Recommended by Abraham Johnson

  • Abraham Johnson: The Second Body

    This play is a singular, visceral, tense, miraculous, wonderfully strange ode to art-making and human touch in deteriorating times. The hair-pin tension of Pearl and Alice’s cast scenes are wonderfully broken up by the fascinating, ritualistic chorus of taxidermied animals. A brilliant play. A strange play. Thrilling and disconcerting in the best possible way. Love!!!

    This play is a singular, visceral, tense, miraculous, wonderfully strange ode to art-making and human touch in deteriorating times. The hair-pin tension of Pearl and Alice’s cast scenes are wonderfully broken up by the fascinating, ritualistic chorus of taxidermied animals. A brilliant play. A strange play. Thrilling and disconcerting in the best possible way. Love!!!

  • Abraham Johnson: bogfriends

    This play!!! A gift to designers, a gymnastics routine for two actors, and five-course meal for an audience, I'm obsessed with how funny and tender and technicolor the worlds of this play are. A will-they-won't-they love story that sprawls across 4,000 years, I don't know that I've ever seen a couple like Tanner and Archie onstage. They are hairy and FUNNY and, sure, at times toxic--but overall written with such a reservoir of genuine love for each other (platonic or romantic, unimportant). Producers: this is a two-hander, hilarious, wildly imaginative, award-winning script. What more can you...

    This play!!! A gift to designers, a gymnastics routine for two actors, and five-course meal for an audience, I'm obsessed with how funny and tender and technicolor the worlds of this play are. A will-they-won't-they love story that sprawls across 4,000 years, I don't know that I've ever seen a couple like Tanner and Archie onstage. They are hairy and FUNNY and, sure, at times toxic--but overall written with such a reservoir of genuine love for each other (platonic or romantic, unimportant). Producers: this is a two-hander, hilarious, wildly imaginative, award-winning script. What more can you ask for?

  • Abraham Johnson: Wicked Bitter Beast(s)

    Part fundamentalist-fantasia, part prodigal-daughter odyssey, this script somehow balances the hilarious and heartbreaking with equal, can't-look-away depth. I'm blown away by the textures in this script-- the blend of theatrical forms is so fun as we rocket between campy "Jesus Date Nights", the meta-creation of the Hell House, the memory-play splices, the reinvention of altar-calls, and the *spectacle* of purgation at the end. And it's so funny! And tear-jerking! What a gorgeous, wildly entertaining, monstrous play.

    Part fundamentalist-fantasia, part prodigal-daughter odyssey, this script somehow balances the hilarious and heartbreaking with equal, can't-look-away depth. I'm blown away by the textures in this script-- the blend of theatrical forms is so fun as we rocket between campy "Jesus Date Nights", the meta-creation of the Hell House, the memory-play splices, the reinvention of altar-calls, and the *spectacle* of purgation at the end. And it's so funny! And tear-jerking! What a gorgeous, wildly entertaining, monstrous play.

  • Abraham Johnson: RACECAR RACECAR RACECAR

    A rocket-fueled, verbose, and excitingly theatrical play that balances the comedy and sadness of the central father-daughter relationship on their road trip across the US, this play feels primed for production! At times scary, nostalgic, funny, and irreverent, this is a very special script! Highly recommend :)

    A rocket-fueled, verbose, and excitingly theatrical play that balances the comedy and sadness of the central father-daughter relationship on their road trip across the US, this play feels primed for production! At times scary, nostalgic, funny, and irreverent, this is a very special script! Highly recommend :)

  • Abraham Johnson: Button Lake Band Camp

    So fun! So strange! This script is a joy to read, and so primed for the stage. Part summer-camp-romp, part coming-of-age-friendship story, every aspect of this script functions on all cylinders. Definitely going to be seen at one-act competitions, especially for high school directors looking for bubbly, female-heavy, hilarious comedies with a sneaky heartbeat running throughout. I adore this play! The "wild Lindsay" moment? Chills.

    So fun! So strange! This script is a joy to read, and so primed for the stage. Part summer-camp-romp, part coming-of-age-friendship story, every aspect of this script functions on all cylinders. Definitely going to be seen at one-act competitions, especially for high school directors looking for bubbly, female-heavy, hilarious comedies with a sneaky heartbeat running throughout. I adore this play! The "wild Lindsay" moment? Chills.

