Michael Higgins

Michael Higgins

Michael Higgins is a Chicago-based playwright whose comedy LAUNCH DAY (LOVE STORIES FROM THE YEAR 2108) was a winner of the American Association of Community Theatre's NewPlayFest 2022. LAUNCH DAY premiered at Theatre Tuscaloosa and has been read at Benchmark Theatre in Denver, Capital Stage in Sacramento and Chicago Dramatists in Chicago. The play is now available from Dramatic Publishing.
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Michael Higgins is a Chicago-based playwright whose comedy LAUNCH DAY (LOVE STORIES FROM THE YEAR 2108) was a winner of the American Association of Community Theatre's NewPlayFest 2022. LAUNCH DAY premiered at Theatre Tuscaloosa and has been read at Benchmark Theatre in Denver, Capital Stage in Sacramento and Chicago Dramatists in Chicago. The play is now available from Dramatic Publishing.

Michael's play THE CHIP has been produced in New York, Chicago and Australia and appears in THE BEST TEN-MINUTE PLAYS 2018 (Smith & Kraus). His play TRACY AND HER DREAM GUYS was published in THE BEST NEW TEN-MINUTE PLAYS 2019 (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books).

Michael is a former legal affairs reporter for the Chicago Tribune and has a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. A Cleveland-area native, he also has worked as a garbage collector and assistant to the guy who scrapes roadkill off the highway. Michael lives with his wife, Lisa, in Oak Park, Illinois.

Plays

  • Launch Day (Love Stories From the Year 2108)
    WINNER, AACT NEWPLAYFEST 2022. A brilliant engineer has decided to leave our ailing planet on a mission to colonize another world. Her ex-boyfriend believes the Earth—and their relationship—can be saved, but first he must convince her to stay … and hope his new robotic arm doesn’t ruin everything. Told through a series of two-actor scenes, LAUNCH DAY (LOVE STORIES FROM THE YEAR 2108) follows six couples...
    WINNER, AACT NEWPLAYFEST 2022. A brilliant engineer has decided to leave our ailing planet on a mission to colonize another world. Her ex-boyfriend believes the Earth—and their relationship—can be saved, but first he must convince her to stay … and hope his new robotic arm doesn’t ruin everything. Told through a series of two-actor scenes, LAUNCH DAY (LOVE STORIES FROM THE YEAR 2108) follows six couples struggling with relationship issues in a high-tech but perilous future. Other characters include a starving artist who has agreed to let an advertising firm insert a computer chip in her head; a devoted zookeeper fighting to protect Sandy the pandaroo, her favorite genetically engineered creature; and a lonely construction worker enlisted to help a desperate woman with a task that may or may not be murder—killing her AI supervisor.
  • You Must Act Now
    SEEKING WORLD PREMIERE. Super-salesman Joe Barkman, a one-time king of the TV infomercial, has a chance to return to his former glory. But his day of triumph gets complicated when he’s visited by Amber Weeks, a young fan who can recite his old infomercials by heart. At first, Joe takes Amber for a groupie, then believes he may have found a new partner. But as Joe’s comeback scheme starts to crumble, it’s Amber...
    SEEKING WORLD PREMIERE. Super-salesman Joe Barkman, a one-time king of the TV infomercial, has a chance to return to his former glory. But his day of triumph gets complicated when he’s visited by Amber Weeks, a young fan who can recite his old infomercials by heart. At first, Joe takes Amber for a groupie, then believes he may have found a new partner. But as Joe’s comeback scheme starts to crumble, it’s Amber who forces him to confront the lies of his past – lies that could cost him everything. YOU MUST ACT NOW is a comic look at the art of salesmanship and the price of deception. It’s a play about honesty – and other items not sold in stores.
  • Tracy and Her Dream Guys
    Published in the anthology THE BEST NEW TEN-MINUTE PLAYS 2019. [Author retains performance rights.] A stressed-out young woman tries to escape her demanding life by fleeing into the world of her dreams.
  • The Chip
    Published in the anthology THE BEST TEN-MINUTE PLAYS 2018. [Author retains performance rights.] A struggling artist earns extra money by allowing an advertising firm to insert a computer chip in her head. But the effects on her romantic life are unsettling. This play is based on a scene from the author's full-length comedy, LAUNCH DAY (LOVE STORIES FROM THE YEAR 2108).
  • When Killer Animals Go Nuts
    A man who narrates overwrought TV documentaries goes looking for love. But the skills that made him a success on TV sabotage his date.
  • Never Say Die
    Published in MONOLOGUES FOR HEADSPACE THEATRE: RADICAL THINKING INSIDE A BOX. [Author retains performance rights.] A monologue delivered by a 103-year-old man who has made it his life's goal to outlive his enemies. The play is based on a scene from the author's full-length comedy, SUPER WINNING MADE EASY.
  • Horrible Weapons of the Future
    A young scientist on the run from the authorities lands in the underground lab of a secret military contractor. Her only way out: Build the ultimate weapon. A comedy about war, peace and ray guns.
  • Super Winning Made Easy
    When his career as a self-help guru falters, Zack Barton hatches a comeback plan: He will spy on the world’s most extreme winners and learn their secrets. But a rival guru stands in his way.
  • The Pandaroo
    In a future where wild animals need genetic modification to survive, a zookeeper struggles to protect her job and her favorite hybrid creature: a pandaroo. The play is based on an excerpt from the author's full-length comedy, LAUNCH DAY (LOVE STORIES FROM THE YEAR 2108).