Louis DeVaughn Nelson

Louis DeVaughn Nelson

Playwright, Choreographer, Dramaturg, etcetera, Louis DeVaughn Nelson (aka DeVo) is a proud Black/Queer interdisciplinary artist whose creations have been presented in USA, Europe, Australia, and Asia. His writing has been published in several blogs, anthologies, and journals including "The Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora". He is a member of The Dramatist Guild of America and...
Playwright, Choreographer, Dramaturg, etcetera, Louis DeVaughn Nelson (aka DeVo) is a proud Black/Queer interdisciplinary artist whose creations have been presented in USA, Europe, Australia, and Asia. His writing has been published in several blogs, anthologies, and journals including "The Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora". He is a member of The Dramatist Guild of America and was the co-recipient of The Carlo Annoni Prize for LGBT Plays in 2022 for the translation of "Happy Reincarnation!" by German author Christoph Schlemmer. He has a passion for conceptual art, absurdist theatre, new media, and several genres of horror. He lives in New York City.

Training: DeSales University, Drexel University, The New School






Credits Include: The English Theater Berlin, The Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe Festival, The Philly Dance Collective, CEC's New Edge Mix Festival, The Peekaboo  Revue, The HOT! Festival at Dixon Place, Hearts on the Wall by Dark Matter Productions, The FailSafe  Festival, Sans Limites Dance Festival, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, The Secret Theatre,  Broadway Bound Theatre Festival, Harlem 9/Pregones Theatre, Sitting Shotgun Theatre Co., Village Playwrights, Bloodline Dance Theatre, Exquisite Corpse Company, Musical Theatre Factory/Poetic Theatre Productions, Miami Queer Collective, The Tank NYC, Ignition Arts, Teatro Milagro, Regina Opera Company, New Light Theatre Company.


Plays

  • Monologues, a dramedy in four scenes
    LOGLINE:
    A theatre director must figure out an equation to solve the problem of a love square (not triangle) turned sexual misconduct scandal between another director and their two actresses - both cast for a role in a new one-woman show.


    RUNNING TIME:
    60 Minutes

    SYNOPSIS:
    Not long before #metoo takes off, a budding screenwriter turned...
    LOGLINE:
    A theatre director must figure out an equation to solve the problem of a love square (not triangle) turned sexual misconduct scandal between another director and their two actresses - both cast for a role in a new one-woman show.


    RUNNING TIME:
    60 Minutes

    SYNOPSIS:
    Not long before #metoo takes off, a budding screenwriter turned theatre writer/director named Sean is flying wobbly beneath the wing of stage veteran William, a cocksure and obnoxious mansplainer with an ego twice the size of his big head. They are collaborating on a new one-woman show about an actress exposing her hatred of monologues as it correlates to her love of gay men.

    The two women cast are Pam, a determined and self-conscious hardworking older newcomer, and her counterpart, Michaela, a conceited, spoiled, diva from Gen Z. Separately - in totally different ways, they work together with the male directors to discover the pith of this strong female lead during rehearsals.

    After several tenuous bouts of repetitive takes of the same monologue, it’s discovered that there is something going on under the surface between the four; feelings are aroused and sexual tension is amidst. Seemingly, William wants Pam, Pam wants Michaela, Michaela wants Sean and Sean wants William.

    In the second scene, they are having a post-rehearsal drink and talking shop about the nature and drama of backstage life. After William and Michaela go off on an impromptu tryst, Sean, originally quietly waiting in the wings avoiding center stage, confounds Pam with an offer she never saw coming. This is the dream role she’s been hoping her whole life to play. He admits that his writing of this one-woman show about a woman in love with gay men was a ruse to try and get her to fall in love with him and that William, his confidant was in on it the entire time, also that he’s been pretending to be gay hoping it would help him to court her. Pam is left with a conundrum and decides to play along for the greater good.

    In scene three, some time has passed and the dust hasn’t yet settled involving Pam’s reporting to the powers that be of William’s constant sexually charged indiscretions. MICHAELA has happily taken on the one woman show all to herself - the only topic she is interested in talking about with Sean who is trying to figure out the backstory headliner Pam has begun to shed. Michaela exposes her scathing side of the story in an effort to empathize but ends up right back to her usual narcissistic self after a quick beat.

    In the final scene, Pam confronts William in an attempt to explain herself and offer a quid pro quo. What starts as a heartfelt resolution turns out to be the beginning of a new abominable scandal altogether. As it turns out, WILLIAM was the mastermind of all masterminds, and his plan was to latch onto the cash cow involved with the advent of sexual misconduct scandals in the entertainment industry. God bless America!
  • Outer Inner Monologue
    Andre, a queer man of color, is auditioning for a musical. When he begins to falter, he stammers his way into a confession about his craft. We discover that his passion for theatre has been met with a rocky road in terms of his ethnicity and sexual orientation - but art is why he gets up in the morning.
  • Snakes in the Grass
    A Black secret agent of an underground tech organization tasked with preserving/protecting African American Art from further colonization struggles to choose between doing what’s best for love or doing what’s best for the culture.

