Danielle Mohlman

Danielle Mohlman

Danielle Mohlman is a nationally produced playwright based in Seattle, WA. Her plays have been developed or produced at Arena Stage, the Kennedy Center, the Cherry Lane Theatre, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Rorschach Theatre, Forum Theatre, dog & pony dc, Hubbard Hall, Pinky Swear Productions, Dreamwell Theatre, and Field...
Danielle Mohlman is a nationally produced playwright based in Seattle, WA. Her plays have been developed or produced at Arena Stage, the Kennedy Center, the Cherry Lane Theatre, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Rorschach Theatre, Forum Theatre, dog & pony dc, Hubbard Hall, Pinky Swear Productions, Dreamwell Theatre, and Field Trip Theatre, among others. Her plays include Stopgap (Field Trip Theatre, DCCAH Larry Neal Award finalist); Nexus (Hubbard Hall, Dreamwell Theatre, Kilroys honorable mention, DCCAH Larry Neal Award finalist, Woodward/Newman Award finalist); Dust (Dacha Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center semi-finalist, Finish Line Commission); Halcyon (Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center semi-finalist); Rushing (The Scratch, Umbrella Project Writers Group); Voyagers (ACT Theatre, ART/New York); and Frankenstein. Danielle is an alumna of Playwrights’ Arena at Arena Stage, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship, and the Umbrella Project Writers Group. She is a proud graduate of both Cal Poly Pomona and Emerson College.

Plays

  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Danielle Mohlman
    Cast: 
    7–13
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    Genre: adaptation, mystery/thriller
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    Keyword: Agatha Christie, adaptation + 5 more
    Genre: adaptation, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: Agatha Christie, adaptation, murder mystery, mystery, murder, Hercule Poirot, detective
    based on the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

    Everyone in King’s Abbott seems to love and admire Roger Ackroyd. He’s kind to his servants, he cares for his widowed sister-in-law and niece, and he’s a friend to world travelers looking for a place to rest between expeditions. But everyone in King’s Abbott also loves to gossip. And when Roger Ackroyd is found dead, everyone has a...
    based on the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

    Everyone in King’s Abbott seems to love and admire Roger Ackroyd. He’s kind to his servants, he cares for his widowed sister-in-law and niece, and he’s a friend to world travelers looking for a place to rest between expeditions. But everyone in King’s Abbott also loves to gossip. And when Roger Ackroyd is found dead, everyone has a theory; and everyone has a motive. Luckily, Detective Hercule Poirot is on the case!
  • Rocky Road by Danielle Mohlman
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    10–35
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    Genre: adventure, comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: ice cream, high school + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, young audiences
    Keyword: ice cream, high school, teen, Virginia, lgbtqia, queer, LGBTQ, teenage girls, best friends
    Hannah and Molly have been best friends for as long as they can remember. They always knew this day would come. Hannah’s about to head off to college while Molly still has one year left of high school. And it’s their last summer working together at Rocky Road, the only independently owned ice cream shop in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria — a workplace where these teens can be their full, ambitious...
    Hannah and Molly have been best friends for as long as they can remember. They always knew this day would come. Hannah’s about to head off to college while Molly still has one year left of high school. And it’s their last summer working together at Rocky Road, the only independently owned ice cream shop in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria — a workplace where these teens can be their full, ambitious selves. So it’s no surprise that Hannah has an ambitious plan to make this a summer they’ll remember forever. And she’s determined to pull it off. Because UCLA is 2,677 miles away. (Molly googled it.) And that age gap is feeling extra wide this year.

    (This play is completely high school appropriate and perfect for high school productions.)
  • The Locusts by Danielle Mohlman
    Recommendations: 6
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Seattle, california + 8 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: Seattle, california, judaism, best friends, siblings, Sex, love, heartbreak, lgbtqia, queer
    When Annie arrives in Seattle for the weekend, she has two objectives: watch her brother Will graduate from the MBA program at the University of Washington and hook up with that piece of man meat she’s been objectifying for the last two years. It’s mutual, or so she thinks. Without warning, Ben is proposing marriage — citing bashert and a lucrative new job. And Annie is seriously considering it. And Sam is...
    When Annie arrives in Seattle for the weekend, she has two objectives: watch her brother Will graduate from the MBA program at the University of Washington and hook up with that piece of man meat she’s been objectifying for the last two years. It’s mutual, or so she thinks. Without warning, Ben is proposing marriage — citing bashert and a lucrative new job. And Annie is seriously considering it. And Sam is tired of waiting. And Will is, frankly, over it.

    Utilizing a rotating cast of perspectives that explore sex, love, and heartbreak within this intimate family unit, The Locusts explores the multiformity of queerness, the messiness of sibling relationships, the malleability of faith, and what it really means to hurt someone you love.

