susan jackson

susan jackson

Jackson received the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Original Play--Semi-finalist for the National Playwrights Festival--Eugene O'Neill Center.Work: staged- read/produced New York City, Bay Area, Eugene O’Neill Foundation, William Inge Festival, Sydney, London, Red Curtain International Theatre. DEATH BE NOT LOUD! --Best of Capital Fringe—Washington Post positive review. Published: Smith...
Jackson received the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Original Play--Semi-finalist for the National Playwrights Festival--Eugene O'Neill Center.Work: staged- read/produced New York City, Bay Area, Eugene O’Neill Foundation, William Inge Festival, Sydney, London, Red Curtain International Theatre. DEATH BE NOT LOUD! --Best of Capital Fringe—Washington Post positive review. Published: Smith and Kraus, (2017-2023); WE/US Gender Minority Monologues: Applause, Hello, Godot! Finalist: Creede Repertory Theatre; Henley Rose Competition for Female Playwrights; Fusion Theatre Company; Centre Stage; 3Girls Theatre Co. (SF). Participant: Mid-America Theatre Conference, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Powerstories: Voices of Women Festival; Equity Library Theatre Festival-Sparks Creative Works, Believability; A LIPSTICK CALLED PROTAGONIST; NICE: Shiny Unicorns Productions. Co-producer, SOUTHERN RAILROAD THEATRE COMPANY: www.southernrailroadtheatrecompany.com, Jackson developed the Playwrighting curriculum at City College of San Francisco, where she taught for 33 years. Jackson worked with the KCTF as an adjudicator and was part of the SF Young Playwrights Festival with Lauren Yee and Christopher Chen. Next project: Upstage Napa --HOLD OUT HOPE, February, 2025

Plays

  • SAMARITAN by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: Mt. Everest, altruism + 2 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Mt. Everest, altruism, marriage, sick child
    “Altruism doesn't belong on top of a mountain.”
    Set in the not-too-distant future where climbing the highest mountain is the “now” American experience--Renata Markor is determined to identify the stranger who left her husband, Greg, to die on an ill-fated ascent up Mt. Everest. In spite of Greg's protestations that he can't identify him, Renata finds...
    “Altruism doesn't belong on top of a mountain.”
    Set in the not-too-distant future where climbing the highest mountain is the “now” American experience--Renata Markor is determined to identify the stranger who left her husband, Greg, to die on an ill-fated ascent up Mt. Everest. In spite of Greg's protestations that he can't identify him, Renata finds the man; but she discovers more about her own values and her marriage in the process. Interspersed between the scenes are images and sounds of the future and symbolic representations of the actual scene where Greg faces the stranger. Based on a true story.

  • UNBOUND by susan jackson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Adopted Chinese girl, bound feet + 5 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, verse
    Keyword: Adopted Chinese girl, bound feet, dreams, cutting, adoption, Chinese poetry, ancestors
    Lina (Li-Hua) , adopted as a baby from China, struggles with loneliness and a lack of belonging. Her father pushes her to leave their Colorado home to attend a large University. Her mother, Kate, disagrees and wants Lina to pursue Lina’s desire to be an artist. Lina’s angst is complicated by night visitations from her Chinese great great grandmother with bound feet--Yet Kwai, who is anxious to convince Li-...
    Lina (Li-Hua) , adopted as a baby from China, struggles with loneliness and a lack of belonging. Her father pushes her to leave their Colorado home to attend a large University. Her mother, Kate, disagrees and wants Lina to pursue Lina’s desire to be an artist. Lina’s angst is complicated by night visitations from her Chinese great great grandmother with bound feet--Yet Kwai, who is anxious to convince Li-Hua with stories about her past, poetry, and veiled threats---to return to China. Lina tries to find the balance with her High School counselor, Ms. Perez—also adopted. Feeling pushed from all sides, Lina’s angst manifests itself in cutting and a sudden need to go to China to find her past.


  • MIRACLE LAKE by susan jackson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: miracles, quadraplegic + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: miracles, quadraplegic, dreams, parents and wills, cheating wife, heart attack, broken heart
    "No one ever dies in Miracle Lake. "What happens to the Langdon family after a catastrophic event? MIRACLE LAKE follows their reunion five years after Timmy’s accident, and just before it occurs. Lives are drastically changed; hope for a miraculous cure is juxtaposed with reality. Secrets are revealed. Heartbreak. But was there a miracle? Based on a true story.
  • TAKEN by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: addiction, landlords in San Francisco + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: addiction, landlords in San Francisco, Race, suicide, Whole Foods, surly teenager
    Corrie sees a photo in the newspaper; is it Ben, her estranged and addicted brother whom she hasn't seen for eight years? Against her husband's wishes, she travels to San Francisco to identify a body; she meets the enigmatic Sgt. Bakley and the unpredictable landlady who evicted the young man.
  • LEAVING, SIMONE by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: science, interracial marriage + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: science, interracial marriage, African American Female Artists, Roman Empire, white privilege, nina simone, Nobel Prize
    Simone, Scientist daughter of Michael (Caucasian teacher of History) and Celeste (African American Artist) is working on her latest scientific project; Celeste wants her daughter to “leave her mark” by winning a Nobel Prize; Michael pushes his daughter to find a partner close by so Michael won’t be alone. A stroke changes everyone’s plans. Scenes go from present (the stroke) to the past; ten years ago during...
    Simone, Scientist daughter of Michael (Caucasian teacher of History) and Celeste (African American Artist) is working on her latest scientific project; Celeste wants her daughter to “leave her mark” by winning a Nobel Prize; Michael pushes his daughter to find a partner close by so Michael won’t be alone. A stroke changes everyone’s plans. Scenes go from present (the stroke) to the past; ten years ago during Tenure Review, and time in between while Michael and Celeste sort out their relationship and living arrangements.
  • Leaving, Simone 2023 by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: African American characters, artist + 6 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: African American characters, artist, science, History, art, African American Artists, family struggles, A woman struggling to find her own voice
    Simone, Scientist daughter of Michael and Celeste, is working on her latest scientific project; Celeste wants her daughter to “leave her mark” by winning a Nobel Prize; Michael pushes his daughter to find a partner close by so Michael won’t be alone. A stroke changes everyone’s plans.