  • The Prize, a twisted Horror Play in four acts
    LOGLINE:
    Two unsuspecting pawn pieces that are harboring a secret must find a way to escape a dangerous game they’ve been solicited to play by dueling NYC production companies.
    RUNNING TIME: 60 minutes
    SYNOPSIS:
    Inspired by the classic short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, this black comedy, satirical horror play tells the story of two powerful cooperate couples...
    LOGLINE:
    Two unsuspecting pawn pieces that are harboring a secret must find a way to escape a dangerous game they’ve been solicited to play by dueling NYC production companies.
    RUNNING TIME: 60 minutes
    SYNOPSIS:
    Inspired by the classic short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, this black comedy, satirical horror play tells the story of two powerful cooperate couples from the LGBT community vying for a most heinous albeit coveted prize.

    Markus and Holger versus Susan and Marla. All members of a secret society of formidable gays, these two teams have a longstanding camaraderie and rivalry based on capitalistic greed. Constantly wagering their minions against each other (in the arena of the arts of all places), their covert attempts to win it all backfire in the end.
  • Chair
    The Annals of Sharon is a collection of episodic theatre works centered around the antihero, Sharon, a bicoastal, bisexual, fourty-something, polyamorous arts administrator navigating her way through a variety of ordeals involving a motley group of lovers.

    In the third episode, “Chair”, Sharon is in the city of her other home, L.A., furniture shopping with her west coast, bisexual ex-husband...
    The Annals of Sharon is a collection of episodic theatre works centered around the antihero, Sharon, a bicoastal, bisexual, fourty-something, polyamorous arts administrator navigating her way through a variety of ordeals involving a motley group of lovers.

    In the third episode, “Chair”, Sharon is in the city of her other home, L.A., furniture shopping with her west coast, bisexual ex-husband Carlos (the man who first introduced her to the idea of polyamory). A shoulder to cry on, he is the wise old owl of all of her lovers, but no matter how well he knows his not entirely jilted wife, his love for her is always sparked by her never ending arsenal of surprises.
  • Coontz
    A commercial break advertising a "melanin uptake re-inhibitor" boasts an uncanny cure for racism in America. Satirizing the pharmaceutical industry, the 99%, and Black culture.
  • The Way You Say My Name
    A singer is having a hard time saying goodbye to their partner from France who is having a hard time securing a work visa to stay in the USA.
  • Joie, a twisted horror play in two acts
    LOGLINE:
    When the prized boy of an all-male gay brothel in Berlin disappears just after his going away party, a murder mystery ensueas the place turns into a paranormal rabbit hole.
    RUNNING TIME:
    120 Minutes
    SYNOPSIS:
    A modern rendition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Joie is a twisted horror play in two acts that questions the mortality of morality. Set...
    LOGLINE:
    When the prized boy of an all-male gay brothel in Berlin disappears just after his going away party, a murder mystery ensueas the place turns into a paranormal rabbit hole.
    RUNNING TIME:
    120 Minutes
    SYNOPSIS:
    A modern rendition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Joie is a twisted horror play in two acts that questions the mortality of morality. Set in a timeless time in an all-male gay brothel in Berlin, Joie tells the tale of French Madam Alice who is rendered hysterical by the disappearance of her most prized boy, just hours before he is scheduled to leave Berlin. Part murder mystery and horror show, Joie delves into a bleak yet hilarious montage of metaphysical circumstance, with a disparate group of characters all contributing to unanswered questions regarding life and death.
    DESCRIPTION:
    Alice is a melodramatic French woman who owns an all-male gay brothel in Berlin along with her stoic German compatriot, Matthias. Together they pander five beautiful boys from various cultural backgrounds. While Alice handles all the aesthetic concerns, Matthias is the rock that controls the business end. At the start of the play, they are throwing a going away party for their prized boy, Robert, who for some reason is spoiled more than the other boys.
    When Robert does not return home the next day after the party, the house is thrown into a frenzy and Alice turns the whole affair into a veritable who-done-it. It is quickly learned that other powers are at work regarding the mysterious disappearance of Robert, as another one of the boys follows suit and disappears as well.
    The tale continues on with an exposition of the characters’ desires and concerns regarding the craft, and the strange occurrences in the brothel as their rabbit hole soon becomes a living (or dying) nightmare as the truth is exposed.

    SCENE AND SETTING:
    A Timeless Time, in a Brothel in the city of Berlin, Germany.

    [CAN BE ADAPTED TO IMMERSIVE THEATRE]
  • I Still Wonder What Happened To Robin Williams
    A young queer person of color consults their cat about suicidal ideation.
  • The Show, a musical memoir
    The year is 2005. A neo-burlesque troupe located in an old Jazz club in Philly is being profiled by the local paper to talk about the resurgence of this art form. We learn about the hopes and dreams of the troupe's members through an array of intimate interviews, backstage antics, and thrilling performances.

