Joe Breen

Joe Breen

Joe Breen is a New York-based playwright whose work has been seen at Cherry Lane Theatre, The Bechdel Project, Theatre in Asylum, and The Boston Center For The Arts. His play, THE HANDS THAT HOLD US, was a 2016 finalist for The Princess Grace Awards Playwriting Fellowship, and winner of the Next Act New Play Summit at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, NY. His most recent work, ALL MY LOVE, KATE, was featured...
Joe Breen is a New York-based playwright whose work has been seen at Cherry Lane Theatre, The Bechdel Project, Theatre in Asylum, and The Boston Center For The Arts. His play, THE HANDS THAT HOLD US, was a 2016 finalist for The Princess Grace Awards Playwriting Fellowship, and winner of the Next Act New Play Summit at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, NY. His most recent work, ALL MY LOVE, KATE, was featured in Primary Stages' ESPA Drills Off-Broadway reading series, and premiered at New York's The Wild Project, as part of the 16th Annual Fresh Fruit Festival. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, and resides in Manhattan with his partner, and their two geriatric Brussels Griffons. www.joebreen.me

Plays

  • All My Love, Kate by Joe Breen
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: gay, World War II + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, movement/physical, period
    Keyword: gay, World War II, American, homophobia, Japanese language, Bataan Death March, prisoners of war, 1940s, gay romance
    For years, Jack and Danny have lived quietly and privately, keeping their life together separate from the world outside their door. But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the couple finds themselves separated by an ocean, a War, and a world that would rather pretend they didn’t exist. Thrust into this new reality, they must find a way to stay as strong apart as they ever were together. ALL MY LOVE, KATE...
    For years, Jack and Danny have lived quietly and privately, keeping their life together separate from the world outside their door. But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the couple finds themselves separated by an ocean, a War, and a world that would rather pretend they didn’t exist. Thrust into this new reality, they must find a way to stay as strong apart as they ever were together. ALL MY LOVE, KATE examines what it truly means to be an American and a Patriot, and questions who has the right to define those words.
  • The Hands That Hold Us by Joe Breen
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: family, cancer + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: family, cancer, Bechdel Test, gay, death, fate
    The only thing ever expected of Alice was survival-- and after two bouts of cancer, she seems to have mastered the trick. But now, as she stares down the barrel of her thirtieth birthday with a third diagnosis, Alice decides it will be her last. While her stunned family struggles to come to terms with her decision to forgo medical treatment, Alice grapples with the realization that a legacy is not only what you...
    The only thing ever expected of Alice was survival-- and after two bouts of cancer, she seems to have mastered the trick. But now, as she stares down the barrel of her thirtieth birthday with a third diagnosis, Alice decides it will be her last. While her stunned family struggles to come to terms with her decision to forgo medical treatment, Alice grapples with the realization that a legacy is not only what you've done, but who you've left behind.
  • The Pumpkin Patch by Joe Breen
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: halloween, The Peanuts + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, holiday, parody/spoof
    Keyword: halloween, The Peanuts, family, siblings
    A young boy and his sister wait for a holiday visitor that will never come, and a childhood they’ve never known, in this short play that takes a modern and grown-up look at the latchkey world created by cartoonist, Charles Schulz.
  • The Island by Joe Breen
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama, period
    ·
    Keyword: Summer Camp, gay conversion therapy + 3 more
    Genre: drama, period
    Keyword: Summer Camp, gay conversion therapy, abortion, 1950s, neglectful parenting
    Two teens, buckling under the weight of social expectations, find themselves unlikely confidantes when they run away from their respective summer camps.
  • Or Forever Hold Your Peace by Joe Breen
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Lesbian, bisexuality + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Lesbian, bisexuality, wedding
    Vivian is getting married; her dream come true. The only problem? The one that got away. A short play about the things we sacrifice, and the justifications we make, to get what we think we want.
  • The Nominee by Joe Breen
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, political
    Genre: comedy, political
    A candidate is only as good as the team they've assembled, but what if the team outshines the candidate?
  • Nary An Exit by Joe Breen
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 5 more
    ·
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Women
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, period, verse
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Women
    Shakespeare's suicidal heroines find themselves together in a Sartre-like room.