Jeff Talbott

Danny has written a complex new drama about an African-American family trying to get out of the Projects, and it has just been selected for the nation's preeminent play festival.  Problem is:  Danny, a young white playwright, submitted the work under a pen name in the hope of increasing its chances for production.  So he hires Emilie, a black actress, to stand in for him as author.  What starts as a terrible idea becomes more and more terrible as Danny drags Emilie, his boyfriend, and his best friend down a long a dirty path of truth, lies, revelation and betrayal.  A fiercely funny and intelligent new comic drama about the words we use to describe each other -- and the things we'll do to get what we want.

“THE SUBMISSION is a raw, unsentimental play about race and gender that exposes the quiet prejudice and intolerance among even our most progressive thinkers. It is both uncomfortable and impossible to not watch. . . . As for Talbott, it's a pleasure to see what he's capable of.”
--AP, Mark Kennedy

“Fearless, whip-smart, and hyperarticulate, Talbott's incendiary political comedy-drama asks hard questions about our supposedly post-racial world. . . . THE SUBMISSION is an important play. It makes you stop and think.”
--Backstage, Erik Haagensen

“A viewing of THE SUBMISSION is bound to be one of the most electrically-charged theatre outings of the season.”
--Broadwayworld.com, Michael Dale

Norway. 1882. The Stockman home. Sound familiar? Not so fast. Therese Stockman is a small-town doctor and single mother who has made a shocking discovery about the industry that gives her town its lifeblood. Her friend Kristine Hovstad, the editor of The Messenger (one of the two competing newspapers in town), is going to take the story and run with it, but at what cost? Using Henrik Ibsen’s classic An Enemy of the People as a departure point, this brand-new play examines our relationships with the press, the community and each other and where to draw the line when deciding the right move to make. A play for right now built in conversation with a play from before.

Sarah is having a rough time.  She’s trying to shake it, but it’s not easy.  She’s got a new doctor and she’s met a nice guy named Jake, so things are looking up.  And Jake’s having a hard time, too.  Together, Sarah and Jake are trying to find their way to each other – and maybe, just maybe, to some of that happiness we’ve heard so much about.  A mysterious love story about the threads that tie us together, i is a gentle and unsettling new play set a couple days after tomorrow.

"With a small cast of only four people and a single letter title, Jeff Talbott’s play "i" might seem small, but the issues it addresses are big and relatable. . . . Subtle and witty commentary on how the world interacts with technology and the possibilities and dangers of its evolution serve as an intriguing lead to the story, but the intense and emotional dialogue about the complexities of human relationships is what really connects the audience to her story and gives it meaning. . . . Compelling . . . "i" offers a big truth for audiences to walk away with."
--Deseret News, Aubrey Eyre

"In truth, there are not any “i” plot details that can be revealed, without spoiling audiences’ enjoyment as the playwright’s intentions are slowly, cleverly, wondrously revealed. . . . "i" is a complete delight. . . . Surprising for its originality and intriguing for its structure, “i” is deeply gratifying theater."
--Broadway World, Blair Howell

"Elements of science fiction weave their way through the story, but like the best science fiction, the high-concept premise really becomes a way to explore something about humanity in an allegorical way. . . . Talbott’s script is sharp and perceptive, savvy about the ways that technological advances inevitably come with consequences . . . While it might be unfair to say too much to a potential viewer about what "i" is about, it’s the kind of thought-provoking theater that’s exactly right for the kind of person who’s willing to turn themselves over to the artists. Maybe that’s a perfect summary for a play that wrestles with taking a risk on what you know, and what you don’t know."
--City Weekly, Scott Renshaw

"Gripping . . . "i" defies genre labeling and yet feels familiar; it is engaging and thought-provoking . . . The most moving, accurate and impassioned portrayal of absolute heartache that I have ever seen on a stage . . . It isn't every day a new play makes you really consider some heavy and heady questions, and it's even rarer when questions are posed without an agenda. "i" asks a lot, but it never tells you what you should think or how you should feel."
--Utah Theatre Bloggers, Megan Crivello

Baylen is a gravedigger, a working-class man trying to keep food on the table in a world where other people make the rules.  There’s a baby who can’t sleep at home, and plenty of holes to be dug.  But a chance encounter with a rich young man may bring the hope of a different life.  What will Baylen do?  The Gravedigger's Lullaby is a bold and gripping new contemporary drama about a time that has passed.  And how little things have changed.

