Gary Earl Ross

Gary Earl Ross

Playwright and novelist Gary Earl Ross is a retired University at Buffalo professor. His work includes the plays Sleepwalker, Matter of Intent, Picture Perfect, The Best Woman, Murder Squared, The Scavenger’s Daughter, The Mark of Cain, and The Guns of Christmas and the books The Wheel of Desire, Shimmerville, Blackbird Rising, and the Gideon Rimes mystery novels Nickel City Blues,Nickel City Crossfire, Nickel...
Playwright and novelist Gary Earl Ross is a retired University at Buffalo professor. His work includes the plays Sleepwalker, Matter of Intent, Picture Perfect, The Best Woman, Murder Squared, The Scavenger’s Daughter, The Mark of Cain, and The Guns of Christmas and the books The Wheel of Desire, Shimmerville, Blackbird Rising, and the Gideon Rimes mystery novels Nickel City Blues,Nickel City Crossfire, Nickel City Storm Warning, and Nickel City Naked Lady. Ross’s plays have been performed in Buffalo, NY; New York, NY; Rochester, NY; Bend, OR; Knoxville, TN; Spring Lake, NJ; Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada; West Sussex, England; Manchester, England; London, England; Shanghai, China; Manipal, India; and Almaty, Kazakhstan. His honors include the Emanuel Fried Outstanding New Play Award and the Edgar Award from Mystery Writers of America (both for Matter of Intent), a second Emanuel Fried Award for The Guns of Christmas, a third for The Mark of Cain, a LIFT Fiction Fellowship, an ASI-DEC artist’s grant for fiction, a Saltonstall Foundation Playwriting Fellowship, a NYSCA Artist Grant for Stoker's Guest, and public radio commentary awards from the New York Associated Press and the New York Broadcasters Association. Visit him at www.garyearlross.net.

