Erin Malone Turner

- NOLA-born / DTX-based playwright, actor, & producer. my plays have been commissioned/developed/produced by various DFW-based theater companies including Kitchen Dog Theater, Bishop Arts Theatre Co., Undermain Theatre, Amphibian Stage, Echo Theatre, & Soul Rep Theatre. the college productions include UT Arlington's Maverick Theatre Company, Mountainview Theater Dept., and Ball State University's Theatre Dept. I've been a member of two local, inaugural playwriting cohorts: BATC's First Move (Jan. - July 2022) & Second Thought Theatre's Thought Process (Jan. - Dec. 2024). my work has been nominated for Best Play in The Irma P. Hall Black Theatre Awards & the BroadwayWorld Dallas Awards.

- sign language / outer space / science-fiction / magical realism enthusiast

- for two years I was...

- NOLA-born / DTX-based playwright, actor, & producer. my plays have been commissioned/developed/produced by various DFW-based theater companies including Kitchen Dog Theater, Bishop Arts Theatre Co., Undermain Theatre, Amphibian Stage, Echo Theatre, & Soul Rep Theatre. the college productions include UT Arlington's Maverick Theatre Company, Mountainview Theater Dept., and Ball State University's Theatre Dept. I've been a member of two local, inaugural playwriting cohorts: BATC's First Move (Jan. - July 2022) & Second Thought Theatre's Thought Process (Jan. - Dec. 2024). my work has been nominated for Best Play in The Irma P. Hall Black Theatre Awards & the BroadwayWorld Dallas Awards.

- sign language / outer space / science-fiction / magical realism enthusiast

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

☺︎

Scripts

Hello, Earthlings!

by Erin Malone Turner

Synopsis

in the group text for The Comet & UFO Crew, the club leader claims that she saw something strange pass by overhead - for real this time! and so begins a week-long stakeout. the rules are as follows: no phones, sleep in shifts, don’t get distracted by your stakeout partner, & take care of the telescope. Hello, Earthlings! is a diorama of a multigenerational bunch of Believers exploring choices vs destiny, the...

in the group text for The Comet & UFO Crew, the club leader claims that she saw something strange pass by overhead - for real this time! and so begins a week-long stakeout. the rules are as follows: no phones, sleep in shifts, don’t get distracted by your stakeout partner, & take care of the telescope. Hello, Earthlings! is a diorama of a multigenerational bunch of Believers exploring choices vs destiny, the weight of possibility, how to care for others as well as oneself, & how to let go of the past to face the future.

certain as a storm

by Erin Malone Turner

Synopsis

Halo makes a lot of soup & does crosswords to avoid overthinking. Ivan comes back to town after a decade with sandwiches & hope. Callaway wants to leave but can’t, & deeply misses her mother. Rhys is very good at looking back, but feels conflicted about moving forward. this speculative-fiction play features ice cream, the process of forgiveness, rain that isn’t actually rain, & all the ways we care for / hurt /...

Halo makes a lot of soup & does crosswords to avoid overthinking. Ivan comes back to town after a decade with sandwiches & hope. Callaway wants to leave but can’t, & deeply misses her mother. Rhys is very good at looking back, but feels conflicted about moving forward. this speculative-fiction play features ice cream, the process of forgiveness, rain that isn’t actually rain, & all the ways we care for / hurt / lose each other.

what fits inside a human heart

by Erin Malone Turner

Synopsis

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...

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

Synopsis

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...

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

Synopsis

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...

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

Synopsis

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...

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

Synopsis

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

Synopsis

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

Synopsis

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.

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.

i thought you hung the moon

by Erin Malone Turner

Synopsis

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...

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

Synopsis

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!

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

Synopsis

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...

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

Synopsis

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.

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

Synopsis

TEN MINUTE: Two roommates—Ahdi and Jay—get into a heated argument, as per usual.

TEN MINUTE: Two roommates—Ahdi and Jay—get into a heated argument, as per usual.

Invites

by Erin Malone Turner

Synopsis

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?

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?