Jessica Austgen

Jessica Austgen

Jessica Austgen is an actor, improviser and playwright living in Denver, Colorado. After earning her BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Jessica spent three seasons as a member of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s acting company. Her first play, DragOn (a comic con-themed drag adventure!), was commissioned by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and premiered at the...
Jessica Austgen is an actor, improviser and playwright living in Denver, Colorado. After earning her BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Jessica spent three seasons as a member of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s acting company. Her first play, DragOn (a comic con-themed drag adventure!), was commissioned by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and premiered at the DCPA’s Garner Galleria Theatre in June 2017, and her following work has been produced across the US and Canada. Jessica is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and the Dramatist’s Guild, and currently works as an Experience Designer on Meow Wolf's Story Experience Interactive team.

Plays

  • The Family Tree: A Virtual Holiday Comedy
    FULL LENGTH, ZOOM. The Becker family goes hard for Christmas, but in December 2020 gathering at the family home in Colorado isn't exactly easy. One family tries to pull a holiday together over zoom, with loved ones spread across the continent from Colorado to Maine to Canada... and one important member missing from the festivities this year. Oh, and a beloved holiday decoration has gone missing.
  • The Mail Order Husband
    ONE ACT, RADIO. A podcaster and her daughter head to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in March of 2020 to research a homesteading ancestor, Miss Ida Brausen. As their trip is altered by world events, the women dive deeper into Ida's unique history and discover the unusual origin of their great-great grandmother's marriage in frontier-era Steamboat Springs.
  • Sin St. Social Club
    FULL-LENGTH. In this modern reworking of Aphra Behn's THE ROVER, Helen, a novice nun, and Florie Mae, her nightclub singing sister, hit the streets of 1916 New Orleans in a last-ditch effort to save their departed daddy's dance hall, The Basin Street Social Club, and get their own futures "taken care of." Florie Mae is desperate to marry Belville, while Helen is looking for an excuse--any...
    FULL-LENGTH. In this modern reworking of Aphra Behn's THE ROVER, Helen, a novice nun, and Florie Mae, her nightclub singing sister, hit the streets of 1916 New Orleans in a last-ditch effort to save their departed daddy's dance hall, The Basin Street Social Club, and get their own futures "taken care of." Florie Mae is desperate to marry Belville, while Helen is looking for an excuse--any excuse--to avoid being confirmed as a full-fledged nun. Their brother Pete, however, insists that Florie Mae marry his friend Tony Trudeau, a local alderman with dubious motives.
    Belville, equally determined to find Florie Mae, arrives on the scene with a couple of friends in tow--Blunt, a rustically-inclined client, and Wilmore, a rakish captain. While Belville obsesses over saving his beloved, Wilmore is equally attracted to the lively Helen as well as Angie B, an aging madame whose recent return to the Crescent City has caused quite a stir on the streets of Storyville.
    After a night of romantic rendezvous, mistaken identities and way too many fistfights, the lovers are reunited, the club is saved and Helen finds her own particular brand of happiness.
  • A Murther of Crows
    FULL-LENGTH. In the back room of a grimy Elizabethan tavern, a trio of cutthroats—burly butcher Ned, the mysteriously aristocratic Sir and young, idealistic Kit--prepare for their final job. The mood is grim—Joan, the barmaid is late delivering their orders, they’re short a lookout, and no one is willing to talk about whatever the hell happened in Scotland. Matters are further complicated when Ned’s daughter...
    FULL-LENGTH. In the back room of a grimy Elizabethan tavern, a trio of cutthroats—burly butcher Ned, the mysteriously aristocratic Sir and young, idealistic Kit--prepare for their final job. The mood is grim—Joan, the barmaid is late delivering their orders, they’re short a lookout, and no one is willing to talk about whatever the hell happened in Scotland. Matters are further complicated when Ned’s daughter Edie arrives, disguised as her brother Edward, to volunteer as their fourth.
    When the dispatch is finally delivered, however, the target is more complicated than expected, leading to a charged, steel-crashing confrontation at midnight on a lonely road outside the gates of London.
  • DragOn
    FULL-LENGTH. A fledgling drag queen must go through the tests and trials of legendary cosplay divas to find her swagger. Whether you’re a fabulous fantasy fan or just love a fierce drag number, there’s something for you. It's a geeky kiki that will leave you laughing.
  • Apollo Flies
    ONE ACT. "What if we uncrossed our stars?" wonders Juliet (or maybe Jane Eyre, or is it Anna Karenina?). In this short play, a pair of literary lovers are growing tired of their readers favorite genre--tragic romance--and are looking for some better options.
  • Self Promoted
    TEN-MINUTE. A pair of cubicle mates spar for a promotion while being cheered on by a suspiciously supportive coworker.
  • A Boys Guide To Brutal Honesty
    5 MINUTES. A young scout, motivated by merit badges, has a difficult discussion with his dad.
  • Pants!
    It's 1922 and introverted heiress Eglantine VanDergaardervelt has no interest in socializing with potential suitors. So when her father throws a Bachelors Only weekend party on their Long Island estate in order to give her prospects a little boost, Eglantine predictably panics. The arrival of a nouveau riche neighbor—the charming but unpolished Doris Muntz of the Southern Illinois Muntzes—puts even more...
    It's 1922 and introverted heiress Eglantine VanDergaardervelt has no interest in socializing with potential suitors. So when her father throws a Bachelors Only weekend party on their Long Island estate in order to give her prospects a little boost, Eglantine predictably panics. The arrival of a nouveau riche neighbor—the charming but unpolished Doris Muntz of the Southern Illinois Muntzes—puts even more pressure on poor Eg.
    With assistance from her ladies maid, Nadine, Eglantine assumes an alter ego: Felix, a confident French rake. Doris has also decided to attend the party in disguise as a prominent Midwesterner, Eugene Dongle. Although Doris and Eg didn't get along, Eugene and Felix form an instant connection... so much so that each young women decides to secure her new male pal as a mate for their female selves.
    After a series of mistakes, mishaps and miscommunications, the young women realize they’re a
    good match for one another, even though it's unconventional.
  • Christie Con
    Six die-hard Agatha Christie fans gather to perform a classic murder mystery for their crime novel convention. When it goes murderously awry, they scramble to finish their fictional whodunnit without becoming the next target.
  • Barbershop
    FIVE MINUTE. An unusual child takes their parent figure for a haircut.