Plays

  • Breath at the Edge of the Storm by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 1 more
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    Keyword: African American, black + 8 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, political
    Keyword: African American, black, alt-right, racism, neo-Nazi, KKK, liberal vs right wing, Kidnapping, Torture, Unite the Right
    Last year, prominent black trauma surgeon Roman Palmer failed to save the life of a white supremacist shot by police at a violent racist rally. This morning Palmer wakes up chained to the floor of a rural cabin owned by the young man's parents. They have decided he will get the same three days their son spent on life support.
  • Stoker's Guest by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, horror + 1 more
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    Keyword: Bram Stoker, dracula + 6 more
    Genre: drama, horror, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: Bram Stoker, dracula, Jack the Ripper, murder, Whitby, Henry Irving, Victorian England, London
    In the summer of 1890, theatrical manager and minor novelist BRAM STOKER is weary after a provincial tour and goes on holiday in the North Sea town of Whitby. Taking a room in the Veazy boardinghouse, he visits the ruins of the Abbey and the site of the town's famous shipwreck. Later he meets the charismatic SIR WALTER and his manservant WREN. A baronet and a Harley Street physician, SIR WALTER suggests...
    In the summer of 1890, theatrical manager and minor novelist BRAM STOKER is weary after a provincial tour and goes on holiday in the North Sea town of Whitby. Taking a room in the Veazy boardinghouse, he visits the ruins of the Abbey and the site of the town's famous shipwreck. Later he meets the charismatic SIR WALTER and his manservant WREN. A baronet and a Harley Street physician, SIR WALTER suggests he and STOKER get to know each other during their time in Whitby. Surprised and pleased SIR WALTER has read one of his books, STOKER agrees and gradually reveals his idea for a vampire novel. Only too happy to offer suggestions. SIR WALTER begins to nudge an increasingly wary STOKER toward an unspeakable evil. Seven years after his fateful encounter with SIR WALTER, STOKER publishes his most famous work, Dracula.
  • The Trial of Trayvon Martin by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    9–10
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: trayvon martin, George Zimmerman + 8 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: trayvon martin, George Zimmerman, courtroom drama, African American, black lives matter, law, florida, guns, gun rights, Stand Your Ground
    A black teenager on his way home from a convenience store in Sanford, Florida, is followed by a Neighborhood Watch volunteer who thinks the boy is planning to commit a crime. A confrontation leads to a struggle. A gun discharges, one of them dies, and the other finds himself thrust into the criminal justice system. This ripped-from-the headlines drama explores what might have happened if the infamous events of...
    A black teenager on his way home from a convenience store in Sanford, Florida, is followed by a Neighborhood Watch volunteer who thinks the boy is planning to commit a crime. A confrontation leads to a struggle. A gun discharges, one of them dies, and the other finds himself thrust into the criminal justice system. This ripped-from-the headlines drama explores what might have happened if the infamous events of February 26, 2012—which inspired the Black Lives Matter movement—had gone differently.
  • The Mark of Cain by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    10
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: African American, courtroom drama + 1 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, mystery/thriller, political
    Keyword: African American, courtroom drama, History
    It’s the summer of 1925. In a northern industrial city, Dr. Ossian Cain buys his dream house . . . in an all-white neighborhood. A mob attacks the house to force the Cains out. Someone inside fires a shot, someone outside dies, and Dr. Cain, his wife Alice, his daughter Lizbeth, and his brother Marcellus are all arrested for murder. Can celebrated “attorney for the damned” Charles Durham, just back from the...
    It’s the summer of 1925. In a northern industrial city, Dr. Ossian Cain buys his dream house . . . in an all-white neighborhood. A mob attacks the house to force the Cains out. Someone inside fires a shot, someone outside dies, and Dr. Cain, his wife Alice, his daughter Lizbeth, and his brother Marcellus are all arrested for murder. Can celebrated “attorney for the damned” Charles Durham, just back from the Monkey Trial in Tennessee, save the Cain family from the electric chair?
  • Matter of Intent by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    12
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
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    Keyword: black, African American + 4 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: black, African American, Murder-mystery, courtroom drama, women, Lesbian
    Award-winning courtroom drama . . .
    It is 1960. Kennedy and Nixon are vying for the White House as lunch counter sit-ins spread throughout the South. Sam Cooke is on the radio, and The Untouchables is on television. Buffalo, New York, has so few black women lawyers they can be counted on a single hand. One of them, Temple Scott, is locked in the courtroom battle of her life. There is no doubt the young...
    Award-winning courtroom drama . . .
    It is 1960. Kennedy and Nixon are vying for the White House as lunch counter sit-ins spread throughout the South. Sam Cooke is on the radio, and The Untouchables is on television. Buffalo, New York, has so few black women lawyers they can be counted on a single hand. One of them, Temple Scott, is locked in the courtroom battle of her life. There is no doubt the young woman the press calls “the Negro Lizzie Borden” murdered her employer. To keep Mae Lou McKitchen out of the electric chair, however, Temple must uncover the truth behind the crime. Murder, you see, is always a matter of intent. Adapted and filmed in 2018 by Chhoti Productions of Mumbai, India, as State vs. Malti Mhaske.
  • The Scavenger's Daughter by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
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    Keyword: African American, mental illness + 3 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: African American, mental illness, Murder-mystery, Alzheimer's Disease, family
    Part African-American family drama and part murder mystery, The Scavenger’s Daughter explores the impact of senile dementia and mental instability on a single family. When their father John is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, middle-aged Alan, Brian, and Connie Pickett find themselves in a virtual war with their unstable stepmother Ruthie, who at every turn—whether through ignorance, stubbornness, or insecurity—...
    Part African-American family drama and part murder mystery, The Scavenger’s Daughter explores the impact of senile dementia and mental instability on a single family. When their father John is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, middle-aged Alan, Brian, and Connie Pickett find themselves in a virtual war with their unstable stepmother Ruthie, who at every turn—whether through ignorance, stubbornness, or insecurity—thwarts their efforts to secure John’s care and the family’s financial stability. Beginning at the scene of a murder-suicide that Detective Maxine Travis senses is really just murder, the play unfolds in police interrogations and a series of flashbacks. Travis must work her way through sibling conflicts, family secrets, and a case long cold until she understands what compelled Ruthie Pickett to point a gun at her husband and pull the trigger. Adapted and filmed in 2017 by Chhoti Preoductions of Mumbai, India, as Scavenger's Daughter.
  • The Guns of Christmas by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    11
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: war, World War I + 3 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, holiday, period, political
    Keyword: war, World War I, anti-war, truce, christmas
    It is December 24, 1914, on the Western Front of the Great War. Two squads of soldiers—one British, one German—face each other across the ruined terrain of No Man’s Land, which holds both the bodies of their fallen comrades and the promise of certain death for anyone who attempts to reach the enemy trench. But it is Christmas Eve, and the bombardments trail off early. Then, in the darkness, someone begins to...
    It is December 24, 1914, on the Western Front of the Great War. Two squads of soldiers—one British, one German—face each other across the ruined terrain of No Man’s Land, which holds both the bodies of their fallen comrades and the promise of certain death for anyone who attempts to reach the enemy trench. But it is Christmas Eve, and the bombardments trail off early. Then, in the darkness, someone begins to sing “Silent Night” and both sides recognize an opportunity for a brief peace unsanctioned by their commanders . . .
  • Murder Squared by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    7–10
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Murder-mystery, short stories + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: Murder-mystery, short stories, TV
    Murder Squared—the play the Buffalo News called “a most entertaining evening of theater.” Four stories, four crimes, four surprises. One singular evening of mystery and the unexpected. Inspired by The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Murder Squared is a celebration of the classic suspense story. As Artvoice noted, “In addition to being playfully clever, these are delightfully fun and entertaining...
    Murder Squared—the play the Buffalo News called “a most entertaining evening of theater.” Four stories, four crimes, four surprises. One singular evening of mystery and the unexpected. Inspired by The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Murder Squared is a celebration of the classic suspense story. As Artvoice noted, “In addition to being playfully clever, these are delightfully fun and entertaining.”

