNY, edited by Alisha Gaddis. He is currently serving as Co-Creative Director of Naked Angels Tuesdays@9 Los Angeles, where he's developed new work for over a decade. MFA: Carnegie Mellon University.

Scripts

Yucca Corridor

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Finalist, 2018 National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Theater Center
Finalist, 2018 Blue Ink Playwriting Award
PlayLab Selection, 2017 Great Plains Theatre Conference

Jonathan has just settled into his new condo in L.A.'s legendary Yucca Corridor when he's confronted by Mary Christ, a queer performance artist who refuses to let anyone forget the city's disappearing history. Meanwhile they both pursue...

Finalist, 2018 National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Theater Center
Finalist, 2018 Blue Ink Playwriting Award
PlayLab Selection, 2017 Great Plains Theatre Conference

Jonathan has just settled into his new condo in L.A.'s legendary Yucca Corridor when he's confronted by Mary Christ, a queer performance artist who refuses to let anyone forget the city's disappearing history. Meanwhile they both pursue Denny, a washed-up hustler who's on the verge of disappearing altogether.

Norman Judd: A Life in Concert

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Avant-garde legend Norman Judd stages a final performance of his pioneering electronic music, joined by estranged daughter, Corinthia. When she challenges his male genius pose onstage, the show goes off the rails in uproarious and unsettling ways. The play is performed with electronic music composed by Ross Wallace Chait.

Avant-garde legend Norman Judd stages a final performance of his pioneering electronic music, joined by estranged daughter, Corinthia. When she challenges his male genius pose onstage, the show goes off the rails in uproarious and unsettling ways. The play is performed with electronic music composed by Ross Wallace Chait.

Siège d'Amour

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

In an attempt to sell a showpiece 18th century French settee, antiques dealer Claude invites a major museum curator to his country house in England. Meanwhile Claude’s business and life partner Oliver has neglected to tell him that he’s bringing a young lover home for a decadent weekend, mixing business and pleasure with potentially disastrous results. What begins as a farcical comedy about miscommunication and...

In an attempt to sell a showpiece 18th century French settee, antiques dealer Claude invites a major museum curator to his country house in England. Meanwhile Claude’s business and life partner Oliver has neglected to tell him that he’s bringing a young lover home for a decadent weekend, mixing business and pleasure with potentially disastrous results. What begins as a farcical comedy about miscommunication and sexual intrigue shifts into a Chekhovian exploration of history, colonialism, and generational decay.

Old Woman Springs Road

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Kim has retreated to the High Desert to make art, and with her new rockstar boyfriend Kareem out on tour, it's as if she has all of the Mojave to herself. But when she takes some objects from a roadside memorial, she's visited upon by the spirit of the victim. Teenage Brisa might be Kim's savior, and might be returning to tie up loose ends, but in no way is she letting Kim off the hook.

Kim has retreated to the High Desert to make art, and with her new rockstar boyfriend Kareem out on tour, it's as if she has all of the Mojave to herself. But when she takes some objects from a roadside memorial, she's visited upon by the spirit of the victim. Teenage Brisa might be Kim's savior, and might be returning to tie up loose ends, but in no way is she letting Kim off the hook.

Women in Film: A Fantasy of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Staged Reading, The Blank Theatre Living Room Series, April 2018
Developed at HBMG Foundation Winter Playwrights Retreat, January 2016

The year is 1941, and Joan Fontaine has come to Olivia de Havilland's dressing room to enlist her estranged sister’s help with their unstable father. It seems Daddy has written a film treatment about his relationship with Joan and is making a nuisance of himself all over...

Staged Reading, The Blank Theatre Living Room Series, April 2018
Developed at HBMG Foundation Winter Playwrights Retreat, January 2016

The year is 1941, and Joan Fontaine has come to Olivia de Havilland's dressing room to enlist her estranged sister’s help with their unstable father. It seems Daddy has written a film treatment about his relationship with Joan and is making a nuisance of himself all over Hollywood with it. This nostalgic comedy of Hollywood’s Golden Age evolves into a grandiose alternate history, contemplating a world in which Joan and Olivia could possibly overcome their famously bitter sibling rivalry. Such a place includes kidnapping, bloodshed, and lots of overacting.

