Heather Beasley

Heather Beasley

Heather Beasley is a Colorado-based playwright, director, and dramaturg. She is Associate Artistic Director with the Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado (BETC), where she oversees the BETC Writers Group, Science Shorts, (Inter)Generations playwriting course for high school students and older adults, and the Generations new play development program. She teaches in the Professional Creative Writing and Arts and...
Heather Beasley is a Colorado-based playwright, director, and dramaturg. She is Associate Artistic Director with the Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado (BETC), where she oversees the BETC Writers Group, Science Shorts, (Inter)Generations playwriting course for high school students and older adults, and the Generations new play development program. She teaches in the Professional Creative Writing and Arts and Cultural Management graduate programs for the University of Denver. For Naropa University's MFA Contemporary Performance program, she taught courses in performance studies, arts administration, and writing about performance from 2017-2020, and received the 2019-20 Faculty Involvement Award. She has also worked with Imagination Makers Theatre Company, Seattle Public Theatre, the University of Colorado Boulder's Eklund Opera, and Nebraska and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals.

Plays

  • The Gentle Life-Changing Magic of Burning it All Down to the Ground by Heather Beasley
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: mother, Daughter + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: mother, Daughter, family, hoarding, aging, dementia, gaming, grief, healing, housecleaning
    After her father's death, a game developer sells her parents' house, against the wishes of her hoarder mother. Now the house must be empty in thirty days. It's a massive mess, and they'll try any method that might help. Friendly bets? Therapy? Sparking joy? Decluttering detox? They're all fair game...and both women are playing to win. A wry dramedy about the things we carry with us and...
    After her father's death, a game developer sells her parents' house, against the wishes of her hoarder mother. Now the house must be empty in thirty days. It's a massive mess, and they'll try any method that might help. Friendly bets? Therapy? Sparking joy? Decluttering detox? They're all fair game...and both women are playing to win. A wry dramedy about the things we carry with us and the memories we can't live without.
  • Amelia's Big Idea (co-written with Richie Cannaday and Edie Chase Carey) by Heather Beasley
    Cast: 
    4–6
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    Genre: adventure, musical + 2 more
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    Keyword: civic engagement, park + 4 more
    Genre: adventure, musical, political, young audiences
    Keyword: civic engagement, park, small town politics, library, mayor, city council
    Ten-year-old Amelia Smart wants to build a dog park. Her pet Gadget needs a safe place to play, but her big idea to transform Townville will take a lot of work! Along the way, Amelia will need help from the Mayor, the Librarian, Mr. Delivery, and others. Kids learn about teamwork, community, and civic ambition through catchy songs and live acoustic music. Warning: You might take some big ideas home with you.
  • Bone Records by Heather Beasley
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5–6
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    Genre: adventure, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: romance, Russia + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: romance, Russia, censorship, 1950s, Politics, adventure, Stalin, Stalinism, communism
    In Communist Leningrad, three childhood friends form an unlikely alliance to bootleg American records. As Soviet leadership transitions from Stalin to Khrushchev, new hopes arise that cultural censorship may end at last. But can these three outsmart the secret police, outrun the Russian Mafia, and keep from betraying each other til the transformation comes? A tale of smuggled music, stolen moments, and...
    In Communist Leningrad, three childhood friends form an unlikely alliance to bootleg American records. As Soviet leadership transitions from Stalin to Khrushchev, new hopes arise that cultural censorship may end at last. But can these three outsmart the secret police, outrun the Russian Mafia, and keep from betraying each other til the transformation comes? A tale of smuggled music, stolen moments, and underground rock and roll during the Cold War.
  • The Second by Heather Beasley
    Cast: 
    9–12
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    Genre: biography, comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: Shakespeare, Ben Jonson + 3 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, docudrama/historic, period, political, satire
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Globe, rivalry, political satire
    Ben is a bricklayer who loves to write. His first play is so controversial, he’s arrested. The censors close down all the theatres in London, so no one can produce it...or anything else. While bouncing back from his first debacle, Ben writes another script in an attempt to win a Mermaid Tavern bar bet. With each new success, new rivals come between him and his dreams of fame and fortune. Will Ben ever be able...
    Ben is a bricklayer who loves to write. His first play is so controversial, he’s arrested. The censors close down all the theatres in London, so no one can produce it...or anything else. While bouncing back from his first debacle, Ben writes another script in an attempt to win a Mermaid Tavern bar bet. With each new success, new rivals come between him and his dreams of fame and fortune. Will Ben ever be able to escape his humble roots to achieve a career in the theatre? A writers’ story of rivalry, friendship, making art, and making history. Also a mostly true story about the creation of "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Every Man in His Humour."