Deb Hiett

Deb Hiett

Deb Hiett’s most recent play, "90024 Westwood: The Information Herein is Classified" was commissioned by Antaeus Theatre Company, Los Angeles, and released as an audio play in November 2020. Her short comedy film “Gratitude Jar Time Capsule” just won “Best Comedy Television Pilot” in the 2020 Atlanta Comedy Film Festival.

Some of Deb’s full-length plays include “The Super Variety Match...
Deb Hiett’s most recent play, "90024 Westwood: The Information Herein is Classified" was commissioned by Antaeus Theatre Company, Los Angeles, and released as an audio play in November 2020. Her short comedy film “Gratitude Jar Time Capsule” just won “Best Comedy Television Pilot” in the 2020 Atlanta Comedy Film Festival.

Some of Deb’s full-length plays include “The Super Variety Match Bonus Round!” (Rogue Machine Theater, Los Angeles), “Miss Keller Has No Second Book” (Gulfshore Playhouse, Naples, FL), “The Escape Thingy” and “The Clearing in the Jacoby,” (both Finalists for the Reva Shiner Comedy Award). Her short play “The Presentation” was in the 2017 Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival, and was a Finalist for 2017 Heideman Award.

Deb’s short film “Open House” won Los Angeles Film Festival/FunnyorDie’s “Make ‘Em LAFF” Showcase, Best Comedy Short at the Women in Comedy Festival Film Night, and Best Video Short at iOWest’s Funny Women LA Festival. Her short film “A Bit of Counseling” (co-written with Richard Kuhlman) won the Audience Awards at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival.

She’s also an actress, musician, and regular panelist on the NPR comedy/quiz show “Says You!” More at www.DebHiett.com.

Plays

  • Circle Forward by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: love, family + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: love, family, reincarnation, forgiveness, memory, abusive relationships, selective memory, grief, secrets
    Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager, Ethan, who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When Ethan and his mom Lexi come to Mia's house for lunch, Mia must face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.
    Selected for Durango Playfest workshop 2024 (Colorado), Gulfshore Playhouse’s New Works Festival (Naples, FL), September 2023; and...
    Seventeen years after the loss of her young husband from cancer, Mia meets a teenager, Ethan, who believes he is the reincarnation of her late husband. When Ethan and his mom Lexi come to Mia's house for lunch, Mia must face her doubts, her past, and the whole truth.
    Selected for Durango Playfest workshop 2024 (Colorado), Gulfshore Playhouse’s New Works Festival (Naples, FL), September 2023; and the Antaeus Theatre Company “Lab Results” Staged Reading Series, April 2022; Finalist for Local Theatre Company New Play Festival 2024 (Boulder, CO); Semi-Finalist for 2024 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and 2023-2024 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting.
  • Miss Keller Has No Second Book by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: family, love + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: family, love, women, social media, death, addiction, Recovery, forgiveness, Seniors
    *World Premiere Gulfshore Playhouse, March/April 2018
    *Staged Reading at Writers Theatre of New Jersey, January 2019
    *Staged Reading at New Jersey Repertory Company, March 2017
    *Selection, 2016 Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival
    *Finalist, 2017 Ashland New Play Festival
    *Finalist, 2017 Local Lab 2017 New Play Festival (Boulder)
    *Finalist, 2015-...
    *World Premiere Gulfshore Playhouse, March/April 2018
    *Staged Reading at Writers Theatre of New Jersey, January 2019
    *Staged Reading at New Jersey Repertory Company, March 2017
    *Selection, 2016 Gulfshore Playhouse New Works Festival
    *Finalist, 2017 Ashland New Play Festival
    *Finalist, 2017 Local Lab 2017 New Play Festival (Boulder)
    *Finalist, 2015-2016 Route 66 Theatre Company New Play Workshop (Chicago)
    *Semifinalist, 2016 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
    *Semifinalist, 2016 PlayPenn New Play Development Conference
    *Semifinalist, 2016 Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship


    It’s been nearly 50 years since the notoriously reclusive Agnes Keller published her first and only book. Now, in the wake of a life-changing event, Agnes must face the pressures from outside her small sanctuary as she grapples with the inevitability of change, the tangled tethers of family, and the question of an artist’s obligation to the world.
  • The Super Variety Match Bonus Round! by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 13
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
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    Keyword: family, love + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: family, love, androgyny, Drugs, death, women, grief, racism, marriage, gender fluid
    "Top Ten World Premiere Plays 2016-2017" -- StageSceneLA
    "Ingenious..." -- The Los Angeles Times
    "Undeniably hilarious, unexpectedly moving, and utterly unique..." -- StageSceneLA

    For Mags Eagleton, the world has become a scary place kept fiercely at bay by the confines of her well-worn recliner. When her loving husband Erns surprises her by renting...
    "Top Ten World Premiere Plays 2016-2017" -- StageSceneLA
    "Ingenious..." -- The Los Angeles Times
    "Undeniably hilarious, unexpectedly moving, and utterly unique..." -- StageSceneLA

    For Mags Eagleton, the world has become a scary place kept fiercely at bay by the confines of her well-worn recliner. When her loving husband Erns surprises her by renting their late son's bedroom to a very modern kid who is visiting their rural Texas town for a three-day desert music festival, things take a turn for the trippy. This rollicking comedy explores the risks of desperate love, the exemplary form of the 1970s game show, and the psychedelic side effects of fear your doctor may not have warned you about.