After School Special

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Reading, Theatre of NOTE, March 2020
Reading, La MaMa Experiments 18: Parts for Meryl Streep, June 2018
PlayLab Selection, 2013 Great Plains Theatre Conference

Stewart is finishing up the worst day of her terrible school year as a special ed teacher-in-training in central Los Angeles. It will all be over as soon as she gets through a detention period for her most defiant student, Frankie. Since she wouldn’t...

Reading, Theatre of NOTE, March 2020
Reading, La MaMa Experiments 18: Parts for Meryl Streep, June 2018
PlayLab Selection, 2013 Great Plains Theatre Conference

Stewart is finishing up the worst day of her terrible school year as a special ed teacher-in-training in central Los Angeles. It will all be over as soon as she gets through a detention period for her most defiant student, Frankie. Since she wouldn’t let Frankie get on the bus home, he wants her to track down his mother to come get him but she’s nowhere to be found. Meanwhile Stewart’s phone keeps ringing with unwelcome calls from a mysterious figure out of her past. Frankie’s anger and worry over his mother combine with Stewart’s distracted panic to create a volatile, dangerous classroom situation for both of them. AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL is a tough-hearted comedy about the challenge of giving and receiving help across social, racial, and hierarchical divides.

Customary Monsters

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Frederick Furnivall, a “Scholar Gypsy” of Victorian letters, moves a young Shakespeare enthusiast into his home in order to educate and seduce her. Meanwhile, his friend and colleague, London diarist Arthur Munby, begins a secret romance with his servant, who happily continues to sweep his floors and clean his boots. How long can these two educated men balance their progressive ideals and their romantic desires...

Frederick Furnivall, a “Scholar Gypsy” of Victorian letters, moves a young Shakespeare enthusiast into his home in order to educate and seduce her. Meanwhile, his friend and colleague, London diarist Arthur Munby, begins a secret romance with his servant, who happily continues to sweep his floors and clean his boots. How long can these two educated men balance their progressive ideals and their romantic desires? CUSTOMARY MONSTERS is a history play about the limits of love, equality, and biography.

Arkansas Accents

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Arkansas Accents is Little Rock’s quaintest antique store. It’s a place where old things go to get older, including its co-owners, friends and business partners Peggy and Jackson. A young gentleman named Wren, in town for the funeral of his reclusive Uncle Dell, offers the old man’s life’s work to the store. It’s a treasure trove of homoerotic portraits, suggesting Uncle Dell was an unknown master. Peggy looks...

Arkansas Accents is Little Rock’s quaintest antique store. It’s a place where old things go to get older, including its co-owners, friends and business partners Peggy and Jackson. A young gentleman named Wren, in town for the funeral of his reclusive Uncle Dell, offers the old man’s life’s work to the store. It’s a treasure trove of homoerotic portraits, suggesting Uncle Dell was an unknown master. Peggy looks at the paintings and sees art and commerce, while Jackson looks at Wren and sees romance and heartbreak. Neither Wren nor the paintings are exactly what they seem, and soon Peggy and Jackson find themselves tangled in more than one alternate history about Wren, his mysterious uncle, and the authenticity of the work itself. ARKANSAS ACCENTS is a comedy about the myths of the south, and the southerners learning to shatter them.

Hope House

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

The year is 1994, the state is Arkansas, and the town isn't even worth mentioning. Our narrator George Tucker wants to do right in the world. And since he's our narrator, he wants to tell us all about it, too. He's working on his Eagle Scout project, doing some caretaking on the property of Hope House, a home for battered women. Although he tries to steer clear of the many troubled residents, he still falls for...

The year is 1994, the state is Arkansas, and the town isn't even worth mentioning. Our narrator George Tucker wants to do right in the world. And since he's our narrator, he wants to tell us all about it, too. He's working on his Eagle Scout project, doing some caretaking on the property of Hope House, a home for battered women. Although he tries to steer clear of the many troubled residents, he still falls for April, a mysterious teenager who wants to get as far away as she can. All the while Katie, the home's new director, has a wary eye on George. No matter how good a kid our Boy Scout is, she's sure not going to let him off easy. HOPE HOUSE is the third in a trilogy of plays set in Bumblebee, Arkansas.

