Jim Moran

Jim Moran

Jim Moran is a Seattle-based playwright who has had a series of critically acclaimed world premieres in the Seattle area over the last decade. Such plays include September Skies (“…taut writing, witty and true…” – Seattle Weekly), Across A Little Red Marker (“…a frisky and entertaining piece of work…” – The Stranger) and Fangs at Eclectic Theater. Other plays include …And Starring Claire From Hollywood at...
Jim Moran is a Seattle-based playwright who has had a series of critically acclaimed world premieres in the Seattle area over the last decade. Such plays include September Skies (“…taut writing, witty and true…” – Seattle Weekly), Across A Little Red Marker (“…a frisky and entertaining piece of work…” – The Stranger) and Fangs at Eclectic Theater. Other plays include …And Starring Claire From Hollywood at Macha Theatre Works and recently the co-production of Refugees In The Garden City with Pratidhwani and ReAct Theatre (recommended by the Seattle Times, “…theatre that matters…” – Drama In The Hood, “…the beauty of Refugees is in its humanity…” – Heilman & Haver). His work has also been presented in Seattle at 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival, Bainbridge Performing Arts, Northwest Playwrights Alliance’s Double Shot Festival, The Schoolyard at the Re-Bar, The Shoreline Arts Readers Theater and Sandbox Radio Live.

Jim also served as the assistant to Tony Award-Winning playwright Terrence McNally for the book of Catch Me If You Can, the Musical when it debuted at 5th Avenue Theatre. Shortly before, his play Martian Manhunter Lives was seen Off-Broadway at the Snapple Theater Center and he obtained a PONY Fellowship nomination from the LARK Play Development Center in New York.

Jim holds an MFA in Playwriting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with honors at the Kennedy Center American College Festival. He is also a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Plays

