Eric Hissom

Eric works primarily as an actor, but is also a director and playwright. His adaptation of The Island of Doctor Moreau was produced at Orlando Shakespeare Theater and at Cape May Stage. His Shakespeare and the Zombie Plague of 1590 (written with Richard Henry) was workshopped at Orlando Shakespeare's PlayFest, and at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. His Rude Mechanics was workshopped at PlayFest as well, and at the Arden Theater, and Folger Shakespeare Theatre. His one-act plays Daybreak and Dead Man Flying received Best of the Fringe honors at the Orlando International Fringe Festival.

Eric works primarily as an actor, but is also a director and playwright. His adaptation of The Island of Doctor Moreau was produced at Orlando Shakespeare Theater and at Cape May Stage. His Shakespeare and the Zombie Plague of 1590 (written with Richard Henry) was workshopped at Orlando Shakespeare's PlayFest, and at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. His Rude Mechanics was workshopped at PlayFest as well, and at the Arden Theater, and Folger Shakespeare Theatre. His one-act plays Daybreak and Dead Man Flying received Best of the Fringe honors at the Orlando International Fringe Festival.

Scripts

Rude Mechanics

by Eric Hissom

Cast Size
4
Genre
biography,
comedy,
commedia dell'arte,
drama,
farce,
movement/physical,
parody/spoof,
period,
romantic comedy,
satire

A slyly anachronistic period farce, full of slapstick, but delving into serious themes resonant with contemporary issues, such as gender-fluidity, authoritarianism, and drag! A contagion has thrust an understudy in Shakespeare's troupe into a major role and, on a night fraught with political intrigue, he frantically rehearses for a performance in King James' Court.

A slyly anachronistic period farce, full of slapstick, but delving into serious themes resonant with contemporary issues, such as gender-fluidity, authoritarianism, and drag! A contagion has thrust an understudy in Shakespeare's troupe into a major role and, on a night fraught with political intrigue, he frantically rehearses for a performance in King James' Court.

Shakespeare and the Zombie Plague of 1590 (cowritten with Richard Henry)

by Eric Hissom

1
Cast Size
9
Genre
adaptation,
adventure,
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
farce,
horror,
movement/physical,
parody/spoof,
period,
satire,
science fiction

In 1590’s England, emerging young playwright William Shakespeare is drawn into one of his own plays where Macbeth and his Witches conjure a horde of Zombies to destroy Queen Elizabeth and a cast of the Bard’s most famous characters. This epic adventure follows our reluctant hero as he tries to find his voice as a writer and save the world from the undead in a rock and roll horror comedy mash up.

In 1590’s England, emerging young playwright William Shakespeare is drawn into one of his own plays where Macbeth and his Witches conjure a horde of Zombies to destroy Queen Elizabeth and a cast of the Bard’s most famous characters. This epic adventure follows our reluctant hero as he tries to find his voice as a writer and save the world from the undead in a rock and roll horror comedy mash up.

Believe

by Eric Hissom

Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
political,
satire

A mixed-race couple is surprised by a pregnancy and struggles to decide how to proceed given where they are in their lives, and where the country is headed politically. As they grapple with this, they each have provocative encounters with other people, and find their beliefs shifting. Woven in is a broader exploration of belief, particularly in “America” and its proverbial “dream.”

A mixed-race couple is surprised by a pregnancy and struggles to decide how to proceed given where they are in their lives, and where the country is headed politically. As they grapple with this, they each have provocative encounters with other people, and find their beliefs shifting. Woven in is a broader exploration of belief, particularly in “America” and its proverbial “dream.”

KILL WHITEY! My Play About Race

by Eric Hissom

Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
political,
satire

A darkly comic and artfully awkward satire on contemporary America, addressing intersectional oppression, mental illness, public health, online culture, and more.

A darkly comic and artfully awkward satire on contemporary America, addressing intersectional oppression, mental illness, public health, online culture, and more.

Appropriation

by Eric Hissom

Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
political,
romantic comedy,
satire

A full tilt battle of the sexes, and races, twisted up in a meta-theatrical romantic comedy, as two writers, a young black woman and a middle-aged white man, vie for the authorship of what turns out to be this very play.

A full tilt battle of the sexes, and races, twisted up in a meta-theatrical romantic comedy, as two writers, a young black woman and a middle-aged white man, vie for the authorship of what turns out to be this very play.

The Island of Doctor Moreau

by Eric Hissom

1
Cast Size
1
Genre
adaptation,
adventure,
horror

An stirring one-man show, based on the H.G. Wells novel. Faithful to the source, but not slavishly so, resonating deeply with contemporary attitudes and aesthetics. Fast-paced and suspenseful, yet poignant, philosophically probing, and darkly humorous. A single actor brings to life the entire cast of bizarre characters in a tour-de-force performance.

An stirring one-man show, based on the H.G. Wells novel. Faithful to the source, but not slavishly so, resonating deeply with contemporary attitudes and aesthetics. Fast-paced and suspenseful, yet poignant, philosophically probing, and darkly humorous. A single actor brings to life the entire cast of bizarre characters in a tour-de-force performance.