“Sensational! You'll be mesmerized by it."
--Broadway Radio, Peter Filichia

“Poignant. A core of honest emotion. Its heart is always in the right place."
--New York Times, Ken Jaworowski

“Highest recommendation. A beautiful original play that I've not seen the likes of on any stage."
--Back on the Block, Doug Strassler

"Poetical, theatrical and powerful. Emotionally intricate and heartrending."
--Curtain Up, Charles Wright

Yasmine and Nick are forming action groups in two different universities.  They've surrounded themselves with like-minded folks and are getting ready to lay down some rules of governance.  But what seemed so easy in theory is proving to be a completely different story in practice.  Tempers flare and words fly, but none of them seem to be ending up on paper.  Two stories.  One story.  Their story.  Our story.  A thorny comic drama about getting things started.

Somewhere in America, in the administrative offices of a not-for-profit arts organization, two people are trying to figure out what happened. There was a hiring process for a leader in the organization, and somebody was hired. His name was Josh. He’s a white guy. From Ohio. Almost nothing he said about himself to get the job turned out to be true, and the quiet chaos that surrounded his time is notable mostly because nobody seemed to care. In fact, the systems in place seem to have been literally built to help guys like Josh stay there as long as possible. It’s a sad little mystery that doesn’t need solving, because there’s plenty of context to back up its existence - these guys have been getting the jobs for hundreds of years. The real question is: what do we do now?

Every Sunday after church, Greer and Ash come to the same diner to catch up on the week and bolster each other to deal with the world. But this Sunday, as they both are wrestling with the question of how to carry the goodness they talk about into action, Ash impulsively leaves a $10,000 tip for their regular waitress, Nadia. Samaritans is an exploration of the nature of a good deed and its effects on those it touches - is a good deed still a good deed if the giver can’t seem to let it go? And, more importantly, is it actually ever possible to say “I’m sorry” and fully mean it?

Beatrice Cook has returned to her small Western Nebraska town to tend to her dying father. Her brother Donnelly has just arrived, and the siblings have very different ideas of what tending to dad might mean. They love each other, but don’t actually know each other all that well. They don’t talk much, but that doesn’t separate them from any of the people in the tiny little town (and complicated childhood) they both fled as soon as they could flee. Now they're back, taking halting steps toward each other and facing a reckoning with not just who they once were to each other, but (more importantly) who they might become to each other once it’s just the two of them.

Douglas Barnes has a job.  It's not the job his wife thinks he has.  Doug is the guy who gets information out of people by any means necessary.  But balancing his work life and his home life is taking its toll on him, as one particularly hard-to-crack detainee is making it hard for him to concentrate at home or in life.  Three Rules for the Dragon is an intense and probing new drama about two men locked in the eternal struggle to get information, and the marriage that hangs in the balance between them.

Luke Paxton is a high school math teacher and the new guy in the faculty room.  He's ready to teach, but completely unprepared for the other teachers; not to mention the nasty things somebody's been posting on the web.  Based on interviews with dozens of teachers working today, A Public Education puts you right into the trenches with five complicated, deeply human teachers and one troubled student.  Welcome to high school, where an education comes in ways you can never see coming.

It's the middle of the night, and Davis has something on his mind.  Months ago, he agreed to let his Alzheimer's-afflicted father move in with him when his mom couldn't do it anymore.  But it's proving to be a tougher job than he expected, and he's having a hard time leaning on his friends to make it work.  And his boyfriend is starting to lose long-held patience with the situation.  So here it is, 2 a.m., and Davis is trying to work it out through his sleep-deprived eyes.  How to Build a City is a serious comedy about the family we have and the family we make, and how to recognize they're exactly the same thing.

All the Stars in the Midnight Sky is the story of two very different unplanned pregnancies.  Kelsey and Trish have some big questions to answer, and not just the ones about babies.  But a lot can happen in nine months, and if you let it, a lot can change.  A comic drama about mothers and daughters, and maybe, just maybe, finding happiness where you least expect it.

