A.J. Ditty

A.J. Ditty

A.J. Ditty is a queer actor/writer/slash-mark enthusiast currently living in Brooklyn. His first full-length play, How the Great Grapefruit Danced in the Moonlight, was staged in a workshop production at the Lee Strasberg Institute of Theatre and Film in spring 2010 and again in the fall of 2010, making it the only original student work to be revived in the history of the Institute. His other plays include...
A.J. Ditty is a queer actor/writer/slash-mark enthusiast currently living in Brooklyn. His first full-length play, How the Great Grapefruit Danced in the Moonlight, was staged in a workshop production at the Lee Strasberg Institute of Theatre and Film in spring 2010 and again in the fall of 2010, making it the only original student work to be revived in the history of the Institute. His other plays include Heart of Duckness (Pipeline Theatre Company's Bonfire Series); Munichtown; B.B.'s Inferno (#serials@theflea/The PIT); Eloise Parker Goes to the Moon (Crashbox Theater’s “Read. Play. Write. V.”); Rubiella: A Ghost Story; Deaf, Dumb, and Blind; "Magellanica" (Access Theater); A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dragon (#serials@theflea); "RIP" (The Secret Theater); “Heartbreak; or, Why Sara Bareilles’ ‘King of Anything’ is the Greatest Song in the History of Goddamn Time” and “The Chicken-Man; or, A Supposedly Fun Thing I Did for Six Months” (Undiscovered Countries Festival); “Arthur Miller is Trapped in a Tiny Box”; “Bad Company” (Brandspankin' Festival, NYU); and “U-Turn” which received a reading at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2009. He is a proud member of Pipeline Playlab’s Class of 2017 and an alumnus of Writers Work Class 2016.

Plays

  • The Bøyg by A.J. Ditty
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: adaptation, biography + 9 more
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    Keyword: World War II, concentration camp + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, biography, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, horror, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: World War II, concentration camp, Ibsen, Norwegian, Norway, Peer Gynt, isolation, fascism, art, Depression
    It's 1942 and the cultural elite of Norway have been imprisoned by Nazi occupiers in the Grini Concentration Camp on the outskirts of Oslo. As they try to survive their imprisonment and keep their sanity, they decide to stage a production of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt to raise morale just in time for Christmas. But the arrival of a new bunkmate to the barrack brings unforeseen complications, causing the...
    It's 1942 and the cultural elite of Norway have been imprisoned by Nazi occupiers in the Grini Concentration Camp on the outskirts of Oslo. As they try to survive their imprisonment and keep their sanity, they decide to stage a production of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt to raise morale just in time for Christmas. But the arrival of a new bunkmate to the barrack brings unforeseen complications, causing the men to reexamine their relationship to their country, their art, and themselves. How can you create art in the depths of despair? And how can you ever overcome the brutal embrace of the Bøyg?

    Based on From Day to Day: One Man's Diary of Survival in Nazi Concentration Camps by Odd Nansen.

    CW: Suicide, Suicidal Ideation, Depression.

