Benjamin Gonzales

Benjamin is an Assistant Professor of History, Literature, and Playwriting at Viterbo University. He previously served as a guest Instructor for Lighting Design and Theatre Technology at the University of Central Missouri and is also formerly an Associate Clinical Professor who taught an array of Theatrical subjects at Washington State University that included Lighting Design, Playwriting, and Media Literacy. Benjamin recently earned an MFA in Theatre Arts (focused on Dramatic Writing) from the University of Idaho. He also has a Master in Teaching and a BA in Theatre Arts and Drama from Washington State University.

Benjamin currently serves as the National Vice-Chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival's (KCACTF) National Playwriting Program (NPP) and has previously...

Benjamin is an Assistant Professor of History, Literature, and Playwriting at Viterbo University. He previously served as a guest Instructor for Lighting Design and Theatre Technology at the University of Central Missouri and is also formerly an Associate Clinical Professor who taught an array of Theatrical subjects at Washington State University that included Lighting Design, Playwriting, and Media Literacy. Benjamin recently earned an MFA in Theatre Arts (focused on Dramatic Writing) from the University of Idaho. He also has a Master in Teaching and a BA in Theatre Arts and Drama from Washington State University.

Benjamin currently serves as the National Vice-Chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival's (KCACTF) National Playwriting Program (NPP) and has previously served as the Representation, Equity, and Diversity (RED) Coordinator. Professionally, Benjamin is a theatre generalist with experience in Lighting Design, Set Design, Sound Design, Technical Direction, Production Management, Direction, as well as Playwriting. He specializes in writing verbatim plays that highlight the stories of students who have in some way been marginalized. He also writes scenes and short plays for his students to use for contemporary scene work.

Plays written by Benjamin are as follows: Seeing the Obvious (1998), Roadblock (2002), It Starts Now (2012), The Performance Project ’13 (2013), Las Memorias ’13 (2013), A Bus Stop Home (2013), Turnabout is a Fair Play (2013), The Performance Project ’14 (2014), Gigglemug (2014), The Performance Project ’15 (2015), Las Memorias ’15 (2015), Las Memorias ’16 (2016), The Valley (2016) The Lion and Lamb (2016), Las Memorias '17 (2017), Memoria de Oaxaca (2017), Up Chimacum Creek (2018), VOUCHer (2018), The Good Soldier (2018), Sour Mash (2019), and Aristophanes v. Euripides: Dawn of Poetic Justice (2020).

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Scripts

My Turn

by Benjamin Gonzales

Cast Size
1
Genre
drama

A Monologue

A Monologue

Sour Mash

by Benjamin Gonzales

1
Cast Size
6
Genre
comedy,
farce,
movement/physical,
mystery/thriller,
romantic comedy

FULL LENGTH: What do you get when you mix a lot of whiskey, a slew of poetry, a sexless marriage, and a lot of people at the wrong place at the wrong time? You get a mash bill that turns quite sour. This farce is utterly ridiculous, and fun for most of the family.

Warning: This play also contains an evil desk.

FULL LENGTH: What do you get when you mix a lot of whiskey, a slew of poetry, a sexless marriage, and a lot of people at the wrong place at the wrong time? You get a mash bill that turns quite sour. This farce is utterly ridiculous, and fun for most of the family.

Warning: This play also contains an evil desk.

VOUCHer

by Benjamin Gonzales

2
Cast Size
10
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
political,
satire

FULL LENGTH. It is the beginning of a new school year, and the Prairie Valley Creek Elementary Parent Teacher Association is short on parents because they were all lured away by The Happy Bridges Charter Academy on State Street. A dark satire, VOUCHer follows the comings and goings of the small group of parents left at the P.V.C.E.P.T.A. as they struggle to re-level the playing field.

FULL LENGTH. It is the beginning of a new school year, and the Prairie Valley Creek Elementary Parent Teacher Association is short on parents because they were all lured away by The Happy Bridges Charter Academy on State Street. A dark satire, VOUCHer follows the comings and goings of the small group of parents left at the P.V.C.E.P.T.A. as they struggle to re-level the playing field.

Up Chimacum Creek

by Benjamin Gonzales

2
Cast Size
6
Genre
dark comedy,
drama,
fantasy

FULL LENGTH. Give me a noun, an adjective, and a proper name. As young Willie Almeida and his friends return from a fishing trip, they witness an event that they wind up being irrevocably tied to. The kids grow up, and find out that life isn’t all fun and games. Up Chimacum Creek is a portrait of a young man whose journey for identity becomes at odds with his relationship with death.

FULL LENGTH. Give me a noun, an adjective, and a proper name. As young Willie Almeida and his friends return from a fishing trip, they witness an event that they wind up being irrevocably tied to. The kids grow up, and find out that life isn’t all fun and games. Up Chimacum Creek is a portrait of a young man whose journey for identity becomes at odds with his relationship with death.

The Lion and Lamb

by Benjamin Gonzales

Cast Size
11
Genre
drama,
holiday,
tragedy

FULL LENGTH. It is Christmas, and It has been a year since Albert, the Fegan family patriarch, has passed. Albert had left his legacy to his family, a pub called The Lion and Lamb, but it is now going under. The Fegan family intends to celebrate Christmas as it always had until all of the problems so far ignored by this family come to the daylight when Albert's estranged son Martin comes home in disgrace.