    The Murder Squared stories: “The Engineer,” “Anything for Money,” “The Heart of the Matter,” and “Return to Riverside Falls”
  • Real Friends by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
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    Keyword: Murder-mystery, African American
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: Murder-mystery, African American
    Paris, his brother Gordon Joseph (GoJo), and their friends AC and Will have been inseparable since childhood. When GoJo discovers the married Paris has died in a motel room with his mistress, he convinces AC and Will to help him safeguard his brother’s reputation and spare his family embarrassment. Friends help you move, someone remembers. Real friends help you move bodies. Only later do they suspect that Paris...
    Paris, his brother Gordon Joseph (GoJo), and their friends AC and Will have been inseparable since childhood. When GoJo discovers the married Paris has died in a motel room with his mistress, he convinces AC and Will to help him safeguard his brother’s reputation and spare his family embarrassment. Friends help you move, someone remembers. Real friends help you move bodies. Only later do they suspect that Paris’s death might not be a heart attack after all.
  • Picture Perfect by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    9
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    Genre: drama, horror + 1 more
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    Keyword: Murder-mystery, supernatural
    Genre: drama, horror, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: Murder-mystery, supernatural
    A stage thriller from the 2007 TSC New Play Festival. Criminal psychology professor Marcus Micheaux and his mystery writer wife Beverly Hatcher have the perfect life—until condemned serial killer Gunther Creel, whom Marcus interviewed extensively for his research, paints a portrait of them. After Creel’s execution the painting gradually begins to change—and so do Marcus and Beverly, until, along with their...
    A stage thriller from the 2007 TSC New Play Festival. Criminal psychology professor Marcus Micheaux and his mystery writer wife Beverly Hatcher have the perfect life—until condemned serial killer Gunther Creel, whom Marcus interviewed extensively for his research, paints a portrait of them. After Creel’s execution the painting gradually begins to change—and so do Marcus and Beverly, until, along with their closest friends, they are entangled in a widening web of betrayal, madness, and murder.
  • Sleepwalker: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Gary Earl Ross
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    15–20
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    Genre: adaptation, drama + 5 more
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    Keyword: classic movies, suspense + 1 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, experimental, horror, melodrama, mystery/thriller, period
    Keyword: classic movies, suspense, German Expressionism
    When a strange mystic with a zombie-like slave comes to a sleepy German village—and the bodies begin to pile up—it is up to Francis, a brave medical student, to unmask the killer. Can he do so in time to save his beloved Jane? This psychological thriller, performed in black and white costumes, is a stage version of the classic 1919 German Expressionist silent horror film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. With its...
    When a strange mystic with a zombie-like slave comes to a sleepy German village—and the bodies begin to pile up—it is up to Francis, a brave medical student, to unmask the killer. Can he do so in time to save his beloved Jane? This psychological thriller, performed in black and white costumes, is a stage version of the classic 1919 German Expressionist silent horror film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. With its large cast and crowd scenes, Sleepwalker is especially suitable for community theaters and schools.
  • The Best Woman by Gary Earl Ross
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: political intrigue, President + 2 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: political intrigue, President, feminist, African American
    Set in the not-too-distant future, in an America divided by war and cultural conflict . . .