The Butcher of Bumblebee

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Jasper Lynch is back in town after a stint in an Oklahoma mental health ward, and he's determined to stay, no matter how bad the place wants rid of him. His girlfriend Amber is having his baby and he wants to do right by them, even finding a job and a place to stay. After three kids turn up missing, he and his buddies Chad and Ricky become easy scapegoats and he starts to wonder if he should've just stayed gone...

Jasper Lynch is back in town after a stint in an Oklahoma mental health ward, and he's determined to stay, no matter how bad the place wants rid of him. His girlfriend Amber is having his baby and he wants to do right by them, even finding a job and a place to stay. After three kids turn up missing, he and his buddies Chad and Ricky become easy scapegoats and he starts to wonder if he should've just stayed gone from Bumblebee for good. THE BUTCHER OF BUMBLEBEE is the second in a trilogy of plays about Bumblebee, Arkansas.

Bumblefuck, AR

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

It’s 1988 in Bumblebee, AR, a nowhere town just east of the Oklahoma border the kids either can’t imagine ever leaving or can’t wait to escape. The Murphy family has roots there, with elder son Carl keeping a low profile on his dope-smoking and younger son Terrance trying to stay out of the sights of the biggest bully in junior high. A punk kid named Josh starts hanging around and teaches the boys a few things...

It’s 1988 in Bumblebee, AR, a nowhere town just east of the Oklahoma border the kids either can’t imagine ever leaving or can’t wait to escape. The Murphy family has roots there, with elder son Carl keeping a low profile on his dope-smoking and younger son Terrance trying to stay out of the sights of the biggest bully in junior high. A punk kid named Josh starts hanging around and teaches the boys a few things about themselves, but some lessons are more welcome than others.

War and Jim

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

You are hereby invited to a gala opening of an exciting new art show. Your host for the evening will be New York's most underrated painter, Warfield Mitchell. He is joined by wife Catherine, herself a poet of equally undistinguished stature. Together the couple uses paintings, poetry, and performance to take you on a tour through the east coast art world of the 50s and 60s. Assisting them is a very special guest...

You are hereby invited to a gala opening of an exciting new art show. Your host for the evening will be New York's most underrated painter, Warfield Mitchell. He is joined by wife Catherine, herself a poet of equally undistinguished stature. Together the couple uses paintings, poetry, and performance to take you on a tour through the east coast art world of the 50s and 60s. Assisting them is a very special guest -- James Guest, to be specific -- a young gay writer who goes home with them one night to sleep off a hangover and stays for six years.

Susan Sontag Goes on a Date to the Mineshaft

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Featured on The American Playbook Podcast, February 2020
Production, National Queer Theater Pint-Sized Plays, Eagle NYC, October 2019.

10-minute comedy. A playful exploration of a rumor that a disguised Susan Sontag visited infamous 1970s S&M bar The Mineshaft in its sexy heyday.

Featured on The American Playbook Podcast, February 2020
Production, National Queer Theater Pint-Sized Plays, Eagle NYC, October 2019.

10-minute comedy. A playful exploration of a rumor that a disguised Susan Sontag visited infamous 1970s S&M bar The Mineshaft in its sexy heyday.

Museum Pass

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

A married couple on vacation learns just how hard waiting in line can be on a relationship.

A married couple on vacation learns just how hard waiting in line can be on a relationship.

The Bros of Beverly Grove

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

10-minute comedy. Hollywood. City of Angels. And put-upon assistants. And legalized marijuana. And BROS.

10-minute comedy. Hollywood. City of Angels. And put-upon assistants. And legalized marijuana. And BROS.

And How Was Your Day?

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

10-minute comedy. What would Pam do if she didn't have Steph to listen to her talk? And talk... And talk... A comedy about friendship, communication, and the nuances of self-absorption.