    *Based on many true events courtesy of the author.
  • Frank, a tragiocomic play in two acts
    LOGLINE: A Black Queer artist celebrating his 27th birthday is dealing with overcoming a recent incident of intimate partner violence. Along with his sassy bestie and roommate, they navigate their way through the next steps of his survival.

    SYNOPSIS : Frank and Erin have known each other a long time. Well, in twenty-something years, they go way back. They’re the kind of friends who contrast and...
    LOGLINE: A Black Queer artist celebrating his 27th birthday is dealing with overcoming a recent incident of intimate partner violence. Along with his sassy bestie and roommate, they navigate their way through the next steps of his survival.

    SYNOPSIS : Frank and Erin have known each other a long time. Well, in twenty-something years, they go way back. They’re the kind of friends who contrast and compliment each other so well you think that maybe they could be married. Fate would have different plans for these two.

    RUNNING TIME: 70 Minutes

    Frank is trying his best to celebrate his twenty-seventh birthday during the aughts. Succumbing to a quarter-life crisis, he is wallowing in confusion and denial and a lot of other things. Trying to shed the remnants of his innocence all the while being thrust into adulthood, he decides to make his life a little more complicated by dating a man twice his age. That and an incident that is slowly changing his life and perspective, (being drugged and raped by a man he met at a bar) have him a little dazed and trying to hold it all together.

    Frank takes a straightforward look into dynamic relationships and how they affect the relationships of others. Quite frankly, it’s a pseudo love story slash coming of age slash rite of passage tale that takes a glimpse at the affects of intimate partner violence.
  • Daidy or Daddy With an I
    A Queer Black Boy describes his relationship with his deceased father.
  • Tim minus the M
    Logline:
    While shopping for clothes, a non-binary artist practices a new albeit difficult homework assignment doled out by their therapist.

    Synopsis:.
    *Tim (aka Ti) has found themselves in another clothing store starkly separated into gender specific sections. The place is a reminder of the worst part of growing up and the best part of growing up: going shopping with their pious...
    Logline:
    While shopping for clothes, a non-binary artist practices a new albeit difficult homework assignment doled out by their therapist.

    Synopsis:.
    *Tim (aka Ti) has found themselves in another clothing store starkly separated into gender specific sections. The place is a reminder of the worst part of growing up and the best part of growing up: going shopping with their pious mother.

    Ti begins to do an exercise/assignment to help them learn how to talk about their identity with their mother and create boundaries to improve their relationship. We learn of the trials and tribulations of growing up in a religious home where boys and girls were taught to be boys or girls.

    By the end, Ti comes up with a clearing of the long path ahead with a touching sentiment to their mother.

    *Tim is another character from the play Nappy Rabbits
  • Flower Arrangements
    CALVIN is chatting on live-stream while setting up some fresh flowers in his office space. He begins to talk to his audience about the experience of witnessing so many milestones growing up working in a family-owned florist shop.

    Monologue
  • Mortal Coil
    A deaf Millennial is grieving the death of his mother who passed shortly following the 2024 presidential elections after spending her life devoted to civil rights and social justice. Along with his therapist and translator, he finds new ways to celebrate her life and carry on her legacy. A play with music and dance.
  • [Insert Bleep Sound Here]
    Mick is a Queer Black Jock who has invited his track & field teammate and his date to an after school dance dinner party at Beyoncé’s Red Lobster. It’s a ruse, of course, to spend more time with him as some unspoken attraction has been brewing between the both of them in the locker room and while competing. A botched and very late attempt to deliver corsages for the school dance event throws a huge wrench...
    Mick is a Queer Black Jock who has invited his track & field teammate and his date to an after school dance dinner party at Beyoncé’s Red Lobster. It’s a ruse, of course, to spend more time with him as some unspoken attraction has been brewing between the both of them in the locker room and while competing. A botched and very late attempt to deliver corsages for the school dance event throws a huge wrench into Mick’s plans for veiled, indirect intimacy when the flowers arrive containing Eucalyptus – of which Mick is intensely allergic to. A romantic adventure turns into a hospital visit, and Mick leaves a voice note for his therapist to spill the tea and unpack the trauma of having a crush on a guy who isn’t out of the closet.
  • Half a Promise
    Two Black artists from Gen Z have both auditioned for the role in a new play, the only part specified for a Black character. They are introspective nonbinary Andrea and happy-go-lucky super femme Jasmine, the latter a little more melanated than the former. While warming up for dance class, they discuss the potential results of the casting, and vow to shine a light on any misogynoir or micro-aggressions no matter who gets the part.
  • Under the Rug
    Jay Lee has finally found a support group for friends/family of folks with Dissociative Identity Disorder. He is becoming more comfortable in sharing his story with the group and begins talking about how he reconciles the fact that one of his bestie’s alters exhibits racist behavior. He’s convinced that this personality is the manifestation of a traumatic event. He uses the connection to analogize a microcosm...
    Jay Lee has finally found a support group for friends/family of folks with Dissociative Identity Disorder. He is becoming more comfortable in sharing his story with the group and begins talking about how he reconciles the fact that one of his bestie’s alters exhibits racist behavior. He’s convinced that this personality is the manifestation of a traumatic event. He uses the connection to analogize a microcosm of how society is dealing with a rapidly changing world full of collective trauma.