Elliot is a clock-puncher, looking for the end of the day and a margarita with his co-workers to celebrate one more day on the job.  But Elliot has secrets.  Elliot isn't what he seems.  And everybody is about to find out, one way or the other.  Look out everybody.  Here comes Elliot, a black-as-ink and shocking comedy/drama about how little we know each other, and the cost of actually trying to fix that problem.

Music & Lyrics by Will Van Dyke/Book & Lyrics by Jeff Talbott - Mike is 16 and today is a big day. He’s been holding in a big secret for awhile, and today his secret is totally coming out. But there are two important things about secrets: (1) everybody has ‘em and (2) however scary they are, the build-up is always leading to those ten terrifying seconds in which you just . . . say it. All it takes is a little reckless courage. Mike is about to find out that it’s on the other side of the telling that all the good stuff sits waiting. Mike, his dad, his sister, his friends . . . they’re all about to step bravely into those scary and rewarding seconds, and it all happens TODAY. Ten Brave Seconds is a bight and shiny new musical that takes place from sunrise to sundown on one big day for everybody.

Music & Lyrics by Will Van Dyke/Book & Lyrics by Jeff Talbott - fuzzy is the story of a furry little creature (named Fuzzy) who has come home to take care of their currently-ailing mother (named Muzzy). fuzzy is also the story of a storyteller we’ll call The Human, who has come to a theatre to tell the story of a furry little creature who . . . you get the gist. A teeny tiny musical (with puppets! lots and lots of puppets!) about great big things, fuzzy is mostly a story about stories themselves - why we tell them, how we tell them and what happens to a group of people listening when we do.

Music & Lyrics by Will Van Dyke/Book & Lyrics by Jeff Talbott - Imagine Harry is an 8-person, two-act contemporary musical by Will Van Dyke and Jeff Talbott.   It's a story about recognizing that your real life is better than anything you could ever imagine; you just have to look. When Tucker was 8, his best friend, Harry, was imaginary. Now, Tucker’s all grown up, and he’s not making much of a mark on the world; he lives at home and works as a waiter. And Harry? Well, he’s left the imaginary friend business and is living as a mortal, a married guy with a kid on the way. But Tucker isn’t dealing with the fact that his father has Alzheimer’s and it’s time for Tucker to step up and be a son. And Harry is having a hard time committing to his very ordinary life; in fact, it turns out that if he doesn’t fully engage with this life he chose, he will literally fade away, one limb at a time. So Tucker and Harry have to find a way to help each other before it’s too late. Imagine Harry is a musical for grown-ups about the very tricky business of growing up.

Music & Lyrics by Will Van Dyke/Book & Lyrics by Jeff Talbott - Set in the Nebraska Territories in the 1850's, Wintersong tells the story of Leo Harper, a homesteader with a lot to love and a lot to lose. He came west with his wife and his brother, and they are making a go of it - but Leo is his own worst enemy and can't control his suspicious thoughts. In a land where emotions are as limitless as the sky, Leo needs to learn that joy comes at the cost of abandoning jealousy before it is too late. And that love requires you to awaken your faith.

Music & Lyrics by Will Van Dyke/Book & Lyrics by Jeff Talbott - Samantha (Sam) Walker and Denny Clark are best friends and small town kids, just getting through their days working in a diner in Eastern Wyoming. They've got each other, but they're both ready to bust out, terrified of wasting one more day going nowhere. As they inch their way East, from small town to big city, they leave a string of broken hearts behind - but the question is, will the last two hearts to be broken be theirs? Seven Broken Hearts is a brand-new three-person pop-driven musical about the wending ways of love and friendship, and how staying true to yourself is so hard when you're not quite sure who you are yet.

Music & Lyrics by Will Van Dyke/Book & Lyrics by Jeff Talbott - 10 friends. 1 break-up. 8 slo-mo nervous breakdowns. The Circle and the Wheel is a new original musical about a group of friends getting ready to celebrate the marriage of their favorite couple. But when the couple suddenly and unexpectedly breaks up, it forces everybody else to look in the mirror and examine their own relationships, and nobody is ready for what they see. A little bit of self-reflection is a good thing; too much can be a disaster.