Andrew Ade

Andrew Ade

Andrew Ade has written full-length and short plays, as well as the book and lyrics for a musical, 'How the Children Stopped the Wars' (music by Anthony Billera). His play 'A Question of Taste' had its New York premiere in the 2013 Midtown International Theatre Festival, having received the 2009 Arts & Letters Prize in Drama and winning the Best Play Award at the Theater Festival in...
Andrew Ade has written full-length and short plays, as well as the book and lyrics for a musical, 'How the Children Stopped the Wars' (music by Anthony Billera). His play 'A Question of Taste' had its New York premiere in the 2013 Midtown International Theatre Festival, having received the 2009 Arts & Letters Prize in Drama and winning the Best Play Award at the Theater Festival in Black & White (Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company). Recent productions include 'Rules of Discovery' (2015 Pittsburgh New Works Festival), 'Reports of a Home Invasion' (Spotlight Award, 2013 New Voice Play Festival, Charles Town, WV), 'Little Miss Understanding' (2013 8x10 TheatreFest, Weathervane Playhouse, Akron, OH), and 'True Meaning' (2013 PPTC Theatre Festival in Black & White). Previous plays include 'Language Barrier' (Best Play Award, PPTC 2010 Theater Festival in Black & White), 'Off-Color Remarks' (Finalist, Outstanding Playwright Award, 2011 Pittsburgh New Works Festival), and 'Daughters of Africa' (Honorable Mention, 2014 Goshen Peace Play Competition). Ade is a 2012-2013 Heinz Endowments Fellow (playwriting); was the sole playwriting recipient of the 2009 Kennedy Center National Teaching Artist Grant; and has had residency fellowships at MacDowell Colony, The Ragdale Foundation, and The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences. Ade earned his B.A. in English at Northwestern University, and M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Currently he is Assoc. Professor of English at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA, where he teaches dramatic literature and criticism, literary theory, world fiction, film history and playwriting.

Plays

  • Rules of Discovery by Andrew Ade
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: legal, lawyers + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: legal, lawyers, car accident, Court Trial, twist
    In this one-act legal thriller, a routine witness preparation session, conducted by a pair of attorneys and a hired trial consultant, goes into panic once their defense witness unwittingly reveals suspicious information about the defendant in their imminent vehicular manslaughter case.
  • True Meaning by Andrew Ade
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: comedy, family conflict + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, holiday
    Keyword: comedy, family conflict, parent-child relationships, sibling rivalry, christmas
    A young woman, whose life has already stalled, struggles to keep her temper, humor, dignity, and sanity at a family Christmas Eve gathering that includes her successful twin brother and his Born Again pregnant wife, each of whom has a very distinct idea of the true meaning of Christmas.
  • Reports of a Home Invasion by Andrew Ade
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama, horror + 1 more
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    Keyword: Terror, abduction + 4 more
    Genre: drama, horror, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: Terror, abduction, psychological torture, Police Procedural, fright, home invasion
    A true-to-life horror story. When police respond to a report of a home invasion by an intruder at the isolated farm house of a married couple, the investigation takes a strange turn after the traumatized husband and wife give varying accounts as to what occurred. As the opposing versions of events play out, the audience, if not the police officers, ultimately grasp the couple’s real endangerment story.
  • Off-Color Remarks by Andrew Ade
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: comedy, drama + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: comedy, drama, art, male-female relations, young and old, generational divide
    During a visit to an art gallery, an elderly widower takes up the cause of a disruptive teenage boy, while the boy is held for questioning for minor theft. Their contentious encounter ends in their negotiated understanding of art, men and women, and the injustices of life.
  • Language Barrier by Andrew Ade
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: abortion, pro-choice + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, satire
    Keyword: abortion, pro-choice, pro-life, women's friendships, college age
    In this seriocomic one-act play, two young, ambitious women graduate students discover they are more different than they knew when one of their female students reveals a secret crisis during an office hours visit. The subsequent fallout destroys the women’s budding friendship.
  • Daughters of Africa by Andrew Ade
    Cast: 
    3–6
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 2 more
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    Keyword: African women, African American women + 3 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, political, tragedy
    Keyword: African women, African American women, Women's empowerment, economic disparity, economic development
    Niara Ikombe, a proud and fiercely determined Tanzanian woman and mother of three, has been sent abroad by the microfinance agency she works for as a publicity measure to draw attention to their enterprise and to appeal for public investment in their worthy work. While waiting to appear on a morning news show in New York City, she grows increasingly anxious as she learns how the producers are negatively “...
    Niara Ikombe, a proud and fiercely determined Tanzanian woman and mother of three, has been sent abroad by the microfinance agency she works for as a publicity measure to draw attention to their enterprise and to appeal for public investment in their worthy work. While waiting to appear on a morning news show in New York City, she grows increasingly anxious as she learns how the producers are negatively “packaging” her story, as well as distracted by sorrowful memories of her personal failure to protect her willful daughter from manipulative men (seen in flashback). Before the morning is out, Niara comes near to despair but has her faith in humanity renewed after interacting with a hopeful, young, African American production intern. [This all-female play "Daughters of Africa" can be paired with the all-male play "A Question of Taste" to create a full 2-act evening of modern Africa stories.]
  • A Question of Taste by Andrew Ade
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: African political intrigue, male psychology + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, fable/folktale, mystery/thriller, political, tragedy
    Keyword: African political intrigue, male psychology, tragicomic action, consequences of violence
    Set in an unnamed sub-Saharan African nation, run by a kleptocratic dictator, the play is a modern fable about conflicting politics, thwarted humanitarianism, and heartbreaking disillusion. A young Rebel (a former Lost Boy who worked his way up quickly to young commander) is captured, tortured, and left in a cell below the President's palace to await his execution at dawn. The old, fat man already...
    Set in an unnamed sub-Saharan African nation, run by a kleptocratic dictator, the play is a modern fable about conflicting politics, thwarted humanitarianism, and heartbreaking disillusion. A young Rebel (a former Lost Boy who worked his way up quickly to young commander) is captured, tortured, and left in a cell below the President's palace to await his execution at dawn. The old, fat man already occupying the cell turns out to be a political star--presumed dead--from an earlier generation, who does his best in the remaining hours to rehabilitate the youth to renounce violence and embrace the nobility of his ancient culture. In the twists and turns that follow, the play action tests the limits of human compassion in the face of stubborn male aggression as it steers the men toward tragedy. [This all-male play "A Question of Taste" can be paired with the all-female play "Daughters of Africa" to create a full 2-act evening of modern Africa stories.]