  • BITTER/SWEET CHARITY
    An unhoused queer boy of color tells his riches to rags story after being triggered by a stranger he meets at a park bench.

    *Monologue from "Helping the Happy"
  • ZERO :: LOVE
    An essential worker at the U.S. Open vents about the core responsibilities of his job, painting a picture of the frivolity of the upper class.

    *Monologue from "Helping the Happy"
  • Lookout Point
    Jay Lee is a Queer, Black Millennial from a very pious family. He’s been able to navigate life without having to share the fact that he is homosexual with his kinfolk. Losing his job and livelihood during the pandemic, he moves back in with his family and keeps the secret.

    During the holidays, he meets his sister’s new boyfriend, David – a caring teacher who listens to Jay Lee in his moment of...
    Jay Lee is a Queer, Black Millennial from a very pious family. He’s been able to navigate life without having to share the fact that he is homosexual with his kinfolk. Losing his job and livelihood during the pandemic, he moves back in with his family and keeps the secret.

    During the holidays, he meets his sister’s new boyfriend, David – a caring teacher who listens to Jay Lee in his moment of crisis as he decides whether or not to come out. They have a discussion about how important the process is, and David offers his support. Once David finally convinces Jay Lee to do the right thing so he feels like he can be his true self in front of his family, their plans are thwarted by an unknown entity.

  • Exposure Therapy
    Tevin and Alex are sitting at a bar playing one of their favorite drinking games, but Tevin is newly sober and drinking alcohol-free beer. They broach the topic of forgiveness in regards to Tevin’s ex who is a crystal meth addict who was abusive. During the game and discussion, the audience sees Tevin’s self-care routine play out simultaneously.

  • The Philadelphia Museum of Art
    LOGLINE
    A Black Queer artist finds divine inspiration from the Black art featured at The Philadelphia Museum of Art.

    SYNPOSIS
    Tevin is preparing the visuals for an upcoming show whose theme is “inclusion is an illusion”. He’s at the museum trying to come up with ideas for costumes and choreography. He stumbles across a few pieces depicting life of the Free Blacks in the late 19th...
    LOGLINE
    A Black Queer artist finds divine inspiration from the Black art featured at The Philadelphia Museum of Art.

    SYNPOSIS
    Tevin is preparing the visuals for an upcoming show whose theme is “inclusion is an illusion”. He’s at the museum trying to come up with ideas for costumes and choreography. He stumbles across a few pieces depicting life of the Free Blacks in the late 19th century, they are nestled between the disproportionate amount of European colonist art. He finds a Victrola created by folk artist and inventor William Plummer and begins to dance, fully inspired by the sheer beauty of his work.

    RUNNING TIME
    7 Minutes
  • Meet Cute Gets Ugly
    LOGLINE:
    Two art lovers fall in love with a painting at a gallery and end up flirting with another patron and the gallery assistant. All doled out in meet cute rom com coincidence fashion, by the end we’re left with a precarious love square.

    SYNOPSIS:
    Carlos and Tara are both indirectly involved with someone in a polyamorous relationship. They became fast friends and enjoy going...
    LOGLINE:
    Two art lovers fall in love with a painting at a gallery and end up flirting with another patron and the gallery assistant. All doled out in meet cute rom com coincidence fashion, by the end we’re left with a precarious love square.

    SYNOPSIS:
    Carlos and Tara are both indirectly involved with someone in a polyamorous relationship. They became fast friends and enjoy going out to see art together. Carlos takes Tara to a gallery where his friend is showing work. There Carlos has a love at first sight moment with Ti, the gallery assistant. Ti obliges while Tara meets a patron named Janelle who is there to pick up a painting she purchases that Tara is also interested in buying. They get to talking and Tara has her love at first sight moment with Janelle. As it turns out, Janelle is also at the gallery to pick up Ti to go on their first date and after they all talk about the crossfire of their relationships and their interest in the painting, an incident nearby involving a mass shooting brings them closer together.
  • Sharon
    LOGLINE:
    When a newly polyamorous woman decides she wants to have a baby, she must decide which one of her many suitors will become the father.

    SYNOPSIS:
    The Annals of Sharon is a collection of vignettes centered around the antihero, Sharon, a bicoastal, bisexual, forty-something, polyamorous NYC arts administrator navigating her way through a variety of ordeals involving a motley...
    LOGLINE:
    When a newly polyamorous woman decides she wants to have a baby, she must decide which one of her many suitors will become the father.

