Marcus Scott

Marcus Scott

MARCUS SCOTT is a playwright, musical theater writer, librettist, journalist, critic and teaching artist. Full-length works include "Fidelio" (Libretto; Heartbeat Opera at Baruch Performing Arts Center, 2018; called "poignant" by NY Times and "vital" by The New Yorker), "Tumbleweed" (Finalist for the 2017/2018 Humanitas Play LA Workshop, the Playwrights Foundation's...
MARCUS SCOTT is a playwright, musical theater writer, librettist, journalist, critic and teaching artist. Full-length works include "Fidelio" (Libretto; Heartbeat Opera at Baruch Performing Arts Center, 2018; called "poignant" by NY Times and "vital" by The New Yorker), "Tumbleweed" (Finalist for the 2017/2018 Humanitas Play LA Workshop, the Playwrights Foundation's 2017 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and the 2017 Festival of New American Plays at Austin Playhouse; semi-finalist for the 2017/2018 New Dramatists Princess Grace Fellowship Award), "Sibling Rivalries" (long-listed for the 2020 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award; semifinalist for the Landing Theatre Company’s 2020 New American Voices Playwriting Festival and the 2020 Campfire Theatre Festival), and "Cherry Bomb" (recipient of the 2017 Drama League First Stage Artist-In-Residence; 2017 Finalist for the Yale Institute for Music Theatre). His work has been developed, presented and/or produced by Joe's Pub, 54 Below, Abingdon Theatre Company, Astoria Performing Arts Center, Out of the Box Theatrics, Weathervane Theatre, Dixon Place, National Black Theatre (KSA series), Playwright’s Playground at Classical Theatre of Harlem, Space on Ryder Farm, Cherry Lane Theater (DUAF), Theater 80 St. Marks (DUAF), Across A Crowded Room - Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library (NYPL), CoLAB Arts, Symphony Space, NYC LGBT Center, Secret Theatre, MicroTheater Miami, among others. Residencies and retreats: Gingold Theatre Group Speaker's Corner Writer (2020-2021), Liberation Theatre Company's Playwriting Residency Fellowship (2018), Athena Theatre’s Athena Writes Playwriting Fellowship (2018), the inaugural LIT Council at the Tank (2018-2019), Fresh Ground Pepper Artist-In-Residence BRB Retreat (2017), One Co. Writers' Residency at Little Farm (2017) and Goodspeed Opera House Retreat (2013). He was also the 2016-17 Musical Theatre Fellow at Playwrights Horizons and the 2017-2018 co-moderator of Musical Theatre Factory's POC Roundtable. Scott is a four-time top finalist for the R&D Group at The Civilians, a two-time National Black Theatre I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency finalist and a 2019 finalist for the Bushwick Starr's Starr Reading Series. His articles appeared in TimeOut New York, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill, Elle, Out, Essence, among others. BFA: State University College at Buffalo, MFA: NYU Tisch.

Plays

  • Sibling Rivalries by Marcus Scott
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    9–10
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: College Fraternity, fraternity + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, melodrama, movement/physical, period, political, satire
    Keyword: College Fraternity, fraternity, chorus, Toxic Masculinity, LGBTQ, black lives matter, scholarship, Black boys, black actors
    "Black excellence is a byproduct of black trauma." Set at a fictional Ivy League school in the years following the Obama Administration, this male-driven political drama follows a diverse group of young black men, all members of a fraternity, who face shifting loyalties and eroded principles when they are forced to compete against one another for a prestigious fellowship. The narrative explores black...
    "Black excellence is a byproduct of black trauma." Set at a fictional Ivy League school in the years following the Obama Administration, this male-driven political drama follows a diverse group of young black men, all members of a fraternity, who face shifting loyalties and eroded principles when they are forced to compete against one another for a prestigious fellowship. The narrative explores black camaraderie, competitive suffering, race, elitism, male bonding, school bullying, apex predators, homosexuality, machismo, brotherhood and toxic masculinity. This is a play with music (can be performed without music). Developed at Liberation Theatre Company and QuickSilver Theatre Company.
