Gregory Crafts

“Crafts is always stellar, both on stage and in the directorial chair.”
– Fanbase Press

Gregory Crafts is an award-winning and critically acclaimed multi-hyphenate creative artist, with more than thirty years of industry experience as an actor, playwright, director, designer, and producer.

After graduating from Emerson College in Boston, MA with a Bachelor’s in Theatre Studies in 2003, Greg migrated to Los Angeles, California, where he currently plies a multitude of trades that allow him to flex his creative muscles. He resides in North Hollywood, CA with his wife, Jenn, and their cats.

In 2008, Greg co-founded Theatre Unleashed, a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre ensemble based in Hollywood, CA, and he proudly serves as the company’s Executive Director.

Greg is also a member of SAG-AFTRA...

“Crafts is always stellar, both on stage and in the directorial chair.”
– Fanbase Press

Gregory Crafts is an award-winning and critically acclaimed multi-hyphenate creative artist, with more than thirty years of industry experience as an actor, playwright, director, designer, and producer.

After graduating from Emerson College in Boston, MA with a Bachelor’s in Theatre Studies in 2003, Greg migrated to Los Angeles, California, where he currently plies a multitude of trades that allow him to flex his creative muscles. He resides in North Hollywood, CA with his wife, Jenn, and their cats.

In 2008, Greg co-founded Theatre Unleashed, a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre ensemble based in Hollywood, CA, and he proudly serves as the company’s Executive Director.

Greg is also a member of SAG-AFTRA, Actors’ Equity, the Dramatists Guild, a Lifetime Member of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, and a founding board member of the Theatre Producers of Southern California. He has also previously served as a board member of the Hollywood Fringe Festival and Flat Tire Theatre Company.

In late 2016, Greg and his wife Jenn teamed up to form a live event venue management company. On January 1st, 2017, the pair took control of studio/stage, a unique 40-seat performance space located in L.A’s Koreatown. Now working under the banner of The StageCrafts, Jenn and Greg are always seeking new venues to add to their portfolio.

With what little free time he has, Greg enjoys supporting local theatre, reading banned books, making “to do” lists, shotgunning Star Trek reruns, memorizing Epic Rap Battles of History lyrics, fine-tuning his websites, torturing himself through 5k mud runs, live-streaming his Dungeons & Dragons sessions, and practicing Tae Kwon Do. He also nurses an unhealthy obsession with the Boston Red Sox.

Scripts

(It's Been Eighty-Six Years and We're) Still Waiting for Lefty

by Gregory Crafts

Synopsis

It’s 2021. Welcome to Post-Pandemic, Post-Insurrection, End-Stage Capitalism America. It's been eighty-six years since Clifford Odets’ groundbreaking play WAITING FOR LEFTY premiered in New York. Inspired by the New York Taxi Driver Strike of 1934, Odets took to the page to explore the ills of society at the time and use that platform to call for radical change. The show was a smash hit, becoming one of the most...

It’s 2021. Welcome to Post-Pandemic, Post-Insurrection, End-Stage Capitalism America. It's been eighty-six years since Clifford Odets’ groundbreaking play WAITING FOR LEFTY premiered in New York. Inspired by the New York Taxi Driver Strike of 1934, Odets took to the page to explore the ills of society at the time and use that platform to call for radical change. The show was a smash hit, becoming one of the most famous pieces of agitprop theatre of its day and launching Odets’ career to stratospheric heights. But in the time since then, what’s actually changed? Have things gotten better for us, or have they actually gotten worse? Using the original as a framework, "Still Waiting" delves deep into the issues of today and confronts some hard-to-swallow realities.

Friends Like These

by Gregory Crafts

Synopsis

Published by Steele Spring Stage Rights.

"A Masterpiece." - L.A. Examiner

"You will be changed after seeing Friends Like These." - Proxart Magazine

"…a play less about high-school or petty romance, but about identity and the darkness that often fuels it." - Fine Arts L.A.

"...Crafts eloquently captures the petty jealousies, pointless cruelties, and heightened self-consciousness of painful adolescence." -...

Published by Steele Spring Stage Rights.

"A Masterpiece." - L.A. Examiner

"You will be changed after seeing Friends Like These." - Proxart Magazine

"…a play less about high-school or petty romance, but about identity and the darkness that often fuels it." - Fine Arts L.A.

"...Crafts eloquently captures the petty jealousies, pointless cruelties, and heightened self-consciousness of painful adolescence." - Backstage

In this honest and poignant look at adolescence, Garret, an outsider, navigates the tumultuous halls of his school with his best friend Diz, a self-proclaimed freak. They escape the day-to-day tortures of high school in a game-world called Haven, where they slay monsters and save maidens. When Garret catches the attention of Nicole, a popular cheerleader with an honest heart, it upsets the status quo. Jealousy and betrayal force Garret to confront past mistakes and question who his real friends are. This gut-wrenching new play unswervingly explores the tragic consequences of bullying that have left us staggering as a nation time and time again.

