Ellen K. Graham

Ellen K. Graham

Ellen K. Graham writes plays, screenplays, and narrative nonfiction. A Denver native and a graduate of the University of Chicago, she has been a finalist for the Shakespeare’s Sister Fellowship, Clubbed Thumb’s Biennial Commission, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and the Global Age Project. Her work has been produced in Columbus; Chicago; New York City; and in Denver, where she has worked with...
Ellen K. Graham writes plays, screenplays, and narrative nonfiction. A Denver native and a graduate of the University of Chicago, she has been a finalist for the Shakespeare’s Sister Fellowship, Clubbed Thumb’s Biennial Commission, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and the Global Age Project. Her work has been produced in Columbus; Chicago; New York City; and in Denver, where she has worked with many companies, including And Toto Too, Benchmark, Buntport Theater, Pandemic Collective, Athena Project, the Edge Theatre, Paragon, and the Denver Center Theatre Company. She is the founder of Feral Assembly, a co-founder of Shocking Beyond Belief! Films (“The Sword of Truth Behind the Shield of Entertainment”), and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Plays

  • Home
    Back on Earth after an off-world job gone wrong, Ro must prove where her loyalties lie.
  • The Never Summer
    City girl Lee works hard, saving up money to get her own apartment. But her plans are derailed when she meets the velvet-voiced Corva, who wants to lure her away from civilization into the unmapped wilderness.
  • The Wave That Set the Fire
    In a threadbare and not-so-distant future, 17-year-old Linden is accused of a terrible crime. When Petra, a government agent, arrives to investigate, Linden’s family—mother, father, uncle, aunt—struggle to reconcile their hopes for their boy with what constitutes justice in a damaged world.

  • The Night Season
    Prue Falk has spent her life doing her duty: as a daughter, a sister, a wife, and an accounts payable clerk. But when her sister Lisl, a survivalist and talented escape artist, comes to visit, Prue learns that there are no rewards for good behavior and some bonds are made to be severed.
  • How We May Know Him
    After six months overseas on a lucrative, hush-hush assignment, Nicola returns home to find her girlfriend, Wren, has fallen under the spell of Val, a charismatic doomsday prophet moonlighting as a maid for declining television star Simone. As Val systematically unmoors lost soul Simone and loyal soldier Wren, Nicola tries to keep her feet on the ground. Is Val really a miracle worker, or just a particularly...
    After six months overseas on a lucrative, hush-hush assignment, Nicola returns home to find her girlfriend, Wren, has fallen under the spell of Val, a charismatic doomsday prophet moonlighting as a maid for declining television star Simone. As Val systematically unmoors lost soul Simone and loyal soldier Wren, Nicola tries to keep her feet on the ground. Is Val really a miracle worker, or just a particularly gifted charlatan? In the end, Nicola and Val must meet face to face: Nicola determined to rebuild her life, Val to dismantle it; Nicola the wall, Val the kudzu that destroys it.
  • The Familiars
    Honora Burdock is all about holiday traditions: the meticulously staged family photos, the cookie-baking marathons, even the turducken. But it’s Christmas Eve, the family has gathered, and Honora just doesn’t seem quite…herself. Who of her three children—dutiful but commitment-phobic Kath, people-pleaser/occasional huffer Dom, glamorous and inefficient Chris—will marshal the family festivities in her stead...
    Honora Burdock is all about holiday traditions: the meticulously staged family photos, the cookie-baking marathons, even the turducken. But it’s Christmas Eve, the family has gathered, and Honora just doesn’t seem quite…herself. Who of her three children—dutiful but commitment-phobic Kath, people-pleaser/occasional huffer Dom, glamorous and inefficient Chris—will marshal the family festivities in her stead? A comedy about what traditions are worth keeping and what happens when we step off the holiday hamster wheel.
  • Crasher/Hostess
    A stranger infiltrates a well-guarded house; a commuter catches a nasty bug on a crowded train. In the first half of this play, the capos and soldiers of the human immune system are pitted against a wily and resilient parasite. The second half of the play follows the strange symptoms and psychological trials of the parasite’s unhappy host. A case study in parasitic infection, from the inside out.