  • Tumbleweed by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    9–10
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: coming of age, interracial parenting + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, fable/folktale, fantasy, melodrama, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: coming of age, interracial parenting, bi-racial relationship, black women and girls, Eurocentric Beauty standards, intergenerational feminism, womanism, black hair, African American, asian
    Following an interracial family living in a townhouse within the Morningside Park area of New York’s Upper West Side over the course of a weekend, TUMBLEWEED is a slice of life drama about a young girl named Willow whose off-putting natural hair combined with both her family’s open acceptance of it and lack of maintenance, as well as her blooming womanism, causes controversy in the household. Tensions stir even...
    Following an interracial family living in a townhouse within the Morningside Park area of New York’s Upper West Side over the course of a weekend, TUMBLEWEED is a slice of life drama about a young girl named Willow whose off-putting natural hair combined with both her family’s open acceptance of it and lack of maintenance, as well as her blooming womanism, causes controversy in the household. Tensions stir even more so when they get a visit from the patriarch’s estranged no-nonsense mother, a former affiliate of the Black Panther party. The play explores beauty standards both in and out of the black community, ethnic relations, the mixed race family, coming of age, interracial marriage and parenting, relationships, womanist identity and the visibility of black men in the family dynamic.
  • Fidelio by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: adaptation, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: black lives matter, prison industrial complex + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, fantasy, melodrama, opera, political
    Keyword: black lives matter, prison industrial complex, Political Corruption, Jim Crow, trouser roles
    Heartbeat Opera Presents Beethoveen's Fidelio. A black activist is wrongfully incarcerated. His wife, Leah, passes as a man to infiltrate the system and free him. But when injustice reigns, one woman's grit may not be enough to save her love. Featuring the voices of imprisoned people, this daring adaptation pits corruption against courage, hate against hope. Written in collaboration with Ethan Heard.
  • Cherry Bomb by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    7–16
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 9 more
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    Keyword: arts education, protest + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, horror, movement/physical, musical, political, satire, tragedy, young audiences
    Keyword: arts education, protest, teen suicide, inability to grieve, prescription drugs, teen angst, Youth Rebellion
    Cherry Bomb follows savvy teenage boy Franklin, who revolts against the education system once the arts programs are cut from his school curriculum. When Franklin’s fearless actions inadvertently domino into another student’s suicide, he spirals into sex, drugs and ruin. A rock musical that blends the Motown/Stax funk-soul sound with electroclash music, Cherry Bomb explores the current and timely topic of the...
    Cherry Bomb follows savvy teenage boy Franklin, who revolts against the education system once the arts programs are cut from his school curriculum. When Franklin’s fearless actions inadvertently domino into another student’s suicide, he spirals into sex, drugs and ruin. A rock musical that blends the Motown/Stax funk-soul sound with electroclash music, Cherry Bomb explores the current and timely topic of the decline of arts in schools, the age gap between teenagers and adults, rebellion, child abuse, grieving a loss, ethics in modern psychiatry and prescribing medication to juveniles—all of which affect Franklin and lead to his self-discovery.
  • Sundown Town by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: zoom, coming of age + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: zoom, coming of age, anti-black racism, black lives matter, black lgbt
    “Sundown Town” follows two newly-minted sophomore students fresh from their first year at university who have returned home in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under quarantine and taking shelter within their homes, just as these two sexually curious and sexually-active young men hop online to unleash their carnal desires, news of a horrific incident prompts them to not only ask questions about the worth of...
    “Sundown Town” follows two newly-minted sophomore students fresh from their first year at university who have returned home in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under quarantine and taking shelter within their homes, just as these two sexually curious and sexually-active young men hop online to unleash their carnal desires, news of a horrific incident prompts them to not only ask questions about the worth of the black body in America, but also its endurance. Premiered at the Abingdon Theatre Company's Virtual Festival Of Short Plays.
  • The Kwanzaa Party by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: cultural appropriation, interracial relationships + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, holiday, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: cultural appropriation, interracial relationships, interracial gay relationships, holiday comedy, Alternative Holiday, Kwanzaa
    When Hell’s Kitchen twunk Donatello brings his long-term silver fox boyfriend Jamal to his family estate in New England to ring in the holidays, he’s unprepared when his over eager SJW older sister and her woke AF friends decide to honor his beau with an impromptu celebratory Kwanzaa celebration, very much to their chagrin. The Kwanzaa Party is a comedy-drama with a farcical and satirical underbelly that...
