Nicholas Thurkettle

Nicholas Thurkettle

Writer, actor, and filmmaker based in Southern California. BA in Theater Arts and Music from Bradley University in Peoria, IL. Proud member of the Writers Guild of America and the Orange County Playwrights Alliance. Former Artistic Associate with Shakespeare-Summerfest Orange County. Producer/Writer/Performer with award-winning audio drama podcast Earbud Theater. Co-author of novels Seeing by Moonlight and A...
Writer, actor, and filmmaker based in Southern California. BA in Theater Arts and Music from Bradley University in Peoria, IL. Proud member of the Writers Guild of America and the Orange County Playwrights Alliance. Former Artistic Associate with Shakespeare-Summerfest Orange County. Producer/Writer/Performer with award-winning audio drama podcast Earbud Theater. Co-author of novels Seeing by Moonlight and A Sickness in Time; author of short story collection Stages of Sleep. Writer/director of award-winning short films "Samantha Gets Back Out There", "The Retriever", and "The Dinner Scene". Plays produced in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and throughout California.

Plays

  • Escape! (The End of Humanity Song) by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    5–7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: alien invasion, sibling rivalry + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, radio drama, science fiction
    Keyword: alien invasion, sibling rivalry, sci-fi, family dysfunction, end of the world, brother and sister
    Garland and Perla are a brother and sister whose lifelong sibling rivalry has kept them from speaking to each other for years. They are reunited when a lawyer contacts them with a mysterious message from their missing father, a brilliant but eccentric scientist who may have made a discovery that has literally Earth-shattering consequences. What will you do to reunite when the whole human race might be out of...
    Garland and Perla are a brother and sister whose lifelong sibling rivalry has kept them from speaking to each other for years. They are reunited when a lawyer contacts them with a mysterious message from their missing father, a brilliant but eccentric scientist who may have made a discovery that has literally Earth-shattering consequences. What will you do to reunite when the whole human race might be out of time?

    ALSO AVAILABLE AS RADIO PLAY
  • Most Important Person in the Universe, The by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, parody/spoof + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Genre, Star Trek
    Genre: comedy, parody/spoof, science fiction
    Keyword: Genre, Star Trek
    The crew of a spaceship exploring the cosmos lands on an alien planet and finds only a friendly and befuddled old eccentric who wants to offer them soup, and whose kindness has a suspiciously uncanny way of teasing out their buried emotional issues while they're supposed to be saving the galaxy.
  • The Rothko by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: art vs. commerce, Art and Artists + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: art vs. commerce, Art and Artists, painter, Painting, vandalism
    A man finds himself unable to explain why he kicked a hole in a painting valued at $30 Million. In a surprising, often funny, war of words, first with the museum's director, then with the exhibit's curator, sacred assumptions about the price of art, the definition of artistic impulse, and the goal of any artist end up called into question.

    NOW PUBLISHED AND AVAILABLE FOR LICENSING THROUGH HEARTLAND PLAYS
  • The Death of Halpin Frayser by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, horror + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Ambrose Bierce, zombies + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, horror, period
    Keyword: Ambrose Bierce, zombies, nightmare, 19th century, dark forest
    Adapted from the short story by Ambrose Bierce - if a ghost is a spirit without a body, a lich is a body without a spirit, pitiless and animated by hate. A surreal nightmare in a dark forest, and one of the first appearances of what could be called a zombie in Western literature. Written to work either on a conventional stage or for environmental theater.
  • Jessica and Judy Bother a Hobo by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, satire
    ·
    Keyword: crazy
    Genre: comedy, satire
    Keyword: crazy
    Even the most innocent girl can be tempted when her best friend is a BAD INFLUENCE. On a night full of drugged drinks, duct tape, and a singing derelict who thinks people are robots - will Jessica make the right choices?
  • Cheek by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    ·
    Keyword: girlfriends, drunk + 2 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: girlfriends, drunk, female friendship, vulgar
    A woman is dumped by her boyfriend, and her best female friend takes on the sacred duty of lifting her spirits with a night of absolutely stupid drinking. Into the wee hours, they find themselves at a tattoo parlor, where the friend realizes she might have to make a very tender sacrifice to stop the dumpee from doing something truly dumb.
  • Breakfast for Quartet by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    ·
    Keyword: frustrated writer, contemporary + 1 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: frustrated writer, contemporary, diner
    Four strangers sit at a diner counter. Each has their own story, just like each has their own order for the waitress. But if you listen, you can sometimes hear harmonies.
  • The Jersey Kid by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, parody/spoof
    ·
    Keyword: absurdism, Boxing + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, parody/spoof
    Keyword: absurdism, Boxing, existential
    A young boxer is all fired up for the big fight, until a disloyal cornerman convinces him that his real opponent is the wretched and empty uncertainty of human existence. But it could just be a ploy to get the Kid to take a dive.
  • A Point of Honor by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: dueling, sword fighting + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, parody/spoof
    Keyword: dueling, sword fighting, chivalry, swooning, medicinal leeches
    Two temperamental noblemen struggle to prove themselves the more honorable to the same woman, with increasingly absurd and self-destructive results.
  • Blast and Wail by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, movement/physical
    ·
    Keyword: absurdism, weightlifting + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, movement/physical
    Keyword: absurdism, weightlifting, sports-infused masculinity
    Three mad sick bros at the gym believe that the right combination of sets might allow them to glimpse the beauty of the Almighty. All roles can be played by men or gender-bending women.
  • Christmas Pizza by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, holiday
    ·
    Keyword: sweet, christmas + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, holiday
    Keyword: sweet, christmas, young love
    A young couple on their first Christmas in the same apartment finds increasingly resourceful ways to scrounge up enough money for a tasty dinner.
  • Public Speaking by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: trains
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: trains
    A socially-anxious librarian, on a cross-country train ride to eulogize a beloved former teacher, tries to puzzle out what to say by recalling and analyzing famous speeches he admires (from General George Washington, farmer Max Yasgur from Woodstock, and Shakespeare's King Henry), while he struggles to connect with employees and passengers on the train as his grief threatens to overwhelm his rational nature.
  • So Much Ado by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    ·
    Keyword: Shakespeare, slapstick
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: Shakespeare, slapstick
    Using the characters of the Watch, this play is designed to serve as a prologue to a production of "Much Ado About Nothing". Using modern language and all-ages slapstick, it introduces concepts of Shakespearean wordplay and provides a synopsis of the major characters and storylines of "Much Ado" for audiences new to Shakespeare.
  • A Sly Trick by Nicholas Thurkettle
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, period
    ·
    Keyword: Shakespeare, mistaken identity + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, period
    Keyword: Shakespeare, mistaken identity, cross-dressing, drunk
    This short play is written to serve as an introduction to Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" for audiences unfamiliar with Shakespeare. Using the often-cut Christopher Sly prologue from the play with more modern language, it introduces Shakespearean conventions of mistaken identity and cross-dressing, and summarizes the major plotline of "Shrew" before seamlessly segueing into the opening scenes.