Dana Lynn Formby

Dana Lynn Formby

Dana Lynn Formby is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists where she is a proud faculty member and designer of The Essentials to Playwriting program at Chicago Dramatists. She was a finalist for the 2016 Emory Fellowship in Playwriting as well as a finalist or semi finalist for the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Princess Grace Award for playwriting. Dana's most recent play, EM ’N’ NAM will be in Stage Left’s...
Dana Lynn Formby is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists where she is a proud faculty member and designer of The Essentials to Playwriting program at Chicago Dramatists. She was a finalist for the 2016 Emory Fellowship in Playwriting as well as a finalist or semi finalist for the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Princess Grace Award for playwriting. Dana's most recent play, EM ’N’ NAM will be in Stage Left’s Leap Fest this year. Her play, THE PLAY THAT USED TO BE TITLED ‘1247 LIKES’ DECIDES TO GO DANCING IN THE CEMETERY, was commissioned by Theater Emory. THE LABELER was a 2016 finalist for the American Blues Theatre Blue Ink Award and was read at Luna Stage in 2017. This play, JOHNNY 10 BEERS' DAUGHTER was a finalist for the O'Neill 2016 National Playwrights Conference. Her play AMERICAN BEAUTY SHOP was published by Bloomsbury Methuen in conjunction with the world premiere at Chicago Dramatists last year. Her play UNTIL DEATH was produced in 2015 at Concordia University Chicago in association with Chicago Dramatists. Dana is represented by The Robert A. Freedman Dramatic Agency in New York. Website: http://www.danalynnformby.com

Plays

  • The Woman, The Dog and The Machete by Dana Lynn Formby
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: microaggressions
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, movement/physical, political
    Keyword: microaggressions
    Twelve jurors decide the fate of a man accused of assault and battery of with a deadly weapon against a woman and her dog. Can these twelve find common ground or will they hang on their verdict? An absurd play where six performers play the dirty dozen.
  • Until Death (Do us Part) by Dana Lynn Formby
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    6–10
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    Genre: comedy, faith-based + 5 more
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    Keyword: family, bringing people together + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, faith-based, fantasy, movement/physical, parody/spoof, satire, young audiences
    Keyword: family, bringing people together, cancer, Ithinkthisisn'treadybutamanwoulduploadit
    Devon Thompson is head-over-heels in love and, inspired by her feminist upbringing, breaks tradition and proposes to her boyfriend, Josiah Boor. There's only one problem: Josiah's family is Mormon, and his mother has a very different opinion on traditional gender roles and what it means to be family. As their battles play out in epic fantasy, the two come to realize that the deep roots of familial...
    Devon Thompson is head-over-heels in love and, inspired by her feminist upbringing, breaks tradition and proposes to her boyfriend, Josiah Boor. There's only one problem: Josiah's family is Mormon, and his mother has a very different opinion on traditional gender roles and what it means to be family. As their battles play out in epic fantasy, the two come to realize that the deep roots of familial love are far more important than the cultural and social differences that keep them apart.
  • The Play That Used to be Titled "1247 Likes" Decides to Go Dancing in The Cemetery: a new play with its own agency by Dana Lynn Formby
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: metatheatrical, feminism + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, parody/spoof, satire
    Keyword: metatheatrical, feminism, angry feminists
    An off the rails comedy about two best friends from different economic classes, their love of cheese, and a wrestle to death over politics. This battle leads the characters to surprising places, ultimately asking the most human question of all, can we get along?
  • There's an Ocean in Nebraska by Dana Lynn Formby
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: adventure, comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: road trip, metatheatrical + 4 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, drama, fantasy
    Keyword: road trip, metatheatrical, bipolar disorder, Mental Health, healing, Ithinkitisapieceofshitbutamanwoulduploadit
    In the topsy-turvy world of There's an Ocean in Nebraska, adventures are quickly threatening chaos. 9-year-old Queenie is on the run after stealing her new best friend Gus, the talking blowfish, from a pet store. Struggling actor Peter is desperate to perform while his mother haunts him with guilt. Samantha is trying to pull together her family spinning out of control. At the center of it all is Grace, a...
    In the topsy-turvy world of There's an Ocean in Nebraska, adventures are quickly threatening chaos. 9-year-old Queenie is on the run after stealing her new best friend Gus, the talking blowfish, from a pet store. Struggling actor Peter is desperate to perform while his mother haunts him with guilt. Samantha is trying to pull together her family spinning out of control. At the center of it all is Grace, a woman trying to find her way back home. By turns hallucinatory, hilarious, and deeply moving, this exciting new work by Chicago playwright Dana Lynn Formby takes us on an unexpected journey to the possibility of healing.
  • Em 'n' Nam by Dana Lynn Formby
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: commedia dell'arte, dark comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: absurdism, abuse of power + 3 more
    Genre: commedia dell'arte, dark comedy, drama, experimental, movement/physical, pantomime, satire, tragedy
    Keyword: absurdism, abuse of power, clown-on-clown violence, evil clowns, sexual harassment
    All Em wants is to make the best egg sandwich in the history of egg sandwiches. When she enlists her culinary professor Nam to teach her how she learns that everything in the food arts must be done on purpose. As she tries to figure out how to learn correctly it ends up costing her something she didn't know she had.

  • The Labeler by Dana Lynn Formby
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Two sisters, one “successful” and one “…not so much”, must agree on the best way to lay their mother to rest. As they search for that answer they discover their mom left them a piece of her in the form of a podcast, downloadable on iTunes. This is a hilarious, heartbreaking, suspenseful play that examines what it means—and what it takes to finally say goodbye.
  • Johnny 10 Beers' Daughter by Dana Lynn Formby
    Recommendations: 16
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: Fathers and Daughters, war + 1 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Fathers and Daughters, war, PTSD
    A father and daughter both fight in the Iraq war. Their enlistment is separated by 15 years. The two struggle with the silence war creates as they fish on both the Poudre River in Fort Collins Colorado and the Euphrates River in Baghdad in the Baghdad Providence. This play captures the silence and the explosions of anger created by PTSD.
  • American Beauty Shop by Dana Lynn Formby
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: women, Generational + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: women, Generational, Gritty, Realism
    It’s hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps in this economy—Sue should know. It’s harder when you’ve got kids, even whip-smart, talented ones like Judy. Sue has big dreams for both her basement beauty shop and her daughter, who’s anxiously waiting for a letter from Berkeley that could change her life. Armed with tough love, combative humor and an uncompromising work ethic, Sue is struggling to balance her...
    It’s hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps in this economy—Sue should know. It’s harder when you’ve got kids, even whip-smart, talented ones like Judy. Sue has big dreams for both her basement beauty shop and her daughter, who’s anxiously waiting for a letter from Berkeley that could change her life. Armed with tough love, combative humor and an uncompromising work ethic, Sue is struggling to balance her own livelihood and Judy’s future. A heartfelt play about the true cost of dreams.