Erin Malone Turner

Erin Malone Turner

new orleans-born / dallas-based playwright, actor, director, & producer.

after going to college full-time while working two jobs, I graduated magna cum laude & I'm super proud of it

sign language / outer space / science-fiction / mythology enthusiast

for two years I was mentored by my hero, Audra McDonald - the absolute biggest honor of my life
...
new orleans-born / dallas-based playwright, actor, director, & producer.

after going to college full-time while working two jobs, I graduated magna cum laude & I'm super proud of it

sign language / outer space / science-fiction / mythology enthusiast

for two years I was mentored by my hero, Audra McDonald - the absolute biggest honor of my life

i’m happy you’re here. ☺︎

Plays

  • what fits inside a human heart by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: New Orleans, queer + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: New Orleans, queer, Black women, leaving home, intimacy, friendship, bookstore, late 90s
    welcome to The Rain or Shine Bookshop, a Black-owned bookstore/cafe in southern Louisiana run by the no-nonsense Jac since the late 60s. Charm and Ellison are the longtime friends (may as well be siblings) who still work there. Charm is a late-20s undergrad student who loves reading at night & Ellison is a major James Baldwin fan who loves dancing at night. both are looking for love, but one may need to...
    welcome to The Rain or Shine Bookshop, a Black-owned bookstore/cafe in southern Louisiana run by the no-nonsense Jac since the late 60s. Charm and Ellison are the longtime friends (may as well be siblings) who still work there. Charm is a late-20s undergrad student who loves reading at night & Ellison is a major James Baldwin fan who loves dancing at night. both are looking for love, but one may need to leave home to find it. Peanut is a neighborhood youth and amateur birdwatcher who, like, really loves comics. Ivy is the new goth girl from the Midwest who always says exactly what she means. oh, and the bookstore only has a couple of months to find a new location or close its doors forever. this play is about that first real queer relationship, how the past can shape the present, knowing when to fight & when to fold, and the 90s era death of indie bookstores. this play is absolutely about Change but it’s also about Existence. this play could be about you and me.

    This play was developed under commission by Soul Repertory Theatre Company through a 2022 TACA (The Arts Community Alliance) New Works grant.
  • ingrained by Erin Malone Turner
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, science fiction
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    Keyword: futuristic, post apocalypse + 2 more
    Genre: drama, science fiction
    Keyword: futuristic, post apocalypse, aliens, American slavery
    in a post-apocalyptic world, two aliens manage to save a couple hundred humans. but when a futuristic genome mapping experiment reveals the horrors of slavery and its ramifications lasting centuries later, they wonder if they made the right choice. commissioned by Bishop Arts Theatre Center as a response to the anthology "The 1619 Project" which was developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones, this play...
    in a post-apocalyptic world, two aliens manage to save a couple hundred humans. but when a futuristic genome mapping experiment reveals the horrors of slavery and its ramifications lasting centuries later, they wonder if they made the right choice. commissioned by Bishop Arts Theatre Center as a response to the anthology "The 1619 Project" which was developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones, this play illuminates what our bloodlines can never erase and explores whether humanity is composed of more good than bad - are we worth saving in the end?
  • the secret keepers by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: adventure, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: growing up, people of color + 6 more
    Genre: adventure, drama, horror, mystery/thriller, science fiction
    Keyword: growing up, people of color, queerness, trauma, loss, friendship, teenagers, southern gothic
    trudging through life at The Right Path Academy is a group of silly, intense, thoughtful, difficult high school seniors. they gather every day - bonding over their senior projects, a game called Most Fucked Up, homemade zines, & junk food galore. during their last semester at the run-down boarding school, things get stranger than ever. nightmares plague the unspoken leader of the group, shadowy figures come...
    trudging through life at The Right Path Academy is a group of silly, intense, thoughtful, difficult high school seniors. they gather every day - bonding over their senior projects, a game called Most Fucked Up, homemade zines, & junk food galore. during their last semester at the run-down boarding school, things get stranger than ever. nightmares plague the unspoken leader of the group, shadowy figures come and go, skeletons tumble out of their closets, and one of the teens goes missing. will they graduate with more troubles than they started with? are two of them falling in love over shared cigarettes & literature? what’s with the mold? this Southern gothic / coming-of-age play explores how we are responsible for each other, the messiness of growing up, & learning how to accept what we’ve never truly had.

