Erik Gernand

Erik Gernand

Erik Gernand’s plays have been in production and/or development at theaters including Redtwist, American Theater Company, and Chicago Dramatists (all Chicago), Actors Theatre of Louisville, as well as The Barrow Group and T. Schreiber Studio (NYC). His award-winning short films (writer/director) have screened at more than 100 film festivals around the world including SXSW, Mix Milan (Italy), Palm Springs...
Erik Gernand’s plays have been in production and/or development at theaters including Redtwist, American Theater Company, and Chicago Dramatists (all Chicago), Actors Theatre of Louisville, as well as The Barrow Group and T. Schreiber Studio (NYC). His award-winning short films (writer/director) have screened at more than 100 film festivals around the world including SXSW, Mix Milan (Italy), Palm Springs International Shortfest, and Cinequest, as well as been broadcast on IFC, PBS, and the Logo Channel, and distributed through Strand Releasing and First Run Features. Erik is a senior lecturer in Radio-TV-Film at Northwestern University.

Plays

  • The Totality of All Things by Erik Gernand
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: marriage equality, political + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: marriage equality, political, anti-gay discrimination, big city/rural divisions, small town America
    After the Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage across the country in 2015, a progressive journalism teacher nearing retirement in a small Indiana town bucks her conservative school board and hangs a bulletin board celebrating the historic milestone. When a vandal defaces it though, all hell breaks loose in ways no one could have imagined.
  • The Beautiful Dark by Erik Gernand
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 1 more
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    Keyword: family, violence + 1 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: family, violence, mental illness
    A woman must confront her darkest fears when she suspects that her teenage son may be planning an act of violence.
  • Year One by Erik Gernand
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: political, extremism + 5 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, mystery/thriller, period, political
    Keyword: political, extremism, dark, Terror, far right, family crisis, Nazis
    A populist’s rise to power exacerbates mounting political and social divisions. When Anna’s brother Max arrives unexpectedly, harboring a dangerous secret, the family matriarch is forced to choose between embracing a radical new country or saving those she loves.
  • A Place in the Woods by Erik Gernand
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: gay, LGBTQ + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: gay, LGBTQ, family, rural, parenthood, aging
    A dark family secret is pushed to the surface when a gay man is forced to return to his rural hometown to care for his ailing mother.
  • The Kneeling Position by Erik Gernand
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 1 more
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    Keyword: bullying, LGBTQ
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, political
    Keyword: bullying, LGBTQ
    A man confronts his high school bully twenty years later.
  • Egg Nog by Erik Gernand
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, holiday + 1 more
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    Keyword: LGBTQ, comedy + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, holiday, romantic comedy
    Keyword: LGBTQ, comedy, christmas, coming out
    A son makes a surprising confession to his mother at his winter formal.