Straton Rushing

Straton Rushing

Straton Rushing is a playwright originally from Sonora, Texas. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Recent honors include the Bela Kiralyfalvi Award, the Hear Me OutGolden Ear Award, he was a finalist for the 2023 ATHE Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, and received an Honorable Mention in the 2022 William Faulkner Literary Competition.

His works...
Straton Rushing is a playwright originally from Sonora, Texas. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Recent honors include the Bela Kiralyfalvi Award, the Hear Me OutGolden Ear Award, he was a finalist for the 2023 ATHE Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, and received an Honorable Mention in the 2022 William Faulkner Literary Competition.

His works have been featured with Phoenix Theatre Company, Capital Repertory Theatre, Orpheus Theatre Company, SceneShop, the Festival De La Bête Noire and other companies around the US and internationally.

Recent publications include plays in the Silk Road Review, Apricity Magazine, the Ponder Review and with Smith & Kraus.

Straton holds degrees in Theatre and Philosophy from the University of Texas at Arlington. In May, he received his MFA in Dramatic Writing at Arizona State University where he was recognized as an Outstanding Graduate for Excellence and Innovation in Creative Practice.

By day, he works as the Sales & Marketing Director for Theatre Arlington.

For more info, visit StratonThePlaywright.com
Production inquiries StratonRushing@gmail.com

Plays

  • Mutability by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: big city/rural divisions, rural + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, horror, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: big city/rural divisions, rural, Texas, horror, horror comedy, family drama, grief, fear, Horror Films, ghosts
    A horrific crime gets committed in a rural, desolate corner of west Texas and the lone survivor is
    left to tell her story.
  • Happy Wright by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental, tragedy
    Happy Wright is a strange person, this much we can say for certain. They love aviation, poetry, and Saturdays. But Happy's mind is plagued with questions, the kind that makes the world really confusing. Loosely inspired by Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days, the show is a portrait of anxiety, bravery, and the help we can give each other when we are willing to.

    Content warning: Discussion of alcoholism, and suicide
  • Ain't the Biggest City by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 6
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama
    Genre: drama
    When an inmate dies at the county jail under suspicious circumstances, the EMT who oversaw the affair is brought in for questioning. She might have a secret or two, but as connections arise more and more secrets arise to the surface.