  • All Things Considered, It Was Probably the Most Productive Meeting The Escondido Unified School District PTA Ever Had by A.J. Ditty
    Recommendations: 14
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy
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    Keyword: parents, children + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: parents, children, PTAs, zoom, parenthood, pandemic, Social distancing, Midori
    The last three remaining members of the Escondido Unified School District PTA meet over Zoom.
    Attendance is taken.
    Motions are proposed.
    No one is okay.
  • Heart of Duckness by A.J. Ditty
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: colonialism, Duck
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: colonialism, Duck
    It's the Berlin Conference of 1884 and Europe teeters on the brink of war over colonial holdings in Africa. Every character is a duck. And we're all corkscrewed.
  • Munichtown by A.J. Ditty
    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 10 more
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    Keyword: Tour Guides, Munich + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, horror, period, political
    Keyword: Tour Guides, Munich, fascism, identity, supernatural, demons
    It's 2017 and the "Munich Loves You!" Touring Company has fallen on hard times: Friedrich Ellerman, the neurotic co-founder, is dealing with his recent breakup with his boyfriend/business partner; Donny Farragut, the resident slacker, is dealing with a pernicious ghost problem; and Doris Kreitzer is celebrating her one year anniversary of moving to Munich while entering into a toxic relationship...
    It's 2017 and the "Munich Loves You!" Touring Company has fallen on hard times: Friedrich Ellerman, the neurotic co-founder, is dealing with his recent breakup with his boyfriend/business partner; Donny Farragut, the resident slacker, is dealing with a pernicious ghost problem; and Doris Kreitzer is celebrating her one year anniversary of moving to Munich while entering into a toxic relationship of her own. As dark and mysterious forces begin to overtake Munich and fascism rears its ugly head, the tour guides must contend with the city they love reverting back to its darkest age and their own place in its tumultuous history. Munichtown explores what it takes to be happy in a world on the edge of annihilation.
  • B.B.'s Inferno by A.J. Ditty
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    11
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    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 4 more
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    Keyword: dante, hell + 1 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, comedy, drama, fable/folktale, satire
    Keyword: dante, hell, Taylor Swift
    When twelve-year-old Beatrice "B.B." Baxter loses her older brother in a tragic car accident, she embarks on a journey through the nine circles of Hell in order to get him back. Guided by the damned cowboy Coop McClintock and armed with nothing but her brother's favorite Foo Fighters album, B.B. fights her way through her own personal demons, literal demons, and Lucifer herself, the Queen of...
    When twelve-year-old Beatrice "B.B." Baxter loses her older brother in a tragic car accident, she embarks on a journey through the nine circles of Hell in order to get him back. Guided by the damned cowboy Coop McClintock and armed with nothing but her brother's favorite Foo Fighters album, B.B. fights her way through her own personal demons, literal demons, and Lucifer herself, the Queen of Darkness who's going through a pretty tumultuous breakup, on her journey to the center of Hell. Will B.B. get her brother back? Will Coop redeem himself for his past sins? Will Lucifer ever find love? The answers await in the depths of B.B.'s Inferno.
  • Eloise Parker Goes to the Moon by A.J. Ditty
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, science fiction
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    Keyword: cancer, moon + 2 more
    Genre: drama, science fiction
    Keyword: cancer, moon, space, Pringles
    When Eloise Parker is diagnosed with stage-three lung cancer, her initial terror gives way to hope with the revelation of a new experimental treatment: launching herself into space to extend her lifespan tenfold. But in order to do so, she must combat both the horrors of her disease and her own complicated relationships: with her wife, Victoria, whom she grows more and more distant from each day; with Tom, her...
    When Eloise Parker is diagnosed with stage-three lung cancer, her initial terror gives way to hope with the revelation of a new experimental treatment: launching herself into space to extend her lifespan tenfold. But in order to do so, she must combat both the horrors of her disease and her own complicated relationships: with her wife, Victoria, whom she grows more and more distant from each day; with Tom, her co-pilot and child cancer survivor; and with the Moon itself, her childhood friend who may not have her best interests at heart. As the launch day draws closer and Eloise's disease spreads, tensions mount as all of her relationships are pushed to the breaking point. Will Eloise make it to the Moon? Will her marriage survive the trial? Do potatoes photosynthesize? (No, but, seriously, DO they? It has been KILLING me.) All of these questions (except the one about photosynthesis, because, I mean, HOW) will be revealed when Eloise Parker Goes to the Moon.
  • Rubiella: A Ghost Story by A.J. Ditty
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: biography, comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: memory, coming of age + 1 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, horror
    Keyword: memory, coming of age, murder
    Acclaimed comedian and face-haver Willy Appelman takes us on a wild journey through his past in a search for answers about his family, himself, and Rubiella, his live-in nanny of eight years who mysteriously vanished overnight never to be heard from again. As Willy wrestles with his own family’s recollections of Rubiella and his own fragmented memories, he slowly makes his way through the recurring nightmare...
    Acclaimed comedian and face-haver Willy Appelman takes us on a wild journey through his past in a search for answers about his family, himself, and Rubiella, his live-in nanny of eight years who mysteriously vanished overnight never to be heard from again. As Willy wrestles with his own family’s recollections of Rubiella and his own fragmented memories, he slowly makes his way through the recurring nightmare that plagued him as a child: that of Rubiella murdering his entire family and the guilt that came with having such a nightmare. Will Willy be able to pin down Rubiella? Or will he be lost to the nightmare forever? With a plethora of puns and just a dash of James Taylor, Rubiella: A Ghost Story is a feel-good blood-sport memory play that brings out the scared little ten-year old in us all...and then murders it in a variety of fun and interesting ways.