Brian Scanlan

Brian Scanlan

Brian Scanlan is a Brooklyn-based playwright from Chicago. His works include Young Men & Recovery (Finalist + Honorable Mention, Bay Area Playwrights Festival), The Bull of Queens (Best Play, Players Theatre Short Play Festival, and performed finalist, Bonita Springs International Short Play Festival), The Insemination Game (Best Play, Manhattan Repertory Theatre), and Oedipus but Better (Best Play,...
Brian Scanlan is a Brooklyn-based playwright from Chicago. His works include Young Men & Recovery (Finalist + Honorable Mention, Bay Area Playwrights Festival), The Bull of Queens (Best Play, Players Theatre Short Play Festival, and performed finalist, Bonita Springs International Short Play Festival), The Insemination Game (Best Play, Manhattan Repertory Theatre), and Oedipus but Better (Best Play, Pittsburgh New Works Festival). Twitter: @BrianScanlan, IG: brian_scanlan, brianscanlan.com

Plays

  • hurt people / hurt people by Brian Scanlan
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: trauma, addiction + 6 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: trauma, addiction, Recovery, sexual violence, Thomas Hardy, tess of the d'urbervilles, rape, Sisters
    A memory play about generational trauma, 'hurt people / hurt people' takes inspiration from Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' to tell a modern story about addiction and sexual violence through the eyes of Tess, a young woman seeking economic and emotional stability after her stint at rehab is cut short by the death of her alcoholic father.
  • Young Men & Recovery by Brian Scanlan
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: sports, football + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: sports, football, masculinity, Toxic Masculinity, patriarchy, middle school, youth
    Finalist: Bay Area Playwrights Festival '21
    ‘Young Men & Recovery’ chronicles the weigh-in of a middle school football team, where players’ weight determines whether they’re eligible to touch the football during games. As the boys make their final preparations to weigh under 185 pounds, new additions to the team force everyone to re-examine their identity, both on and off the field.
  • Esmeralda by Brian Scanlan
    Cast: 
    8–20
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: blank verse, adaptation + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, tragedy, verse
    Keyword: blank verse, adaptation, Victor Hugo, Paris, verse, Roma, romani, Immigrants, racism, Deaf
    A full length verse adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel.

    'Esmeralda' centers on its teenage Romani protagonist, whose gift of unearned grace regularly saves the lives of the men who pursue her, deepening the resentment of her oppressors, who target her race, age, class, faith, and sexuality.

    This adaptation aims to refocus the narrative and affirm the story’s...
    A full length verse adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel.

    'Esmeralda' centers on its teenage Romani protagonist, whose gift of unearned grace regularly saves the lives of the men who pursue her, deepening the resentment of her oppressors, who target her race, age, class, faith, and sexuality.

    This adaptation aims to refocus the narrative and affirm the story’s eternal quality by presenting it faithfully through an updated lens.
  • Oedipus, but Better by Brian Scanlan
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy
    ·
    Keyword: music, dance + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy
    Keyword: music, dance, improv, oedipus, Sophocles, Greek mythology, Play within a play, revisionist
    Winner: Best Play [Pittsburgh New Works Festival, 2019]
    Five performers have forty-five minutes to put on an accessible yet dignified one-act adaptation of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, full of comedy, tragedy, verse, improv, musical theatre, and hip-hop.
  • The Most Lamentable Tragedy of the Bull of Queens by Brian Scanlan
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: tragedy, verse
    ·
    Keyword: Shakespeare, animals + 1 more
    Genre: tragedy, verse
    Keyword: Shakespeare, animals, verse
    Winner: Best Play [The Players Theatre New Play Festival, 2017]
    The true-life story of the final hours of a bull that escaped a Queens slaughterhouse in February 2017.
  • Vanessa: A Short Play in Rhyming Verse by Brian Scanlan
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, verse
    ·
    Keyword: divorce, verse + 7 more
    Genre: drama, verse
    Keyword: divorce, verse, rhyme, rhyming couplets, Trump, cheating, infidelity, metoo, forgiveness
    A young woman engages in a relationship with a wealthy, married man. Ashamedly, this play was loosely inspired by Donald Trump Jr's divorce.
  • The Insemination Game by Brian Scanlan
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    Genre: comedy
    Winner: Best Play [Manhattan Rep, 2017]
    A married couple attempts to get pregnant. Hilarity ensues.
  • Murder at a Callback: A Batshit Mystery by Brian Scanlan
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: murder, Murder-mystery + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, mystery/thriller, parody/spoof, satire
    Keyword: murder, Murder-mystery, comedy, true crime, theatre, mystery, Agatha Christie
    Three actresses audition for a musical until they need to solve a MURDER where EVERYONE IS A SUSPECT.