Tyler Joseph Rossi

Tyler Joseph Rossi

Tyler Joseph Rossi is a Playwriting MFA Candidate at Catholic University of America. He is a
Core member of the Lancaster Dramatists’ Platform and is a member of the Dramatists Guild of
America and LMDA. Playwriting awards/honors include END OF THE LINE: A BONNIE AND
CLYDE PLAY (Andrew W. Mellon Grant, SCARP Grant from Elizabethtown College),
VERBOTEN (Kennedy Center Undergraduate...
Tyler Joseph Rossi is a Playwriting MFA Candidate at Catholic University of America. He is a
Core member of the Lancaster Dramatists’ Platform and is a member of the Dramatists Guild of
America and LMDA. Playwriting awards/honors include END OF THE LINE: A BONNIE AND
CLYDE PLAY (Andrew W. Mellon Grant, SCARP Grant from Elizabethtown College),
VERBOTEN (Kennedy Center Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop Semifinalist), The
Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive (Invitee 2019, 2020), and Theatre
Lab's Fair Play Initiative 2021 (Finalist). METROSEXUAL COALCRACKER (Prologue
Theatre's Foreword: New Play Series Semifinalist, Fulton Theatre: Festival of New Works:
Stories of Diversity Semifinalist).

Plays

  • Pyre
    Scotland, 1614. King James is King of Scotland and England. "Witches" burn under his rule - victims of public hysteria. Rather than fall victim, herself, a woman barters with a demon for power and security in this Renaissance thriller.

    a one-act/fringe cut of Pyre is available upon request.

    **this play was written as part of The Dramatists Guild of America's End of Play Initiative (2022)
  • Verboten
    Hamburg, Germany, 1936. The Nazis have banned swing music. A group called the Swing Youth danced to swing and jazz as a form of resistance.

    VERBOTEN follows a group of friends, their struggle to survive, and their choice to resist in the heart of pre-war Germany.
  • Legions of Venus or Tis Pity His Majesty's a Whore
    It's 1788 and it's said King George III might be losing his mind. But we're not concerned with that. His son, the Prince of Wales, is far more concerned with tavern life - and on this particular night, all the harlots he's invited to entertain him. Ale flows and tempers rise, each harlot vying for the prince's attention while he toys with them. This dark comedy tackles everything from...
    It's 1788 and it's said King George III might be losing his mind. But we're not concerned with that. His son, the Prince of Wales, is far more concerned with tavern life - and on this particular night, all the harlots he's invited to entertain him. Ale flows and tempers rise, each harlot vying for the prince's attention while he toys with them. This dark comedy tackles everything from power and privilege to sex and sexuality. Enjoy a drink and stay for the brawl.
  • Metrosexual Coalcracker
    Metrosexual Coalcracker struggles with the reality of living with a toxic family in small town Pennsylvania. Moss is not out to his family and lives in plain sight with his husband, Link. Link comes home one night to find that Moss has been shot by his drunken, homophobic twin. Moss, unable to upset his family, will not seek medical attention and the young men's apartment becomes a revolving door of family...
    Metrosexual Coalcracker struggles with the reality of living with a toxic family in small town Pennsylvania. Moss is not out to his family and lives in plain sight with his husband, Link. Link comes home one night to find that Moss has been shot by his drunken, homophobic twin. Moss, unable to upset his family, will not seek medical attention and the young men's apartment becomes a revolving door of family members, distant friends, and unconcerned parties. Moss must decide what he is willing to take - other than bullets, of course.

    Play #1 of the Coalcracker Trilogy.
  • hair of the dog
    A dark comedy on family, binge grieving, what we hold onto, and the things we leave unresolved.

    Oh, and check your chest freezer. There may be a body inside.

    Play #2 of the Coalcracker Trilogy.

    **this play was written as part of The Dramatists Guild of America's End of Play Initiative (2023)
  • Last Rites
    Lisa, dying of lung cancer but still smoking like a chimney grapples with maintaining control over her world. Her daughters struggle against her and one another for their own autonomy. In this viper's nest, no one is free of venom.

    Play #3 of the Coalcracker Trilogy.
  • Bear-ial
    An experimental, DnD infused play, Bear-ial charts the adventures of Blake as they brave the dungeons of college and the dragons of toxic families.