  • Abraham Johnson: Winter People

    Deeply theatrical with a dreamy backdrop and some huge retina-burn moments (Claudia's "Spring" moment??? Wreck me!), this play is sharply crafted and inventive as the 5 families blur across generations. The stakes are driven by the wonderful drama of the mansion fire and the racial/financial tensions it inspires, but even more driven by these 5 teenagers standing on the edges of themselves, confronted with decisions so beyond their years. Nuanced. Intentional. Really, really smart writing. I love this play! College programs would be especially wise to produce it!

    Deeply theatrical with a dreamy backdrop and some huge retina-burn moments (Claudia's "Spring" moment??? Wreck me!), this play is sharply crafted and inventive as the 5 families blur across generations. The stakes are driven by the wonderful drama of the mansion fire and the racial/financial tensions it inspires, but even more driven by these 5 teenagers standing on the edges of themselves, confronted with decisions so beyond their years. Nuanced. Intentional. Really, really smart writing. I love this play! College programs would be especially wise to produce it!

  • Abraham Johnson: oh to be pure again

    Searing and nuanced, while never sacrificing laser-precise jokes and a flooring sense of theatricality, this play is incredibly special. Wow. The characters are lived-in and funny and heartbreaking. The writing is poetic and disarming all at once ("God-mom"? Break my heart!) Everything in this play feels carved with such intention (from such painful material), but what's so impressive is the hopefulness that steers the final moment of the play. The craft alone is running on all cylinders, but to add the clarity? Towards patriarchy, purity culture, and teen girls reaching for something more? So...

    Searing and nuanced, while never sacrificing laser-precise jokes and a flooring sense of theatricality, this play is incredibly special. Wow. The characters are lived-in and funny and heartbreaking. The writing is poetic and disarming all at once ("God-mom"? Break my heart!) Everything in this play feels carved with such intention (from such painful material), but what's so impressive is the hopefulness that steers the final moment of the play. The craft alone is running on all cylinders, but to add the clarity? Towards patriarchy, purity culture, and teen girls reaching for something more? So special. A rare, one-of-a-kind play.

  • Abraham Johnson: The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd

    This play is a rocket-fueled, laugh-a-minute, breath of fresh air. Filled with instantly loveable characters, super smart writing, and a playground for designers, it was an absolute joy to see this produced at the Kendeda Festival this year. Other theaters should JUMP on producing this script if they're smart! It is tight and bubbly and so, so much fun. The "weird little aliens" line will stick with me for a while!

    This play is a rocket-fueled, laugh-a-minute, breath of fresh air. Filled with instantly loveable characters, super smart writing, and a playground for designers, it was an absolute joy to see this produced at the Kendeda Festival this year. Other theaters should JUMP on producing this script if they're smart! It is tight and bubbly and so, so much fun. The "weird little aliens" line will stick with me for a while!

  • Abraham Johnson: Ridgway

    Hairy and haunting with gorgeously spare dialogue, this play’s craft is palpable at every turn. The emotional core of the script is subtle and misty and dark, with so many foreshadowings that whisper into the final world-reinventing scene. I adore this play and would be *thrilled* to see it onstage!

    Hairy and haunting with gorgeously spare dialogue, this play’s craft is palpable at every turn. The emotional core of the script is subtle and misty and dark, with so many foreshadowings that whisper into the final world-reinventing scene. I adore this play and would be *thrilled* to see it onstage!

  • Abraham Johnson: Three Anne Franks

    Wry, sharp-toothed, and keenly aware of faux-progressive theater, this play is a can't-look-away exploration of three actors being told to embody the "perfect victimhood" of Anne Frank while interrogating their own relationships with her mythos. I love this refreshing, irreverent, and deeply interesting play! This script would *shine* onstage while stirring up some fascinating conversations in the audience.

    Wry, sharp-toothed, and keenly aware of faux-progressive theater, this play is a can't-look-away exploration of three actors being told to embody the "perfect victimhood" of Anne Frank while interrogating their own relationships with her mythos. I love this refreshing, irreverent, and deeply interesting play! This script would *shine* onstage while stirring up some fascinating conversations in the audience.