Joshua Young

As a playwright, Young finished a fellowship with the Public Theater in New York as part of their Emerging Writers Group in 2019 and completed stints with the Flea Serials Writers Room and Project Y Playwright’s Group in 2020. His plays include Towering Blue Inferno, Lime-A-Rita Racist (The Public’s 2019 Spotlight Reading Series), Red Room on a Dark Web (Primary Stages Drills 2019 Reading Series), Appalachian Pachinko!, and Who Mourns for Bob the Goon? which was a smash hit during its 2016 run at the HERE Arts Center.

He was a top 30 Playwright in the 2021 Samuel French Short Play Festival, a 2019 Melnick Award Finalist, and a 2018 Horton Foote Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. His work has been produced or supported by The Flea Theater, Primary Stages, The Brick, Dixon Place...

As a playwright, Young finished a fellowship with the Public Theater in New York as part of their Emerging Writers Group in 2019 and completed stints with the Flea Serials Writers Room and Project Y Playwright’s Group in 2020. His plays include Towering Blue Inferno, Lime-A-Rita Racist (The Public’s 2019 Spotlight Reading Series), Red Room on a Dark Web (Primary Stages Drills 2019 Reading Series), Appalachian Pachinko!, and Who Mourns for Bob the Goon? which was a smash hit during its 2016 run at the HERE Arts Center.

He was a top 30 Playwright in the 2021 Samuel French Short Play Festival, a 2019 Melnick Award Finalist, and a 2018 Horton Foote Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. His work has been produced or supported by The Flea Theater, Primary Stages, The Brick, Dixon Place, The Tank, New York Madness, and Exquisite Corpse Company in NYC. He’s a two time Cherry Lane Mentor Project nominee and his playwriting has been recognized as a finalist or semifinalist for The O’Neill, SPACE on Ryder Farm Working Farm, PlayPenn, The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, among others.

Young founded The Playwriting Collective in 2014 in NYC, which was a playwright driven initiative designed to support writers from lower economic backgrounds. Young is a proud IATSE technician and his professional career has spanned gigs at the Guggenheim Museum, the MoMA, and Technicolor. Young was a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, majoring in both Theater and Cinema Studies.

Scripts

Towering Blue Inferno

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

The dreadnought of global calamity force a young couple, bereft and frayed by personal tragedy, into prolonged cohabitation. On the precipice of poverty these two now must survive a sequestration in the woods. But on St. George's day myth holds that if you see a towering blue flame it's the marker of buried treasure... a treasure buried in the dark and sodden earth that will change their lives forever.

The dreadnought of global calamity force a young couple, bereft and frayed by personal tragedy, into prolonged cohabitation. On the precipice of poverty these two now must survive a sequestration in the woods. But on St. George's day myth holds that if you see a towering blue flame it's the marker of buried treasure... a treasure buried in the dark and sodden earth that will change their lives forever.

My Guggenheim Play

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

My Guggenheim Play is the true story of being a whistleblower in an unreported embezzling scheme at The Guggenheim in 2013. I was a technician in their Theater Department when I stumbled upon a bizarre plot… my boss had secretly been double billing labor, shipping, and equipment to the museum for years under a made-up company. Like any New York theater he’d hire outside companies for load-in, tech, etc… and...

My Guggenheim Play is the true story of being a whistleblower in an unreported embezzling scheme at The Guggenheim in 2013. I was a technician in their Theater Department when I stumbled upon a bizarre plot… my boss had secretly been double billing labor, shipping, and equipment to the museum for years under a made-up company. Like any New York theater he’d hire outside companies for load-in, tech, etc… and just staple his made up invoice to theirs to get secretly paid… for 20 years. And this man, a self-confessed gun nut, did not intend to go quietly.

Lime-A-Rita Racist

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

Is it right to punch a nazi? When a mild-mannered guy knocks the ever-loving shit out of a racist scumbag, it causes his coworker to wonder if toxic masculinity is still toxic if it’s used for good.

Is it right to punch a nazi? When a mild-mannered guy knocks the ever-loving shit out of a racist scumbag, it causes his coworker to wonder if toxic masculinity is still toxic if it’s used for good.

The Mirror

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A woman's workout device starts giving her advice well beyond the day's exercise regiment.

A woman's workout device starts giving her advice well beyond the day's exercise regiment.

Mellifluous

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A public speaker is beckoned back to his hometown after someone defaces his grandfather’s tombstone by spray painting “Child Molester” all over it.

A public speaker is beckoned back to his hometown after someone defaces his grandfather’s tombstone by spray painting “Child Molester” all over it.

Sorghum

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

In deep hilled Appalachia a man returns to the mountains to tell old relatives he's inherited the land. When he encounters a woman at a Sorghum mill he gets a lesson in remembering your history.

