JULIE MCKEE

JULIE MCKEE

Julie grew up in New Zealand and is a citizen of the US. Like many Kiwi's she traveled at an early age and during a stay in Madrid met for the first time, artists and people of the theater. It was then she decided to follow suit - first as a dancer then as an actor. She is now an award winning playwright whose plays have been performed in the US, New Zealand and Germany. They are published by Smith and...
Julie grew up in New Zealand and is a citizen of the US. Like many Kiwi's she traveled at an early age and during a stay in Madrid met for the first time, artists and people of the theater. It was then she decided to follow suit - first as a dancer then as an actor. She is now an award winning playwright whose plays have been performed in the US, New Zealand and Germany. They are published by Smith and & Kraus and Playscripts Inc. Julie has received commissions from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of Science and Technology and Ensemble Studio Theater; fellowships from New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA), Sundance Playwrights Lab., MacDowell Colony, VCCA, and St. James Cavalier in Malta. Julie is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, on the faculty of HB Studio, and a member of The Ensemble Studio Theater.

Plays

  • The Secret Life of Seaweed by JULIE MCKEE
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adventure, dark comedy + 4 more
    ·
    Keyword: World War II, New Zealand + 5 more
    Genre: adventure, dark comedy, drama, period, political, young audiences
    Keyword: World War II, New Zealand, Race, science, botany, women and war, seaweed
    1942. World War 2. New Zealand is under threat of a Japanese invasion. Louise MacGregor, formidable scientist, is sent in search of​​ Pterocladia Lucida, a simple seaweed to aid the war effort. May Smith, an untried youngster, is plucked to assist the prickly botanist as a sketch artist. But having only recently discovered her Maori heritage, May has other questions and struggles to meet Louise's rigorous...
    1942. World War 2. New Zealand is under threat of a Japanese invasion. Louise MacGregor, formidable scientist, is sent in search of​​ Pterocladia Lucida, a simple seaweed to aid the war effort. May Smith, an untried youngster, is plucked to assist the prickly botanist as a sketch artist. But having only recently discovered her Maori heritage, May has other questions and struggles to meet Louise's rigorous demands. The​ ​imagined natural world, alongside Maori cosm​​ology, provides a lush environmental immersion into the lives of two women who learn to help each other grow in a time when expressing feelings of unbearable sadness was forbidden for the good of all.​ ​​ ​It's fun too.​

    This play is a commission by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of Science and Technology and Ensemble Studio Theater.
  • Will Sacrifice by JULIE MCKEE
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, tragedy
    ·
    Keyword: Catskills, real estate + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, tragedy
    Keyword: Catskills, real estate, post 9/11, adult relationships, marriage, dreams, memory loss
    Bridget's fraught marriage to Nigel, cramped NYC apartment, and stagnant career convince her to go in search of a romantic country escape. This sends Nigel into a frenzy. Ignoring his pleas for sanity, she anxiously enlist the aid of Mr. Sunshine, a local real estate agent. Armed with a limited budget, and plenty of nervous enthusiasm, she plunges headlong into the post 9/11 real estate gold rush up in the...
    Bridget's fraught marriage to Nigel, cramped NYC apartment, and stagnant career convince her to go in search of a romantic country escape. This sends Nigel into a frenzy. Ignoring his pleas for sanity, she anxiously enlist the aid of Mr. Sunshine, a local real estate agent. Armed with a limited budget, and plenty of nervous enthusiasm, she plunges headlong into the post 9/11 real estate gold rush up in the lower Catskill Mountains. "There's gold in them thar hills!" exclaims Mr. Sunshine. But too late, she and Nigel realize they have been trying to escape from fears there is no escape from.
  • A Holiday On Ice In A Warm Climate by JULIE MCKEE
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, holiday + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: climate change, culinary + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, holiday, political
    Keyword: climate change, culinary, glamping
    Will farming bacon-flavoured seaweed save the planet? A chef and a glamping-craver watch an iceberg pass by in the middle of the Pacific ocean.
  • AFTERMATH by JULIE MCKEE
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, political
    ·
    Keyword: infanticide, abortion + 1 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: infanticide, abortion, revenge
    A woman who seems similar to Medea, experiences the aftermath of an airplane accident and her crimes. Takes place in a hospital waiting room.
  • Jill On A Recliner, Reading by JULIE MCKEE
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: art, aging + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: art, aging, Madrid
    Working class Jill (50) returns to Madrid after many years, to see a painting of herself as a young woman featured in a retrospective of a world famous painter.

    Two characters