Bennett Ayres

Bennett Ayres

Bennett is a playwright and museum educator whose work has been produced by Chicago's City Lit Theater, Franklin College, Wabash College, University of Southern Indiana, Otherworld Theatre of Chicago, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Newfields, Spirit and Place, and the Phoenix Theatre. He is a scholarship recipient for the Kenyon Playwrights Conference and recipient of an Arthur Jordan grant. Bennett is a 2020...
Bennett is a playwright and museum educator whose work has been produced by Chicago's City Lit Theater, Franklin College, Wabash College, University of Southern Indiana, Otherworld Theatre of Chicago, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Newfields, Spirit and Place, and the Phoenix Theatre. He is a scholarship recipient for the Kenyon Playwrights Conference and recipient of an Arthur Jordan grant. Bennett is a 2020 Blue Ink finalist for Chicago's American Blues Theatre, and he currently produces educational theatre.

Plays

  • Galinthias
    Midwife Galinthias meets a young girl who has been assaulted and impregnated by Poseidon. In defiance of the gods, Galinthias sets off on a journey to help the girl get an abortion.
  • Of Bulls and Bullies
    In the Greek myth, Theseus is the good guy and the Minotaur is the bad guy. Simple. But perhaps it's time to revise our understanding of the story.
  • Creatures of the Night
    Sighting a Werewolf is no easy task. That's why Conk and Fleckwell, founding members of the Lycanthrope Action Committee, are devoted to science, research and above all, loyalty.
  • Sabertooth!
    Dr. Halpin and Dr. Estes are locked in ugly competition; each seeking approval for individual Bio-weapons projects. But when Halpin's test subjects 'get out' the research facility becomes a deadly maze where the scientists must work out their past betrayals and work together.
  • All Made of Wires and Tears
    Professor Kellan has no interest in teaching Beginning Acting to a robot, even if the pay is too good to turn down. She soon learns that the robot, Travis, is an apt student and when Travis starts getting too talented the sessions bring up thoughts and emotions that Kellan would rather leave buried.
  • Muzzle Loaders
    Late night, a tavern, in the 1780s! Mr. Smedly and Mr. Pizz have an easy task: just write up an amendment about men keeping muskets. But the task proves more difficult once Ms. Fesmire, a barmaid, begins questioning the whole idea.
  • Evolutionary
    Quinn has been quietly questioning her role in her family's creationism museum for some time. But when Quinn learns that her younger sister will be stepping into the role of museum president, her secrets come out in a very... reptilian way.
  • Lanista
    Beemer, a struggling author, works a day job as an elder-care provider. When he realizes that his newest client is his former high school wrestling coach, Beemer turns the tables and begins his own rigorous training program.
  • The Useful Woman
    Kansas, 1900. Carry Nation has just smashed up a small town saloon, on orders from God. What's next? A campaign to destroy all liquor establishments, despite resistance from her fellow Temperance Union sisters, her husband, local law enforcement, and a gnawing silence from her Lord and Savior.
  • Feral Boy
    Corbett has taken a very unusual interest in the feral cats that hang around the college town. First he wants to help them, then he needs to join them, and then he insists on leading them.
  • Bestiarii
    Four condemned prisoners sit in a cell beneath the Arena in a not too distant future. All four are nameless, all four are sinners, all four face death by Thunder Lizard. But when one of the prisoners reveals an illegal knowledge in Dinosaurs, the concept of revolution becomes real.
  • Weary Dragons
    Drawn in by adventure, fame and infatuation with a married prostitute, an unnamed poet joins Beowulf, on a dragon hunt.
  • Black Maria
    July 4, 1910 - World Boxing champion Jack Johnson fights Jim Jeffries. But miles away, a corrupt, racist and recently demoted police officer moves through his own town with plans to "warn" the black community with violence.