Bridgette Dutta Portman

[Full-length] Ninety is the new thirty at the turn of the 22nd century. When Marin refuses to take the anti-aging drug celebrated by the rest of society, she invokes her mother’s ire and risks becoming marginalized in a culture that worships youth, denies death, and treats old age as a malady. As Marin’s choice begins to affect not only her but the people she loves, will she find the strength to hold out, or succumb to social pressure?

Winner, Best Dramatic Monologue, Avalonia 7 Theatre Festival, 2020

[5-minute monologue] Inspired by the Roman goddess of war, a monologue from the prospective of the nuclear bomb that will end us all.

Finalist, New Play Contest, Pride Films and Plays, 2013

[Full-length] A verse play inspired by the Greek myth of Caeneus, a young man who was assigned female at birth. After the sea-god Poseidon grants his wish for a traditionally masculine body, Caeneus feels compelled to hide his former identity from all but his closest friend, Hippodamia, as he seeks the acceptance of his kinsmen and community. But as he and Hippodamia begin a relationship that challenges their society’s strict social order, and as a vengeful Poseidon works behind the scenes to bring about Caeneus’ downfall, the young man must find the strength to openly embrace his identity and his past.

FULL-LENGTH COLLABORATION - Co-written by Robin Booth, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Leah Halper, Greg Lam, and Sophia Naylor. Edited by Sinjin Jones. Inspired by Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus".

A free adaptation of Mary Shelley's seminal classic horror story. This version takes the monster tale from the 1800’s to the modern day to the farthest reaches of space.

[One-act] Joanne hates her job at McCarby’s: minimum wage, irritating customers, an overbearing boss, and a geeky coworker. When Jo’s con artist sister, Char, comes up with a scheme to spill hot coffee on herself and sue McCarby’s, Jo goes along with it. Can they pull it off, or is it too tall an order? Will someone spill the beans? How many coffee puns can we cram into this synopsis? And why is a mysterious old woman following Jo? Inspired by the 1992 McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit, COFFEE LADY is a comedic ghost story about sibling rivalry, denial, corporate greed, and the power of truth.

[Full-length] Gale Boatswain, a forensic pathologist at a hospital morgue, just wants to be left alone with his grim work and his obsessive-compulsive rituals. When a young woman named Poppy sneaks into the morgue, it throws Boatswain’s carefully-ordered life into disarray and forces both of them to disclose their secrets, face their own vulnerabilities, and confront the ghosts of their pasts. (This play is a revised and expanded version of my one-act, Delusion.)

Winner, Red Bull Theater's Short New Play Contest, 2016.

[10-minute] A corrupt politician and his wife find themselves in the eighth circle of Dante's Inferno. Can they swindle their way out?

Winner, Red Bull Theater's Short New Play Contest, 2019.

[10-minute] A king attempts to leave his infant nephew to die of exposure on a hillside, but a passing shepherd has seen this story before. A spoof on a classical trope.

[10-Minute] A backyard garden unites three women in two different time periods. What memories does the soil hold?

[10-minute] An anxious and overwhelmed new mother invokes three ancient Egyptian goddesses of birth and childcare — including the scorpion-goddess, Hedetet — to seek their advice on how to care for her newborn. The result is messy.

[10-minute] Emma worries that her sister Mona may be in an abusive relationship. Mona insists that everything is fine. As Emma struggles to convince Mona to leave her husband, it becomes apparent that Mona isn't the only one in denial. A short contemporary adaptation of Act 4, Scene 3 of Othello.

Finalist, Prize for Women Playwrights, Kentucky Women Writers, 2019
First Prize, Ohio State Newark New Play Contest, Ohio State Newark, 2013

[Full-length] When France bans absinthe in 1914, struggling poet Marmion fears he will lose his only source of inspiration. He authors a petition against the ban, aided by Denis, a depressed bartender who drinks absinthe in order to hallucinate his deceased fiancée. But Marmion’s brother, a parish priest with his own secret absinthe addiction, is dead- set against the petition and determined to stop them. As the three men’s agendas clash, each must learn the source of his own dependence on “La Fée Verte."

[10-minute] While in Rome to defend himself against charges of heresy, Galileo Galilei receives an unexpected visitor: Father Tommaso Caccini, the very man who denounced him and reported him to the Inquisition. Has Caccini come to apologize, as he claims, or does he have other motives?

[10-minute] Brian is haunted by the spirit of his sister Cara, who died in childhood. What does she want from him, and what does an old teddy bear have to do with it? A short play about loss, guilt, and reconciliation.

Finalist, Henley Rose Competition, 2019
Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights' Festival, 2019
Finalist, PlayPenn Conference, 2019
Semifinalist, O'Neill Playwrights' Conference, 2019

[Full-length] Reema comes to Glade Family Funeral Home and Cemetery with an unusual request: she wants to bury the body of her cousin, the perpetrator of a subway bombing that left dozens injured and several dead. Eleanor, the funeral home owner, refuses, and the two women are thrown into a struggle over the fate of the body that draws in Reema's mother Sana, Eleanor's apprentice Adam, and the wider community as prejudice, denial and buried secrets are unearthed. THE MOURNER is a loose adaptation of Antigone inspired by real events following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Cass is confused and hurt when her mother, Rachael, refuses to hold Cass’s newborn daughter. When Rachael opens up about her struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Cass learns that OCD doesn't always mean cleanliness and perfectionism. A mother-daughter play about facing what scares us most.

Winner, Red Bull Theater's Short New Play Contest, 2014.

[10-minute] Captain Ahab runs into a snag when an anti-whaling activist sabotages his ship. Will Ahab's grand quest to slay the White Whale be thwarted?

[Full-length, Cowritten with Humaira Ghilzai] Five Muslim American women embark on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Noor is an Afghan American immigrant with a secret. Her tech CEO daughter Maryam is struggling with legal woes, while Noor’s nieces, the estranged sisters Sosan and Nadia, work to mend their fractured relationship. Meanwhile, Fatima, a Black Muslim convert, hopes to find her biological mother. Will the journey bring these five women together, or will secrets, rivalries, and old wounds tear them apart?

Runner Up, Funniest Play Ever competition, Awesome Theatre, 2018

[One-act] An office comedy featuring the eight planets and Pluto, told in three vignettes. Rivalries, romances, and bad puns abound.

[One-Act] In 184 B.C., a group of native Egyptians are in revolt against their dictatorial Greek ruler, Ptolemy V Epiphanes. As Ptolemy struggles to crush the rebels, as well as a disturbing memory that threatens to surface from his own unconscious, his wife Cleopatra Syra struggles to reconcile her loyalty to him with her misgivings about his despotism. Meanwhile, Meribast, a native Egyptian woman fighting to throw off Ptolemy’s rule, is frustrated by her inability to be taken seriously as a political player. This play can be viewed as a historical allegory of the modern-day Arab Spring, as well as an exploration of the theme of repression – political, gender-based and psychological.

[10 minutes] A triangle is thrown into existential disarray when Side B begins to question her place in the universe. Can the other two sides talk some sense into her, or will discord and bad mathematical puns tear them apart? [Formerly titled Pythagorean Triplets]

[Ten-minute Zoom-friendly play] A woman on Earth and a man on Mars try to maintain their relationship across forty million miles of space, but there is more than distance separating them.

[10-minute] Stephanie is an ordinary high school student by day, superhero by night. When her extracurricular activities begin to take a negative toll on her grades, her mother insists she put school first. A spoof on the teen superhero genre.

[10-minute] Returning to the beach where her young daughter drowned, a woman demands an apology from the personification of violent waves. But how can one elicit sympathy from a force of nature indifferent to human suffering?