Christopher Lysik

Christopher Lysik

Christopher Lysik is a New England boy who writes plays, music, and plays w/ music.

He is a recipient of the Jean Kennedy Smith Award for his show, Pierogi Play, and is a current Marcus Bach Fellow at The University of Iowa. Additionally, he has been a finalist for SPACE on Ryder Farm, and a semifinalist for the Inkslinger Playwriting Contest.

Christopher's work has been...
Christopher Lysik is a New England boy who writes plays, music, and plays w/ music.

He is a recipient of the Jean Kennedy Smith Award for his show, Pierogi Play, and is a current Marcus Bach Fellow at The University of Iowa. Additionally, he has been a finalist for SPACE on Ryder Farm, and a semifinalist for the Inkslinger Playwriting Contest.

Christopher's work has been supported by organizations including Williamstown Theatre Festival, Powerhouse Theater, KCACTF, Fresh Ground Pepper, Wildacres, The Clemente, and Rhode Island Youth Theatre. Prior to writing, he appeared as an actor at Shakespeare's Globe (London), Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Trinity Repertory Company, among others. Christopher's gender-equitable, musical adaptation of Treasure Island, commissioned by RI Youth Theatre, premiered in August 2023.

Christopher has assisted on projects with playwrights and composers including Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, Zoe Sarnak, and Geoffrey Nauffts. He has also held positions at Manhattan Theatre Club and New Dramatists.

He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, and an even prouder cancer survivor. MFA: Iowa Playwrights Workshop. BFA: Rutgers/Mason Gross (Acting).

Plays

  • Pierogi Play by Christopher Lysik
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
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    Keyword: memory, Alzheimer's + 4 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, immersive
    Keyword: memory, Alzheimer's, cancer, World War II, family, food
    It’s 1944, and the Germans are marching past the house, ready to take Buzançais, and…
    It’s 2011, and the doctor has called with the results of the MRI, even though it’s well past bedtime, and…
    It’s Today. And You are here, and I am here, and I need to tell you a story.
  • Treasure Island: A New Musical by Christopher Lysik
    Cast: 
    12–30
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Treasure Island, adventure + 5 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, musical, young audiences
    Keyword: Treasure Island, adventure, gender, children, adaptation, Robert Louis Stevenson, pirate
    Jayne Hawkins was content with her quiet life— until the mysterious new guest at her mother’s inn reveals a map to Captain Flint’s fabled buried gold, and she is whisked across the sea on a daring adventure! But, treachery may be closer than it seems as she and her cohort of sailors discover their ship has been infiltrated by a group of bloodthirsty pirates, led by the villainous Long Jon Silver…
    ...
    Jayne Hawkins was content with her quiet life— until the mysterious new guest at her mother’s inn reveals a map to Captain Flint’s fabled buried gold, and she is whisked across the sea on a daring adventure! But, treachery may be closer than it seems as she and her cohort of sailors discover their ship has been infiltrated by a group of bloodthirsty pirates, led by the villainous Long Jon Silver…

    Full of suspense, sword fights, and plenty of shanties, Robert Louis Stevenson’s legendary adventure story has been reborn and reimagined in this new gender-equitable adaptation.
  • [An Untitled History of the Two-Story Home at 15 Lee St., Federal Hill, Providence, RI — From the Year of Our Lord 1898 Through 2017; and the Descendants of Rosa De Lucia Who’ve Lived There] by Christopher Lysik
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: american immigration, American Assimilation + 6 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, period
    Keyword: american immigration, American Assimilation, Italian American, History, Rhode Island, discrimination, food, family history
    In 1898, Rosa de Lucia boards a steamship and leaves her native Italy to join her husband in the burgeoning Italian district of Providence, RI— only to find herself an outsider in a city dominated by the Irish and Yankee elites. So... What changes for the De Lucia Family over the next century? Welp, a whole hell of a lot…
  • Berrigan, or an Island tale by Christopher Lysik
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    3–20
    ·
    Genre: drama, fable/folktale
    Genre: drama, fable/folktale
    Everything was going swell for Anna, until her father decided to go off and die, and her mother went basically catatonic. Also, some new kid just arrived on the island, and he’s kinda cool but also kinda annoying, and it really seems like he should be away at college right now…

    Meanwhile, on a different island, a girl has somehow broken the Perimeter, even though nobody’s done that in like a...
    Everything was going swell for Anna, until her father decided to go off and die, and her mother went basically catatonic. Also, some new kid just arrived on the island, and he’s kinda cool but also kinda annoying, and it really seems like he should be away at college right now…

    Meanwhile, on a different island, a girl has somehow broken the Perimeter, even though nobody’s done that in like a thousand years. The Keeper has decided to let her stay, too, which is strange, considering the lack of food already. Really, though, the newcomer is just another task for the Keeper's Assistant, who has enough on his plate, what with the cooking and keeping the Keeper's house and everything.

    Oh, and in both places, the Storms are getting worse…
  • Thicker Than Water by Christopher Lysik
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: brotherhood, Catholic + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: brotherhood, Catholic, death, Cancer Survivors, Rhode Island, ocean
    As the sun makes its journey across the sky, Big and Little sit together by the ocean debating life, religion, and the nature of brotherhood. As time passes, however, something deeper is revealed. Based on a previous short play entitled "The Dunes."