Monica Trausch

Monica Trausch

Monica Trausch is a New York City based writer whose plays include Dear Cheryl Strayed; The ABCs; Border Crossing (semi-finalist, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference); and more. Her plays have been produced and developed with The Tank, Hollywood Fringe Festival, Something Marvelous, Exquisite Corpse Company, The Pantry, Rule of 7x7, UglyRhino, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the UCSB Studio Theatre, and...
Monica Trausch is a New York City based writer whose plays include Dear Cheryl Strayed; The ABCs; Border Crossing (semi-finalist, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference); and more. Her plays have been produced and developed with The Tank, Hollywood Fringe Festival, Something Marvelous, Exquisite Corpse Company, The Pantry, Rule of 7x7, UglyRhino, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the UCSB Studio Theatre, and internationally in Singapore and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and more. Monica is affiliated with Theatre Without Borders and has interned with New Dramatists, Women’s Project, and New Georges. She received her MFA from The Writer's Foundry where she studied with Leah Nanako Winkler.

Plays

  • Dear Cheryl Strayed by Monica Trausch
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: Ambition, mother and daughter + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, tragedy
    Keyword: Ambition, mother and daughter, coming of age, small town, dreams, antihero, Cheryl Strayed, wild
    Everyone thinks they're special, but what if you're not? Tammi's favorite author/fairy godmother Cheryl Strayed is special. Tammi's fantasy visions of herself and her boyfriend are totally special, too. Tammi believes that if she wins this big, fancy writer's fellowship, it'll be the push she needs to get out of Death Valley Junction and move to New York City. Tammi's...
    Everyone thinks they're special, but what if you're not? Tammi's favorite author/fairy godmother Cheryl Strayed is special. Tammi's fantasy visions of herself and her boyfriend are totally special, too. Tammi believes that if she wins this big, fancy writer's fellowship, it'll be the push she needs to get out of Death Valley Junction and move to New York City. Tammi's boyfriend and best friend seem to fine living in Death Valley Junction, why isn't she? It's a pregnancy and a visit from Tammi's estranged Mom, Maria, that pushes Tammi to finally take the plunge and commit to "getting out" of her small town life. But what happens when dreams go unfulfilled? When ambition fizzles?
  • The ABCs by Monica Trausch
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Body image, media images of women + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Keyword: Body image, media images of women, imaginary character, Kardashians, coming of age
    The ABCs explores fantasy and the imagination in the lives of teenage girls. Navigating the
    realm between childhood and adult hood, teenage girls are forced to give up the trappings of the
    young, like imaginary friends. They are thrust in a new, technologically unimaginable adult
    world filled with fantastical idols like the Kardashians. How can we ask teenagers to give up one
    fantasy...
    The ABCs explores fantasy and the imagination in the lives of teenage girls. Navigating the
    realm between childhood and adult hood, teenage girls are forced to give up the trappings of the
    young, like imaginary friends. They are thrust in a new, technologically unimaginable adult
    world filled with fantastical idols like the Kardashians. How can we ask teenagers to give up one
    fantasy for another? What happens when fantasy, imagination, and social media blend? How do
    teenagers navigate the world today when their “stories” can only be ten-seconds and will literally
    disappear on apps like Snapchat? The ABCs follows one girl on her quest for achievable
    perfection and fantasy fulfilled in a world that tells her that this is possible. The ABCs asks, how
    do you love yourself if you aren’t perfect? How do you find reality in a world of fake friends,
    fantastic idols, and adults who can’t begin to relate?
  • Border Crossing by Monica Trausch
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: adventure, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: asian, drug addiction + 4 more
    Genre: adventure, drama, fable/folktale, political
    Keyword: asian, drug addiction, English Teachers, clashing cultures, secrets, death and grief
    This play is a semi-Finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2015 National Playwrights Conference. Based on my experiences living and working in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, BORDER CROSSING, follows Edie and her friends Hayes, Vi, and Narak through a night stuck at the border between Cambodia and Thailand. As they mourn the loss of their friend, the secrets and lies between them will be unveiled. But will...
    This play is a semi-Finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2015 National Playwrights Conference. Based on my experiences living and working in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, BORDER CROSSING, follows Edie and her friends Hayes, Vi, and Narak through a night stuck at the border between Cambodia and Thailand. As they mourn the loss of their friend, the secrets and lies between them will be unveiled. But will their makeshift, cross-cultural family make it through the night? This play explores cultural tourism, death across different belief systems, and the friendships we make that become family.
  • Red Sky/Yellow Sun by Monica Trausch
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adventure, drama
    ·
    Keyword: India, South Asia + 5 more
    Genre: adventure, drama
    Keyword: India, South Asia, self-actualization, discovery, death, technology, travel
    When Mikey suffers the loss of her close friend, Amil, she begins to question everything in her life. A journey to Amil's homeland of India connects Mikey not only with Amil's mother Hema, but with herself.
  • Trans-Siberian Railway by Monica Trausch
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: adventure, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: travel, Russia + 2 more
    Genre: adventure, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, political
    Keyword: travel, Russia, trains, New York City
    What does it mean to fall in love, to live your dreams, to trust, to see the world, and to just get on the train and ride? A one-woman exploration, “Trans-Siberian Railway” takes Vera across Russia on the longest railway in the world.