    When Hell’s Kitchen twunk Donatello brings his long-term silver fox boyfriend Jamal to his family estate in New England to ring in the holidays, he’s unprepared when his over eager SJW older sister and her woke AF friends decide to honor his beau with an impromptu celebratory Kwanzaa celebration, very much to their chagrin. The Kwanzaa Party is a comedy-drama with a farcical and satirical underbelly that explores liberal elitism and the limousine liberal, Slacktivism, coolhunting, appropriation, interracial romance, queer relationships and, of course, Kwanzaa. A Commissioned OOTB/Weathervane Holiday Short Play.
  • Forever and a Day by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: adventure, dark comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: The Fountain of Youth, police brutality + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, dark comedy, drama, musical, political, science fiction, young audiences, zoom
    Keyword: The Fountain of Youth, police brutality, black nerds, nerds, computer geeks, stem cells, plant life, black lives matter, afrofuturism
    In Forever and a Day, boy genius Corey and his smarty-pants best pals Dimitri and Dakota are triggered by viral videos of young black people dying and ultimately go on a journey to discover The Fountain of Youth, also known as The Elixir of Life. Corey and his friends come to the conclusion that by creating the cure for eternal youth and immortality, they might circumvent and combat the rampant violence brought...
    In Forever and a Day, boy genius Corey and his smarty-pants best pals Dimitri and Dakota are triggered by viral videos of young black people dying and ultimately go on a journey to discover The Fountain of Youth, also known as The Elixir of Life. Corey and his friends come to the conclusion that by creating the cure for eternal youth and immortality, they might circumvent and combat the rampant violence brought on against young black people. Conceived for Across A Crowded Room in the Bruno Walter Auditorium within at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Book and Lyrics by Marcus Scott, music by Steven Silverstein.
  • Chimerical Colors: a monologue by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 1 more
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    Keyword: Harlem Renaissance, Chicago Black Renaissance + 4 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, verse
    Keyword: Harlem Renaissance, Chicago Black Renaissance, Colorism, black artists, Painters, black excellence
    A monologue from Jazz Age modernist painter Archibald Motley Jr. as the Chicago-based outsider recalls coming to New York at the zenith of the Harlem Renaissance, his nephew Willard and their struggle caught between worlds. Written for The Classical Theatre of Harlem's Icons: Harlem Renaissance in Motion Project.
  • Longview by Marcus Scott
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: last will & testament, Covid-19 + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, musical, period
    Keyword: last will & testament, Covid-19, Adult Siblings, estranged siblings, zoom
    Self-isolated in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, three adult siblings living in three different major cities (New York City, Los Angeles and London) meet via Zoom after one of them posts an alarming note to their social media pages, creating panic and igniting the flame of their own lingering resentments and frustrations with one another. Developed at the Astoria Performing Arts Center as part of “The...
    Self-isolated in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, three adult siblings living in three different major cities (New York City, Los Angeles and London) meet via Zoom after one of them posts an alarming note to their social media pages, creating panic and igniting the flame of their own lingering resentments and frustrations with one another. Developed at the Astoria Performing Arts Center as part of “The Insiders: Musicals from the Quarantine.” With a concept. book and lyrics by Marcus Scott, music by Blake Allen and an additional song by Marc Chan, this quasi- chamber pop musical with electronic and “traditional” Tin Pan Alley influences was inspired by well-documented true events.
  • The Uncanny Valley by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: horror, melodrama + 1 more
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    Keyword: Torture, missing black women + 6 more
    Genre: horror, melodrama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: Torture, missing black women, Violence against women, angry feminists, Black feminism, rape and revenge, machismo, white male privilege
    Two young women, Faith and Destiny, hold a man hostage in an interrogation room. But is he responsible for the disappearance and violent murder of a young woman and if so, how does one find justice when injustice looms eternal?
