Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder's plays include Gee's Bend, Fresh Kills, The Flagmaker of Market Street, The Furniture of Home, White Lightning, and Provenance. Her plays have been produced at the Royal Court (London), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center, Cleveland Play House, KC Rep, Northlight, the Arden, B Street Theatre, and Hartford Stage, among others. Most recently her play, Everything That's Beautiful, premiered at the New Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and her one act, "Santa Doesn't Come to the Holiday Inn" was featured in the Marathon of One Act Plays at the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Commissions and workshops include A Requiem for August Moon (Pioneer Theatre), The Bone Orchard (Denver Center, Great Plains Theatre Conference), and a short play for the acclaimed My...

Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder's plays include Gee's Bend, Fresh Kills, The Flagmaker of Market Street, The Furniture of Home, White Lightning, and Provenance. Her plays have been produced at the Royal Court (London), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center, Cleveland Play House, KC Rep, Northlight, the Arden, B Street Theatre, and Hartford Stage, among others. Most recently her play, Everything That's Beautiful, premiered at the New Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and her one act, "Santa Doesn't Come to the Holiday Inn" was featured in the Marathon of One Act Plays at the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Commissions and workshops include A Requiem for August Moon (Pioneer Theatre), The Bone Orchard (Denver Center, Great Plains Theatre Conference), and a short play for the acclaimed My America, Too project (Baltimore Center Stage), as well as four commissions from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. She is currently completing a new play, co-commissioned from the Sloan Foundation and the Geva Theatre. Elyzabeth is the recipient of the Osborn Award given by the American Theatre Critics Association and is a graduate of the dramatic writing program at New York University. She currently teaches at Sewanee: The University of the South where she served at the Tennessee Williams Playwright-in-Residence.

Scripts

Zelda in the Backyard

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

Zelda likes to go, but she doesn’t like to stop.

When Libby inherits Zelda, a 1961 Rolls Royce that’s been wrecked, she sets off on a journey to reassemble the car and pieces of the past her father left behind. Through her father's relationship with Jimmy Ray, his Daisy Duke-wearing boyfriend, Libby finds herself with a new understanding of marriage and family.

Zelda in the Backyard is a story of love...

Zelda likes to go, but she doesn’t like to stop.

When Libby inherits Zelda, a 1961 Rolls Royce that’s been wrecked, she sets off on a journey to reassemble the car and pieces of the past her father left behind. Through her father's relationship with Jimmy Ray, his Daisy Duke-wearing boyfriend, Libby finds herself with a new understanding of marriage and family.

Zelda in the Backyard is a story of love, loss, and all the roads in between.

Looks Like Pretty

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

Charlie is in love with Shirley, the Kodak Color Girl. With fair skin and auburn hair, she is the basis on which all photographs are color balanced. But when Gloria, an African-American employee asks for his help after the disappearance of her daughter, they question the limitations of technology as they explore how we perceive light, color, and beauty. Looks Like Pretty examines who is seen and who is invisible...

Charlie is in love with Shirley, the Kodak Color Girl. With fair skin and auburn hair, she is the basis on which all photographs are color balanced. But when Gloria, an African-American employee asks for his help after the disappearance of her daughter, they question the limitations of technology as they explore how we perceive light, color, and beauty. Looks Like Pretty examines who is seen and who is invisible, and how science and technology play a role in manipulating the narrative.

Georgia Mae James Unplugs America

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

Sometimes in order to feel connected, you have to unplug.

When Georgia Mae is left home alone with her two older siblings while her parents take the train into the city, she comes up with big plans for the night. However, Georgia Mae finds herself disappointed when Imogene and Henry are too invested in the electronic devices to play with her. So Georgia Mae decides to shut down the power grid so they won't...

Sometimes in order to feel connected, you have to unplug.

When Georgia Mae is left home alone with her two older siblings while her parents take the train into the city, she comes up with big plans for the night. However, Georgia Mae finds herself disappointed when Imogene and Henry are too invested in the electronic devices to play with her. So Georgia Mae decides to shut down the power grid so they won't have any distractions. However, when they realize their parents are now stranded in the city and can't get home, the three set off on an adventure to restore power. Along the way they meet a variety of people who help them on their journey, and ultimately, they learn about the simple pleasures of being together -- and unplugged.

Santa Doesn't Come to the Holiday Inn

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

ONE ACT. “Santa Doesn't Come to the Holiday Inn,” written by Elyzabeth Wilder and directed by Julie Kramer, presents a unique situation – a divorced couple standing by their arrangement to always have Christmas together for the benefit of their six-year-old daughter. In a cheap motel room, presents are wrapped and cookies laid out for Santa’s arrival while their child lays sleeping. Wilder paints the former...

ONE ACT. “Santa Doesn't Come to the Holiday Inn,” written by Elyzabeth Wilder and directed by Julie Kramer, presents a unique situation – a divorced couple standing by their arrangement to always have Christmas together for the benefit of their six-year-old daughter. In a cheap motel room, presents are wrapped and cookies laid out for Santa’s arrival while their child lays sleeping. Wilder paints the former couple's relationship with subtle detail without providing details of reason for the disintegration of the marriage, allowing the theme of setting aside personal differences and past hurts for the mutual love for their child to shine. -- Stagebuddy.com

Everything That's Beautiful

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

When Luke and Jess decide to allow their 8 year old, who is biologically male, to live as a girl, they relocate in order to give the family a clean start. Luke takes a job at the local waterpark, where he meets Gaby, the girl in the mermaid tank. With money tight, Jess starts working at a local coffee shop where she meets Will. They both become seduced by the escape that both relationships provide, leaving...