    (The Locusts was workshopped under the title Halcyon from 2017 to 2020.)
  • Frankenstein by Danielle Mohlman
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    12–35
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    Genre: adaptation, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: Frankenstein, Mary Shelley + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, horror, science fiction, young audiences
    Keyword: Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, lgbtqia, queer, high school, danger, home, love, fear
    When Mary Shelley sits down to write Frankenstein, she’s 18 years old with everything to prove. Her husband, the poet Percy Shelley, is too in his head to notice his wife’s phenomenal talent. She’s grieving the death of her infant daughter. And in this era of gothic literature, no one wants to believe that the darkness on the page mirrors the storm in her own head. That is, until her mother shows up. The only...
    When Mary Shelley sits down to write Frankenstein, she’s 18 years old with everything to prove. Her husband, the poet Percy Shelley, is too in his head to notice his wife’s phenomenal talent. She’s grieving the death of her infant daughter. And in this era of gothic literature, no one wants to believe that the darkness on the page mirrors the storm in her own head. That is, until her mother shows up. The only problem is, Mary Wollstonecraft died when Shelley was just ten days old.

    This adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel explores monsters and the women who create them. It’s a play that asks the age old question: How far would you go to to outrun your ghosts?

    (This play is completely high school appropriate and perfect for school productions. A radio play version of Frankenstein is also available for perusal.)
  • Rushing by Danielle Mohlman
    Recommendations: 8
    ·
    Cast: 
    17–91
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    Genre: drama, immersive + 1 more
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    Keyword: college sports, queer + 8 more
    Genre: drama, immersive, movement/physical
    Keyword: college sports, queer, Title IX, Toxic Masculinity, rape, teenage girls, gaslighting, marching band, college, university
    Russell and Mia meet minutes before the first football game of the season. He's the star running back, she plays the sousaphone in the university marching band. No one ever pictured them together. But they are. And in a weird way they're good for each other. Until they're not. Rushing explores the culture of violence, the fanaticism surrounding Division I sports, and rape on college campuses...
    Russell and Mia meet minutes before the first football game of the season. He's the star running back, she plays the sousaphone in the university marching band. No one ever pictured them together. But they are. And in a weird way they're good for each other. Until they're not. Rushing explores the culture of violence, the fanaticism surrounding Division I sports, and rape on college campuses nationwide.

    This play takes place in your town. The team is wearing your colors. And yes, there's a live marching band scoring this entire world.
  • Dust by Danielle Mohlman
    Recommendations: 12
    ·
    Cast: 
    10–50
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: teenage girls, high school + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, horror, movement/physical
    Keyword: teenage girls, high school, queer, lgbtqia, gun violence, school shooting, Toxic Masculinity, guns, mass shooting, peter pan
    Wrestling with the reality that everyone he's ever known was just killed in a shooting at his school, Boy spends his last minutes spinning a story that looks not unlike J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. These young women, these mermaids, compete to be heard as their story unfolds. They are the swim team – powerful and sometimes monstrous. And then there’s Wendy. His Wendy. Boy is convinced that she’s the only...
    Wrestling with the reality that everyone he's ever known was just killed in a shooting at his school, Boy spends his last minutes spinning a story that looks not unlike J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. These young women, these mermaids, compete to be heard as their story unfolds. They are the swim team – powerful and sometimes monstrous. And then there’s Wendy. His Wendy. Boy is convinced that she’s the only person who understands him. Until she doesn’t. Part dance, part theatre, Dust plays like a music score that’s been infiltrated by poetry, giving voice to the unspeakable.
  • Nexus by Danielle Mohlman
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: iPhone, Museum of Broken Relationships + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: iPhone, Museum of Broken Relationships, Washington DC, DC, Smithsonian, gentrification, Art and Artists, love, Museums
    Metaphorically set in the Museum of Broken Relationships, this chamber drama follows two iPhone-armed DC transplants as they drift between intimacy and disconnect. The play opens with W and M – strangers – waiting for a bus. Their eyes wander and W is quick to mention that she has a boyfriend. But they’re on a break. Because he doesn’t want to call it a “relationship” anymore. M asks for her phone, offering his...
    Metaphorically set in the Museum of Broken Relationships, this chamber drama follows two iPhone-armed DC transplants as they drift between intimacy and disconnect. The play opens with W and M – strangers – waiting for a bus. Their eyes wander and W is quick to mention that she has a boyfriend. But they’re on a break. Because he doesn’t want to call it a “relationship” anymore. M asks for her phone, offering his much newer model as collateral. He enters his number and what follows are the moments that would be on display if they were living exhibits in the Museum of Broken Relationships.