Elizabeth DeSchryver

Elizabeth DeSchryver is a Network Playwright with Chicago Dramatists and a founding member of the Telling Humans Playwright Studio. Her short plays have been performed throughout the Midwest. Her first full-length play, An Unbuilt Life, received its world premiere at the Washington Stage Guild in April 2024.

Elizabeth earned her PhD in English at Northwestern University, and then logically spent 25 years in technology consulting before retiring to write full-time. She is also an award-winning short story author and poet.

She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Playwrights' Center.

Elizabeth DeSchryver is a Network Playwright with Chicago Dramatists and a founding member of the Telling Humans Playwright Studio. Her short plays have been performed throughout the Midwest. Her first full-length play, An Unbuilt Life, received its world premiere at the Washington Stage Guild in April 2024.

Elizabeth earned her PhD in English at Northwestern University, and then logically spent 25 years in technology consulting before retiring to write full-time. She is also an award-winning short story author and poet.

She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Playwrights' Center.

Scripts

An Unbuilt Life

by Elizabeth DeSchryver

Cast Size
3
Genre
drama,
mystery/thriller

When Agatha Ganner discovers a mystery in her husband’s art collection, she engages Scott, a young graduate student, to research it for her. But when the research uncovers crimes of the past, Agatha must make a decision: right the wrong, and possibly ruin the lives of herself, Scott, and other innocent people; or leave the past alone. Is doing the right thing always the right thing to do? Run time: 2 hours...

When Agatha Ganner discovers a mystery in her husband’s art collection, she engages Scott, a young graduate student, to research it for her. But when the research uncovers crimes of the past, Agatha must make a decision: right the wrong, and possibly ruin the lives of herself, Scott, and other innocent people; or leave the past alone. Is doing the right thing always the right thing to do? Run time: 2 hours, with intermission.

On an individual level, this play deals with integrity: choosing to create a new life based on difficult choices. On a social level, it is about the ethics of reparations. What is owed by those of us who may be innocent, but who unknowingly benefited from the injustices of the past? How do we make reparations without creating new victims?

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The Dark Side of Morning

by Elizabeth DeSchryver

Cast Size
6
Genre
drama

Claudia returns to her rural home town when her sister, a single mother with a two-year old son, is put on trial for the accidental death of her unborn child. She has to reconcile her own visceral hatred of the home she escaped with the needs of family members she hasn't seen in years but who have no one else to turn to. 2 hours, with intermission.

Claudia returns to her rural home town when her sister, a single mother with a two-year old son, is put on trial for the accidental death of her unborn child. She has to reconcile her own visceral hatred of the home she escaped with the needs of family members she hasn't seen in years but who have no one else to turn to. 2 hours, with intermission.

The Unquiet Sea

by Elizabeth DeSchryver

Cast Size
2
Genre
drama

A very private groundskeeper deals with an innocent but troubled teenage interloper at “his” lighthouse. One act. 30 minutes.

A very private groundskeeper deals with an innocent but troubled teenage interloper at “his” lighthouse. One act. 30 minutes.