Beth Hyland

Beth Hyland is a playwright and screenwriter based in Southern California. Her plays and musicals include SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA (Geffen Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival), FIRES, OHIO (Goodman Theatre NewStages, Portland Center Stage, Alliance Theatre), CANCELINA (Rivendell Theatre, Baby Teeth, Bramble Theatre), BABY SHOWER KATIE (Round House National Capital New Play Festival), KILLED A MAN (JOKING) (First Floor Theater, Arizona Theatre Company), CLEARING (Commission Theatre, A Short Leap) and SEAGULLS (The Sound at Steppenwolf LookOut, Octagon Theatre Bolton, Oak Park Festival Theatre). She is the 2024 winner of the L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Prize and Jay Harris Commission and a two-time winner of KCACTF’s Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting. She holds commissions with...

Beth Hyland is a playwright and screenwriter based in Southern California. Her plays and musicals include SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA (Geffen Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival), FIRES, OHIO (Goodman Theatre NewStages, Portland Center Stage, Alliance Theatre), CANCELINA (Rivendell Theatre, Baby Teeth, Bramble Theatre), BABY SHOWER KATIE (Round House National Capital New Play Festival), KILLED A MAN (JOKING) (First Floor Theater, Arizona Theatre Company), CLEARING (Commission Theatre, A Short Leap) and SEAGULLS (The Sound at Steppenwolf LookOut, Octagon Theatre Bolton, Oak Park Festival Theatre). She is the 2024 winner of the L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Prize and Jay Harris Commission and a two-time winner of KCACTF’s Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting. She holds commissions with Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Rivendell Theatre. She is a soon-to-be graduate of UCSD’s MFA in Playwriting under the mentorship of Naomi Iizuka and Deborah Stein. bethhyland.com

Scripts

SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Sally, a once-celebrated novelist grappling with writer's block and overshadowed by her husband Theo's rising literary fame, seeks solace and inspiration in the iconic Boston apartment once inhabited by Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Intent on completing her novel about Plath's life and salvaging her faltering marriage, Sally's plans take a haunting turn when she begins experiencing spectral encounters that...

Sally, a once-celebrated novelist grappling with writer's block and overshadowed by her husband Theo's rising literary fame, seeks solace and inspiration in the iconic Boston apartment once inhabited by Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Intent on completing her novel about Plath's life and salvaging her faltering marriage, Sally's plans take a haunting turn when she begins experiencing spectral encounters that challenge her perception of reality. As the boundaries between truth and fiction blur, Sally confronts the ghosts of her past, threatening to unravel both her sanity and her artistic vision. In SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA, a tragicomic exploration of women's creativity and women's madness, love and art collide with supernatural consequences.

Fires, Ohio

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

As a climate crisis threatens a small Ohio college town, the mopey grown children and second wife of a sort-of-mediocre professor must choose: stay and smolder, or leave and burn. When a visiting scholar comes to stay for a few days, love and hatred flare and jeopardize the family’s fragile equilibrium. Chekhovian and totally modern, Fires, Ohio brings an old story into our painfully funny present.

As a climate crisis threatens a small Ohio college town, the mopey grown children and second wife of a sort-of-mediocre professor must choose: stay and smolder, or leave and burn. When a visiting scholar comes to stay for a few days, love and hatred flare and jeopardize the family’s fragile equilibrium. Chekhovian and totally modern, Fires, Ohio brings an old story into our painfully funny present.

Seagulls

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Seagulls is an indie-rock musical loosely based on Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. This contemporary retelling of the classic tragicomedy follows four friends and bandmates at a small college as they struggle to achieve artistic greatness without losing themselves – or each other.

Seagulls is an indie-rock musical loosely based on Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. This contemporary retelling of the classic tragicomedy follows four friends and bandmates at a small college as they struggle to achieve artistic greatness without losing themselves – or each other.

Killed a Man (Joking)

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Okay so Megan may have killed Trevor, but it was an accident! Or it was self-defense. Or both! But now Liv, Amanda, and Katie have to decide exactly how far they’re willing to go to help their co-worker in need. Killed a Man (Joking) is a pitch-black comedy about violence, justice, and what it really means to be a ride-or-die friend.

Okay so Megan may have killed Trevor, but it was an accident! Or it was self-defense. Or both! But now Liv, Amanda, and Katie have to decide exactly how far they’re willing to go to help their co-worker in need. Killed a Man (Joking) is a pitch-black comedy about violence, justice, and what it really means to be a ride-or-die friend.

