Else Went

Else Went

Else Went (they/she) is a playwright and sound designer based in Brooklyn.Their work has been developed through writing labs and groups at The Public Theatre (EWG), Ars Nova (Play Group), WP (Lab), Playwrights Realm (Fellowship), and Bechdel Project (FifE Fellow). Recipient of new play commissions from MTC Sloan (An Oxford Man), Breaking the Binary Festival (How to Become a Ghost), Weston Playhouse (Mirror Game...
Else Went (they/she) is a playwright and sound designer based in Brooklyn.Their work has been developed through writing labs and groups at The Public Theatre (EWG), Ars Nova (Play Group), WP (Lab), Playwrights Realm (Fellowship), and Bechdel Project (FifE Fellow). Recipient of new play commissions from MTC Sloan (An Oxford Man), Breaking the Binary Festival (How to Become a Ghost), Weston Playhouse (Mirror Game), Parity Productions (Boxcar), Period Piece (Protanopia), FST (Gutter Girl). She has been in residence with MacDowell, The Mercury Store, Stillwright, and Barn Arts Collective. Further development with support from NYTW, The Tank, The Brick, and ISC. Semifinalist for ASC’s Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries (Courage! to the Field!) and twice for the O’Neill Conference (Initiative; The Hard Work). Finalist for Princess Grace Award (Degenerates), New Contemps. (Whate’er), the Carlo Anoni Prize (An Oxford Man).

Plays

  • I Am The Most Beautiful Bird by Else Went
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 8 more
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    Keyword: greek, mythology + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, horror, political, romantic comedy, satire, tragedy
    Keyword: greek, mythology, free will, sexual assault, adaptation, poetry, Oresteia, Helen of Troy, Agamemnon, divine intervention
    Did you hear what happened to that unnervingly pretty girl who was born out of an egg after her mother fucked a swan?
    You mean after that big war with the wooden horse?
    No the war was with the Trojans.
    I meant that there was a wooden horse, not that it was the enemy.
    Ah. Well, so did you hear? What happened to her? The egg girl?
    No, I didn't.
    Hmm. Neither did I...
    Did you hear what happened to that unnervingly pretty girl who was born out of an egg after her mother fucked a swan?
    You mean after that big war with the wooden horse?
    No the war was with the Trojans.
    I meant that there was a wooden horse, not that it was the enemy.
    Ah. Well, so did you hear? What happened to her? The egg girl?
    No, I didn't.
    Hmm. Neither did I.
    Helen, wasn't that her name?
  • Degenerates by Else Went
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: incel, Men + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, horror, political, satire
    Keyword: incel, Men, internet, Depression, Transgender, self harm, romance, anime, red pill
    Note: the file hosted here is a first draft and may not reflect the current state of the script.

    A post-digital exploration of masculinity in crisis, inspired by text gathered from public message boards.
    In an obscure corner of the internet, a group of young men find community over their shared disillusionment with romance and dating. They gather to express their frustrations with society...
    Note: the file hosted here is a first draft and may not reflect the current state of the script.

    A post-digital exploration of masculinity in crisis, inspired by text gathered from public message boards.
    In an obscure corner of the internet, a group of young men find community over their shared disillusionment with romance and dating. They gather to express their frustrations with society and to offer one another increasingly cynical proofs of the world's hatred for men. When unexpected hope shakes very foundations of their miserable fraternity, the consequences of their fatalism are revealed.
  • Initiative by Else Went
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: coming of age, masculinity + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, fantasy, period, romantic comedy, tragedy
    Keyword: coming of age, masculinity, queer, Fantasy, nerd culture, Projections, naturalism, teenagers, high school, Transgender
    A big play about growing up in the new millennium.
  • Whate'er, or The Moon's comedy by Else Went
    Cast: 
    11–13
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    Genre: adventure, comedy + 7 more
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    Keyword: Shakespeare, LGBT + 6 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, period, romantic comedy, verse, young audiences
    Keyword: Shakespeare, LGBT, Transgender, comedy, verse, magic, romance, Lesbian
    In order to marry his love, Thalia, Adrastos goes with his friend into Hecate's woods, where no men may tread. Meanwhile, Thalia and her sister are pursued into the same woods by their wrathful father and his cronies, both of whom want Thalia to themselves. Hecate herself is having a particularly irksome night, what with Selene the moon goddess having decided to show up unannounced, the fairies are left to...
    In order to marry his love, Thalia, Adrastos goes with his friend into Hecate's woods, where no men may tread. Meanwhile, Thalia and her sister are pursued into the same woods by their wrathful father and his cronies, both of whom want Thalia to themselves. Hecate herself is having a particularly irksome night, what with Selene the moon goddess having decided to show up unannounced, the fairies are left to their own devices, and when the moon is full and close, everybody seems to go a little mad.