    This play was developed under commission from Bishop Arts Theatre Company as part of their inaugural First Move Playwrights Lab - an eight-month-long playwriting incubation & development program for DFW-based playwrights.
  • GRAY by Erin Malone Turner
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: Race, government + 4 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, political
    Keyword: Race, government, study, Politics, History, interracial couples
    in a futuristic world post-"second race war", a bill is soon to be signed into law that decrees for all marriages to be interracial in an attempt to combat racism. four participants who signed on to be housed/studied in a facility as well as paired with a future spouse navigate what these new ideas about race and idealism mean for both the past and future. written under a commission from Bishop Arts...
    in a futuristic world post-"second race war", a bill is soon to be signed into law that decrees for all marriages to be interracial in an attempt to combat racism. four participants who signed on to be housed/studied in a facility as well as paired with a future spouse navigate what these new ideas about race and idealism mean for both the past and future. written under a commission from Bishop Arts Theatre Center in response to Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s novel “How to be an Antiracist”, this play wonders if an antiracist American society is truly possible, and whether exaggerated attempts at integration could do more harm than good.
  • through a glass darkly by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: New Orleans, 1980s + 4 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, science fiction
    Keyword: New Orleans, 1980s, Summer Camp, haunted grounds, Black Queer Love, black history
    It’s summertime in 1980s southern Louisiana when a group of ardent camp counselors discover alternate dimensions within the campground’s forest. Campers start disappearing, strange sounds hold sleep at bay, and there is a creature in the woods waiting for its next victim. What happens when problems arise that even the best head counselor can’t solve? This play uses science fiction and New Orleans-based Black...
    It’s summertime in 1980s southern Louisiana when a group of ardent camp counselors discover alternate dimensions within the campground’s forest. Campers start disappearing, strange sounds hold sleep at bay, and there is a creature in the woods waiting for its next victim. What happens when problems arise that even the best head counselor can’t solve? This play uses science fiction and New Orleans-based Black history to explore emerging into adulthood, enjoying romance amidst a crushing loss, and how sorrow can take root into terrains as well as hearts. How can we keep sight of what we owe each other?
  • how to catch a ghost by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: Religious Trauma, Black Queer Love + 4 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, science fiction
    Keyword: Religious Trauma, Black Queer Love, coping with grief, twins, Park Rangers, New Orleans
    Four 20-somethings cross paths during the off-season at Cloud Nine State Park, where things are getting stranger each day. Wesley and Amos are inextricably connected twins, even after the worst happens. Finn’s contentment that they fought to create is threatened. Lark is conducting research for her thesis when confronted by a part of her past she never expected to see again. And there’s a big storm brewing. A...
    Four 20-somethings cross paths during the off-season at Cloud Nine State Park, where things are getting stranger each day. Wesley and Amos are inextricably connected twins, even after the worst happens. Finn’s contentment that they fought to create is threatened. Lark is conducting research for her thesis when confronted by a part of her past she never expected to see again. And there’s a big storm brewing. A ghost story with lots of Louisiana comfort food, this speculative fiction play explores Black familial ties and the connection between nature and people, and asks questions about faith and the ways we hold ourselves back from what we truly want.