10-minute comedy. What would Pam do if she didn't have Steph to listen to her talk? And talk... And talk... A comedy about friendship, communication, and the nuances of self-absorption.

The Pissin' Posse

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Finalist, Heideman Award, Actors Theatre Louisville

10-minute comedy. A couple of college roommates are targeted by a militant underground organization called The Pissin' Posse. And it's really ruining their high.

Finalist, Heideman Award, Actors Theatre Louisville

10-minute comedy. A couple of college roommates are targeted by a militant underground organization called The Pissin' Posse. And it's really ruining their high.

Smoke Gets In Your Ears

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

One-act comedy. Shelly is an aging agoraphobic with a bad case of swimmer's ear. When Wayne stops by to check on her, she showers him with apple fritters and tales of hijinks in Guatemala from a lifetime ago. He wants to help her get out of the house, but she just wants to get that water out of her ear.

One-act comedy. Shelly is an aging agoraphobic with a bad case of swimmer's ear. When Wayne stops by to check on her, she showers him with apple fritters and tales of hijinks in Guatemala from a lifetime ago. He wants to help her get out of the house, but she just wants to get that water out of her ear.

The Youngster's Guide to Adolescence

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

Winner, FUSION's 12th annual short works festival, THE SEVEN: TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES.

10-minute comedy. It's 1985 and Buddy's mom and dad are driving him to church camp. Which means it's time to take the Prince tape out of his Walkman and listen to some words of wisdom from Dr. Jim Gibson, author of The Youngster's Guide to Adolescence.

Winner, FUSION's 12th annual short works festival, THE SEVEN: TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES.

10-minute comedy. It's 1985 and Buddy's mom and dad are driving him to church camp. Which means it's time to take the Prince tape out of his Walkman and listen to some words of wisdom from Dr. Jim Gibson, author of The Youngster's Guide to Adolescence.

Crisis In Training

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

10-minute comedy. Jessica is in the last round of training to be a volunteer at the Teen Crisis Talkline Call Center, but Robin just needs to do one last role-play to make sure she's ready. So now would be a good time to keep a lid on her anger management problem.

10-minute comedy. Jessica is in the last round of training to be a volunteer at the Teen Crisis Talkline Call Center, but Robin just needs to do one last role-play to make sure she's ready. So now would be a good time to keep a lid on her anger management problem.

The Young Ladies

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

One-act comedy. These four best girlfriends love nothing more than to hang out with milky iced lattes and latest generation smart phones, But things turn testy when Jenny posts a nasty comment about Amy on social media, Laura can't shake Jessica's begging for rides, Frances corrects everyone for political correctness, and Libby keeps butting in with pictures of her Pomeranian. And who's that old dude over in the...

One-act comedy. These four best girlfriends love nothing more than to hang out with milky iced lattes and latest generation smart phones, But things turn testy when Jenny posts a nasty comment about Amy on social media, Laura can't shake Jessica's begging for rides, Frances corrects everyone for political correctness, and Libby keeps butting in with pictures of her Pomeranian. And who's that old dude over in the corner? THE YOUNG LADIES is a comedy about teen girls figuring things out in real time.

A Little Light Roleplay

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

10-minute comedy. Virgil is willing to do whatever it takes to realize his fantasies. Monty is...less so...

10-minute comedy. Virgil is willing to do whatever it takes to realize his fantasies. Monty is...less so...

Three A.M. in the Morning

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

10-minute comedy. Shawn had a really nice time tonight. But it's time for Marty to go now.

10-minute comedy. Shawn had a really nice time tonight. But it's time for Marty to go now.

Heirlooms: A Hybrid

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

One-act play. A scene-stealing Tomato narrates this story of a playwright, his broken heart, and some guy named Ronald Reagan.

One-act play. A scene-stealing Tomato narrates this story of a playwright, his broken heart, and some guy named Ronald Reagan.

The Angelenos of Pershing Square

by Kyle Therral Wilson

Synopsis

10-minute play. Old Bernard and young Jeremy gather in Pershing Square to spread the ashes of the great gay novelist.

10-minute play. Old Bernard and young Jeremy gather in Pershing Square to spread the ashes of the great gay novelist.