  • The Third Degree by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, horror + 1 more
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    Keyword: White Gaze, LGBTQ + 8 more
    Genre: dark comedy, horror, satire
    Keyword: White Gaze, LGBTQ, gay, sexual racism, horror, satire, Grindr, dating apps, gay romance, body dysmorphia
    Rob and Bobby, a gay May-December couple living in NYC's Meatpacking District and on the brink of the 7 Year Itch, invite a third to party and play in their luxury renovated industrial penthouse loft apartment. Prospects of an evening of titillation turns into a night of terror and a lesson in modern day social graces. Written for Exquisite Corpse Company's annual Drunk 24. Theme: Just A Preference....
    Rob and Bobby, a gay May-December couple living in NYC's Meatpacking District and on the brink of the 7 Year Itch, invite a third to party and play in their luxury renovated industrial penthouse loft apartment. Prospects of an evening of titillation turns into a night of terror and a lesson in modern day social graces. Written for Exquisite Corpse Company's annual Drunk 24. Theme: Just A Preference. Co-written with Louis DeVaughn Nelson.
  • Call & Response by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Swatting, police raids + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, period, tragedy
    Keyword: Swatting, police raids, black lives matter, hands up don't shoot, anti-black racism, Supermarket
    Police do 20,000 no-knock raids a year. Civilians often pay the price when they go wrong. Peter Bowers made a phone call whereupon DaQuan Howard, attending his sister’s sweet sixteen birthday party was viciously gunned down by a S.W.A.T. team. Earlier that day, Peter was uninvited to the celebration by Joelle, the birthday girl. In a local supermarket, Peter is accompanied by college student Tracee House and S....
    Police do 20,000 no-knock raids a year. Civilians often pay the price when they go wrong. Peter Bowers made a phone call whereupon DaQuan Howard, attending his sister’s sweet sixteen birthday party was viciously gunned down by a S.W.A.T. team. Earlier that day, Peter was uninvited to the celebration by Joelle, the birthday girl. In a local supermarket, Peter is accompanied by college student Tracee House and S.W.A.T. captain John Rivera, the man responsible for using tactical leadership to ensure lethal force against the victim. Throughout the conversation the three discuss the events as they happened and the impending consequences of the actions of both call and responder. Call-And-Response explores race relations in America, white male privilege, dog-whistle politics, swatting and police brutality.
  • Natural Selection by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic + 5 more
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    Keyword: mass shooting, American Assimilation + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, horror, mystery/thriller, political, satire
    Keyword: mass shooting, American Assimilation, Immigrants, Toxic Masculinity, gun reform, gun violence, model minority myth, school shooting
    Three young men plot an act of domestic terror in the comfort of a dorm room, but are they triggered to take the lives of innocents out of fury or are they simply trying to destroy their own self-hatred? Natural Selection tackles contemporary topics such as mass shootings, gun reform, white supremacy, the model minority myth and assimilation for a timely critique on America now and it’s future. Inspired by Elliot Rodger and Seung-Hui Cho.
  • Grand Larceny by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 7 more
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    Keyword: Anna Delvey, grifter + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, farce, musical, mystery/thriller, parody/spoof, political, satire
    Keyword: Anna Delvey, grifter, Con Artists, American Dream, White Feminism, Fortune, fame, American Musicals
    Inspired by scandal surrounding NYC socialite scammer Anna Delvey, "Grand Larceny" follows two women—a working class hotel concierge and a high-powered executive assistant—and their acquaintance with a vivacious cosmopolitan confidence trickster. Conceived for Across A Crowded Room in the Bruno Walter Auditorium within at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Book by...
    Inspired by scandal surrounding NYC socialite scammer Anna Delvey, "Grand Larceny" follows two women—a working class hotel concierge and a high-powered executive assistant—and their acquaintance with a vivacious cosmopolitan confidence trickster. Conceived for Across A Crowded Room in the Bruno Walter Auditorium within at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Book by Marcus Scott, lyrics by Kathryn Funkhouser, music by Declan Zhang.
  • Blood Orange by Marcus Scott
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: fetishization of black men, hook-up culture + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, political, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: fetishization of black men, hook-up culture, interracial gay relationships, white male privilege, upward mobility, LGBTQ, multi-cultural, Threesomes
    Dorian, an 18-year-old African-American high school senior, tries to make amends with Vladimir, his twentysomething ex-boyfriend before he goes off to college. Only Vladimir, still in love with Dorian, has plans of his own to get him back and they involve the sensual Lothario, Tanner. Blood Orange is a power play about boys with nothing but time on their hands.
