Doug Brook

Doug Brook

Doug Brook has written twenty plays produced or otherwise recognized in festivals nationwide. Executive Director of Silicon Valley Shakespeare (2015-2021), co-founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Chevruta (2013-2018). An active actor and director, including numerous locally awarded musicals. New York productions include "Retrograde" (Theatre Row, 42nd Street), and "What Ever Happened to...
Doug Brook has written twenty plays produced or otherwise recognized in festivals nationwide. Executive Director of Silicon Valley Shakespeare (2015-2021), co-founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Chevruta (2013-2018). An active actor and director, including numerous locally awarded musicals. New York productions include "Retrograde" (Theatre Row, 42nd Street), and "What Ever Happened to HanuClaus?" (SoHo). In the San Francisco Bay Area, his work has been performed at Actors’ Theatre (Santa Cruz), The Pear Theatre, The Dragon, Tabard Theatre, Theatre Chevruta, Silicon Valley Shakespeare, and Ross Valley Players. Longtime VP of the Alliance for Jewish Theatre, member of The Dramatists Guild, Alabama native, studied writing and theatre at Carnegie Mellon University.

Plays

  • Original Synergy (online edition) by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, satire + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Biblical satire, corporate satire + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, satire, zoom
    Keyword: Biblical satire, corporate satire, online, zoom, comedy, meta, Genesis, office life
    "Original Synergy" has been adapted to online performance!

    In the beginning, God created... a committee. This corporate and biblical satire chronicles the actual events behind Creation, as abridged in Genesis. The Big G assembles a committee of his Ego, Super Ego, Id, Left Brain, Right Brain, and – once woman is created – Feminine Side. The result shows how the world was created by...
    "Original Synergy" has been adapted to online performance!

    In the beginning, God created... a committee. This corporate and biblical satire chronicles the actual events behind Creation, as abridged in Genesis. The Big G assembles a committee of his Ego, Super Ego, Id, Left Brain, Right Brain, and – once woman is created – Feminine Side. The result shows how the world was created by committee, which explains a lot.
  • The Hood of Sherwood by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    11–15
    ·
    Genre: adventure, comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Robin Hood, Sherwood + 2 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, fable/folktale, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Robin Hood, Sherwood, Classic, action
    This adventure merges classic Robin Hood tales with a contemporary sensibility. How did Robin and his band of merry men (and women) band together? Who are some of the original characters we don't usually see? Robin and his crew help those less fortunate, until crossing Guy of Gisbourne and then the Sheriff of Nottingham. Robin is jailed, the Sheriff plots a revolution, and only these noble outlaws can save...
    This adventure merges classic Robin Hood tales with a contemporary sensibility. How did Robin and his band of merry men (and women) band together? Who are some of the original characters we don't usually see? Robin and his crew help those less fortunate, until crossing Guy of Gisbourne and then the Sheriff of Nottingham. Robin is jailed, the Sheriff plots a revolution, and only these noble outlaws can save the day, in a timeless story where nobility comes not from noble title, but from noble service.
  • Lot in Life by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Bible, comedy + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, faith-based, satire
    Keyword: Bible, comedy, Lot, Lot's Wife, Genesis
    As a rabbi begins a talk about the biblical story of Lot, Lot's Wife steps out of the story to retell it from her own salty perspective. She meets Lot in the desert at the local watering hole, marry, and deal with "crazy Uncle Abraham's" new religion that has the neighbors talking. Famine and captivity ensue, and urged by mysterious visitors, the family flees Sodom in the nick of time only...
    As a rabbi begins a talk about the biblical story of Lot, Lot's Wife steps out of the story to retell it from her own salty perspective. She meets Lot in the desert at the local watering hole, marry, and deal with "crazy Uncle Abraham's" new religion that has the neighbors talking. Famine and captivity ensue, and urged by mysterious visitors, the family flees Sodom in the nick of time only to see Lot's Wife meet her infamous end, and she watches powerless as her family meets theirs.

