- Coleman

- Coleman

Harboring no regret, as an adolescent, Coleman fled from Oklahoma. He hid out in New York’s Finger Lakes until his arrest. Upon his release, he pretended to study in Ann Arbor, then disguised himself as various professionals in the alleys, lofts and high-rises of Chicago. At the age of 50, he moved to a cabin in a Wisconsin woods, became a lumberjack, and that was okay. In 2023, he moved to Pennsylvania, where...
Harboring no regret, as an adolescent, Coleman fled from Oklahoma. He hid out in New York’s Finger Lakes until his arrest. Upon his release, he pretended to study in Ann Arbor, then disguised himself as various professionals in the alleys, lofts and high-rises of Chicago. At the age of 50, he moved to a cabin in a Wisconsin woods, became a lumberjack, and that was okay. In 2023, he moved to Pennsylvania, where he doesn't know anyone. He writes plays to amuse and frighten himself. He rides a bike.

Coleman is the author of an award-winning memoir (SPOKE), a novel (KIDNAPPING HENRY KISSINGER). He has written more than 40 plays, with productions in Wisconsin, Iowa, Chicago, New York, Seattle and London. His work has been featured in numerous journals, including the Vassar Review and the Midwest Review,

Plays

  • Committed by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    8–9
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: History, civil rights + 5 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, political
    Keyword: History, civil rights, 60s activism, Mental Health, protest, anti-war, blm
    A son's flawed quest to free his wrongfully imprisoned mother.

    1950s housewife Rosie Gilchrist is severely burned by accident or perhaps by her own hand. Hospitalized, Rosie is rescued by a black nurse, whom she later repays by joining the nascent Oklahoma civil rights struggle. When Rosie makes plans to sell her home to a black family, she is arrested and imprisoned in a mental hospital....
    A son's flawed quest to free his wrongfully imprisoned mother.

    1950s housewife Rosie Gilchrist is severely burned by accident or perhaps by her own hand. Hospitalized, Rosie is rescued by a black nurse, whom she later repays by joining the nascent Oklahoma civil rights struggle. When Rosie makes plans to sell her home to a black family, she is arrested and imprisoned in a mental hospital. Carrying his own guilt for his part in her arrest, her son aches to win her freedom, but sabotages his chance of success. Nonetheless ...
  • DOED KOECKS (The Sin Eater) by - Coleman
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    8
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: religion, hypocrisy + 2 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, fable/folktale, movement/physical, tragedy
    Keyword: religion, hypocrisy, tragedy, medieval
    The discovery of an 1800s Cornish diary in a Midwest mining town prompts the global re-emergence of a medieval religious rite. Doed Koecks is a modern tragedy, a reflection of the contemporary monetization of religion, the destructive ascension of greed, and on the unquenchable hubris of man.
  • Butterfly Wings by - Coleman
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, Wisconsin + 1 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic
    Keyword: LGBTQ, Wisconsin, 20th century history
    Two men find each other in 1940s Wisconsin. Through a shared interest in historic preservation, they save a town and inspire a legacy of love. A true story.
  • A Contest of Wills by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: family, Donald Trump + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, mystery/thriller, political, tragedy
    Keyword: family, Donald Trump, greed, murder, lust, Coleman, Chicago, intergenerational conflicts, Viagra
    Three generations collide in this 21st century American saga of greed, lust and murder.

    Will Masters, Jr. suffers the theft of his inheritance, his home and his lover by his own father, a shell of a man corrupted by privilege and fortune.

    Struggling to build a life for himself in a “sharing economy” that provides scant opportunity, and in a family that offers betrayal, the son...
    Three generations collide in this 21st century American saga of greed, lust and murder.

    Will Masters, Jr. suffers the theft of his inheritance, his home and his lover by his own father, a shell of a man corrupted by privilege and fortune.

    Struggling to build a life for himself in a “sharing economy” that provides scant opportunity, and in a family that offers betrayal, the son attempts but fails to find redress.

    In a desperate hail-Mary, his mother contrives a most final resolution.

    In this post-Trump ruin of America, God is dead, and so is morality. Each character asks the same question: what’s in it for me?

    Premiered at Broom Street Theatre in Madison n 2018
  • The Distinct Smells of Rain by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: monologue
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, political
    Keyword: monologue
    Government surveillance in the 1960s misfires, creating a lasting friendship.
  • Enough Trouble In the World by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Wisconsin, welfare + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, political, tragedy
    Keyword: Wisconsin, welfare, poverty, resistance
    A young woman confronts her supervisor the day after she is forced to implement a new Wisconsin law requiring food benefit recipients to pee in a cup.
  • Cuban Poetry by - Coleman
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: biography, comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Cuba, 1968 + 3 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, docudrama/historic, political
    Keyword: Cuba, 1968, poetry, civil disobedience, arrest
    10 minute monologue - True story of author's arrest at the Canadian border for bringing poetry into the United States
  • Class by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
    ·
    Keyword: Race, Iowa + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, political, young audiences
    Keyword: Race, Iowa, 1968, teachers, classroom
    Based on a true story, CLASS is a comic exploration of the dark side of being human.

