William Ivers

William Ivers

William Ivers is a teacher and writer whose work has been featured in various publications, including The Plaidswede Pulp Fiction Anthology, specifically in the Western and Fantasy genres. His play, An Unexamined Life, won the 2017 Nor’Eastern Playwriting Contest and was a finalist for the 2018 International New Works of Merit Contest. It was published in New World Theatre’s It’s Academic collection and was...
William Ivers is a teacher and writer whose work has been featured in various publications, including The Plaidswede Pulp Fiction Anthology, specifically in the Western and Fantasy genres. His play, An Unexamined Life, won the 2017 Nor’Eastern Playwriting Contest and was a finalist for the 2018 International New Works of Merit Contest. It was published in New World Theatre’s It’s Academic collection and was produced at the Hatbox Theatre in July of 2018. His full-length play, Places You Go, was selected for a script-in-hand production as part of New World Theatre’s “Putting It Together” play development series. From nearly 1,400 entries, Places You Go was named a finalist for the Acadiana play development program for its 2020 season in Lafayette, LA. The Players' Ring, The Hatbox Theatre, and Bedford Off Broadway in NH will be staging this play in 2021-2022. His novel, Pierced Girls, will be available for purchase in 2022. An avid musician, his recording projects have received positive reviews in regional magazines, and he is currently at work on a new EP. He lives in Hooksett, NH with his wife and children.
Recent Awards/Honors
Arcadian Repertory Theatre 2019 Play Development Program Finalist - Places You Go

Recipient of the 2017 Nor’Eastern Play Writing Award - An Unexamined Life
 Finalist for the 2018 International New Works of Merit Contest - An Unexamined Life Semi-Finalist
Normal Ave NAP Series Finalist - Places You Go
Runner-up for 2016 Granite Playwright Workshop Competition - An Unexamined Life
Boston Playwrights' Theatre - Selection - The Tamed
Boston Playwrights' Theatre - Selection - Calling Hours