In deep hilled Appalachia a man returns to the mountains to tell old relatives he's inherited the land. When he encounters a woman at a Sorghum mill he gets a lesson in remembering your history.

Bad China

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A family desperate for an opioid fix consider Bad China as a cheap replacement for their regular drug. Bad China is the street name for mixing heroin, cocaine, and kool aid and shooting it up.

A family desperate for an opioid fix consider Bad China as a cheap replacement for their regular drug. Bad China is the street name for mixing heroin, cocaine, and kool aid and shooting it up.

Adult Competitive Playground GO!

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A group of adults decide to vote on what childhood games would be fun to play. Things get progressively more competitive until the dreaded Red Rover is suggested.

A group of adults decide to vote on what childhood games would be fun to play. Things get progressively more competitive until the dreaded Red Rover is suggested.

The Execution and the Rapture

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A husband and wife gather in an execution chamber in Virginia to see the death of the young man who murdered their daughter. The mother of the murderer also attends. As the young man is about to be executed, he vanishes in front of everyone’s eyes.

A husband and wife gather in an execution chamber in Virginia to see the death of the young man who murdered their daughter. The mother of the murderer also attends. As the young man is about to be executed, he vanishes in front of everyone’s eyes.

Father - Daughter

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

Amidst the chaos of a public shooting, a daughter calls her father. She’s been shot and she worries this will be the last time the two can ever speak. In a real time conversation he tries his best to help her survive, while she does her best to say goodbye.

Amidst the chaos of a public shooting, a daughter calls her father. She’s been shot and she worries this will be the last time the two can ever speak. In a real time conversation he tries his best to help her survive, while she does her best to say goodbye.

Apollo's Defiance

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

The god of truth holds a town hall meeting to dispute accusations recently made against him.

The god of truth holds a town hall meeting to dispute accusations recently made against him.

Myn

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A young executive learns the time honored secrets of a major corporation.

A young executive learns the time honored secrets of a major corporation.

Sock Puppet

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A woman finds an unusual way to cope with the loss of her mother.

A woman finds an unusual way to cope with the loss of her mother.

#Medea

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A modern Medea where a pregnant Medea is cyber-bullied on the Internet by a nameless Chorus. They all write about Jason’s new girlfriend and keep pressuring Medea to have an abortion.

A modern Medea where a pregnant Medea is cyber-bullied on the Internet by a nameless Chorus. They all write about Jason’s new girlfriend and keep pressuring Medea to have an abortion.

Who Mourns for Bob the Goon?

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

Bob believes he's the Joker Henchman from the '89 Batman, Bob The Goon, and no one in his PTSD therapy group can convince him otherwise. The reason--the veterans in this special group also believe they are, or were, third tier comic book characters--the less heroic and most obscure. All begins to unravel when an ex-pilot, Langly, joins despite her belief that she is from the anime world, not a comic.

Bob believes he's the Joker Henchman from the '89 Batman, Bob The Goon, and no one in his PTSD therapy group can convince him otherwise. The reason--the veterans in this special group also believe they are, or were, third tier comic book characters--the less heroic and most obscure. All begins to unravel when an ex-pilot, Langly, joins despite her belief that she is from the anime world, not a comic.

Biohacker

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A human will shed over 100 pounds of DNA in a lifetime; tossed out on discarded cigarettes, thrown-away tissues... our DNA is everywhere. A young woman is on a mission to take DNA from trash and (using a process called phenotyping) create a replica of a stranger's face so realistic, they'd recognize themselves if they passed her art gallery. Part geneticist, part artist... she is... The Biohacker.

A human will shed over 100 pounds of DNA in a lifetime; tossed out on discarded cigarettes, thrown-away tissues... our DNA is everywhere. A young woman is on a mission to take DNA from trash and (using a process called phenotyping) create a replica of a stranger's face so realistic, they'd recognize themselves if they passed her art gallery. Part geneticist, part artist... she is... The Biohacker.

Aphrodite's Notebook

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

After embracing her ‘dirty 30s,’ a woman has a chance encounter with Aphrodite.

After embracing her ‘dirty 30s,’ a woman has a chance encounter with Aphrodite.

The Orientation

by Joshua Young

Synopsis

A prestigious New York City hotel holds their annual front-line staff new hire orientation at a high-end performance venue. As two seasoned AV staffers watch the show the keynote speaker starts taking the orientation in unexpected, and dangerous, directions.

A prestigious New York City hotel holds their annual front-line staff new hire orientation at a high-end performance venue. As two seasoned AV staffers watch the show the keynote speaker starts taking the orientation in unexpected, and dangerous, directions.