MT Cozzola

MT Cozzola

MT Cozzola’s plays have been produced at Piven Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, The Side Project, 20% Theatre, The Acorn Theatre, and elsewhere. Commissions include Working Women’s History Project, Shapeshifters Theatre, Step Up Productions, and Something Marvelous. Honors: 2018 Illinois Arts Council Award Winner; 2018 Hawthornden Fellow; semi-Finalist, 2017 O’Neil National Playwrights Conference; Winner, Heartland...
MT Cozzola’s plays have been produced at Piven Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, The Side Project, 20% Theatre, The Acorn Theatre, and elsewhere. Commissions include Working Women’s History Project, Shapeshifters Theatre, Step Up Productions, and Something Marvelous. Honors: 2018 Illinois Arts Council Award Winner; 2018 Hawthornden Fellow; semi-Finalist, 2017 O’Neil National Playwrights Conference; Winner, Heartland Theatre’s 2015 New Plays from the Heartland; 2014 Illinois Arts Council Award; Residencies at La MaMaUmbria, Ragdale, and Playa. She is represented by The Robert A. Freedman Dramatic Agency.

Plays

  • Stranded
    Ten adventurous friends have managed to escape the Strand, a virtual world creaky with patterns passed down for eons. They arrive in a physical world free of the old constructs, and vow to create their own, better society. But in the midst of their celebration, Cree gets seriously hurt. Now the group must choose between forging ahead with their vision—and returning home to possibly save Cree’s life.
  • Murder in Residence
    In a secluded mountain retreat, six ambitious women come together to write their masterpieces but switch to alibis when the brilliant young Kenna meets a mysterious demise. As they struggle to shield their secrets, a relentless inspector digs for the truth. Everyone is lying—Kenna’s lover Mandy, rival Fern, would-be bestie Lynette…even the kindly cabbie who saw Kenna last. In a race against time to unmask the...
    In a secluded mountain retreat, six ambitious women come together to write their masterpieces but switch to alibis when the brilliant young Kenna meets a mysterious demise. As they struggle to shield their secrets, a relentless inspector digs for the truth. Everyone is lying—Kenna’s lover Mandy, rival Fern, would-be bestie Lynette…even the kindly cabbie who saw Kenna last. In a race against time to unmask the killer, each must confront their deepest desires and wrestle with the bonds of love, art, and community.
  • When They Came
    The citizens of a small town reconstruct the events of an alien relocation that did not go as hoped. The humans defend their actions, interrogate each other, and confront their deepest hopes and fears as they try to reshape the disaster into something they can live with, and ultimately find themselves transformed by it. Part story theatre, part sci-fi fantasy, this ensemble piece is based on Debbie Urbanski’s...
    The citizens of a small town reconstruct the events of an alien relocation that did not go as hoped. The humans defend their actions, interrogate each other, and confront their deepest hopes and fears as they try to reshape the disaster into something they can live with, and ultimately find themselves transformed by it. Part story theatre, part sci-fi fantasy, this ensemble piece is based on Debbie Urbanski’s short story, "When They Came to Us," which was published in The Sun Magazine and appears in Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017.
  • Creep (aka Loveland)
    CREEP asks difficult questions about how we recognize, pay for, and heal from acts of sexual predation in a community. The story centers on an apparently happy family whose father is charged with sexual misconduct. Karl and Megan have been in love since the moment they met, daughter Jorie is acing her freshman year, and all are looking forward to a trip to NYC—one of the perks of Karl's career as a concert...
    CREEP asks difficult questions about how we recognize, pay for, and heal from acts of sexual predation in a community. The story centers on an apparently happy family whose father is charged with sexual misconduct. Karl and Megan have been in love since the moment they met, daughter Jorie is acing her freshman year, and all are looking forward to a trip to NYC—one of the perks of Karl's career as a concert musician. But one night he peeks in on Jorie and her friends sleeping off a slumber-party sugar high, and makes a choice that changes everything. (TRT 90 min.; working title: Loveland)
