Kaia L

Kaia L

Kaia L (they/she) is an Austin-based Black queer playwright and memoirist from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Plays

  • On Either Side of All the Late Unpleasantness by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    9–13
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: American Civil War, American slavery + 3 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, period, political
    Keyword: American Civil War, American slavery, 19th century American history, Confederacy, Emancipation Proclamation
    Clay County, Missouri, 1860. Civil war is brewing in the United States, and the nation’s turmoil has spread to the Pearson household. Eddie, an abolitionist, is firmly on the side of the Union; his brother Charlie sympathizes with the position of the southern states. As pressures mount inside and outside the home, the brothers feel they have no choice but to join the fight—on opposite sides. Their decision to...
    Clay County, Missouri, 1860. Civil war is brewing in the United States, and the nation’s turmoil has spread to the Pearson household. Eddie, an abolitionist, is firmly on the side of the Union; his brother Charlie sympathizes with the position of the southern states. As pressures mount inside and outside the home, the brothers feel they have no choice but to join the fight—on opposite sides. Their decision to go to war permanently alters the fabric of the family, and everyone--including the family's two slaves--has to face the consequences.
  • Killing Gloria by Kaia L
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: grief, suicide + 2 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: grief, suicide, stages of grief, ensemble piece
    A woman named Gloria commits suicide. Her mother, father, boyfriend, priest-friend (a friend who's a priest), and psychiatrist are blindsided. They try to figure out what went wrong--where they went wrong. How someone they cared about could be gone.
    A woman named Gloria is on life support, and the people she's left behind sit by her hospital bedside, alone and together, and try to sort out...
    A woman named Gloria commits suicide. Her mother, father, boyfriend, priest-friend (a friend who's a priest), and psychiatrist are blindsided. They try to figure out what went wrong--where they went wrong. How someone they cared about could be gone.
    A woman named Gloria is on life support, and the people she's left behind sit by her hospital bedside, alone and together, and try to sort out their grief. They try to figure out if they killed her. If they killed Gloria.
  • Straight Wedding by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: wedding, Gay and LGBTQ + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, romantic comedy, tragedy
    Keyword: wedding, Gay and LGBTQ, queerness
    Today, Hana Murphy is getting married to Laurie Strait. So of course it's today that Hana's ex-girlfriend Smythe has appeared on the scene--after three years of no contact--with dubious motives. Laurie doesn't know that Hana likes girls. Smythe doesn't know that Hana is back in the closet. And Hana's sister Alyssa doesn't know who she likes or why she invited Smythe to the wedding...
    Today, Hana Murphy is getting married to Laurie Strait. So of course it's today that Hana's ex-girlfriend Smythe has appeared on the scene--after three years of no contact--with dubious motives. Laurie doesn't know that Hana likes girls. Smythe doesn't know that Hana is back in the closet. And Hana's sister Alyssa doesn't know who she likes or why she invited Smythe to the wedding in the first place. Three years' worth of bottled up secrets and emotions explode, and no one gets away unscathed. But at the center of it is one very simple question: Is Hana still getting married today?

    Straight Wedding is a play about freedom, identity, and the love we choose to give.
  • Like Hyacinth Flowers by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama, fable/folktale + 1 more
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    Keyword: Greek mythology, classical mythology + 3 more
    Genre: drama, fable/folktale, fantasy
    Keyword: Greek mythology, classical mythology, Gay and LGBTQ, dying plants, house plants
    Hestia has run away from home and landed in an abandoned community garden. Artemis is running away from herself and landed in a tree nearby. Kore and Aidon have just started dating, and Kore's plants have just started dying. These four beings--two gods and two mortals--don't seem to realize that they're all connected; and, when they do, they aren't sure what to do about it. This play, which...
    Hestia has run away from home and landed in an abandoned community garden. Artemis is running away from herself and landed in a tree nearby. Kore and Aidon have just started dating, and Kore's plants have just started dying. These four beings--two gods and two mortals--don't seem to realize that they're all connected; and, when they do, they aren't sure what to do about it. This play, which doubles as an origin story for Persephone, follows three women as they grow into themselves and overcome personal traumas.
  • The House in the Holler by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    8–9
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, holiday + 2 more
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    Keyword: abortion, 1960s
    Genre: docudrama/historic, holiday, period, political
    Keyword: abortion, 1960s
    It's December 16th, 1966. In a small holler in West Virginia, a traveling abortion ring has come into town for one night only. Over the course of the evening five different patients show up, all with one goal: to get. that. abortion. However, their personal histories, unexpected side effects, surprise visitors, and outside pressures continuously complicate their evening. This play follows these women...
    It's December 16th, 1966. In a small holler in West Virginia, a traveling abortion ring has come into town for one night only. Over the course of the evening five different patients show up, all with one goal: to get. that. abortion. However, their personal histories, unexpected side effects, surprise visitors, and outside pressures continuously complicate their evening. This play follows these women throughout the night as the exercise their right to choose--whatever the choice, no matter the cost.
  • THE CREATION by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic + 1 more
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    Keyword: black history, blackness + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic, drama
    Keyword: black history, blackness, History, a play within a play
    The Acting Ensemble of the Aldridge Theatre Company, a local Black theatre company, has convened to decide the topic of their ensemble piece for the company's upcoming season. However, there's a catch: ATC is on the brink of bankruptcy, and the popularity of the ensemble's show could make or break their finances. Armed with this knowledge, the acting ensemble weaves in and out of time, exploring...
    The Acting Ensemble of the Aldridge Theatre Company, a local Black theatre company, has convened to decide the topic of their ensemble piece for the company's upcoming season. However, there's a catch: ATC is on the brink of bankruptcy, and the popularity of the ensemble's show could make or break their finances. Armed with this knowledge, the acting ensemble weaves in and out of time, exploring history to find a subject that will appeal to ATC's donor base. When their attempt to palatably represent history fails, they are confronted with the question every artist must face: what kind of Art do they want to make?
  • po-ta-to by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: comedy
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    Keyword: potatoes
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: potatoes
    A man is tasked with peeling potatoes.
  • grief counseling by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, parody/spoof
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    Keyword: coping with grief, play within a play within a play
    Genre: comedy, parody/spoof
    Keyword: coping with grief, play within a play within a play
    When two married grief counselors are interviewed for a documentary about dealing with loss, it becomes apparent that they have some unresolved grief of their own.
  • Tough Love (A Monologue Play) by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: History, Race + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: History, Race, race riot, American Racism, Death Penalty
    Bertie Lindsey is dead, and Mo Mays is on the hook for her murder. The problem is, he swears he didn't do it--and Officer Andy White is positive that he did. A decade-old grudge plays itself out in the form of a rigged investigation, ending in the death penalty. This play tells the true story of how and why Maurice Mays was sentenced to death for a murder he didn't commit--a murder that caused the...
    Bertie Lindsey is dead, and Mo Mays is on the hook for her murder. The problem is, he swears he didn't do it--and Officer Andy White is positive that he did. A decade-old grudge plays itself out in the form of a rigged investigation, ending in the death penalty. This play tells the true story of how and why Maurice Mays was sentenced to death for a murder he didn't commit--a murder that caused the events that led to the 1919 race riots in Knoxville, Tennessee.

    This play runs a little under ten minutes.
  • The Walk by Kaia L
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: comedy, political
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    Keyword: social media, Twitter
    Genre: comedy, political
    Keyword: social media, Twitter
    A Black woman explains what it's like to use Twitter in the current political age.