  • LEAVING, SIMONE by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, political
    ·
    Keyword: strong women, African American Artists + 5 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: strong women, African American Artists, Roman Empire, nina simone, scientific facts, A Family drama, the nature of genius
    Simone, Scientist daughter of Michael and Celeste, is working on her latest scientific project; Celeste wants her daughter to “leave her mark” by winning a Nobel Prize; Michael pushes his daughter to find a partner close by so Michael won’t be alone. A stroke changes everyone’s plans.
  • BOUND by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: drama
    Genre: drama
    Lina (Li-Hua) is uncertain about the pressure to find her origin--being lonely in High School and the only Asian is enough for her to reject her Chinese ancestry--until her great great grandmother appears in her dreams to convince her to return to her homeland. The pressure from her American parents doesn't bring much comfort. Her second ally, the Latinx school counselor, tries to help with a book about...
    Lina (Li-Hua) is uncertain about the pressure to find her origin--being lonely in High School and the only Asian is enough for her to reject her Chinese ancestry--until her great great grandmother appears in her dreams to convince her to return to her homeland. The pressure from her American parents doesn't bring much comfort. Her second ally, the Latinx school counselor, tries to help with a book about her own adoption. Will Lina be able to find what it means to "be home"?
  • Swimming with Puppies--new version by susan jackson
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, tragedy
    It's Jack's funeral; His wife Rachel is trying very hard to be supportive of her grieving daughter, Phoebe, but a secret from the past may force Rachel's hand; there's been a mass shooting and Jack is heralded as a hero. What other secrets will be revealed as mother, daughter, neighbor and the girl that Jack "saved" end up in the living room.
  • Samaritan--new version by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: strong female character, African American character + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: strong female character, African American character, mountain climbing, fatal disease, future, lack of maternal nurturing
    “Altruism doesn't belong on top of a mountain.”
    Set in the not-too-distant future where climbing the highest mountain is the “now” American experience--Renata Willerton is determined to identify the stranger who left her husband, Greg, to die on an ill-fated ascent up Mt. Everest. In spite of Greg's protestations that he can't identify him, Renata...
    “Altruism doesn't belong on top of a mountain.”
    Set in the not-too-distant future where climbing the highest mountain is the “now” American experience--Renata Willerton is determined to identify the stranger who left her husband, Greg, to die on an ill-fated ascent up Mt. Everest. In spite of Greg's protestations that he can't identify him, Renata thinks she finds the man—Alan Jaston; but she discovers more about her own values and her marriage in the process. Based on a true story.
  • THICK AS THIEVES by susan jackson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    6–9
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: female friendship, Lesbian + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, immersive
    Keyword: female friendship, Lesbian, southern, loyalty, infidelity, vegan, crazy murders
    The friendship of several Southern women is tested as they travel across the state for a funeral disguised as a wedding; as they deal with the reappearance of cancer; as they try and trap their cheating husband's lover; and as they carry on in the mental facility of the state prison--leaving just two of the most damaged to possibly connect....over Sweet and Low.
  • Land of Camaan by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    5–9
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: Civil War, slavery + 7 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: Civil War, slavery, Obama, white privilege, lesbian couple, Bible, caregiving, aging, American Southern history
    Posey, 14 year old slave to owners John and Bess Camaan, finds out the truth about her origins as she volunteers to fight against the invasion of General William Tecumseh Sherman. At 79, she shares her unusual history with her nephew Malachi as America tumbles into the Depression; fast forward to the year of Obama's presidential run--Posey's descendant Basil Carter and Bess and John's...
    Posey, 14 year old slave to owners John and Bess Camaan, finds out the truth about her origins as she volunteers to fight against the invasion of General William Tecumseh Sherman. At 79, she shares her unusual history with her nephew Malachi as America tumbles into the Depression; fast forward to the year of Obama's presidential run--Posey's descendant Basil Carter and Bess and John's descendant Sarah Camaan are unwittingly thrown together as caregiver and client.
  • Swimming With Puppies by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: mass shooting, grief + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: mass shooting, grief, guilt and redemption, truth, loyalty, funeral parlor, pizza
    A mass shooting--everyone who died is considered a hero--including Jack. But Jack's wife, armed with a powerful memory, suspects a different ending. She, along with her daughter Phoebe and Jack's ghost, try to figure out the truth but are derailed by a visit from a survivor and the next door neighbor.
  • Miracle Lake by susan jackson
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: catastrophes, sibling rivalry + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: catastrophes, sibling rivalry, greed, heart attack, quadraplegic
    "No one ever dies in Miracle Lake. "What happens to the Langdon family after a catastrophic event? MIRACLE LAKE follows their reunion five years after Timmy’s accident, and just before it occurs. Lives are drastically changed; hope for a miraculous cure is juxtaposed with reality. Secrets are revealed. Heartbreak. But was there a miracle? Based on a true story.