FULL LENGTH. It is Christmas, and It has been a year since Albert, the Fegan family patriarch, has passed. Albert had left his legacy to his family, a pub called The Lion and Lamb, but it is now going under. The Fegan family intends to celebrate Christmas as it always had until all of the problems so far ignored by this family come to the daylight when Albert's estranged son Martin comes home in disgrace.

Aristophanes V. Euripides: The Dawn of Poetic Justice

by Benjamin Gonzales

Cast Size
4
Genre
comedy,
experimental,
political,
satire

One Act. Written for online. The world is changing, Aristophanes and Euripides are an unlikely writer team-up confronting their greatest nemesis; the actresses who call them out.

One Act. Written for online. The world is changing, Aristophanes and Euripides are an unlikely writer team-up confronting their greatest nemesis; the actresses who call them out.

The Good Soldier

by Benjamin Gonzales

Cast Size
5
Genre
drama,
experimental,
political,
satire

One Act: Mark and Mary Cohen have taken in a tenant, a former soldier, and they find themselves playing host to a greater conspiracy. Inspired by the work of Harold Pinter, this is a protest piece by the corrupt American administration of 2016-2020.

One Act: Mark and Mary Cohen have taken in a tenant, a former soldier, and they find themselves playing host to a greater conspiracy. Inspired by the work of Harold Pinter, this is a protest piece by the corrupt American administration of 2016-2020.

Turnabout is a Fair Play

by Benjamin Gonzales

1
Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
farce,
mystery/thriller

ONE ACT. Music, murder, and a Madonna face print shirt. Turnabout truly is a fair play. After completing their opus, Geoff and David need to somehow get it produced. Who better to fund their endeavor than their slightly racist and homophobic landlord that already doesn't like them. Good idea... Write it!

ONE ACT. Music, murder, and a Madonna face print shirt. Turnabout truly is a fair play. After completing their opus, Geoff and David need to somehow get it produced. Who better to fund their endeavor than their slightly racist and homophobic landlord that already doesn't like them. Good idea... Write it!

A Bus Stop Home

by Benjamin Gonzales

1
Cast Size
2
Genre
drama

ONE ACT. At a bus station in a small rural town in Central Washington, a young man, beaten by burden, finds direction due to a chance encounter.

ONE ACT. At a bus station in a small rural town in Central Washington, a young man, beaten by burden, finds direction due to a chance encounter.

Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life and Thought... Abridged. Or Gigglemug

by Benjamin Gonzales

2
Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
farce,
science fiction

SHORT PLAY (15pg.). Art Coy accidentally built a time machine. The Baron Herbert George Wells accidentally got caught in it's wake. In this One Act farce, Art needs to get The Baron back to his own time before his wife, Clara, catches on.

SHORT PLAY (15pg.). Art Coy accidentally built a time machine. The Baron Herbert George Wells accidentally got caught in it's wake. In this One Act farce, Art needs to get The Baron back to his own time before his wife, Clara, catches on.

Memoria de Oaxaca

by Benjamin Gonzales

Cast Size
9—15
Genre
adventure,
fable/folktale,
fantasy,
young audiences

ONE ACT: Memoria de Oaxaca is a story about the family of Thiago and Renata. Their eldest daughter, Sara Gabriella, finds herself burdened with the responsibility of helping raise her 5 younger sisters and brother. After an amazing night at the The Fiestas de los Lunes del Cerro, Sara Gabriella escapes the family for seclusion, but finds herself lost in the woods. The journey home is fraught with danger, but...

ONE ACT: Memoria de Oaxaca is a story about the family of Thiago and Renata. Their eldest daughter, Sara Gabriella, finds herself burdened with the responsibility of helping raise her 5 younger sisters and brother. After an amazing night at the The Fiestas de los Lunes del Cerro, Sara Gabriella escapes the family for seclusion, but finds herself lost in the woods. The journey home is fraught with danger, but with the help from an unsuspecting friend, she finds herself back where she belongs.

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The Valley: A Creation Story

by Benjamin Gonzales

Cast Size
13—16
Genre
fable/folktale,
fantasy,
political,
satire,
young audiences

10 MINUTE PLAY: Deer, Rabbit, Salmon, Crow, Sparrow, and Eagle live peacefully with each other in The Valley, until King Coyote enters with his Siege. Taking over the valley, King Coyote chases out those that are not like him. Lobo arrives, who equals King Coyote in ferocity, to help restore the valley to it's once peaceful glory. While The Valley functions as a creation story, it also is an allegory of our...

10 MINUTE PLAY: Deer, Rabbit, Salmon, Crow, Sparrow, and Eagle live peacefully with each other in The Valley, until King Coyote enters with his Siege. Taking over the valley, King Coyote chases out those that are not like him. Lobo arrives, who equals King Coyote in ferocity, to help restore the valley to it's once peaceful glory. While The Valley functions as a creation story, it also is an allegory of our instinctual relationship to the land, and each other.

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