K.T. Peterson

K.T. Peterson

K.T. Peterson is a graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. She teaches playwriting at Earlham College. She has lived and worked in Indianapolis, New York City, Baltimore, and Iowa City. She was a founding member of The Forge Theater Company and served as a nominator for the Drama League from 2010-2012. K.T. has a 15-year relationship with the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis; acting, directing, and writing...
K.T. Peterson is a graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. She teaches playwriting at Earlham College. She has lived and worked in Indianapolis, New York City, Baltimore, and Iowa City. She was a founding member of The Forge Theater Company and served as a nominator for the Drama League from 2010-2012. K.T. has a 15-year relationship with the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis; acting, directing, and writing in museum theater. She has taught acting, rhetoric, and creative writing. Writing credits include: WomenWorks Playwright (2018), New York Musical Theater Festival Developmental Playwriting Series (7:32), 2011 Jerome Fellowship Finalist (M’s Teeth), 2009 Eugene O’Neill National Playwriting Conference Fellow 2009, National Playwriting Nomination Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (7:32), Region II Featured Production, Kennedy Center ACTF 7:32, Musical Theatre Award (Book) Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (7:32), and 2007 WordBRIDGE Playwriting Lab (Sunman of Molón), semi-finalist Eugene O’Neill National Playwriting Conference and Musical Theatre Conference (2011, 2012, 2016). Publications include: The True Story of the Hitchhiker Who Was Shot In Pursuit of Kindness (Narrative.ly), and Holy Jolie (Geeky Press).