Super Sidekick: The Musical

by Gregory Crafts

Synopsis

Published by Samuel French. Book by Gregory Crafts. Music and Lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro.

"If you’re looking for a fast-paced, bold and bright musical that’s chock full of witty humor, colorful characters, and an upbeat catchy score, then Super Sidekick: The Musical is the perfect choice for your entire family." - BroadwayWorld

"…blissfully funny. A treat worth taking a chance on." - The Columbus...

Published by Samuel French. Book by Gregory Crafts. Music and Lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro.

"If you’re looking for a fast-paced, bold and bright musical that’s chock full of witty humor, colorful characters, and an upbeat catchy score, then Super Sidekick: The Musical is the perfect choice for your entire family." - BroadwayWorld

"…blissfully funny. A treat worth taking a chance on." - The Columbus Dispatch

"How many musicals can claim they have Ninja Koalas?" - The New York Times

"Gregory Crafts’ book is funny and clear, providing a good foundation for Michael Gordon Shapiro’s brilliant lyrics, which get more impressive the closer one listens." - NYTheatre.com

Action! Adventure! Romance! Ninja Koalas! There’s all this and more in Super Sidekick, the brand new children’s musical from rising L.A. playwright Gregory Crafts and composer Michael Gordon Shapiro. When famous superhero Blackjack the Bold is kidnapped by an evil sorcerer, it’s up to his assistant Inky to step up and save the day! Little does he know that he’ll also have to contend with Ninja Koalas, dark caves, secret weapons, and an abducted princess who’s considerably braver than he is. Colorful characters, witty humor, and an upbeat catchy score make Super Sidekick: The Musical a treat for young audiences, and an engaging project for thespians of all ages.

Three Can Keep a Secret

by Gregory Crafts

Synopsis

It was supposed to be an easy score. Whack the mark. Stage the scene. Take the money. Retire to Cabo. That’s how it was supposed to go down. But for poor Moose and Sonny, a really bad night is only just beginning…

Three Can Keep A Secret, a new play by Gregory Crafts (Friends Like These, Super Sidekick: The Musical) is a darkly funny and slightly twisted interactive crime thriller where YOU, the audience...

It was supposed to be an easy score. Whack the mark. Stage the scene. Take the money. Retire to Cabo. That’s how it was supposed to go down. But for poor Moose and Sonny, a really bad night is only just beginning…

Three Can Keep A Secret, a new play by Gregory Crafts (Friends Like These, Super Sidekick: The Musical) is a darkly funny and slightly twisted interactive crime thriller where YOU, the audience, choose how our story proceeds while our anti-heroes attempt to literally get away with murder. With multiple decision points throughout the story, no two performances will be the same!

Patron reviews from the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival:
"A fun, deadly neo-noir romp!"

"Boondock Saints meets Napoleon Dynamite."

"Hilarious, clever, and incredibly engaging every minute! A unique interactive theatrical experience."

"…a breath of fresh air from the usual formats."

Tattered Capes

by Gregory Crafts

Synopsis

"Watchmen meets Othello." - Michael Gordon Shapiro, Author of 'The Bully Problem'

It’s Kevin and Stephanie Connolly’s fifth wedding anniversary, and Kevin has a night of celebration planned for them. Of course, this means he won’t be going out on his regular patrol of Metro City as his alter-ego, M-Pulse, the self-appointed Eminence of Electromagnetism. But things should be fine without him for one night, right...

"Watchmen meets Othello." - Michael Gordon Shapiro, Author of 'The Bully Problem'

It’s Kevin and Stephanie Connolly’s fifth wedding anniversary, and Kevin has a night of celebration planned for them. Of course, this means he won’t be going out on his regular patrol of Metro City as his alter-ego, M-Pulse, the self-appointed Eminence of Electromagnetism. But things should be fine without him for one night, right? Wrong.

One would think that there could be no secrets left between a husband and wife after five years of matrimonial bliss, but when a powerful supervillain’s attack interrupts Kevin and Stephanie’s date, a hero’s unmasking bears significant consequences for the Connollys. Consequences that will resonate and redefine their relationship forever.

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Originally a 10-minute play commissioned as a part of Theatre Unleashed's Play/Time one-act festival in 2014, where writers birthed a new scene every week for six weeks, the script re-emerged at the inaugural Short+Sweet Festival in Hollywood in 2016. Shortly after the festival closed, Greg began the process of expanding the script into a full-length story through the artistic crucible that is Los Angeles' Serial Killers at Sacred Fools. The script made it to the playoffs, but was "killed" in its fourth episode. The script is now entering its fifth draft, and is slated to have a workshop production at the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

The Young Argonauts

by Gregory Crafts

Synopsis

Book by Gregory Crafts, Music & Lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro

A snarky musical adaptation of the epic adventure of Jason and The Argonauts.

Book by Gregory Crafts, Music & Lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro

A snarky musical adaptation of the epic adventure of Jason and The Argonauts.