Michael Yates Crowley

Michael Yates Crowley

Michael Yates Crowley is a Brooklyn-based writer and performer and co-founder of the company Wolf 359. His work has been produced at Joe’s Pub/The Public Theater, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, and the Playwright's Realm in NYC, as well as venues in Chicago, Los Angeles, Berlin, Edinburgh, and elsewhere. His plays include The Rape of the Sabine Women, by Grace B. Matthias (Playwrights' Realm at the Duke on...
Michael Yates Crowley is a Brooklyn-based writer and performer and co-founder of the company Wolf 359. His work has been produced at Joe’s Pub/The Public Theater, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, and the Playwright's Realm in NYC, as well as venues in Chicago, Los Angeles, Berlin, Edinburgh, and elsewhere. His plays include The Rape of the Sabine Women, by Grace B. Matthias (Playwrights' Realm at the Duke on 42nd Street, dir. Tyne Rafaeli); Evanston: A Rare Comedy (2013 O’Neill NPC, 2015 Alliance/Kendeda Finalist; PS 122, dir. Michael Rau); TEMPING (New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center); Righteous Money (3-Legged-Dog, 59E59 Theaters); and The Ted Haggard Monologues (published by S. Fischer Verlag; filmed by HBO). He was a member of the Ars Nova Play Group and the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, and graduated from the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrights Program at Juilliard.

Plays

  • Block Association Project by Michael Yates Crowley
    Cast: 
    7–8
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: community, democracy + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, immersive, political, satire
    Keyword: community, democracy, Politics, immigration, climate refugees, Border issues, immersive, audience engagement
    You're invited to the first meeting of the Oak Street Block Association. Ryan wants a dog run, Aneta wants a dog ban, Elena wants flowers, George wants money. In this show, the audience becomes part of the community, voting on issues and deciding who's in charge. Taking place over email, cell phone videos, Zoom, and one stormy night in a local Church basement, Block Association Project is about what...
    You're invited to the first meeting of the Oak Street Block Association. Ryan wants a dog run, Aneta wants a dog ban, Elena wants flowers, George wants money. In this show, the audience becomes part of the community, voting on issues and deciding who's in charge. Taking place over email, cell phone videos, Zoom, and one stormy night in a local Church basement, Block Association Project is about what makes a community, and what breaks it.
  • The Rape of the Sabine Women, by Grace B. Matthias by Michael Yates Crowley
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    8–20
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: Rome, high school + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, political, satire
    Keyword: Rome, high school, football, rape, sexual assault, sports, Title IX, ancient Rome
    One fine day in 753 B.C., a soldier carried off a girl from the next town over and the Roman Empire was born. Twenty five hundred years later, the Springfield High Romans are getting ready for the Homecoming Dance. This is the story of girls and boys, women and men, Wikipedia and the evening news. This is the story of Grace B Matthias (the B doesn’t stand for anything, she just likes the letter). Like the girls...
    One fine day in 753 B.C., a soldier carried off a girl from the next town over and the Roman Empire was born. Twenty five hundred years later, the Springfield High Romans are getting ready for the Homecoming Dance. This is the story of girls and boys, women and men, Wikipedia and the evening news. This is the story of Grace B Matthias (the B doesn’t stand for anything, she just likes the letter). Like the girls in Steubenville, Ohio and Maryville, Missouri and other villes we don’t hear about, Grace was raped. This is the story of what happens next.
  • Gunplay: A Love Story by Michael Yates Crowley
    Cast: 
    8–10
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: gun violence, gun control + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, political, satire
    Keyword: gun violence, gun control, high school, LGBT, Hollywood, Movies, masculinity
    GUNPLAY: A LOVE STORY is about kids and guns. It follows the teenage survivors of a school shooting as they take part in a Hollywood remake of the tragedy. It's supposed to bring closure. But the logic of big budget movies takes over: the shooter becomes a monster, the English teacher is hiding an arsenal in the supply closet, and the victims end up cast as action movie heroes. Meanwhile the kids wrestle...
    GUNPLAY: A LOVE STORY is about kids and guns. It follows the teenage survivors of a school shooting as they take part in a Hollywood remake of the tragedy. It's supposed to bring closure. But the logic of big budget movies takes over: the shooter becomes a monster, the English teacher is hiding an arsenal in the supply closet, and the victims end up cast as action movie heroes. Meanwhile the kids wrestle in private with their grief as the NRA moves into town, spreading the gospel of guns and asking: how much are we willing to pay to feel safe?
  • The Tourists by Michael Yates Crowley
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    THE TOURISTS is about a group of American tourists who get trapped on an island in the Mediterranean after a ferry strike. Their dream vacation begins to unravel as they’re forced to stay in a hostel, scavenge for food, and endure each other’s company. During the long first night, too much wine is had, various ill-advised seductions are attempted, and a local dog begins telling stories. Meanwhile, in the...
    THE TOURISTS is about a group of American tourists who get trapped on an island in the Mediterranean after a ferry strike. Their dream vacation begins to unravel as they’re forced to stay in a hostel, scavenge for food, and endure each other’s company. During the long first night, too much wine is had, various ill-advised seductions are attempted, and a local dog begins telling stories. Meanwhile, in the background, increasingly violent austerity protests threaten to set the island on fire, which the Americans mistake for a wedding party.
  • The Dead, Inc. by Michael Yates Crowley
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: satire, Finance + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Keyword: satire, Finance, capitalism, Buddhism, death, grief, funeral, birds
    An insurance executive’s wife dies, leaving a bizarre request: that her remains be left out for the birds to eat. The company spirals into bankruptcy while a strange and powerful woman circles, dropping black feathers in her wake… A play about capitalism, blood, and resurrection.
  • Evanston: A Rare Comedy by Michael Yates Crowley
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Evanston: A Rare Comedy begins with the disappearance of a teenage girl in deepest suburbia and ends when a meeting of the local Women's Book Club goes horribly awry. In between, a housewife dreams of Mexico, an economics professor has an affair with a check-out clerk at Whole Foods, and the financial crisis rages on. Inspired by the words of Psalm 137 and the best-seller "Eat, Pray, Love,"...
    Evanston: A Rare Comedy begins with the disappearance of a teenage girl in deepest suburbia and ends when a meeting of the local Women's Book Club goes horribly awry. In between, a housewife dreams of Mexico, an economics professor has an affair with a check-out clerk at Whole Foods, and the financial crisis rages on. Inspired by the words of Psalm 137 and the best-seller "Eat, Pray, Love," Evanston: A Rare Comedy takes a look at Middle America and asks: how can we sing a song of joy in this strange land?