    SYNOPSIS:
    The Annals of Sharon is a collection of vignettes centered around the antihero, Sharon, a bicoastal, bisexual, forty-something, polyamorous NYC arts administrator navigating her way through a variety of ordeals involving a motley group of lovers.

    INFO:
    This piece contains very current and relevant sign-of-the-times topics that address the fact that many people are starting to adapt new ways of exploring sex and love while engaging in new methods of dating. Polyamory is becoming a more accepted way of life.

    With hashtags like #slutshaming and #thruple, American society is starting to open its mind a bit to ideas that have been considered taboo for decades, but have always been very vibrant and active beneath the surface. Now that they are brewing and becoming more acceptable, questions and answers about sex are becoming more prevalent.
  • Clock
    In a monologue from "Sharon" - Bill tells the story of how clocks have been a vital part of his heritage courtesy of his grandfather.
  • Lock-in Party
    You’ve just found a USB drive that was placed inside of the refrigerator in your office. Intrigued, you plug it in and start reading the files. The first one is a recording of a woman desperate to tell you her horror story, urging you to turn it into a screenplay.

    Tisha is a choreographer who has just hosted a classic lock-in party for her cast after closing night. There’s a bunch of...
    You’ve just found a USB drive that was placed inside of the refrigerator in your office. Intrigued, you plug it in and start reading the files. The first one is a recording of a woman desperate to tell you her horror story, urging you to turn it into a screenplay.

    Tisha is a choreographer who has just hosted a classic lock-in party for her cast after closing night. There’s a bunch of backstory and drama between them, but they decide to blow off some steam by locking themselves into the dance studio where they rehearse.

    Things go awry when one of the guests finds an old tape recorder and plays a message that was left on it – a chant repeated over and over again in Latin.

    We learn this from an audio message from a USB left by someone named Tisha and she describes the horrific events that happened that eerie evening, letting us know that she was the only one who survived this supernatural massacre that occurred - and that soon she will be the next one dead.

    She propositions the listener to write a screenplay or find someone talented enough to turn the story into a script – in a last effort to make some art before her demise. Through some found footage doled out in a meta fashion, we hear the last words of some of the victims and then we find out that Tisha was the source of this curse, and has passed it on from the tape recorder to the USB drive.
  • A New Family Member
    Logline:
    In the midst of a therapeutic breakthrough, a non-binary artist impulse buys a new pet and struggles with trying to find a name for it...

    Synopsis:
    Ti is asserting their identity as non-binary while dealing with the recent death of their mother. Their mother and Ti never talked openly about Ti’s identity due to different belief systems, and Ti is trying to move on from...
    Logline:
    In the midst of a therapeutic breakthrough, a non-binary artist impulse buys a new pet and struggles with trying to find a name for it...

    Synopsis:
    Ti is asserting their identity as non-binary while dealing with the recent death of their mother. Their mother and Ti never talked openly about Ti’s identity due to different belief systems, and Ti is trying to move on from the lack of closure. After a shopping trip, Ti buys a new pet and begins to contemplate a name for it, bringing to light some underlying issues they’re still dealing with from their mother’s influence.

    *Tim is another character from the play Nappy Rabbits
  • good bye to my rock
    Inspired by the nursery rhyme "Rock-A-Bye Baby" this play tells the story of a mother dealing with the 5 stages of grief as she and her daughter travel to the Poconos to spread her son's ashes.
  • Bridezilla Versus Stage Mom
    An overbearing mother disrupts the peace in her son’s dressing room as he prepares to perform for a Christmas drag show.
  • Enfilade
    Logline:
    Artists from varying disciplines are kidnapped and trapped in an undisclosed location, their only way out is to create a masterpiece!

    Synopsis:
    A musician, a poet, a dancer, and a painter have been forced to be individually stuck in a room with only their artist materials. They are connected by a communication device that gives them all solace. We learn that in order to get...
    Logline:
    Artists from varying disciplines are kidnapped and trapped in an undisclosed location, their only way out is to create a masterpiece!

    Synopsis:
    A musician, a poet, a dancer, and a painter have been forced to be individually stuck in a room with only their artist materials. They are connected by a communication device that gives them all solace. We learn that in order to get out of this "game" they must create a masterpiece. And through artistic differences and serendipitous collaboration - they tend to finding new modes of their creative process in order to be released from this mysterious man-made purgatory.
  • Supporting Actors
    Crystal and Lee are two supporting actors of color with speaking roles working on a film that is being made by a director who is notorious for centering his work around whiteness. They come from two different economic backgrounds, and are both happy to be making their way up the #RepresenationMatters ladder, though Lee is more passionate about the craft than Crystal is. When Crystal gets some good news about...
    Crystal and Lee are two supporting actors of color with speaking roles working on a film that is being made by a director who is notorious for centering his work around whiteness. They come from two different economic backgrounds, and are both happy to be making their way up the #RepresenationMatters ladder, though Lee is more passionate about the craft than Crystal is. When Crystal gets some good news about another role she booked, she has to find a way to break the news to Lee, who was also in the running.

