Geo Decas O'Donnell

Geo (Geoffrey) Decas O'Donnell in a writer and performer.

They grew up on Cape Cod working at his family’s A&W Restaurant, doing lots and lots (and lots) of community theatre, and swimming in the ocean; studied acting and ensemble creation at the School of Theatre within the College of Fine Arts at Boston University; spent a couple of decades making ensemble devised work, writing plays, riding his bicycle, bartending, building a chosen family, and falling in love in New York City; now he writes plays and other things, teaches theatre, has a family and a garden, still rides his bicycle, has reignited a passion for making cardboard and paper mache art & puppets, bakes bread, and occasionally devises, in Philadelphia.

Geo co-founded the award winning, ensemble-based company...

Geo (Geoffrey) Decas O'Donnell in a writer and performer.

They grew up on Cape Cod working at his family’s A&W Restaurant, doing lots and lots (and lots) of community theatre, and swimming in the ocean; studied acting and ensemble creation at the School of Theatre within the College of Fine Arts at Boston University; spent a couple of decades making ensemble devised work, writing plays, riding his bicycle, bartending, building a chosen family, and falling in love in New York City; now he writes plays and other things, teaches theatre, has a family and a garden, still rides his bicycle, has reignited a passion for making cardboard and paper mache art & puppets, bakes bread, and occasionally devises, in Philadelphia.

Geo co-founded the award winning, ensemble-based company CollaborationTown (CTown). As part of CTown he has been creating, performing, and producing ensemble-devised theatre since 2003. Most recently CTown's all-ages puppet musical, Riddle of the Trilobites had a run at The New Victory Theater in NYC (Feb 2020). Past CTown productions include: Family Play (1979 to Present) (named one of The Advocate’s 10 Best LGBT Plays of 2014), and The Momentum (2012 GLAAD National Media Award nomination).

(All my plays that I'd write about in my bio are listed on the writings page-- check them out, send me a message if interested)

Geo's won some awards and received some residencies too: The Foundry Writer’s Group (Class of 2022); FringeNYC Excellence Award for Outstanding Playwriting (The Deepest Play Ever, 2006); FringeNYC Excellence Award for Outstanding Production (The Momentum, 2010) Otto Rene Castillo Political Theatre Award, 2014; multiple residencies at Robert Wilson's WaterMill Center and with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (Swing, Process and Work Space grants). They have developed work for La MaMa, ETC, and The New Ohio Theatre. Geo also teaches theatre and devising; currently at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia.

Geo has designed the sets for 6969, Help Me To Make It and FAMILY PLAY (1979 to Present) and studied playwriting with Paula Vogel, Charles Mee, and Jeffrey Jones.  

Scripts

Moss & Kay's Fabulous Adventure; Or: Objects Becoming More Distant From One Another at Ever-Increasing Speeds

by Geo Decas O'Donnell

Synopsis

A big, queer, meta-theatrical adventure about entering middle age, embracing change, and making art.

Moss & Kay meet in the audience of a play. Kay is there to support a friend, and Moss is there because their ex wrote it — about them. As the play begins, the story Moss was expecting is not the story being told; Kay has some ideas about how to fix that, so the two of them take matters into their own hands...

A big, queer, meta-theatrical adventure about entering middle age, embracing change, and making art.

Moss & Kay meet in the audience of a play. Kay is there to support a friend, and Moss is there because their ex wrote it — about them. As the play begins, the story Moss was expecting is not the story being told; Kay has some ideas about how to fix that, so the two of them take matters into their own hands. What follows is an adventure about memory and relationships, about making art and working in restaurants, about letting go and meeting the next day.

On the Formidable Ambiguity of the Foreseeable Future, We Rise

by Geo Decas O'Donnell

Synopsis

Declan's identity was stolen so the government deleted it, his boss gave him a new one but it feels kinda wonky. Audra just found out that her mom has been paying people to be friends with her since high school, she's in her 30s. In the midst of all this, they get sucked into the popular self-help movement, HOPE'S SPRING ETERNAL, as it starts to take control of the nation. Soon enough, they're in too deep and...

Declan's identity was stolen so the government deleted it, his boss gave him a new one but it feels kinda wonky. Audra just found out that her mom has been paying people to be friends with her since high school, she's in her 30s. In the midst of all this, they get sucked into the popular self-help movement, HOPE'S SPRING ETERNAL, as it starts to take control of the nation. Soon enough, they're in too deep and the only way to stop the insanity is to stop Hope. Fortunately, the laws of attraction brought her right to them.

Island of the Undead

author by Geo Decas O'Donnell

Synopsis

In the summer of 1996, a group of teens are sent to Camp Green Rock on a remote island off the coast of New England. After a crash landing, they quickly realize this summer camp might not be all fun and games, for starters, the island is crawling with wolves, and bats keep attacking them. The Doctor who runs the camp is kinda obsessed with their blood and keeps them locked in their rooms – luckily they are...

In the summer of 1996, a group of teens are sent to Camp Green Rock on a remote island off the coast of New England. After a crash landing, they quickly realize this summer camp might not be all fun and games, for starters, the island is crawling with wolves, and bats keep attacking them. The Doctor who runs the camp is kinda obsessed with their blood and keeps them locked in their rooms – luckily they are really good at passing notes. Armed with flashlights the campers set out to find a way off the island before the Doctor begins … the procedure…

Island of the Undead was created in the grand tradition of Paula Vogel's playwriting bake-offs, Dracula by Bram Stoker was the source material.

The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos

by Geo Decas O'Donnell

Synopsis

A rag-tag group of clowns are hiding out in a bunker creating and rehearsing an 800 play cycle ad infinitum. Every night they risk it all and raise a flag outside of the bunker: SHOW TONIGHT! .... LO! An audience appears! The clowns get the audience seated and begin with play one: THE CATHARSIS OF PATHOS. The epic drama follows the antihero Mother LaMadre and her children as they drag their wagon through the...

A rag-tag group of clowns are hiding out in a bunker creating and rehearsing an 800 play cycle ad infinitum. Every night they risk it all and raise a flag outside of the bunker: SHOW TONIGHT! .... LO! An audience appears! The clowns get the audience seated and begin with play one: THE CATHARSIS OF PATHOS. The epic drama follows the antihero Mother LaMadre and her children as they drag their wagon through the Fifth World War and the post-post-apocalyptic wasteland that is New Europe. Together they must navigate all the pitfalls of the dramatic art of drama to find the few remaining books that the art-abolishing Evil Empire has yet to destroy, and maybe... just maybe... find a way to replace violence with art. Meanwhile, failed artist Dalvador Salí sells his soul and becomes the Zombie King of the Evil Empire, he then sets out to deconstruct the world into nothingness - but he needs all the books to do that. Equal parts satire and homage to epic theatre and the struggle for greatness. This play would be great for universities and colleges due to its large cast size.