When Luke and Jess decide to allow their 8 year old, who is biologically male, to live as a girl, they relocate in order to give the family a clean start. Luke takes a job at the local waterpark, where he meets Gaby, the girl in the mermaid tank. With money tight, Jess starts working at a local coffee shop where she meets Will. They both become seduced by the escape that both relationships provide, leaving their marriage strained. But when an accident threatens to expose the secret about Morgan, tensions run high. Luke finally admits the real reason they moved, a confession that could potentially destroy their family. Faced with losing his child and his family, Luke must decide what’s worth fighting for.

World Premier at New Conservatory Theatre, spring 2017
Diverse casting encouraged.

White Lightning

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

Avery McAllister finds his calling running moonshine and racing cars for Hank Taylor, but with money and reputation at stake he soon questions what he'll do to win.

Set during the early days of NASCAR, White Lightning is the story of rebellious moonshiners who liked to live hard and drive fast, and the American racing legacy they helped create.

Avery McAllister finds his calling running moonshine and racing cars for Hank Taylor, but with money and reputation at stake he soon questions what he'll do to win.

Set during the early days of NASCAR, White Lightning is the story of rebellious moonshiners who liked to live hard and drive fast, and the American racing legacy they helped create.

A Requiem for August Moon

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

Simon is a Ph.D candidate who has created a mathematical algorithm for predicting a hit song. However, he’s been unable to finish his dissertation, because he is obsessed with finding a mathematically perfect song. When he buys a box of tapes from the collection of an eccentric man named Charlie, he discovers the lost tapes of August Moon, a former Indie Rock icon. On it is a song that Simon determines to be...

Simon is a Ph.D candidate who has created a mathematical algorithm for predicting a hit song. However, he’s been unable to finish his dissertation, because he is obsessed with finding a mathematically perfect song. When he buys a box of tapes from the collection of an eccentric man named Charlie, he discovers the lost tapes of August Moon, a former Indie Rock icon. On it is a song that Simon determines to be mathematically perfect. Before he can use the song, however, he must convince Charlie to tell him where he got the tapes. Charlie is skeptical of Simon’s insistence that math can create the perfect song, arguing that art is organic. In the end, Simon is left to decide if it’s worth sacrificing your art for the sake of science. A Requiem for August Moon is a humorous look at the complicated relationship between art and science, success and failure, and the people we love.

Diverse casting encouraged.

Fresh Kills

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

Eddie is a good father and a good husband, but when he meets a young man online he must choose between protecting his secret and protecting his family.

"Follows the best traditions of American realist theatre in its sharp dialogue, gritty plot and accurately observed details of language and domestic tragedy. The play is beautifully constructed." Times Literary Supplement – Roderick Swanston

"Wilder is a...

Eddie is a good father and a good husband, but when he meets a young man online he must choose between protecting his secret and protecting his family.

"Follows the best traditions of American realist theatre in its sharp dialogue, gritty plot and accurately observed details of language and domestic tragedy. The play is beautifully constructed." Times Literary Supplement – Roderick Swanston

"Wilder is a contemporary Jacobean, fascinated by the power of desire and the havoc it trails in its wake... visceral and thrilling." The Stage – Aleks Sierz

The play began as a writing exercise at Youngblood at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York. The play premiered at the Royal Court in London, directed by Tony nominee Wilson Milam, and starring Matt Smith (Dr. Who, The Crown).

Provenance

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

Frances Browning has spent her life traveling the world reading first edition books. She finds herself in a magical library high atop a mountain, but when the final book on her list turns up missing, Frances refuses to leave.

A story about the books we read and the stories we tell.

Frances Browning has spent her life traveling the world reading first edition books. She finds herself in a magical library high atop a mountain, but when the final book on her list turns up missing, Frances refuses to leave.

A story about the books we read and the stories we tell.

The Flagmaker of Market Street

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

On the eve of the start of the Civil War, George Cowles, a merchant in Montgomery is asked to make the first Confederate flag, but what no one knows is that at night he is secretly holding Unionist meetings in his back room. Based on a true story.

On the eve of the start of the Civil War, George Cowles, a merchant in Montgomery is asked to make the first Confederate flag, but what no one knows is that at night he is secretly holding Unionist meetings in his back room. Based on a true story.

The Bone Orchard

by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder

Synopsis

Lucy Mitchell wants to die a virgin martyr until she falls in love with Fisher, the boy who's been hired to dig her grave. A sweet little love story about friendship, death and the legacy we leave behind.

May be performed with 4 actors, or as many as 12. Some roles are gender neutral and can be cast according to the needs of the production.

Lucy Mitchell wants to die a virgin martyr until she falls in love with Fisher, the boy who's been hired to dig her grave. A sweet little love story about friendship, death and the legacy we leave behind.

May be performed with 4 actors, or as many as 12. Some roles are gender neutral and can be cast according to the needs of the production.