    Phillip, an actor of no color, enters during their lunch break carrying a Chick-fil-la bag and Crystal begins to reprimand him for contributing to a historically homophobic brand. Phillip notices that the other two actors are eating Popeye’s and doles out a hefty rebuttal about the general evil of capitalism and no matter where we spend our money, it will somehow end up in the hands of unsavory men.

    They disagree to agree, and then commiserate on the bittersweet fact that chicken sandwiches are delicious. They get called back to set for another take – and Crystal takes a chance to explain to Lee that she got the role that Lee wanted. It does not end well, and the two part ways – leaving their friendship in jeopardy.
  • Good Sister Bad Sister
    Pauline and Patricia are twin sisters with two totally different points of view. They are both trying to find themselves during the roaring twenties but are stuck in a small New England town where folks live a conveyer belt life. Pauline has already settled down and married a doctor whereas Patricia is a queer/questioning artist hell-bent on moving to the more fast-paced and unruly Chicago. They both are coming...
    Pauline and Patricia are twin sisters with two totally different points of view. They are both trying to find themselves during the roaring twenties but are stuck in a small New England town where folks live a conveyer belt life. Pauline has already settled down and married a doctor whereas Patricia is a queer/questioning artist hell-bent on moving to the more fast-paced and unruly Chicago. They both are coming to terms with the rapidly changing world – trying to find comfort in the choices they made (and haven’t made) for their livelihoods. For the first time in their lives, they’ll have to separate – but at what cost?
  • Frankly
    "Frankly" is the aftermath of the story about "Frank", a young queer black man, going through recovering from an incident of intimate partner violence.*

    He and his bestie Erin, and her boyfriend, are acclimating themselves to therapy and returning to their regularly scheduled social proclivities – but with much more caution than was prevalent before Frank decided to report a...
    "Frankly" is the aftermath of the story about "Frank", a young queer black man, going through recovering from an incident of intimate partner violence.*

    He and his bestie Erin, and her boyfriend, are acclimating themselves to therapy and returning to their regularly scheduled social proclivities – but with much more caution than was prevalent before Frank decided to report a rape incident despite the adversity involved with his gender and sexuality in regards to discrimination.

    Told with hyper realistic aspects, the therapist is also a reflection of the assailant – and Frank must learn how to navigate the new world ahead of him.

    *"Frank" is a two-act play regarding same sex intimate partner violence.
  • Posthumously
    When an artist loses his best friend (who is also an artist), he's guided in the direction of making sure her legacy lives on after her death.
  • My Ghost, The Influencer
    "My Ghost, The Influencer" is a story about connecting old life in the new world. Not a Pandemic Play, but relating to the burgeoning effects of how social media influences the post-covid dating pool - it's comedic horror theatre that takes place on the worst (or possibly best) night of an aspiring influencer's life. A Dance Teacher finds herself in a conundrum when her followers on TikTok...
    "My Ghost, The Influencer" is a story about connecting old life in the new world. Not a Pandemic Play, but relating to the burgeoning effects of how social media influences the post-covid dating pool - it's comedic horror theatre that takes place on the worst (or possibly best) night of an aspiring influencer's life. A Dance Teacher finds herself in a conundrum when her followers on TikTok notice a ghost inhabiting her old East Village apartment in one of her videos. With the help of a close friend and athlete who's camera shy, she tries to figure out if the entity is real, and at the same time ponders her own reality.
  • Untitled? or The Last Day of Our Library
    Y2K sparks a drastic change in libraries, sparking major changes in a motley crew of a university library staff. Relationships between the stacks begin to blossom in new ways, causing headaches and heartaches for some.

  • Best Wishes
    LOGLINE: Two friends are picking out a wedding dress for a an unsuspecting colleague who might be a part of a backhanded ritual.

    SYNOPSIS: Cindy is meeting with her gay bestie Craig at a boutique dress shop in Philadelphia. Craig is an event planner and Cindy has a habit of suggesting Craig to her coworkers who can’t stop getting married. We learn very quickly about Cindy’s seemingly feminist...
    LOGLINE: Two friends are picking out a wedding dress for a an unsuspecting colleague who might be a part of a backhanded ritual.

    SYNOPSIS: Cindy is meeting with her gay bestie Craig at a boutique dress shop in Philadelphia. Craig is an event planner and Cindy has a habit of suggesting Craig to her coworkers who can’t stop getting married. We learn very quickly about Cindy’s seemingly feminist stance on marriage, and when the bride to be arrives, we find out that there is a dangerous game Cindy might be playing in the background.
  • In The Clear
    Ironically, lockdown offers stay-at-home Rebecca an opportunity to break free of an abusive relationship, when she finds a new nest under the wing of her bestie, Irene, a sassy nurse on the front lines of the pandemic.
  • Catfish and Rice
    Two brothers looking for their true identity struggle to recognize each other as one comes to terms with their transition and the other starts to question their gender.