    For the first time, both major party presidential candidates are women. Dr. Nea Gilchrist, former Secretary of State and the first African-American woman Vice President, must distance herself from Sam Houston Bullard, the conservative Republican President to whom she owes her political success. Senator...
    Set in the not-too-distant future, in an America divided by war and cultural conflict . . .

    For the first time, both major party presidential candidates are women. Dr. Nea Gilchrist, former Secretary of State and the first African-American woman Vice President, must distance herself from Sam Houston Bullard, the conservative Republican President to whom she owes her political success. Senator Amanda Dean Styles, a white northeastern liberal and the widow of Brendan Styles, a charismatic Democratic presidential candidate, must emerge from the shadows of the tragedy that shaped her political future. Tonight is their first debate . . .
  • Unforeseen Harmony, A One-Page Play by Gary Earl Ross
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Sex, LGBTQ
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental
    Keyword: Sex, LGBTQ
    Left alone while their partners go off to get to get pizza and a DVD, a man and woman have a moment of intense passion.
  • Dead Reckoning by Gary Earl Ross
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Murder-mystery, TV + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, mystery/thriller, satire
    Keyword: Murder-mystery, TV, psychic detective, Voiceover
    A legendary TV talk show host has as guests his favorite psychic and the female homicide detective she helped solve a series of murders. Then the murderer steps onto the set . . .
  • The Little Black Bag by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    3–4
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    Genre: adaptation, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: medicine, health care + 1 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, experimental, mystery/thriller, political, science fiction
    Keyword: medicine, health care, time travel
    Adapted from the classic science fiction novella by C.M. Kornbluth, “The Little Black Bag” tells the story of what happens an automated medical kit from the future is accidentally sent into the past and ends up in the hands of an alcoholic doctor in need of redemption.
  • A Simple Game with Death by Gary Earl Ross
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy
    Awakened by a dream portraying a fatal accident involving his son, a man discovers Death (a beautiful woman) in his living room, challenging him to a game to save his son's life.
  • The Man Who Saved the President, Almost by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: adaptation, docudrama/historic + 1 more
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    Keyword: African American, History
    Genre: adaptation, docudrama/historic, political
    Keyword: African American, History
    It is 1901 in Buffalo, scene of the Pan-American Exposition, where President William McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Soon after the death of President William McKinley, African-American waiter James Benjamin Parker waits in the back room of a church holding a rally in support of him for wrestling the assassin to the floor and preventing a third shot--even as officials deny his heroism ever...
    It is 1901 in Buffalo, scene of the Pan-American Exposition, where President William McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Soon after the death of President William McKinley, African-American waiter James Benjamin Parker waits in the back room of a church holding a rally in support of him for wrestling the assassin to the floor and preventing a third shot--even as officials deny his heroism ever happened. Adapted from a scene in the novel Blackbird Rising by Gary Earl Ross (Full Court Press, 2009).
  • Eye of the Beholder by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy
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    Keyword: Sex, blindness
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: Sex, blindness
    It is the morning after for a middle-aged woman who picked up a blind poet she heard at a reading in a bar.
  • Split Wit by Gary Earl Ross
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: murder, mystery + 1 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: murder, mystery, split brain syndrome
    Detective Maxine "Max" Travis investigates a homicide where the only witness is a young man disabled by "split brain syndrome," which means a severed corpus callosum prevents the hemispheres of his brain from communicating with each other. In short, he cannot name what he saw. How can Max get her witness to name the killer?