    A comedy in rhyming verse, and fully immersed in the Elizabethan pastoral form, Whate'er You Be is a celebration of the potential of divine transformation and radical love.
  • Mongrel by Else Went
    Cast: 
    8–20
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 7 more
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    Keyword: Multiracial, black + 4 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, faith-based, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: Multiracial, black, slavery, History, cultural identity, Transgender
    A true and exact history of the island of Barbados.
    A false and incomplete history of the isle of Barbados.
    This play is about decolonizing the self by becoming an island.
  • An Oxford Man by Else Went
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    7–12
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    Genre: biography, comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: Transgender, irreverent + 3 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, farce, period, political, satire
    Keyword: Transgender, irreverent, comedy, science, biopic
    A buoyant and raucous mythologization of the life and times of the first "modern" transgender man, Laurence Michael Dillon.
  • The Hard Work by Else Went
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    9–10
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    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic + 5 more
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    Keyword: zoom, digital + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, political, satire, tragedy
    Keyword: zoom, digital, whiteness, protests, coronavirus, Quarantine, complicity, racism, capitalism
    This is a play for mixed digital platforms.
    On June 2nd, 2020, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio imposed a curfew upon the city in order to... dissuade violence I guess was the line, from the protests against police brutality. During the five days of curfew, a group of white and privileged friends in the city have a crisis of identity. When the mayor rescinds the curfew on June 7th, he thanks them for their hard work.
  • First Comes Love by Else Went
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: Transgender, Generational + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Transgender, Generational, drama, abuse, repression
    A short play. Marnie is busy raking the ceaseless falling leaves, trying to keep up, when her son-in-law arrives to ask some pointed questions about his spouse's childhood, after a revelation has changed the nature of their relationship.
  • Old Names for Wildflowers by Else Went
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    9–50
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 8 more
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    Keyword: religion, Civil War + 6 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, fable/folktale, faith-based, fantasy, horror, mystery/thriller, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: religion, Civil War, Sisters, female, family, magic, witch, America
    The Civil War is over, but the scabs it left still itch. A fox stalks the clearing behind the Aubert's home, hunting chickens. A love triangle goes horribly wrong and a family is destroyed. The pieces cannot be put back together. The survivors must build something new. In the absence of family, God, community, morality, on the edge of the woods that ring with the Devil's whistle, two sisters must...
    The Civil War is over, but the scabs it left still itch. A fox stalks the clearing behind the Aubert's home, hunting chickens. A love triangle goes horribly wrong and a family is destroyed. The pieces cannot be put back together. The survivors must build something new. In the absence of family, God, community, morality, on the edge of the woods that ring with the Devil's whistle, two sisters must embrace the power of renouncing everything.
  • Three Seconds by Else Went
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic + 3 more
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    Keyword: contemporary, family + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, period, tragedy
    Keyword: contemporary, family, Depression, lighthouse, History, Americana
    Is loneliness something in the blood? Or is it something in the air? In 1906, Emory is preparing himself to take over as lighthouse keeper after his father Lorin retires when the San Francisco earthquake brings his brother Lo back home with nothing but a fiancee and faith that something will turn up. In the present, Emory, the "great great great whatever" of Lorin, tends the lighthouse museum. As the...
    Is loneliness something in the blood? Or is it something in the air? In 1906, Emory is preparing himself to take over as lighthouse keeper after his father Lorin retires when the San Francisco earthquake brings his brother Lo back home with nothing but a fiancee and faith that something will turn up. In the present, Emory, the "great great great whatever" of Lorin, tends the lighthouse museum. As the play progresses, tidally shifting back and forth across a century, Emory meets the only person who could inspire him to change his fate.
  • Courage! To The Field! by Else Went
    Cast: 
    8–15
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 8 more
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    Keyword: Shakespeare, Henry IV + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, period, romantic comedy, tragedy, verse, young audiences
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Henry IV, adaptation, reimagining, verse, stage combat, music, feminism, war, class
    Courage! To The Field! is an alternate-history-play. As brand new characters and old favorites alike bump up against the edges of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Courage! frames a wild conversation with The Bard himself, in which unnamed messengers, vengeful tapsters, and neglected wives turn history inside-out and make it their own. With disguises, swordplay, romance, fiddles, hijinks, and more – history is...
    Courage! To The Field! is an alternate-history-play. As brand new characters and old favorites alike bump up against the edges of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Courage! frames a wild conversation with The Bard himself, in which unnamed messengers, vengeful tapsters, and neglected wives turn history inside-out and make it their own. With disguises, swordplay, romance, fiddles, hijinks, and more – history is theatre, and it belongs to everyone.
  • Through Tears, A Cherry Orchard by Else Went
    Cast: 
    9–10
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: Chekhov, adaptation + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, drama, experimental, period, political, satire, tragedy
    Keyword: Chekhov, adaptation, revolution, romance, grooming, philosophy, communism, heightened language
    Unfinished.
    The Cherry Orchard, except the revolution comes early.
  • Saving Throw by Else Went
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: LGBTQ, coming of age + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, period, romantic comedy
    Keyword: LGBTQ, coming of age, california, mythology, spiritual, Adolescence
    The second part of a big play about growing up in the new millennium.
  • Boxcar by Else Went
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adventure, comedy + 4 more
    ·
    Keyword: coming of age, young adult + 8 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, drama, fable/folktale, romantic comedy, tragedy
    Keyword: coming of age, young adult, rap, Lesbian, sexual assault, poetry, philosophy, naturalism, homelessness, Freedom
    Ida and Firefly ran away together when they were kids. Since then, they've kept running, living on empty trains and traveling across the American landscape, seeking nothing and leaving nothing behind. Alexis is a teen runaway with a romantic notion of freedom. When she hops on a train one night, she comes face to face with the reality. As the weeks pass, Ida and Alexis develop a powerful bond that...
    Ida and Firefly ran away together when they were kids. Since then, they've kept running, living on empty trains and traveling across the American landscape, seeking nothing and leaving nothing behind. Alexis is a teen runaway with a romantic notion of freedom. When she hops on a train one night, she comes face to face with the reality. As the weeks pass, Ida and Alexis develop a powerful bond that threatens to knock everything off track.
  • They Stay Together by Else Went
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental
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    Keyword: LGBTQ, naturalism + 4 more
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: LGBTQ, naturalism, coming out, queer, Transgender, happy ending
    An ungendered romance in one scene. Cay and Val haven't been completely honest with one another. Cay and Val haven't been completely honest with themselves. Tonight, they will be. While waiting for pizza, a couple revolutionizes their relationship by risking it.

    *the script for this play is not available for inquiry at this time*