Vivian J.O. Barnes

Vivian J.O. Barnes

Vivian is a playwright from Virginia. Her play Jezebels was a finalist for both the 2019 Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference, as well as an honorable mention for the 2019 Kilroys List. Recently, she received Clubbed Thumb's Open-Application Commission. She is currently a second-year MFA Playwriting candidate at UC San Diego where she studies with Naomi...
Vivian is a playwright from Virginia. Her play Jezebels was a finalist for both the 2019 Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference, as well as an honorable mention for the 2019 Kilroys List. Recently, she received Clubbed Thumb's Open-Application Commission. She is currently a second-year MFA Playwriting candidate at UC San Diego where she studies with Naomi Iizuka and Deborah Stein. Upcoming: Are You There? (co-writer) at Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2020 Humana Festival.

Plays

  • The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes by Vivian J.O. Barnes
    Cast: 
    10–50
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, horror + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: HBCU, black womanhood + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy, horror, movement/physical, science fiction
    Keyword: HBCU, black womanhood, dance, marching band, live music, disappearing, extinction
    The Sea Mink-ettes are the most bodacious, vivacious, ostentatious dance line in all the land and Homecoming is their time to shine. As the big day creeps closer, petty infighting and buried resentments threaten to tear the group apart--until three of their teammates suddenly go missing. And their phone calls for help stop getting answered. And the darkness around them keeps growing. And what day is it, again?...
    The Sea Mink-ettes are the most bodacious, vivacious, ostentatious dance line in all the land and Homecoming is their time to shine. As the big day creeps closer, petty infighting and buried resentments threaten to tear the group apart--until three of their teammates suddenly go missing. And their phone calls for help stop getting answered. And the darkness around them keeps growing. And what day is it, again? What day is it, again? What day is it, again?
  • Jezebels by Vivian J.O. Barnes
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: coming of age, sexuality + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, faith-based, movement/physical
    Keyword: coming of age, sexuality, black girlhood, black Christianity, black women and girls
    Emily is a model of purity — everyone thinks so: her parents, the faculty at her exclusive Christian boarding school, and her best friends on the cheerleading team. So why can’t she stop thinking about sex? When one thought leads to another and another…and thoughts start to become actions, suddenly all Emily knows — and all she is thought to be — is put on the line.
  • Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! by Vivian J.O. Barnes
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: monarchy, two-hander + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, political
    Keyword: monarchy, two-hander, royalty
    A Royal Wedding is looming. The Duchess and The Soon-to-be-Duchess are meeting face to face for the first time to go over everything you ever needed to know to become a duchess. There are rules. There’s a way of doing things. Remember, everybody is watching. And you don’t want to know what happens if you step out of line. Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! looks at the hidden costs of being the “luckiest girl in the world.”
  • Annie by Vivian J.O. Barnes
    Cast: 
    3–75
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: auditioning, black women and girls + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: auditioning, black women and girls, audience participation
    Annie is the Popeye's Chicken lady. But Annie has had enough of chicken. Annie is ready to audition for something new. Annie is here to show you she can do more. Will you let her?