    The play is best performed with minimal sets, as the characters move without transition from one setting to the next.
  • The Case of the Cereal Killer by Doug Brook
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: film noir, satire + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, mystery/thriller, satire
    Keyword: film noir, satire, mystery, detective, family dysfunction
    It was a Monday like any other Monday, except that it wasn't. Mason makes a bowl of cereal and steps out for the newspaper. When he returns, the cereal is gone. In his trenchcoat, fedora, and pajamas, Mason goes through each member of his family to find the culprit, but what he finds is... The Case of the Cereal Killer.
  • Retrograde by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: office life, Relationships
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: office life, Relationships
    A retrograde is a musical construct, wherein a melody goes in a certain direction, then concludes by repeating itself exactly in reverse. Lynn and John are co-workers who hate each other and are forced to work together. Through short segments that span many weeks, their relationship goes through a retrograde: from hate to love and in exact reverse to hate again.
    Published in "Eight Tens @ 8...
    A retrograde is a musical construct, wherein a melody goes in a certain direction, then concludes by repeating itself exactly in reverse. Lynn and John are co-workers who hate each other and are forced to work together. Through short segments that span many weeks, their relationship goes through a retrograde: from hate to love and in exact reverse to hate again.
    Published in "Eight Tens @ 8 Festival – Thirty Ten-Minute Plays from the Santa Cruz Festivals I-VI" by Smith & Kraus.
  • Finding God by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: god, agnosticism + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Keyword: god, agnosticism, Relationships, parenthood
    Molly returns home early from Europe. Her parents, happy for her return, are even more delighted to hear that Molly found God while away... Until God walks into the living room, changing their lives forever. Or is he really God after all?
  • The Miles High Club by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    3–5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: space, NASA
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: space, NASA
    NASA official Kinsey interviews an astronaut couple, Jones and Conley, for the first manned Mars mission, so NASA can study long-term effects on a marriage during a three-year trip. The interview becomes less routine as it broaches more into certain marital relations in space. Ambitions for space wrestle with desire for privacy. Will they put aside their inhibitions in the name of science, or give up outer space for personal space?
  • Richardcrantz and Guildenthird, Still Dead (a Richard III Epilogue) by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, satire
    ·
    Keyword: based on Shakespeare, rosencrantz + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, satire
    Keyword: based on Shakespeare, rosencrantz, guildenstern, Richard III, contemporary shakespeare, Shakespeare
    After the events of Shakespeare's "Richard III," Richard encounters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Aren't they dead? Does that mean he is, too? How did he get to be here? Where is here?
  • The Other Riddle of the Caskets by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, satire
    ·
    Keyword: based on Shakespeare, contemporary shakespeare + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, satire
    Keyword: based on Shakespeare, contemporary shakespeare, Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
    Somewhere between II:ix and III:ii of "The Merchant of Venice," Portia and Nerissa are surprised by another gentleman caller to try his hand at the riddle of the caskets. However, Tim takes a different approach which could bring new meaning to everything that transpires later.
  • What Ever Happened to HanuClaus? by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: hanukkah, Chanukah + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, faith-based, satire
    Keyword: hanukkah, Chanukah, holiday
    Santa Claus and his blue-suited counterpart HanuClaus are finding liquid courage as they muster up for the holiday season. The new barmaid, Ginny, does not recognize HanuClaus, setting him off about how both he and the purpose of his holiday are forgotten. HanuClaus and Santa wind up pulling no punches in the unholiest bar fight in the history of religion.
  • Original Synergy (stage edition) by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, faith-based + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Bible, Genesis + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, faith-based, satire
    Keyword: Bible, Genesis, business satire, corporate satire, office life, satire
    In the beginning, God created... a committee. This corporate and biblical satire chronicles the actual events behind Creation, as abridged in Genesis. The Big G assembles a committee of his Ego, Super Ego, Id, Left Brain, Right Brain, and – once woman is created – Feminine Side. The result shows how the world was created by committee, which explains a lot.
  • Last Call by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: supernatural, parental death
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: supernatural, parental death
    Sally and Bill are finally sorting through her parents' things, years after the night both separately died. When they plug in her mother's antique phone from that night... it rings. The call and caller will change their lives forever.
  • Murder of the First by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, satire
    ·
    Keyword: Cain, Abel + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, satire
    Keyword: Cain, Abel, Bible, Murder-mystery
    Cain is being interrogated by a G-Man about the disappearance of his brother Abel. The Bible meets murder mystery as facts are uncovered, covers unravel, and the inevitable end arrives.
  • Attention Surplus Disorder by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: ADD
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Keyword: ADD
    Mitchell visits a therapist's office struggling to get help for a rare disorder that he's afraid he has, which enables him to do increasingly unusual feats such as reading an entire book or sitting through an entire film or conversation.
  • Two Jews by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Two Jews walk into a bar. It's a quiet bar, until they silently sit and mayhem breaks out around them. Couples fight, coworkers argue, flirtations are flung... All while the two men silently share one round of drinks, after which the inevitable conclusion arrives.
  • Alternate Proposal by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, romantic comedy
    Celia wears a look like she's just been proposed to by Tom, because she has. She answers with questions of her own, and a mutual critique of the proposal unfolds across the restaurant table, taking these two lifelong soulmates far beyond a simple yes or no.
  • The Big Fish Story by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, faith-based + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, faith-based, satire
    Jonah and a friend sit outside his tent watching the big game, when Jonah hears God's voice ordering him to warn the city of Ninevah about their imminent destruction. Pious as Jonah isn't, he instead flees on a ship which is soon beset by stormy seas. Realizing Jonah is the cause, he goes overboard and ends up in the belly of a big fish or three days. After the solitude and smell change his ways, he...
    Jonah and a friend sit outside his tent watching the big game, when Jonah hears God's voice ordering him to warn the city of Ninevah about their imminent destruction. Pious as Jonah isn't, he instead flees on a ship which is soon beset by stormy seas. Realizing Jonah is the cause, he goes overboard and ends up in the belly of a big fish or three days. After the solitude and smell change his ways, he warns Ninevah who immediately repent and are spared. Jonah hates that Ninevah was spared, so God teaches him an object lesson at the expense of a lovely shade tree.
  • For the Record by Doug Brook
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, satire
    ·
    Keyword: contemporary satire, entertainment industry
    Genre: comedy, satire
    Keyword: contemporary satire, entertainment industry
    In an entertainment industry office, L.P. and Cass lament the trials of the ever-changing world around them. They're joined by the rustic 8-Track, and things boil over between them all, until a youngster, C.D., arrives and supplants them all.