All-One! The Dr. Bronner's Play

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Good/Evil! Clean/Dirty! Madness/Genius! Apart/Together! Can all of these major dualities be contained in a soap you may have in your shower right now? And can that soap really have eighteen different uses? ALL-ONE! THE DR. BRONNER'S PLAY is an irreverent look at life's deepest darkness and brightest light through the too-wild-to-be-believed life of the world's most famous soap maker, Emanuel Bronner.

Good/Evil! Clean/Dirty! Madness/Genius! Apart/Together! Can all of these major dualities be contained in a soap you may have in your shower right now? And can that soap really have eighteen different uses? ALL-ONE! THE DR. BRONNER'S PLAY is an irreverent look at life's deepest darkness and brightest light through the too-wild-to-be-believed life of the world's most famous soap maker, Emanuel Bronner.

Clearing

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

When Jess gets a job at LaLaLea, the upscale yoga pants store and lifestyle brand, she feels like she's finally found her way. But when sudden violence strikes a nearby store, Jess and her co-workers learn that even positive energy has a dark side. Clearing is a dark coming-of-age comedy about friendship, yoga pants, and the pressure women are under—and what happens when that pressure makes them snap.

When Jess gets a job at LaLaLea, the upscale yoga pants store and lifestyle brand, she feels like she's finally found her way. But when sudden violence strikes a nearby store, Jess and her co-workers learn that even positive energy has a dark side. Clearing is a dark coming-of-age comedy about friendship, yoga pants, and the pressure women are under—and what happens when that pressure makes them snap.

Red Bowl at the Jeffs

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

The cast of Red Bowl Ensemble's production of Three Sisters have finally made it: to the Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards, that is. Loosely inspired by Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, Red Bowl at the Jeffs follows a group of young artists dealing with ambition, failure, friendship, and making it to Moscow.

The cast of Red Bowl Ensemble's production of Three Sisters have finally made it: to the Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards, that is. Loosely inspired by Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, Red Bowl at the Jeffs follows a group of young artists dealing with ambition, failure, friendship, and making it to Moscow.

For Annie

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Annie Lambert was murdered in the middle of her senior year. So the sisters of the Beta Tau Alpha sorority at SUNY Onondaga are memorializing her in the best way they know how: they're putting on a play. For Annie uses Greek chorus, pop music, dance, and a lot of glitter to explore grief, guilt, sisterhood, and what it means to remember.

Annie Lambert was murdered in the middle of her senior year. So the sisters of the Beta Tau Alpha sorority at SUNY Onondaga are memorializing her in the best way they know how: they're putting on a play. For Annie uses Greek chorus, pop music, dance, and a lot of glitter to explore grief, guilt, sisterhood, and what it means to remember.

always nothing else

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Marco Polo is an app that lets you record videos of yourself for your friends, and Meg and Tom are two friends sending each other videos on Marco Polo during These Difficult Times. always nothing else follows Meg and Tom as they bake/don't bake, cope/don't cope, drink/definitely drink, and maybe/maybe don't realize what they actually really need from each other.

Marco Polo is an app that lets you record videos of yourself for your friends, and Meg and Tom are two friends sending each other videos on Marco Polo during These Difficult Times. always nothing else follows Meg and Tom as they bake/don't bake, cope/don't cope, drink/definitely drink, and maybe/maybe don't realize what they actually really need from each other.

JOYCE

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Joyce had a tough day at work.

Joyce had a tough day at work.

so when you go solo, you hold your own hand

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Gaby and H have a moment at a Halloween party.

Gaby and H have a moment at a Halloween party.

Now More Than Ever

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Will, Haley, and Sasha are Making A Difference.

Will, Haley, and Sasha are Making A Difference.

Neil and Shelly Try Something

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Neil and Shelly are engaged, and they're ready to spice things up.

Neil and Shelly are engaged, and they're ready to spice things up.

You Haven't Tried Everything Yet

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Vivian and Ellie are waiting for the show to start.

Vivian and Ellie are waiting for the show to start.

Lunar Colony 1A117+, 1500 Earth Time

by Beth Hyland

Synopsis

Westport and Darien are (literally) watching the world burn.

Westport and Darien are (literally) watching the world burn.