    The Rogue Machine Theatre Production (World Premiere) opened November 2016, was "Ovation Recommended" (L.A. Stage Alliance), voted "Top World Premieres of 2016/2017" by StageSceneLA, and was extended twice by popular demand.
  • The Escape Thingy by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
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    Keyword: activism, protest + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: activism, protest, millennials, generational divide, belief vs truth, Escape Room, alternative facts, History, love, found family
    FINALIST: 2018 Reva Shiner Comedy Award. SEMIFINALIST: 2018 Ashland New Play Festival, 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2018 Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival. Two very different couples meet in an "Escape Room" game night, each needing very different types of escape. The clock is literally ticking as they attempt to solve the puzzles, distinguish facts from alternative facts, and weigh the...
    FINALIST: 2018 Reva Shiner Comedy Award. SEMIFINALIST: 2018 Ashland New Play Festival, 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2018 Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival. Two very different couples meet in an "Escape Room" game night, each needing very different types of escape. The clock is literally ticking as they attempt to solve the puzzles, distinguish facts from alternative facts, and weigh the risks of unlocking the door to the dangerous world outside.
  • The Clearing in the Jacoby by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
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    Keyword: love, death + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: love, death, musical, connection, redemption, found family, magical realism, afterlife, family
    FINALIST: 2019 Reva Shiner Comedy Award, 2019 Garry Marshall New Works Festival. In an ancient Australian forest famous for being an international destination for committing suicide, five very different people find themselves in need of elusive answers, each other, and a government employee named Sharon.
  • The Presentation by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: women, family + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: women, family, women in the workplace, family vs. career, female empowerment
    *Finalist, 2017 Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival *Finalist, 2017 Heideman Award, Actor's Theatre of Louisville

    A young woman struggles to understand what happened on the day of her first big corporate presentation. Ten-minute play.
  • Rolling by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy
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    Keyword: comedy, show business
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: comedy, show business
    When The Besto Pesto Palace hires a formerly-famous, classically-trained, somewhat recalcitrant celebrity to shoot their first television commercial, nothing goes as planned. (10-minute play)
  • Chain Link by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: refugee, detention center + 6 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: refugee, detention center, Syrian Civil War, teenagers, love, connection, disconnection, technology
    Two young people from very different worlds find themselves connected by an unlikely string.
  • Call Time by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: teenagers, high school plays + 6 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: teenagers, high school plays, high school actors, thespians, coming of age, love, rap, theater nerds
    A group of misfit drama kids break into their abandoned high school auditorium in search of one last night of connection, hope, rhymes, and Fritos. (SEMIFINALIST, Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival 2022 & Ashland New Play Festival 2019)
  • Recess by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: addiction, judicial system + 1 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: addiction, judicial system, childhood friendship
    Two former classmates meet under unusual circumstances.
  • Holding by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, political
    *Semifinalist, 2015 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference

    Three worldviews collide when a wealthy American woman finds herself stuck with an Egyptian traveler, questioned by a small-town sergeant in a police holding room in Ireland.
    Marisa is desperate for anything that might help her get out of the handcuffs in which she wakes up, and Omar, her Egyptian roommate, might be someone...
    *Semifinalist, 2015 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference

    Three worldviews collide when a wealthy American woman finds herself stuck with an Egyptian traveler, questioned by a small-town sergeant in a police holding room in Ireland.
    Marisa is desperate for anything that might help her get out of the handcuffs in which she wakes up, and Omar, her Egyptian roommate, might be someone different than he appears to be. Sergeant McGovern struggles to maintain his small-town authority in a post-9/11 world, and the three of them must face how their perceptions affect their perceived positions.
  • Safe Haven: A Video Call Play by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 1 more
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    Keyword: zoom, video call + 8 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, zoom
    Keyword: zoom, video call, domestic violence, Therapy, Relationships, online, Covid-19, shelter-in-place, Social distancing, Quarantine
    A social worker tries to help a young woman who is struggling to free herself from an abusive relationship, but in the world today, it's hard to find a safe haven.
  • Momma Peg's Kitchen by Deb Hiett
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy
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    Keyword: cooking, kitchen + 1 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: cooking, kitchen, older Southern women
    Unlikely cooking sensation Momma Peg attempts her first live studio audience broadcast cooking show and finds the recipes she's baking are not the only things that are falling apart.