    Vaughn and Ren used to be Sha’vonne and Renae. Two siblings with only one secret between them, their stories are told through a series of scenes depicting major events in their lives. Ren is a queer boy fascinated with the female...
    Two brothers looking for their true identity struggle to recognize each other as one comes to terms with their transition and the other starts to question their gender.

    Vaughn and Ren used to be Sha’vonne and Renae. Two siblings with only one secret between them, their stories are told through a series of scenes depicting major events in their lives. Ren is a queer boy fascinated with the female form and Vaughn is a transgender male.

    An inciting incident involving a hate crime towards Vaughn sets in motion questions and memories about the past and future of the brothers’ relationship and Ren coming to terms with Vaughn’s transition in spite of their pious upbringing and the difficulties he faces.

    Using a variety of media including dance and film, Catfish and Rice is a conceptual dance theatre work full of complex expositions of growing up queer in the 80s, 90s, and the aughts.
  • And Scene.
    An exchange between a queer black actor and a Broadway green room.
  • The Owl, or What I Learned at Night
    Second part of a two-part series: this work was made for specifically for Site Specific - a Quarantine Play Festival presented by Exquisite Corpse Company via ZOOM.

    Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" two stories of love in isolation come to light in the darkest of times.
  • The Falcon, or What I Learned During The Day
    First part of a two-part series: this work was made for specifically for Site Specific - a Quarantine Play Festival presented by Exquisite Corpse Company via ZOOM.

    Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" two stories of love in isolation come to light in the darkest of times.
  • Model Son
    With the constant threat of Japanese bombings in Melbourne in May of 1942, the town goes into brownout. Many of their soldiers are off fighting the war leaving listless American soldiers stationed there with not much to do but look for action.

    A well built amicable G.I. with a troubled past by the name of Eddie Leonski has a penchant for drink and is obsessed with the sound of the female voice....
    With the constant threat of Japanese bombings in Melbourne in May of 1942, the town goes into brownout. Many of their soldiers are off fighting the war leaving listless American soldiers stationed there with not much to do but look for action.

    A well built amicable G.I. with a troubled past by the name of Eddie Leonski has a penchant for drink and is obsessed with the sound of the female voice. Within the span of just over two weeks he murders three women in the attempt to steal their voices.
    Being from a broken home of abuse, alcoholism and mental illness, the trauma Leonski
    endured is the source of his evil. The ghosts of these women live in a version of purgatory with the mother of Leonski, a medium, coming to visit them - her enteral curse to take care of the three victims as penance for raising a killer.

    The tale is told in a nonlinear format, with the town becoming more and more plagued by fear and restlessness with a killer on the loose. When Leonski is finally caught and the war between Australian law and court martial falls in favor of the former, Leonski is hanged and thus reunited with his mother.

    The background of the women whose lives were taken away parallel the tales of the tensions between Americans and Australians during this time. A macabre opera transpires exploiting the grief of this wretched time.
  • Turn Me On
    A few friends, old and new, are stuck together during a queer quarantine trying to be as productive and drama-free as possible. A crossfire of connections causes panic and intrigue (between interjections of hand sanitizer obsessing).
  • superego
    A social media influencer starts a new live streaming contest amidst a global pandemic.

    Part Three of "Psychic Apparatus"
    *See Also: Nappy Rabbits
  • ego
    A starving actor tries to make a missed connection with a theatre director during social distancing.

    Part Two of "Psychic Apparatus"
    *See Also: Nappy Rabbits
  • id
    An actress finds the strength to break free from lockdown courtesy of a global pandemic.

    Part One of "Psychic Apparatus"
    *See Also: Nappy Rabbits
  • The Third Degree
    Rob & Bobby are an intergenerational well off couple on the brink of the 7 Year Itch. To spice up their relationship, they invite over a third who fits into their just a preference mold - but ends up giving them a lesson in modern day social graces.

    Written by Louis DeVaughn Nelson and Marcus Scott
  • This Play is About Me
    A pseudo ish autobiographical like memoir onic three act play written by a Black Queer mostly male identified American man.
  • Nappy Rabbits
    Three separate but equal circumstances in regards to the casting couch situation.

    John and Tim are a director/actor combo who work together a lot and are the muse of each other's work. When a role comes along that piques Tim's interest, John is stuck in a predicament. It turns out the role is designated for a cis woman and the producer of the show (and the theme of the play he's...
    Three separate but equal circumstances in regards to the casting couch situation.

    John and Tim are a director/actor combo who work together a lot and are the muse of each other's work. When a role comes along that piques Tim's interest, John is stuck in a predicament. It turns out the role is designated for a cis woman and the producer of the show (and the theme of the play he's producing) tackles a binary issue of sexual misconduct.

