Ryan Diller

Ryan Diller

Ryan Diller was born and raised in Texas and completed their MFA in Playwriting at the University of Calgary. Their thesis play -- Urning -- is about Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, a key but mostly forgotten progenitor of the modern queer rights movement. Their plays have received staged readings at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, the University of Calgary in Calgary, AB, and Theatre Outré in Lethbridge, AB. An...
Ryan Diller was born and raised in Texas and completed their MFA in Playwriting at the University of Calgary. Their thesis play -- Urning -- is about Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, a key but mostly forgotten progenitor of the modern queer rights movement. Their plays have received staged readings at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, the University of Calgary in Calgary, AB, and Theatre Outré in Lethbridge, AB. An audio recording of their play Gone is available on Bandcamp (https://ryandiller.bandcamp.com/releases), and Zoom readings of their plays Liberal Arts Ohio, There was a boy, there was a girl..., The Master at Rest, and Urning are up on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKt4dKmeuTSqKBW_dlsfu0g). Their blogs include Ryan Diller on Stuff (https://ryandilleronstuff.wordpress.com) and Penny Madonna, the latter of which includes reviews of every Beatles song (https://pennymadonna.wordpress.com).

Plays

  • Urning by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    8–22
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
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    Keyword: queer history, Transgender + 5 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, period
    Keyword: queer history, Transgender, lgbtqia, 19th century, Germany, Austria, History
    In 1867 Munich, Karl Ulrichs becomes the first person to come out publicly in modern history. In an effort to secure validation for queer people, he forms a correspondence with Richard von Krafft-Ebing, an Austrian psychologist writing a book profiling what he deems sexual pathologies. Their story intersects with that of Lina, the child of Jewish immigrants in Vienna. Through Lina's grappling with their...
    In 1867 Munich, Karl Ulrichs becomes the first person to come out publicly in modern history. In an effort to secure validation for queer people, he forms a correspondence with Richard von Krafft-Ebing, an Austrian psychologist writing a book profiling what he deems sexual pathologies. Their story intersects with that of Lina, the child of Jewish immigrants in Vienna. Through Lina's grappling with their queer identity and Karl's assertion of the legitimacy of such identities, the modern queer movement is born.

    A Zoom reading of the play is up on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u20Kw5HNdI4
  • There was a boy, there was a girl... by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama, romantic comedy
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    Keyword: love story, trans-cis romance + 1 more
    Genre: drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: love story, trans-cis romance, Calgary
    A trans boy and a cis girl meet while attending university in Calgary. They find love, lose it, and try to find it again.

    A Zoom reading of the play is up on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUhYjEcueS0
  • Liberal Arts Ohio by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: Liberal Arts, liberal arts colleges + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Liberal Arts, liberal arts colleges, feminist, third wave feminist, Non-Binary, catholic and queer, LGBTQ, mental illness, autism
    At Schminity University, a group of queer students face down infatuation, isolation, and wet dreams. There will be discussions of privilege, depression, and strange visits from guardian angels.

    A Zoom reading of the play is up on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfQM7owYaKY
  • Mild Rude Humor by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    3–4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: Liberal Arts, feminist + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Liberal Arts, feminist, Non-Binary, Transgender, Catholic, university, Mental Health, ohio
    Jac(k)’s genderfluid and game for whatever; Destiny’s a loose cannon doing her best; Audrey’s an actress without a show and a lesbian. At a liberal arts college in Ohio, these three queer kids combat loneliness with sex and Catholicism. Things are going to get weird.

    Functions as a stand-alone piece but also serves as a prequel to Liberal Arts Ohio
  • The Master at Rest by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    5–13
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 3 more
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    Keyword: Shakespeare, Elizabethan + 4 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, holiday, period
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Elizabethan, The Globe, John Fletcher, literature, British Author
    Will Shakespeare as seen through two key times in his life: the beginning of The Globe and his late-life collaborations with John Fletcher, his successor as The Globe's house playwright.

    A Zoom reading of the play is up on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teWa3gO4MFo
  • The Fourth Commandment by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, faith-based + 2 more
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    Keyword: Catholic, Irish American + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, faith-based, farce, political
    Keyword: Catholic, Irish American, abortion, homosexuality, Jesuit, problem play
    A quiet parish in Dallas, Texas is shaken up by the arrival of Father Phil Khoury, an outspoken Jesuit priest. His playful demeanor clashes with the neurotic James O’Shea, a second-generation Irish-American who’s a deacon in all but ordination. The two clash on just about everything Church-related: music, youth group activities, altar server necklaces, and even starting mass on time. But Father Khoury’s sermons...
    A quiet parish in Dallas, Texas is shaken up by the arrival of Father Phil Khoury, an outspoken Jesuit priest. His playful demeanor clashes with the neurotic James O’Shea, a second-generation Irish-American who’s a deacon in all but ordination. The two clash on just about everything Church-related: music, youth group activities, altar server necklaces, and even starting mass on time. But Father Khoury’s sermons on family strike a chord with O’Shea, and after a death in the parish, James’s past begins to haunt him again. As a result, Khoury and James are forced to confront their demons, and with them divorce, parental estrangement, homosexuality, and abortion through the lens of the contemporary Catholic Church.
  • Gone by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    7–8
    ·
    Genre: drama, young audiences
    ·
    Keyword: suicide, trauma + 5 more
    Genre: drama, young audiences
    Keyword: suicide, trauma, college, Texas, Mental Health, mental illness, family
    It's been one year since Dillon Parker died by suicide, and things are far from settled. Over the course of three days, three college students and three parents attempt to find some sort of redemption, teetering on the edge of sanity in the process.

    An audio recording of the play can be found on Bandcamp: https://ryandiller.bandcamp.com/releases
  • Pride & Prejudice by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    12–17
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: Regency, Regency England + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, drama, period, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: Regency, Regency England, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
    A relatively quick but also fairly faithful adaptation of the novel
  • The Sin of Hippolytus by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    9–12
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, political + 1 more
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    Keyword: Greek tragedy, Transgender + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, political, tragedy
    Keyword: Greek tragedy, Transgender, sexual assault, political division
    Contemporary dialogues surrounding consent, religious-based abstinence, and gender identity inform this retelling of Euripides' tragedy.
  • The Cheerios Play by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    ·
    Keyword: food phobia
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: food phobia
    A cereal-based phobia puts a couple's relationship to the test in this ten-minute comedy.
  • The Death of John the Baptist by Ryan Diller
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: Bible, ancient Rome + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, faith-based, political
    Keyword: Bible, ancient Rome, john the baptist, herod antipas
    John the Baptist faces down absurdity when he learns of his order of execution from the childishly inept but powerful Herod Antipas.