Plays

  • /genius by K.T. Peterson
    Cast: 
    4–8
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
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    Keyword: feminist, genderqueer + 3 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, musical
    Keyword: feminist, genderqueer, History, historical figures, experimental
    What is genius and who is granted permission to wield it? /genius uses the intersection of three
    world-famous musical minds—Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn—to interrogate the meaning of genius,
    the gendered history of the word, and the fetishizing of “great intellects”. The play begins with the
    legendary meeting of Mozart and Beethoven in Vienna and unfolds as they explore relationships of...
    What is genius and who is granted permission to wield it? /genius uses the intersection of three
    world-famous musical minds—Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn—to interrogate the meaning of genius,
    the gendered history of the word, and the fetishizing of “great intellects”. The play begins with the
    legendary meeting of Mozart and Beethoven in Vienna and unfolds as they explore relationships of love,
    labor, God, and meaning. The structure of the play operates like a metronome with scenes leaping in the
    future and back again, keeping time to the tune of the composers’ greatest hits we know and love. The
    actors performing these roles are not solely “gender-swapped” but purposefully meant to disrupt the
    status-quo perception of male genius. Male roles are to be performed by anyone but cis-gendered men,
    women roles by anyone but cis-gendered women. This means queerness is welcomed and encouraged
    in any role and actors of color in any role as well.
  • Love Bird by K.T. Peterson
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 5 more
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    Keyword: comedy, environmental crisis + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, farce, movement/physical, romantic comedy
    Keyword: comedy, environmental crisis, loneliness, awkward romance, female playwright, queer, experimental, anti-bullying
    Nigel, the sole inhabitant of a small island, falls in love with someone he made out of trash. As storms and trash increase, a strange visitor forces Nigel choose between who he was and who he could be. Love Bird is about loneliness, queerness, the meaning of devotion in a single-use society, and the mystery of connection in a messy world.
  • 2pm in Faith, Nebraska by K.T. Peterson
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    3–4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 3 more
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    Keyword: Contemporary farce, absurd + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, immersive, movement/physical, satire
    Keyword: Contemporary farce, absurd, comedy, faith, foley
    Something strange is happening in the small town of Faith. An unexplained phenomenon in the middle of a pine forest turns neighbor against neighbor, order into chaos, and weird...into weirder. 2pm in Faith, Nebraska is a play about our essential thirst for awe and connection with something--anything--greater than we are.
  • M's Teeth by K.T. Peterson
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: absurd comedy, family + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental
    Keyword: absurd comedy, family, strongfemale, experimental, abuse, growing up, Growing Up Gay, imaginary character
    M has just lost her father, as well as all of her teeth. Bloodied and alone at the funeral, she is surprised to discover her imaginary friend from childhood has shown up to help with the arrangements. M forms an unlikely friendship with the funeral director’s wife, and assists her in seeking a divorce from her sexually-deranged husband. M must navigate grief, her crumbling identity, and a nosy investigator in...
    M has just lost her father, as well as all of her teeth. Bloodied and alone at the funeral, she is surprised to discover her imaginary friend from childhood has shown up to help with the arrangements. M forms an unlikely friendship with the funeral director’s wife, and assists her in seeking a divorce from her sexually-deranged husband. M must navigate grief, her crumbling identity, and a nosy investigator in order to salvage the missing pieces of her childhood, and come to terms with her father’s abusive past.
  • RASH by K.T. Peterson
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: shooting, Toxic Masculinity + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: shooting, Toxic Masculinity, Brechtian, mythology, empathy, learning empathy
    Set in the 1927 bombed-out ruins of Bath Schoolhouse--the site of the first act of terrorism in an American School--RASH explores the heritage of gun violence in American Schools.
  • Mary's Monster by K.T. Peterson
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: Frankenstein, Mary Shelley + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, fantasy, science fiction, tragedy
    Keyword: Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein's Monster, classic adaptation, bio drama, high school
    Mary’s Monster is a re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s most formative summer, told via the Frankenstein story.
    16-year-old Mary is a brilliant writer forced to go to work in a factory to support her family. Her father enlists the financial help of a mysterious stranger to pay off the family’s debt. A destructive romance blossoms between Mary and the young stranger, complicated by her mentally unstable...
    Mary’s Monster is a re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s most formative summer, told via the Frankenstein story.
    16-year-old Mary is a brilliant writer forced to go to work in a factory to support her family. Her father enlists the financial help of a mysterious stranger to pay off the family’s debt. A destructive romance blossoms between Mary and the young stranger, complicated by her mentally unstable younger sister who has already become smitten. After her other sister becomes pregnant, and she learns the stranger is engaged to another woman, Mary turns to her writing, with unexpected consequences. Mary’s Monster is a retelling of Mary Shelley’s most formative summer, told via the Frankenstein story.
  • Wild Man by K.T. Peterson
    Cast: 
    8–20
    ·
    Genre: adventure, comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: dramedy, The Sixties + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, drama, mystery/thriller, period, radio drama, tragedy
    Keyword: dramedy, The Sixties, noir detective, feminist, mystery, Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bigfoot, crime
    Clark Longwood has gone missing, under mysterious circumstances. His 8 year old daughter Lydia tries to make sense of his sudden disappearance and discovers more than she bargained for. Wild Man is a feminist noir thriller about the nature of love, the unknown, and what it means to be a ‘man.’
  • Mr. Boniface, the Wise by K.T. Peterson
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: LGBTQ, female playwright + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, farce
    Keyword: LGBTQ, female playwright, comedy, strongfemale
    A comedy about psychic goats, pig clones, and staying in school.

    Inga is a narcoleptic, single mother determined to keep her deviant daughter Angora from getting expelled and her young daughter, Gerty, from falling in love with an invisible being who lives inside her wallpaper. A well-rehearsed visit from Angora’s science teacher unearths a strange secret, and unforeseen consequences.
  • Death by Tickling by K.T. Peterson
    Cast: 
    12
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: contemporary shakespeare, based on Shakespeare + 1 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: contemporary shakespeare, based on Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing adaptation
    A re-imagining of Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. A group of old friends rendezvous in Minnesota at the private estate of local businessman Cid Winters. Unexpected romance blooms, an old grudge bursts to the surface, and pals make a messy attempt to trick hardened enemies toward love.