    Tim wants to take this opportunity to acknowledge his identity as non-binary and insert underrepresentation into the industry's narrative, but underlying issues involving misogyny fight against the cause.
  • Women and Children First
    Embedded with magical realism, this one act dramadey satirizes the dark underbelly of The American Dream.

    Sam and Paul are a young couple from two different backgrounds who are trying to have a baby. Sam grew up in a WASPy way whereas her counterpart Paul is a self-proclaimed self-made man from a working class Irish family. He's hellbent on creating a nuclear family and landing the perfect...
    Embedded with magical realism, this one act dramadey satirizes the dark underbelly of The American Dream.

    Sam and Paul are a young couple from two different backgrounds who are trying to have a baby. Sam grew up in a WASPy way whereas her counterpart Paul is a self-proclaimed self-made man from a working class Irish family. He's hellbent on creating a nuclear family and landing the perfect job at the (not Ivy League) university in Philadelphia where Sam has worked as a librarian for years, in attempt to leave his printing/publishing roots behind.

    Tom is a math professor at said university who has married emigrant Michaela who works in the administration department at the same college. With his tenure decision looming, they are trying to establish themselves on more solid ground. Concurrently, Michaela is hoping to get a promotion which just so happens to be the same job Paul is applying for.

    An amorphous mediator joins the four in unveiling their stories and becomes a representation of all the colleagues and obstacles they face in real life, doling out caveats in several scenes, including the recurring dream of Tom's: a whacky gameshow hosted by The Ringleader.

    By the end of all of the tumult of trials and tribulations, what each character is striving for bears many resemblances in theme and destiny and the pieces of the disparate puzzle fall seemingly into the perfect places.
  • Table
    The Annals of Sharon is a collection of episodic theatre works centered around the antihero, Sharon, a bicoastal, bisexual, fourty-something, polyamorous arts administrator navigating her way through a variety of ordeals involving a motley group of lovers.

    In the second episode, “Table”, we meet Earnest, so importantly himself – he is a dowdy New York City public high school science teacher with...
    The Annals of Sharon is a collection of episodic theatre works centered around the antihero, Sharon, a bicoastal, bisexual, fourty-something, polyamorous arts administrator navigating her way through a variety of ordeals involving a motley group of lovers.

    In the second episode, “Table”, we meet Earnest, so importantly himself – he is a dowdy New York City public high school science teacher with thinning hair and a huge libido who is more than willing to take his and Sharon’s obligatory dinner and a movie melody to a crescendo. During this monumental meal in Manhattan, it comes out that Earnest’s matter of fact feelings for Sharon could be the work of fiction.
  • Bed
    The Annals of Sharon is a collection of episodic theatre works centered around the antihero, Sharon, a bicoastal, bisexual, fourty-something, polyamorous arts administrator navigating her way through a variety of ordeals involving a motley group of lovers.

    In the first episode, “Bed”, she is spending the night in a hotel in an undisclosed location with Bill, a man almost half her age that...
    The Annals of Sharon is a collection of episodic theatre works centered around the antihero, Sharon, a bicoastal, bisexual, fourty-something, polyamorous arts administrator navigating her way through a variety of ordeals involving a motley group of lovers.

    In the first episode, “Bed”, she is spending the night in a hotel in an undisclosed location with Bill, a man almost half her age that beseeches her to come to bed and stop working overtime. Throughout the thrill-of-the-hunt cat and mouse game, we learn about Bill’s true desire for Sharon, and that she isn’t the only one good at keeping secrets.
  • The Ending or Beginning
    LOGLINE: A Bush era love square (not triangle) a al "The Slaves of New York" centered around the bourgeoning art scene in Philadelphia in the aughts.

    RUNNING TIME: 120 - 130 Minutes

    SYNOPSIS: “The Ending or Beginning”

    “The Ending or Beginning” is an amorphous situational-comedy, a sketch of a bittersweet love square (not triangle), and most importantly a...
    LOGLINE: A Bush era love square (not triangle) a al "The Slaves of New York" centered around the bourgeoning art scene in Philadelphia in the aughts.

    RUNNING TIME: 120 - 130 Minutes

    SYNOPSIS: “The Ending or Beginning”

    “The Ending or Beginning” is an amorphous situational-comedy, a sketch of a bittersweet love square (not triangle), and most importantly a character study. Jodi White is a badass mixed up Philly visual artist who doesn’t think she’s your average art school dropout with an ill-fated Freudian history that affects every aspect of her relationships, but she is. Add a motley crew of young twenty-something artist friends all struggling to make it in the “Sixth Borough” without selling out in the aughts, and you’ve got a slew of hilarious and sad stories from the MTV slash Computer Generation full of high hopes and broken dreams.

    [This is a conceptual interdisciplinary piece that contains dance scenes and live music and can be adapted into an immersive theatre piece or screenplay]