    Content Warning: This play contains discussions of extreme child abuse
  • Douglas: The Play by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: fringe, comedy + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: fringe, comedy, fringe festival, playwright, fourth wall, Farce, absurd, autobiography
    Throughout theatre history, time and time again playwrights look back on their life and write something near and dear to their hearts. The genre of the autobiographical play includes masterworks like The Glass Menagerie, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Yellow Face and Long Day’s Journey into Night. Enter Douglas Jones-Jones, a young, pretentious, half-witted wannabe playwright eager to add his name to the list of...
    Throughout theatre history, time and time again playwrights look back on their life and write something near and dear to their hearts. The genre of the autobiographical play includes masterworks like The Glass Menagerie, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Yellow Face and Long Day’s Journey into Night. Enter Douglas Jones-Jones, a young, pretentious, half-witted wannabe playwright eager to add his name to the list of greats. After dozens of attempts to have his show produced around the US, he finally talked Fort Worth’s SceneShop into giving him a shot. Just a few problems, almost nobody agreed to be in the show other than his ex-girlfriend Maude. Additionally, his life’s story is not particularly interesting and he really fancies himself to be a bit of a genius (he’s not). So, the question is, can two actors who barely get along make this god-awful script work well enough to entertain the good people of Fort Worth for an hour? I heavily doubt it, but we’ll have to wait and see.
  • Enferma by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: cancer, lung cancer + 6 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: cancer, lung cancer, internet, catfishing, Spanish, bilingual, mental illness, cheating
    When Violet O'Neill is handed a cancer diagnosis, she feels she has nothing left to lose. In the coming months, she starts a new relationship, devises a plan to get back at her boss and tangles herself in a web of lies so thick she has to learn a new language to get out of it.
  • Austin & Huntsville by Straton Rushing
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: prison abolition, prison + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, horror, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: prison abolition, prison, political, magical realism, family, Mental Health, solitary confinement, Schizophrenia
    As a controversial prison reform bill is making its way through the Texas state senate, an aide takes it upon herself to blackmail a senator, ensuring the bill’s passage. While all of this is happening, the L’Estrange family is living through the very real consequences of the prison system. The elder brother Alex is starting a two-year sentence, he becomes acquainted with a magical voice that refers to itself...
    As a controversial prison reform bill is making its way through the Texas state senate, an aide takes it upon herself to blackmail a senator, ensuring the bill’s passage. While all of this is happening, the L’Estrange family is living through the very real consequences of the prison system. The elder brother Alex is starting a two-year sentence, he becomes acquainted with a magical voice that refers to itself only as “the Narrator”. The lives of this family and the dirty politics of the state capitol come crashing together when one senator pays to have another killed.
  • Hal and His Atomic Ray Gun by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, science fiction
    You know that guy who thinks he was abducted by aliens? Who swears that they experimented on him? Well in this small town in rural Colorado, that guy is Hal. Hal's got a story and he loves to tell it. About his journey and how he wound up homeless camping in front of a convenience store. Everything is business as usual until he runs into another young woman, Valarie who was also abducted by the same aliens.
  • A**hole, the Dog by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: Prison Reform, animal aduse + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, political
    Keyword: Prison Reform, animal aduse, second chances, communication, mistrust
    A recently released convict is required to volunteer at an animal shelter. She is
    immediately confronted with a psychotic dog and a shift supervisor who doesn't trust her.
  • Nothing Got by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Alex and Graham hate Beckett, but that didn't stop them from accepting the roles of Vladamir and Estragon in a professional production of Waiting for Godot. But then they get to talking, finally really talking, then it gets weird.
  • Clipped by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: manhood, masculine + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: manhood, masculine, fathers, fatherhood, Boston, circumcision, friendship
    What begins as another day for work friends Miguel and Billy turns into a serious reflection on relationships, cross-cultural communication and fatherhood.

    Content Warning: This play talks about genitals pretty bluntly.
  • The Only Reason To Quit Smoking by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: love, smoking + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: love, smoking, nicotine, comedy, monologues, short, monologue, funny, uplifting
    A person recounts the reason they finally gave up smoking
  • Modern Art by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy
    Genre: comedy
    Three young artist have a debate about art in a gallery that not only mocks why we call art- but mocks the kinds of art we can't help but scratch our heads at.
  • Countdown by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 6
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: new years, love + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: new years, love, Sex, hook-up culture, laughs, condoms
    Two friends attempt to hook up at a New Years Eve party but between interruptions and a disappearing condom they wind up having a much more important conversation about the nature of their feelings for one another.
  • Some Sunny Day by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, tragedy
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    Keyword: music, World War II + 8 more
    Genre: drama, tragedy
    Keyword: music, World War II, Holocaust, Arizona, Jewish, suicide, mental illness, addiction, Alcohol, abuse
    Derived from the lines of Vera Lynn's song "We'll Meet Again", the show follows a year in the life of Will Kolikov, a young man living in the early 2000s trying to make a career in radio when things begin to fall apart. This bittersweet play explores how we pick up the pieces and start over through music, poetry and the stories that need to be told most.

    This show is licensed...
    Derived from the lines of Vera Lynn's song "We'll Meet Again", the show follows a year in the life of Will Kolikov, a young man living in the early 2000s trying to make a career in radio when things begin to fall apart. This bittersweet play explores how we pick up the pieces and start over through music, poetry and the stories that need to be told most.

    This show is licensed by Silver Birchington Plays and can be read for free upon request at their website www.silverbirchingtonplays.com .
  • Round the Decay by Straton Rushing
    Recommendations: 9
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: tragedy
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    Keyword: addiction, Mental Health + 4 more
    Genre: tragedy
    Keyword: addiction, Mental Health, guns, family, dice, game
    A man's life is in ruins, and his cousin tries to reach out to him. What ensues is a conversation about addition, a bizarre game and a near death experience.