  • Double Rainbow by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic + 3 more
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    Keyword: LGBTQ, gay rights + 8 more
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic, period, political, satire
    Keyword: LGBTQ, gay rights, glitter bomb, Race, class, Disgraced Politicians, Donald Trump, White Feminism, intersectionality, millennials
    Double Rainbow is a political comedy-drama that follows Lea and Michael, two far-left democratic LGBT rights activists, under arrest and facing criminal charges. The charge: Assault and Battery. The crime: Outrageous or justified? Representing them is Stuart, an accomplished and young African American civil rights attorney who agreed to represent the two young revolutionaries out of curiosity. Staged in an...
    Double Rainbow is a political comedy-drama that follows Lea and Michael, two far-left democratic LGBT rights activists, under arrest and facing criminal charges. The charge: Assault and Battery. The crime: Outrageous or justified? Representing them is Stuart, an accomplished and young African American civil rights attorney who agreed to represent the two young revolutionaries out of curiosity. Staged in an interrogation room, tensions rise and fall as Stuart tries to thread together the series of events that led them there.
  • Malaise by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: machismo, coming of age + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, movement/physical, political
    Keyword: machismo, coming of age, homophobia, contemporary New York City, Afro-Latino
    To love and be present, it takes a real man to do that. Returning from a disastrous commute on the MTA train system, college student Oscar finally arrives to his destination--the bachelor pad of an old friend, Eduardo. Both men get more than what they bargained for and are pushed to answer questions that erode away at their machismo, prejudices, reputations and accountability, or lack there of. Ultimately, both...
    To love and be present, it takes a real man to do that. Returning from a disastrous commute on the MTA train system, college student Oscar finally arrives to his destination--the bachelor pad of an old friend, Eduardo. Both men get more than what they bargained for and are pushed to answer questions that erode away at their machismo, prejudices, reputations and accountability, or lack there of. Ultimately, both men are forced into a coming of age.
  • The Vitruvian Man by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: sex robots, artificial intelligence + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, musical, romantic comedy, science fiction
    Keyword: sex robots, artificial intelligence, LGBTQ, rock and roll, The Gingerbread Man, android, free will, manifest destiny
    Inspired by “The Gingerbread Man," this sci-fi electro-R&B synth operetta follows Lazarus, an android created for Bobby, a man grieving the loss of his longtime partner and the detached engineer who cooked up a plot for their chance meeting. Written in collaboration with Avi Amon.
  • Free-Fall by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: biography, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: reentry, prison industrial complex + 5 more
    Genre: biography, dark comedy, drama, musical, political
    Keyword: reentry, prison industrial complex, homelessness, Inmates, house, shelter, Parolee
    A former prisoner is reentering society and is tasked with finding a job and shelter while battling self-pity and self-doubt. A fresh-faced volunteer takes on the former convict as her new client, assigned to help him secure these basic tenants of happiness. But could their shared anxiety of being of use stand in the way of real progress as model citizens or is it better to just give up? Composed by Michael...
    A former prisoner is reentering society and is tasked with finding a job and shelter while battling self-pity and self-doubt. A fresh-faced volunteer takes on the former convict as her new client, assigned to help him secure these basic tenants of happiness. But could their shared anxiety of being of use stand in the way of real progress as model citizens or is it better to just give up? Composed by Michael Lawton. Written in one weekend in response to Neighbor Corps Re-Entry Services, a non-profit community development corporation, and challenged with incorporating random props.
  • Always A Scout; Or, Scouts For Life by Marcus Scott
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adventure, comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: Boy Scouts, human survival + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, commedia dell'arte, experimental, fantasy
    Keyword: Boy Scouts, human survival, survival of the fittest, survival skills, Survival, coming of age, growing up, fear, absurd comedy
    Smokey and Topher are lost and find themselves stranded miles away from civilization. In their voyage back to civilization, the stumble upon a lone cabin in the woods where they meet Mongoose and Badger, two former scouts who’ve been marooned for decades. Written for Exquisite Corpse Company's annual Drunk 24. Theme: Giving Thanks. Co-written with Jordan G. Teicher.