  • How to Raise a Pop-Up Kid
    In the late days of corporate America, a typical day at the office turns upside down when middle manager Chris meets a ghostly girl claiming to be her daughter. At first annoyed, Chris decides fake motherhood may be alright when the creature’s unpredictable behavior triggers the promotion she has been dreaming of. But she soon finds that success, like love, exacts a price she may not be qualified to pay.
  • Twin Set
    Love cuts both ways, so how do you keep the blood from staining? Sisters Meggy and Betty are busy preparing for the 1976 Bicentennial — working together, dressing like twins, and sharing a super-cute apartment. But when former schoolmate Marnie shows up needing help, Betty begins to question her past and Meggy starts fighting for her future.
  • Dance for Beginners
    Phone-to-phone is as close to an intimate relationship as Jenni is willing to go, but Jerry wants more. To stay connected across the ocean that separates them, Jenni proposes a compromise. They'll meet in six weeks' time in a neutral location, at a dance competition. All they have to do first is learn how to dance.
  • Nameless and Shameless! Being an Appropriation of the Wilkie Collins Sensation Novel NO NAME
    Wealthy sisters Norah and Magdalen suddenly find themselves homeless, penniless, and even nameless after the tragic death of their parents. Norah copes by seeking a humble living as a governess, while Magdalen embarks on a scandalous life in the theatre, followed by a fraudulent marriage, capped off by a demeaning stint as a servant, all to win back the family fortune and the family name. Freely adapted from...
    Wealthy sisters Norah and Magdalen suddenly find themselves homeless, penniless, and even nameless after the tragic death of their parents. Norah copes by seeking a humble living as a governess, while Magdalen embarks on a scandalous life in the theatre, followed by a fraudulent marriage, capped off by a demeaning stint as a servant, all to win back the family fortune and the family name. Freely adapted from the Victorian novel NO NAME by Wilkie Collins.
  • Boy Small
    a 5-character family drama about family dynamics, consumer culture, and a heartbreaking triumph over an impossible situation. Boy and Sissy have created their own brand of family under the eye of their frustrated father and his self-obsessed second wife. But when Boy embarks on his most extreme bid for freedom, their bond is severed and the family is transformed.
  • St. George on the Bus
    A mother and daughter struggle with the implications of an apparent miracle – namely, the materialization of a not-very-good family painting on a city bus. As the ostensibly religious Lois and the vehemently atheist Bethy come to terms with this decidedly odd event, they reevaluate their understanding of themselves, each other, and the annoyingly inconsistent thing called faith.
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray
    A radio theatre adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel. This piece takes us through Dorian’s journey from inside his own mind. ‘Cause radio can do that. 60 minutes.
  • Earth to Margaret
    A musical comedy about a video store clerk trying to hold on to her old life while time and technology rip it away. When the store is forced to close, Margaret and her small band of co-workers and customers try to move on, with varying results.
  • Forbidden Fruit
    An intervention between two friends in fruit crisis. Adrian and Jade have spent their friendship helping each other endure the limitations fruit places on their lives; can they also help each other to transcend them?
  • Merry Happy Everything
    When two coworkers with different perspectives on holiday presents attempt a gift exchange, they get more than they bargained for.
  • Runaway Holiday Train
    A transformational rant from an unbearable woman having an unsatisfying holiday.
  • Hank, Unedited
    One the second day of school, 20 years in the future, a naturally-conceived boy breaks some difficult news to his mummy.
  • Women at a sheer drop
    Two accidental climbers meet on a precipice, where they can only survive by saving each other.
  • UBU 45
    An UBU play, created for Paula Vogel's glorious KING UBU bake-off 2018. Thanks to TUTA for bringing us together!
  • The Influencer
    NALA wants to video the perfect prom crown acceptance speech and charges loyal best friend
    JERRAL to assist. Their friendship is put to the test when JERRAL wins the crown instead.