Leanna Keyes

Leanna Keyes

Leanna Keyes is a multi-hyphenate theater professional. Her most well-known play is Doctor Voynich and Her Children. This play was published in The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays, an anthology of plays by trans playwrights that she co-edited. Other recent work includes a Shakespeare adaptation called Two Ladies of Vermont, a tennis play about sports legend Renée Richards, and a still-in-development prequel...
Leanna Keyes is a multi-hyphenate theater professional. Her most well-known play is Doctor Voynich and Her Children. This play was published in The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays, an anthology of plays by trans playwrights that she co-edited. Other recent work includes a Shakespeare adaptation called Two Ladies of Vermont, a tennis play about sports legend Renée Richards, and a still-in-development prequel to Voynich.

When she isn’t a playwright, she works as the co-founder of Transcend Streaming in Brooklyn, where she lives with her partner-in-all-things Kyra, their cat Azkat, and their snake ASM.

Find out more at www.leannakeyes.com

Plays

  • Doctor Voynich and Her Children by Leanna Keyes
    Recommendations: 6
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: abortion, women + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: abortion, women, mother and daughter, American, queer, Lesbian, Sex, vulgar, Transgender
    Doctor Rue Voynich and her apprentice Fade travel the American Heartland dispensing herbal medications. Covertly, they perform abortions--long ago made illegal. Fade tries to help local youth Hannah complete her abortion, using knowledge from an ancient manuscript, before her mother and the sheriff can nail them for the “attempted murder of an unborn person.”
    >>This post-Roe v. Wade play about...
    Doctor Rue Voynich and her apprentice Fade travel the American Heartland dispensing herbal medications. Covertly, they perform abortions--long ago made illegal. Fade tries to help local youth Hannah complete her abortion, using knowledge from an ancient manuscript, before her mother and the sheriff can nail them for the “attempted murder of an unborn person.”
    >>This post-Roe v. Wade play about mothers and daughters is poetic, sexy, vulgar, queer, and a little too real.
  • God Herself Could Not Sink This Ship by Leanna Keyes
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: queer, fanfiction + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: queer, fanfiction, Transgender, transgender woman, LGBTQ, living room
    God Herself Could Not Sink This Ship is a new "romcomdram" that follows a trio of twentysomethings who write fan fiction on commission. They earn enough to hold down a small apartment, but they have to discover how far they’re willing to go for their art when an ethically questionable business opportunity gives them the chance to make it big. And how will they deal with fictional desire that starts to...
    God Herself Could Not Sink This Ship is a new "romcomdram" that follows a trio of twentysomethings who write fan fiction on commission. They earn enough to hold down a small apartment, but they have to discover how far they’re willing to go for their art when an ethically questionable business opportunity gives them the chance to make it big. And how will they deal with fictional desire that starts to cross the line into reality?

    God Herself explores the complex relationships of queer/trans people to a mainstream pop culture that rarely includes any sort of LGBT representation, and how fan fiction can show queer people that their lives are worthy of being more than subtext.
  • Two Ladies of Vermont by Leanna Keyes
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Non-Binary, millennials + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, drama
    Keyword: Non-Binary, millennials, Shakespeare adaptation, Shakespeare, Lesbian, queer people
    "Two Ladies of Vermont" is a queer and trans riff on Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona​." Four Millennials explore their faith, their relationships, and their duty to live their authentic lives. This play takes the basic skeleton of Shakepeare's play, takes out the terribly sexist ending, and inserts representation and ideas that matter now. Valentine and Proteus leave their...
    "Two Ladies of Vermont" is a queer and trans riff on Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona​." Four Millennials explore their faith, their relationships, and their duty to live their authentic lives. This play takes the basic skeleton of Shakepeare's play, takes out the terribly sexist ending, and inserts representation and ideas that matter now. Valentine and Proteus leave their too-small hometown in Vermont on a quest for love and prosperity in Boston. Silvia works to figure out her sexuality and escape her helicopter parent, the overbearing Duke. Julia/Sebastian is a non-binary person of faith becoming the truest version of themself.
  • Legal-Tender Loving Care by Leanna Keyes
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: romantic comedy
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    Keyword: Transgender, LGBTQ + 3 more
    Genre: romantic comedy
    Keyword: Transgender, LGBTQ, mistaken identity, sex work, transgender woman
    Rosie, lost at a public transit station, reacts with surprise when a cute young man approaches her and wants to "share his secrets" with her. Realizing that she's being propositioned, she declines. Jayden is dejected until she says that she'll gladly "share secrets" with him... for a price.

    The two head to a hotel, and a comedy of errors unfolds; doubly mistaken...
    Rosie, lost at a public transit station, reacts with surprise when a cute young man approaches her and wants to "share his secrets" with her. Realizing that she's being propositioned, she declines. Jayden is dejected until she says that she'll gladly "share secrets" with him... for a price.

    The two head to a hotel, and a comedy of errors unfolds; doubly mistaken identities and hidden histories collide as they spar through awkward puns and performance anxiety.