  • Cheers To Tl'uk by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: Covid-19, dramedy + 8 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Covid-19, dramedy, San Juan Islands, weekend getaway, Asian American, Domestic, killer whales, Mental Health, Suicide mental health cutting, multi-ethnic characters
    In what should be a post-Covid time, Alyssa, a registered nurse, and her husband Jason invite friends over for a lovely summer weekend in 2021 at their newly purchased cottage on Lopez Island. With food, drink, merriment, and a hopeful spotting of a rare white orca, they hope to rekindle good times after the worst of times. However challenges arise due to a recent suicide attempt by Caleb and a past...
    In what should be a post-Covid time, Alyssa, a registered nurse, and her husband Jason invite friends over for a lovely summer weekend in 2021 at their newly purchased cottage on Lopez Island. With food, drink, merriment, and a hopeful spotting of a rare white orca, they hope to rekindle good times after the worst of times. However challenges arise due to a recent suicide attempt by Caleb and a past relationship between Rory and Valerie, who is accompanied by her girlfriend Tisch. The hosting couple also arrive upon unresolved issues within their own marriage with a pandemic still in their wake and a fourth wave on the horizon.
  • Refugees In The Garden City by Jim Moran
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, political + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: mixed race relationships, Canada + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: mixed race relationships, Canada, immigration, Immigrants, computer age, India, Domestic, cultural and racial divides, aftermath Gun violence
    Rhiannon and Arjun find themselves in Victoria, B.C. with its lovely harbor views, its eclectic museums and its artisanal maple syrups; and the metaphorical pearly gates into the liberal-thinking, post-racial heaven that is Canada. With their newborn son in an interim hotel room within a modern-day Nativity scene, they are supposed to begin a new life north of the border and eighteen previous tumultuous and...
    Rhiannon and Arjun find themselves in Victoria, B.C. with its lovely harbor views, its eclectic museums and its artisanal maple syrups; and the metaphorical pearly gates into the liberal-thinking, post-racial heaven that is Canada. With their newborn son in an interim hotel room within a modern-day Nativity scene, they are supposed to begin a new life north of the border and eighteen previous tumultuous and traumatic months in their rearview mirror. However as night falls on Victoria, the mixed-race couple discover their issues will not simply vanish with a change of scenery.
  • S-1 by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    14–21
    ·
    Genre: political, tragedy
    ·
    Keyword: Manhattan Project, atomic bomb + 8 more
    Genre: political, tragedy
    Keyword: Manhattan Project, atomic bomb, Shakespearean tragedy, concentration of power, Second World War, political intrigue, historical drama, crimes against humanity, manifest destiny, 20th century American history
    Set in the four months between the death of President Franklin Roosevelt and the second atomic bombing on Nagasaki, S-1 imagines the struggles of Secretary of War Henry Stimson as he shepherds the final stage of the Manhattan Project. Like King Lear, his deteriorating health and the aspirations of other men stand in the way of his lofty ambition; which in Stimson’s case is an ambition for a world finally...
    Set in the four months between the death of President Franklin Roosevelt and the second atomic bombing on Nagasaki, S-1 imagines the struggles of Secretary of War Henry Stimson as he shepherds the final stage of the Manhattan Project. Like King Lear, his deteriorating health and the aspirations of other men stand in the way of his lofty ambition; which in Stimson’s case is an ambition for a world finally without war. S-1 examines the alternative options of “dropping the bomb” before the conclusion of WWII and the possible roots of the Cold War.
  • Eatonville by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Capitol Insurrection, comedic drama + 5 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, political
    Keyword: Capitol Insurrection, comedic drama, Beckettian, Donald Trump, QAnon, minimal set, Pinteresque
    Cindy and Betsy both travelled a long way to get to Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021. They meet in a motel lobby, awaiting transportation to take them to the Stop-The-Steal rally. They get to know one another and discover each other’s intentions.
  • Peace, Love and The Green Arrow by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: 1968, comic book artist + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic, political
    Keyword: 1968, comic book artist, comic book adventure, 1960s America, one act
    Based on a true story, Denny and Neal are holed up in Neal’s Greenwich Village apartment for an assignment from DC Comics in 1968. Their assignment is to rejuvenate the character of the Green Arrow with Denny as his writer and Neal as his illustrator. However, the left-wing and counterculture-minded Denny experiences writers block due to the tumultuous political and social state of the country, most recently...
    Based on a true story, Denny and Neal are holed up in Neal’s Greenwich Village apartment for an assignment from DC Comics in 1968. Their assignment is to rejuvenate the character of the Green Arrow with Denny as his writer and Neal as his illustrator. However, the left-wing and counterculture-minded Denny experiences writers block due to the tumultuous political and social state of the country, most recently with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. With a deadline approaching, Denny and Neal begin to mold a new conception of the Green Arrow influenced by the ground-shaking current events of the 1960’s around them.
  • ...And Starring Claire From Hollywood by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy
    ·
    Keyword: comedy of manners, behind the scenes + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: comedy of manners, behind the scenes, Noel Coward, action movies, death of a loved one, unrequited love, Oregon coast, salt water taffy
    IN A WORLD…specifically in a serene town on the Oregon coast, a struggling Hollywood actress, Claire Zimmer, returns home. Long past her hit TV show and peak at fame Claire agrees to star in the Prospect Cover Summer Theatre production of Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Chaos ensues when Hollywood and community theatre egos clash in this farcical tale of coming home and starting again.
  • The Hotshot by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    10–12
    ·
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: climate change, rural America + 5 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: climate change, rural America, fragile masculinity, firefighter, chamber ensemble, bar, Greek tragedy
    A firefighter and a truck driver walk into a bar…a bar located in a small Montana town…a small Montana town recently decimated by a major wildfire…a major wildfire that took the lives of four other firefighters. But the exact reason of “how”, “why” and “who” remains a controversy. A chamber drama plays out involving love, betrayal, racism, profiteering, murder and even climate change.
  • Lazarus and His Girlfriend by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    2–3
    ·
    Genre: experimental, fable/folktale + 3 more
    Genre: experimental, fable/folktale, faith-based, melodrama, romantic comedy
    An expressionist tale of young love inspired from a story from the Gospel of John. Lazarus lived a poor and sickly life in the dusty Judea town of Bethany. After dying, he encounters the free-spirited Paige who introduces him to some of the ways in the after-life. But death and his time with Paige may be temporary for Lazarus because a miraculous destiny awaits.
  • Fangs by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, horror + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: dysfunctional family, cabin in the woods + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, horror, mystery/thriller, political
    Keyword: dysfunctional family, cabin in the woods, abortion, Idaho, mountain lion
    Riley Perkins is an ambitious Idaho State Senator who plays dealmaker and chess-master to pass an anti-abortion bill while residing in the sanctuary of his vacation cabin, away from the bustle of Boise, with his eager chief of staff, his strangely annoyed wife and a wireless mobile hotspot. While a snowstorm rages outside and a ferocious mountain lion is on the loose, Riley gets an unexpected visit from his 20...
    Riley Perkins is an ambitious Idaho State Senator who plays dealmaker and chess-master to pass an anti-abortion bill while residing in the sanctuary of his vacation cabin, away from the bustle of Boise, with his eager chief of staff, his strangely annoyed wife and a wireless mobile hotspot. While a snowstorm rages outside and a ferocious mountain lion is on the loose, Riley gets an unexpected visit from his 20 year-old daughter, Madison, accompanied by a rather eccentric animal control officer. Madison arrives through the snow to throw a wrinkle into her father’s legislative plans…she threatens to go public with her own abortion for which Riley allowed to happen. An intense, macabre family comic-drama plays out in this cabin in the woods, and soon Riley faces the awful truth of who he really is.
  • Across A Little Red Marker by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    6–9
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: border towns, Vietnam War + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: border towns, Vietnam War, 1980s, mother and son
    The year is 1988, when George H.W. Bush is elected President, the Edmonton Oilers trade Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings and the enacting of a new trade agreement awaits, which will change things for the U.S.-Canada border. Nadine works as a U.S. Border Inspector, serving and protecting her Port of Entry with an authoritative, no-nonsense style. However, a health scare causes the single mother and...
    The year is 1988, when George H.W. Bush is elected President, the Edmonton Oilers trade Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings and the enacting of a new trade agreement awaits, which will change things for the U.S.-Canada border. Nadine works as a U.S. Border Inspector, serving and protecting her Port of Entry with an authoritative, no-nonsense style. However, a health scare causes the single mother and Vietnam widow to pursue a life insurance policy. When she meets Mr. Hayden, a duplicitous insurance agent with a dark and hidden agenda, Nadine soon finds her life and the world around her spiraling out of control.
  • September Skies by Jim Moran
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: 9/11, fate + 1 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: 9/11, fate, Boy Meets Girl
    Dave and Amy are two people who have their flights cancelled due to mechanical difficulties. They re-schedule flights the next day and may or may not decide on a one-night stand. However, a fate awaits them: they re-schedule flights on one of the doomed, hijacked planes on September 11, 2001. Discovering untapped emotions and a second-guessing of their lives, two people play out a tragic love story.