Lane Michael Stanley

Lane Michael Stanley

Lane Michael Stanley is a director, playwright, filmmaker, and producer, as well as the co-founder of Secretly Famous Productions, along with Lowell Blank. Their award-winning debut feature film ADDICT NAMED HAL was distributed through Freestyle Digital Media after playing festivals including Austin Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Dances with Films and is now available on all major...
Lane Michael Stanley is a director, playwright, filmmaker, and producer, as well as the co-founder of Secretly Famous Productions, along with Lowell Blank. Their award-winning debut feature film ADDICT NAMED HAL was distributed through Freestyle Digital Media after playing festivals including Austin Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Dances with Films and is now available on all major VOD platforms. They have had pieces produced and read by 19 theaters in 8 states and Australia, including The Barter Theater, Kitchen Dog Theater, and Island City Stage. Their award-winning short films have shown at many festivals, including Outfest, Sidewalk, Reeling, and Seattle Queer Film Festival. They have been a commissioned artist and/or fellow with Art with Impact, Ground Floor Theatre, Lambda Literary, and coLAB Arts. They have been developed at the HBMG Foundation’s National Winter Playwrights Retreat and the Valdez Theater Conference. Lane has won Best Director from Baltimore City Paper's Best of Baltimore, The Bad Oracle, and DC Metro Theatre Arts, and received the Mayor's Individual Artist Award. They were featured in the New York Times and USA Today for their direction of a grunge-era, gender-bending Hamlet. Lane holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Lane is currently the Resident Artist with coLAB Arts and Mission First Housing Group, where they are creating art directly with residents of two permanent supportive housing developments in Edison, NJ as they recover from houselessness. Their residency runs from July 2023-April 2024.

Plays

  • rain falls special on me
    When it rains in Austin, Texas, the best place to stay dry through the night is behind the theater. Weather and circumstance bring together Mikey, Snake, Miss Candace, Motor, Mac, and Julie - all of whom are on the street for different reasons, here now to navigate their relationships, dreams, and often, survival.
  • Jack & Aiden
    BOOK BY LANE MICHAEL STANLEY, MUSIC BY TOVA KATZ, LYRICS BY LANE MICHAEL STANLEY & TOVA KATZ. When Aiden first meets Jack, it’s through the sex-saturated world of gay male hookup apps– Aiden’s first exploration since transitioning. But as the two spend more time together, things get complicated - they must navigate their grief, recovery and trauma and find out if they can hold one another’s human messiness...
    BOOK BY LANE MICHAEL STANLEY, MUSIC BY TOVA KATZ, LYRICS BY LANE MICHAEL STANLEY & TOVA KATZ. When Aiden first meets Jack, it’s through the sex-saturated world of gay male hookup apps– Aiden’s first exploration since transitioning. But as the two spend more time together, things get complicated - they must navigate their grief, recovery and trauma and find out if they can hold one another’s human messiness. Jack & Aiden asks what it takes to open ourselves up to the profound joy and pain that come with truly being known.

    http://www.tovakatzartist.com/
  • Lipstick
    Lipstick is a silly, sweet farce with a heart of gold and a drawer full of sex toys. Anna has invited Kelly over for dinner, but is it a date? Or just hanging out? How could Anna know?! Is Kelly even gay?! Kelly wears earrings AND boots! Just in case that wasn’t confusing enough, a cavalcade of visitors crashes their evening - an ex-girlfriend, a nebby bestie, a handyman, a mom, and a parade of potential...
    Lipstick is a silly, sweet farce with a heart of gold and a drawer full of sex toys. Anna has invited Kelly over for dinner, but is it a date? Or just hanging out? How could Anna know?! Is Kelly even gay?! Kelly wears earrings AND boots! Just in case that wasn’t confusing enough, a cavalcade of visitors crashes their evening - an ex-girlfriend, a nebby bestie, a handyman, a mom, and a parade of potential suitors. Hijinks, of course, ensue, in this play-shaped love letter to the queer community.
  • Sally McCoy
    In the midst of the first gruesomely violent event of the legendary Hatfield and McCoy feud, one woman does what she must to save her family. Sally McCoy tells a harrowing and deeply personal story, while taking a hard look at one woman’s role in the formation of a defining moment of American history. A play about tribalism, perseverance, power, courage, and grief.
  • The Tiny Banger
    The Tiny Banger tells the story of a homeless family trying to survive in an increasingly hostile city through the lens of Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp archetype. We follow Dope Fiend, Jailbird, and their son Tiny Banger in their efforts to stay together through cycles of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration. As the play goes on, the silent film world strips away, and we encounter the messy, complex world in...
    The Tiny Banger tells the story of a homeless family trying to survive in an increasingly hostile city through the lens of Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp archetype. We follow Dope Fiend, Jailbird, and their son Tiny Banger in their efforts to stay together through cycles of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration. As the play goes on, the silent film world strips away, and we encounter the messy, complex world in which the family actually lives.
  • TRANSom (Devised With Ensemble)
    This play, devised by the all trans/non binary ensemble, tells the story of a 'found family' living together in the same house. Together, they experience joy, sorrow, and conflict. In TRANsom this family redefines the meaning and importance of community and overcoming personal grief & loss while fostering an atmosphere of love and acceptance.

    Devised By The Ensemble: Libby Carr,...
    This play, devised by the all trans/non binary ensemble, tells the story of a 'found family' living together in the same house. Together, they experience joy, sorrow, and conflict. In TRANsom this family redefines the meaning and importance of community and overcoming personal grief & loss while fostering an atmosphere of love and acceptance.

    Devised By The Ensemble: Libby Carr, Adrian Clark, Deirdre Darling, Siri Gurudev, Heather Jarmon, Jesse O'Rear, Lisa Scheps, Lane Michael Stanley, Elian Sweeten, Alyssa Thompson, Dillon Yruegas
  • By Sarah, Age 24
    A young woman who is estranged from her family comes to her grandmother's grave for closure and forgiveness.
  • Sky's the Limit: A Very Queer Fairy Tale
    Sky, an Enbien (for Non-Binary Knight) and their begrudging penguin accomplice take on the #PrincessChallenge to "rescue" their local princess - who may not need it.
  • Anthemusa
    An upending of the siren myth through men's fascination with queer women.
  • Droplets
    A frustrated scientist questions his relationship to his work and his life.
  • Row Q, Seats 7 and 8
    Amy and Nadia go to see Hamlet for their first date. A play that takes place in the audience.
  • Who's Gonna Love You!
    Who is a non-binary, alcoholic sex worker living in the Tenderloin with recent runaway, Lacey. Crystal shows up unexpectedly, with the news that she is the child Who gave up 20 years prior, and wants to have a relationship with Who because she is also trans, a secret she hides from everyone in her life. This play looks at intergenerational trans love and care coming out of the AIDS crisis and into the age of...
    Who is a non-binary, alcoholic sex worker living in the Tenderloin with recent runaway, Lacey. Crystal shows up unexpectedly, with the news that she is the child Who gave up 20 years prior, and wants to have a relationship with Who because she is also trans, a secret she hides from everyone in her life. This play looks at intergenerational trans love and care coming out of the AIDS crisis and into the age of technology, offering that when we learn to love our trans siblings, we learn to love ourselves.

    Shared here is an early draft; this play is changing by the day!