    This play is a love letter to my college roommates and anyone who has braved dangers to find their chosen family.
  • What Melvin Bought for This Week's Game Night
    It's time for the weekly game night at Melvin and Quincy's apartment. This week, it's Melvin's choice and he decides to order a Ouija Board off Amazon. What could possibly go wrong?
  • Trojan Horse by Ikea
    Epeius, carpenter of the Trojan Horse, battles a table from Ikea, the goddess Athena, and grief.
  • After The Climb (a ten minute Greek Tragedy)
    the aftermath of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set just past the Rainbow Valley of Mount Everest.
  • End of the Line: a Bonnie and Clyde Play
    The Great Depression held an America whose "Land of Opportunity" felt barren. It was an America of broken promises. It was here where our would-be bank robbers grew up -- where Bonnie met Clyde. It was a hard scrabble life, one that they desperately wished to out-drive. By exploring the humans amidst their legend, End of the Line: a Bonnie and Clyde Play seeks to tell, in a new light, the gritty story of the notorious outlaws.
  • Drowners
    Shipwrecking. Curses. Family feuds.

    These are rough waters. Rougher still are the people in them.
  • The Borgias: it dwells in the blood
    Their father is Pope of Rome in Renaissance Europe.
    Cesare claws for something more than a Cardinal's hat. Ambition drives him onward.
    Lucrezia strives to be something more than a bargaining chip for her father. She longs to be free.
  • Penthesilea: The Woman Who Killed Achilles
    Achilles has killed Hector and all of Troy mourns. Elsewhere, The Queen of the Amazons must atone for the death of her sister. As the daughter of Ares, where else should she look for it than on the battlefield?

    It's time to go back to Troy. Will you join me?
  • trojan car bomb
    TROJAN CAR BOMB focuses on the intimacies of war and family in the lens of violence, religion, and nationality as seen in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida – a work that resonated with me; it showed war as something that lives in perpetuity and as something no one truly can or will win. My hope is that the spirit of that work is in the foundation of TROJAN CAR BOMB and may further that conversation of how we...
    TROJAN CAR BOMB focuses on the intimacies of war and family in the lens of violence, religion, and nationality as seen in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida – a work that resonated with me; it showed war as something that lives in perpetuity and as something no one truly can or will win. My hope is that the spirit of that work is in the foundation of TROJAN CAR BOMB and may further that conversation of how we approach and live in times of conflict.
  • Dead Men Don't Sing
    A swashbuckling, sapphic love story, Dead Men Don't Sing follows a pirate's life for notorious Anne Bonny as she takes to the high seas on a new adventure. But will matters of the heart distract her from keeping the crew afloat?

    Blackbeard may be dead, but there's still shanties to be sung.
  • Queen Of
    Follow Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, and Grace O'Malley as they struggle with and against one another to maintain power within their own courts.

    This play is currently under construction. Check back later!
  • A Beautiful Chaos: a Georgiana Cavendish play
    Follow the Duchess of Devonshire as she navigates life amongst the aristocracy in Georgian England.
    Life is a gamble and none know it better than her.

    *this is an early draft. Seeking development opportunities.
  • Study of a Father, 1564.
    A woman rediscovers her father in this two person play about struggles of faith, family, and painting set during the English Renaissance.
  • Crucifixation
    Tech rehearsal for an easter pageant gets tense in Alabama.

    *very early draft, looking for development opportunities
  • The Devil Pours It Steady
    Bootlegging. Legacy. Secrets. Spend a day with the Price family and watch it all unravel.
  • Laurel and Hardy and Chaplin
    A "what if" play. What if Laurel, Hardy, and Chaplin met in a recently busted speakeasy? What if we were able to see the men behind their movies? What if we learned they weren't as happy as their on-screen personas?

    *very early draft, looking for development opportunities.

  • Prometheus Burning: an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
    This is a one-person adaptation of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, however, it could also be done with two or three actors. Experimentation is highly encouraged. Stage directions reflect the first production. You can follow them or use them as a springboard for your own theatrical conventions.
  • Platitudes
    Drew is meeting Charlie's parents in this horror play that rocks uneasily in its seat.
  • Looking for Hylas (a 6-minute play)
    A modern adaptation of the Heracles and Hylas myth set at a seaside bar.
  • "When Lucifer Met Hanuman" or "A Rebirth Play"
    At some point between death and rebirth, time stops.

    Lucifer is left to question who he is, how he got here, why he's here in the first place. Thankfully, he has Hanuman to help him out.