    In 1968, Riceville, Iowa third-grade teacher, Jane Elliott, wanted to teach - really teach - her students a lesson about prejudice. It was the week after Martin Luther King's assassination. The lesson she taught worked so well it resulted in two documentaries (by Frontline and ABC) and forever changed the...
    Based on a true story, CLASS is a comic exploration of the dark side of being human.

    In 1968, Riceville, Iowa third-grade teacher, Jane Elliott, wanted to teach - really teach - her students a lesson about prejudice. It was the week after Martin Luther King's assassination. The lesson she taught worked so well it resulted in two documentaries (by Frontline and ABC) and forever changed the lives of her students.

    In this two-act fictional re-telling, following the introduction of her new lesson the teacher is confronted by an angry parent and the school principal. They quickly succumb to the teacher's upside down logic as well as charm and learn her lesson with hilarious and tragic consequences.
  • Faux Poe by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    1–10
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
    ·
    Keyword: halloween, Edgar Allan Poe + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, fable/folktale, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: halloween, Edgar Allan Poe, thriller, creepy
    14 short plays written in answer to the question, what would Edgar Allen Poe write if he were still alive today?
  • Last Call - A Monologue by - Coleman
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: Stonewall, Oklahoma + 2 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Stonewall, Oklahoma, gay, LGBTQ
    True story of a gay bashing in Oklahoma City in 1968
  • Infamous Mothers by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama
    Genre: drama
    Inspired by true stories of women who have gone through the belly of hell and brought something good back.
  • The Kush Report by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: Forbidden fruit, comedy + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, parody/spoof, radio drama, satire
    Keyword: Forbidden fruit, comedy, absurd, marijuana
    A husband and wife broadcasting team review the new world of legalized marijuana, with the help of a local community theatre star.
  • Members Only by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: gay, gay bar + 4 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, political
    Keyword: gay, gay bar, blm, Chicago, monologue, disco
    An aging man recalls his work as a doorman at Alfie's, a Chicago Rush Street gay bar in 1976, where he was charged with making sure no black people were admitted.

    Published in anthology, 2021 by Blue Heron Book Works
  • Wasted on the Young by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: aging, Sex + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, satire
    Keyword: aging, Sex, decrepitude, marriage, love
    Sentenced to community service for driving without a license, a very old man delivers a humorously heartbreaking lecture on the perils of growing old. In a cruel twist, the audience sees the old couple as they see themselves - forever young.
  • Sic Semper Tyrannus by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: William Barr, Ramsey Clark + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, political, satire, zoom
    Keyword: William Barr, Ramsey Clark, MAGA, impeachment
    Ramsey Clark is assigned to defend William Barr. Somehow it all makes sense.
  • The Affliction by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: pandemic, Farce + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, movement/physical, satire
    Keyword: pandemic, Farce, absurd comedy
    A petrified man is discovered by a colleague entering his office. When a second man arrives, they have to decide what to do to avoid their own petrification while also hiding the affliction from prying eyes.
  • Next by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
    ·
    Keyword: death, afterlife + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, parody/spoof, radio drama
    Keyword: death, afterlife, heaven, hell, re-incarnation
    In a timeless place, two humans confront their futures at the behest of a sadistic clerk.
  • The Insurrectionists by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama, radio drama
    ·
    Keyword: insurrection, MAGA + 2 more
    Genre: drama, radio drama
    Keyword: insurrection, MAGA, justice, January 6
    Two men sit on a bench in a shared cell. One man in his 30s, has a bare torso and is wearing a fur cape and a headdress with horns. the other man is much older, conservatively dressed, and is a person of color.
  • Korbel by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: drama, radio drama
    ·
    Keyword: prison, monologue + 3 more
    Genre: drama, radio drama
    Keyword: prison, monologue, dog, Hope, redemption
    Inspired by a true story, an inmate returns to his cell following a stint in solitary, to find an empty dog crate and no information on the labrador he was raising to be a guide dog for the blind.
  • Palimpsest by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: ABSURD LGBTQ POSTMODERNISM, monologue + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: ABSURD LGBTQ POSTMODERNISM, monologue, LGBTQ, pandemic
    History has been scrubbed. A man faces a mid-life reckoning in his closet in the midst of a pandemic.
  • The Contest by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: drag, LGBTQ
    Genre: comedy, farce, parody/spoof
    Keyword: drag, LGBTQ
    Ten minutes - Fifty years too late, three contestants in the original 'wet underwear contest' get their moment in the spotlight at a Florida drag bar
  • The Sun Goes Down by - Coleman
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental + 4 more
    ·
    Keyword: pandemic, monologue + 2 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, radio drama, science fiction, tragedy, verse
    Keyword: pandemic, monologue, coronavirus, loneliness and isolation
    A short apocalyptic monologue.

    A woman with a chicken reflects on flesh, breath, and people.