Ean Miles Kessler

Ean Miles Kessler: Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts: BFA Acting. Ean’s work has been produced nationally and internationally, and has been seen across New York City, (Fordham University and City College of New York, among others). New York City Off-Broadway Playwriting Credits include: Brotherly Love; King’s River; The Bcam; Beautiful Hands; Devil Lay Me Down.

His play Beautiful Hands premiered at The Lion Theatre, on Theater Row in Manhattan, and was a semi-finalist in the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival (2011). Ean’s play Devil Lay Me Down received its world premiere in Manhattan at Theater for the New City. In their review, Stagebuddy.com remarked that Devil was “a parable of broken love,” and wrote that “Kessler seduces us with a quiet intensity. His...

Ean Miles Kessler: Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts: BFA Acting. Ean’s work has been produced nationally and internationally, and has been seen across New York City, (Fordham University and City College of New York, among others). New York City Off-Broadway Playwriting Credits include: Brotherly Love; King’s River; The Bcam; Beautiful Hands; Devil Lay Me Down.

His play Beautiful Hands premiered at The Lion Theatre, on Theater Row in Manhattan, and was a semi-finalist in the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival (2011). Ean’s play Devil Lay Me Down received its world premiere in Manhattan at Theater for the New City. In their review, Stagebuddy.com remarked that Devil was “a parable of broken love,” and wrote that “Kessler seduces us with a quiet intensity. His language is both lyrical and intricate.” His one-woman play A Ballad of Horses premiered in Chicago, this past November at The Factory Theater.

Publications: Brotherly Love (“Shorter, Faster, Funnier,” by Vintage Books); Funny Valentine (“Plays for Two,” by Vintage Books).

Miami Credits and Commissions: The Anniversary Gift (Fort Lauderdale Fringe Festival); A Ballad of Horses; Brotherly Love (staged readings at Area Stage, artistic director: Maria Rodaz). He was commissioned by Grace Arts in Miami to write Romeo y Julieta - La Tormenta, a retelling of Romeo & Juliet and The Tempest, written entirely in iambic pentameter. That production debuted in Miami, FL in April of 2018.

Workshops: Mountain Kings was workshopped at the Playwright’s Center in Minneapolis, in September of 2018, under Isabel Nelson. Ean is a member of the Playwriting Development Program (class of 2020), headed by Sheri Wilner, and has been a proud Dramatist Guild Member since 2012.

Scripts

Frankie Moon's Long Gone

by Ean Miles Kessler

3

Cast Size

5

Genre

comedy,

drama

A comedy about cancer. Frank has decided to end chemo treatments, choosing instead to chain smoke his way to the bitter end. His son, Steve, has recently gone into a tailspin after his ex-boyfriend left him, and returning home to care for Frank has NOT HELPED: the two have been at each other’s throats since the moment Steve arrived. In an attempt to get Frank to go back on chemo and keep fighting, Steve hires...

A comedy about cancer. Frank has decided to end chemo treatments, choosing instead to chain smoke his way to the bitter end. His son, Steve, has recently gone into a tailspin after his ex-boyfriend left him, and returning home to care for Frank has NOT HELPED: the two have been at each other’s throats since the moment Steve arrived. In an attempt to get Frank to go back on chemo and keep fighting, Steve hires Marty--a born again hospice nurse, with a song in his heart. The deal is this: if Frank goes back on treatments, Steve will fire Marty. If not...Marty stays...until the bitter, bitter end. While Frank struggles to come to terms with his son’s identity, Steve struggles to accept his father’s mortality. The play is a vicious comedy about loss, death, and a father and son trying to meet somewhere in the middle.

Brotherly Love

by Ean Miles Kessler

Cast Size

2

Genre

comedy

When Gordon returns to his parents' home in Lynchburg, Mississippi, he's ready to reveal some secrets to his family, but his brother Wally will have none of it. Can Wally accept Gordon for who he is, or will this tear these two brothers apart? A screwball comedy in one act.

Published in "Shorter, Faster, Funnier Comic Plays and Monologues" (2014, Vintage Books. Edited by Nina Shengold & Eric Lane)

When Gordon returns to his parents' home in Lynchburg, Mississippi, he's ready to reveal some secrets to his family, but his brother Wally will have none of it. Can Wally accept Gordon for who he is, or will this tear these two brothers apart? A screwball comedy in one act.

Published in "Shorter, Faster, Funnier Comic Plays and Monologues" (2014, Vintage Books. Edited by Nina Shengold & Eric Lane)

Funny Valentine

by Ean Miles Kessler

Cast Size

2

Genre

drama,

period

Korea, 1954: Just before the end of the war. Charlie--a shy, boyish marine--finds himself in a bordello with Joanna, a young Korean woman. As they struggle to understand one another, a sweet, albeit tenuous bond begins to form between the two.

Published in "Plays for Two" (2014, Vintage Books. Edited by Nina Shengold & Eric Lane)

Korea, 1954: Just before the end of the war. Charlie--a shy, boyish marine--finds himself in a bordello with Joanna, a young Korean woman. As they struggle to understand one another, a sweet, albeit tenuous bond begins to form between the two.

Published in "Plays for Two" (2014, Vintage Books. Edited by Nina Shengold & Eric Lane)

The Anniversary Gift

by Ean Miles Kessler

Cast Size

2

Genre

comedy

Two brothers go halfsies on their parents 50th wedding anniversary gift. But when Jacob arrives with a custom, hand-made gift that he himself painted for their folks, things go horribly, horribly awry.

A screwball comedy. Ten minute play.

Two brothers go halfsies on their parents 50th wedding anniversary gift. But when Jacob arrives with a custom, hand-made gift that he himself painted for their folks, things go horribly, horribly awry.

A screwball comedy. Ten minute play.

A Ballad of Horses

by Ean Miles Kessler

Cast Size

1

Genre

drama

Fresh from prom, Kayla is stranded on the side of the road, still adorned in her prom dress. She's waiting by a payphone for a mysterious call, when she meets Mark, a middle aged man in need of the same phone. Trying to buy time, Kayla strikes up a friendly conversation, and the small mysteries surrounding this sweet, gently young woman begin to unravel and come undone.

One woman monologue. 10 minutes.

Fresh from prom, Kayla is stranded on the side of the road, still adorned in her prom dress. She's waiting by a payphone for a mysterious call, when she meets Mark, a middle aged man in need of the same phone. Trying to buy time, Kayla strikes up a friendly conversation, and the small mysteries surrounding this sweet, gently young woman begin to unravel and come undone.

One woman monologue. 10 minutes.