    (2nd draft - open to feedback and workshop/reading/production opportunities!)
  • THE BRIDGE by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, experimental
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    Keyword: Black boys, expectations + 4 more
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: Black boys, expectations, trauma, anxiety, grief, finding meaning
    Meet Thaddeus and Malik — Black boys. Best friends. From different backgrounds. Right before graduating high school, they are separated by a single bullet, and they both find themselves hopelessly lost. This non-linear drama explores Blackness tied to success, loss, the intimacy of friendship, and considers an afterlife for Black people - specifically those whose lives are cut short. When Thaddeus finds himself...
    Meet Thaddeus and Malik — Black boys. Best friends. From different backgrounds. Right before graduating high school, they are separated by a single bullet, and they both find themselves hopelessly lost. This non-linear drama explores Blackness tied to success, loss, the intimacy of friendship, and considers an afterlife for Black people - specifically those whose lives are cut short. When Thaddeus finds himself “on this bridge between starshine and clay” how will he find the will to go beyond and leave behind everything he thought mattered? And when Malik feels that he has nothing left to lose, how will he find the strength to hold tight to his own life?
  • i thought you hung the moon by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: art, sports + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: art, sports, death, Academia, growing up, Mental Health
    a close-up on the lives of Faye - an artist - and Nico - an athlete - as they float towards and away from each other over two decades. this linear drama explores the tightrope of chasing dreams, coping with grief, the intimacy of friendship, loneliness, and the idea that home can be a person as well as a place. how do you let go of what you're helplessly tied to?

    THIRD DRAFT: open to...
    a close-up on the lives of Faye - an artist - and Nico - an athlete - as they float towards and away from each other over two decades. this linear drama explores the tightrope of chasing dreams, coping with grief, the intimacy of friendship, loneliness, and the idea that home can be a person as well as a place. how do you let go of what you're helplessly tied to?

    THIRD DRAFT: open to feedback, workshop opportunities, and production opportunities!
  • June & Max Go to Space by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: coming of age, female friendship + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: coming of age, female friendship, anxiety about the future, teenage girls, first love, Academia, art
    Juniper & Maxine - total opposites, minus their outer space obsession, yet they’re two peas in a pod. This coming-of-age play showcases nearly two decades in their lives as the two navigate girlhood, expectations, academia vs art, anxiety about the future, belonging, and the messiness of adolescence.

    SECOND DRAFT: open to feedback, workshop and/or production opportunities!
  • SPACED OUT by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 2 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, movement/physical, science fiction
    A surrealist, speculative-fiction drama that explores a family in crisis, virtual reality, coping with grief, communication barriers, moving on from the past, and all the ways people attempt to escape from their problems - in Ollie’s case, to an alternate universe of sorts. This offbeat, poignant play is an adventure of movement, technology, and Sign Language - as well as a journey through space and time....
    A surrealist, speculative-fiction drama that explores a family in crisis, virtual reality, coping with grief, communication barriers, moving on from the past, and all the ways people attempt to escape from their problems - in Ollie’s case, to an alternate universe of sorts. This offbeat, poignant play is an adventure of movement, technology, and Sign Language - as well as a journey through space and time.

    NEW DRAFT - open to feedback, workshop, and production opportunities!
  • Pineapples by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: engagement, couples + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: engagement, couples, honesty
    An engaged couple, Ava and Rhett, get into an argument about pizza toppings that dissolves into a huge problem that will change their relationship as they know it.
  • How 'Bout Them Apples? by Erin Malone Turner
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: friendship, love-hate relationship + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: friendship, love-hate relationship, debate
    TEN MINUTE: Two roommates—Ahdi and Jay—get into a heated argument, as per usual.
  • Invites by Erin Malone Turner
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Sisters, new year's eve + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: Sisters, new year's eve, conspiracy, loneliness
    TEN-MINUTE: Free-spirited Isa tries to convince her older homebody sister Mabel to join her for a night on the town. It also happens to be New Year's Eve, 1999. Will Mabel have fun with her sister, who just wants to find someone to kiss when the clock strikes midnight, or will she give into the conspiracy and stay home with her cat and her books?