Plays

  • Places You Go by William Ivers
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: family, medical + 1 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: family, medical, police
    It’s Spring of her senior year. Maddy Weare a promising young musician destined for Juilliard, is in the hospital having been in a car accident, escaping with only minor injuries. Her boyfriend, however, was not so lucky. As Maddy sleeps in her hospital bed, her divorced parents, Rick and Deb Weare, enter and immediately begin playing the blame game while bullying the young intern, Dr. Hughes, who is merely...
    It’s Spring of her senior year. Maddy Weare a promising young musician destined for Juilliard, is in the hospital having been in a car accident, escaping with only minor injuries. Her boyfriend, however, was not so lucky. As Maddy sleeps in her hospital bed, her divorced parents, Rick and Deb Weare, enter and immediately begin playing the blame game while bullying the young intern, Dr. Hughes, who is merely trying to care for Maddy the best way he knows how.
    After Maddy wakes, Rick and Deb soon learn their daughter caused the accident while sending a text and crossing the middle line into an oncoming car. This creates turmoil in this already wounded family as they grapple with the idea of covering up Maddy’s life-altering mistake. This becomes especially true when they learn this mistake cost two lives.
  • An Unexamined Life by William Ivers
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: suicide
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: suicide
    An Unexamined Life involves a retiring philosophy professor who confronts his own existential crisis on the night of his retirement party. Distraught by his own sudden lack of purpose as well as dread over his failings as a father, he decides to mimic Socrates’ suicide. In the process of finally and truly examining his life, this professor encounters a student who is in the midst of her own existential malaise...
    An Unexamined Life involves a retiring philosophy professor who confronts his own existential crisis on the night of his retirement party. Distraught by his own sudden lack of purpose as well as dread over his failings as a father, he decides to mimic Socrates’ suicide. In the process of finally and truly examining his life, this professor encounters a student who is in the midst of her own existential malaise. Together they make an anti-suicide pact and in their respective ways decide to give life one more chance. Throughout the play, the professor converses with Socrates’ who breaks the fourth wall at points, giving the play a surrealistic quality.
  • Our Fair Kingdom by William Ivers
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: medieval, Rebellion + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Keyword: medieval, Rebellion, oppression
    The kingdom's High Court Magistrate finds himself in the middle of an uprising as the kingdom burns. He must quickly decide whose head should roll for committing this divesting crime, or it may be his own.
  • Morgan and Carlie Make Snow Angels by William Ivers
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, tragedy
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    Keyword: suspense, romance
    Genre: drama, tragedy
    Keyword: suspense, romance
    Two teenage girls fall through the ice as they were messing around in the woods one evening. Sadly, only one surfaces, leaving their mothers reeling through an unimaginable nightmare as they wait lakeside to learn which daughter is still submerged.
  • The Final Reel by William Ivers
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    10
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: murder mystery, 1930s Hollywood + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: murder mystery, 1930s Hollywood, ghosts
    The Final Reel is a uniquely entertaining ghostly dark comic thriller set in a haunted mansion on the coast of Maine. A wonderfully inept and dysfunctional team of paranormal investigators for a staged present-day reality show entitled Ghost Encounters has come to the mansion for one final production that they hope will boost their flagging ratings. The group includes a pretentious director who idolizes the...
    The Final Reel is a uniquely entertaining ghostly dark comic thriller set in a haunted mansion on the coast of Maine. A wonderfully inept and dysfunctional team of paranormal investigators for a staged present-day reality show entitled Ghost Encounters has come to the mansion for one final production that they hope will boost their flagging ratings. The group includes a pretentious director who idolizes the spirit of Orson Wells, a diva, a put-upon flunky, two bumbling tech nerds, a sleazy producer, a flaky psychic, and a burned out professor. At the mansion, they meet Judy Leman, a tragic figure from the days of old Hollywood. Judy managed her daughter Jackie’s stellar 1930’s film career as child star Dolly Dancer. Tensions mounted between mother and daughter as Dolly’s film career flagged. Dolly was set to make a comeback when she flung herself from the balcony of the mansion under mysterious circumstances. Judy has remained in the mansion for decades, haunted by guilt, claiming her daughter still walks within its walls. It is within this dark mansion, isolated from the outside world, where the film crew encounters something their show has never experienced before: an actual haunting. One by one, the cast begins to die in mysterious ways. Is it the vengeful spirit of Dolly Dancer or something more earthly and sinister at play? Old Hollywood meets modern television on the stage as the mystery of the death of Dolly Dancer unfolds in The Final Reel.
  • The Tamed by William Ivers
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, experimental
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    Keyword: murder
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: murder
    You Will Surely Die takes place moments before a widow is expected to take part in a ritual that involves throwing herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre in a final act of devotion. Her son begs her to ignore this ancient expectation and flee the village with him. This, however, becomes seemingly impossible when her patriarchal brother-in-law, enters the room ready to escort the widow to the flames. In these...
    You Will Surely Die takes place moments before a widow is expected to take part in a ritual that involves throwing herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre in a final act of devotion. Her son begs her to ignore this ancient expectation and flee the village with him. This, however, becomes seemingly impossible when her patriarchal brother-in-law, enters the room ready to escort the widow to the flames. In these waning moments, she must decide whether to obey tradition or quickly think of a means of escape.
  • Calling Hours by William Ivers
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: prison, zoom + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental
    Keyword: prison, zoom, pandemic, family, Sisters
    Due to the recent string of pandemics, a daughter is forced to hold her father's wake through Zoom. During the online calling hours, an unexpected visitor logs on: her estranged sister who is currently serving a prison sentence.
  • What Remains by William Ivers
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama
    Genre: drama
    A man meets his mother on the day of her burial.
  • A Mobster, a Psychic, and a Canary by William Ivers
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: farce
    Genre: farce
    A failed R-rated hypnotist’s life is threatened after he causes a mobster’s girlfriend to go into trances that compel her to act like a canary...one that repeats far too much.
  • The World Was Yours by William Ivers
    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: dark comedy
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    Keyword: art, racism
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: art, racism
    The coveted Eadburg Art Endowment is about to be awarded to one of three finalists who have three very different artistic visions. Prof. Adley Schwartz has traditional views, Z-Jones believes art is rebellion, while Joy wants her art to scream societal messages. All three find themselves in a museum waiting room while the board makes their final decision. Their divergent views escalate when they realize the...
    The coveted Eadburg Art Endowment is about to be awarded to one of three finalists who have three very different artistic visions. Prof. Adley Schwartz has traditional views, Z-Jones believes art is rebellion, while Joy wants her art to scream societal messages. All three find themselves in a museum waiting room while the board makes their final decision. Their divergent views escalate when they realize the lucrative grant will come with demands that may compromise their artistic and moral values.