Elle Thoni

Elle Thoni

Elle Thoni (they/them pronouns) is a xenogender playwright and public artist investigating how our sense of belonging, identity, and loss are changing with our climate. They are currently a 2024 MFA Dramatic Writing candidate at Carnegie Mellon University (Jaödeogë - Pittsburgh).

Plays

  • Monstrous, or A Short Narrative on an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits by Elle Thoni
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    11–20
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 6 more
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    Keyword: abortion, queer + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, movement/physical, period, political, satire
    Keyword: abortion, queer, nonbinary, trans, reproductive freedom, reproductive justice, intersectional feminism, magic
    Mary's present-day search for an abortion provider lands them back in 1720s England, where they pass as Mary Toft - a historical figure notorious for giving birth to rabbits. A queer exploration of rage in the post-Roe era, Monstrous confronts restrictions on reproductive rights with absurdity and magic.

    Script available upon request
  • Queen B: A New Work of Honeybee Futurism by Elle Thoni
    Cast: 
    8–12
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    Genre: adventure, experimental + 4 more
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    Keyword: bees, ecodrama + 5 more
    Genre: adventure, experimental, movement/physical, musical, political, science fiction
    Keyword: bees, ecodrama, environment, alternative musical theater, outdoor performance, genderqueer, centers lgbt characters
    100 years into the future, cities have sealed themselves under holographic domes to protect themselves from the inhospitable climate. Yet, when the robo-bee population begins to die off like their honeymaking ancestors, the fate of this new society rests upon the fading memories of the last living beekeeper, a (former?) revolutionary who goes by the name Queen B.

    Book & libretto by Elle...
    100 years into the future, cities have sealed themselves under holographic domes to protect themselves from the inhospitable climate. Yet, when the robo-bee population begins to die off like their honeymaking ancestors, the fate of this new society rests upon the fading memories of the last living beekeeper, a (former?) revolutionary who goes by the name Queen B.

    Book & libretto by Elle Thoni
    Music by Dameun Strange and Carlisle Evans-Peck
  • Bestiary of Rogues by Elle Thoni
    Cast: 
    6–8
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: queer, anarchist + 8 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, fable/folktale
    Keyword: queer, anarchist, punk, fable, folklore, animals, mask, documentary, verbatim, American Folk Music
    After a fatal fire at communal house in South Minneapolis, a band of urban animals come together to tell the story of what happened - or is it? Part documentary theatre and part punk folklore, Bestiary of Rogues sifts through the wreckage to find the difference between between fact and truth with tremendous heart.
  • Woolly by Elle Thoni
    Cast: 
    6–10
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: science, climate change + 4 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, fantasy, science fiction
    Keyword: science, climate change, prehistoric times, intergenerational, death, grief
    As evolutionary biologist Dr. Robin Slater prepares for her Ted Talk, she and members of her family find themselves disappearing into the so-called "tundra" of their anxious imagination. When - and how - will they be able to find their way back to the present time and moment? Unapologetically weaving together fantasy, science, and documentary, Woolly is a play about the science of de-extinction and...
    As evolutionary biologist Dr. Robin Slater prepares for her Ted Talk, she and members of her family find themselves disappearing into the so-called "tundra" of their anxious imagination. When - and how - will they be able to find their way back to the present time and moment? Unapologetically weaving together fantasy, science, and documentary, Woolly is a play about the science of de-extinction and the liminal space between hope and heartbreak.
  • Moon Zoo by Elle Thoni
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: adventure, comedy + 8 more
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    Keyword: science fiction comedy, ecological theater + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, dark comedy, drama, fantasy, farce, political, satire, science fiction, tragedy
    Keyword: science fiction comedy, ecological theater, science fiction, ecological, ecological collapse, absurd comedy, outer space, astronauts, animals
    Welcome to the first wilderness park on the moon. The first bear is scheduled to arrive on the next shuttle. How will two clueless first-generation "Moonies" make a suitable habitat for her? A sci-fi comedy about so-called "nature."
  • The first whale by Elle Thoni
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, experimental
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    Keyword: queer, genderqueer + 7 more
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: queer, genderqueer, gender nonbinary, nonbinary lead, science, natural history, coming out, whale, magical realism
    Natural history gets a redux in this queer retelling of the evolution of the whale from a land to sea mammal.