Rand Higbee

Rand Higbee

A brief biography of Rand Higbee

Originally from South Dakota, Rand Higbee obtained a Theatre degree from South Dakota State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While at UNLV his first full-length play, Sir Isaac’s Duel, was named as an alternate to the National American College Theatre Festival held at the Kennedy Center.

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A brief biography of Rand Higbee

Originally from South Dakota, Rand Higbee obtained a Theatre degree from South Dakota State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While at UNLV his first full-length play, Sir Isaac’s Duel, was named as an alternate to the National American College Theatre Festival held at the Kennedy Center.

Since UNLV days Rand’s plays have continued to gain both productions and awards. He won a 2009 Wisconsin Wrights award for his superhero play The Lightning Bug which has since been published by Next Stage Press. His short play Next! has become one of the most often performed high school one-acts in the country. The 2012 debut production of his full length A Girl Named Destiny at the Venus Theater in Laurel, Maryland, was named as one of the best plays of the year by “DC Metro Theatre Arts.”

Rand currently lives in Yachats, Oregon.

Plays

  • The Feral Child
    A synopsis of The Feral Child by Rand Higbee

    The Feral Child (2M and 3F) is a comedy in two acts about a girl who believes she is a cat.

    When she was only 3 years old, Mary Kittinger, along with her entire family, disappeared while on vacation in India. 10 years later she was discovered living with a family of tigers. Mary had come to believe that she was a cat. Dr. James Hauser...
    A synopsis of The Feral Child by Rand Higbee

    The Feral Child (2M and 3F) is a comedy in two acts about a girl who believes she is a cat.

    When she was only 3 years old, Mary Kittinger, along with her entire family, disappeared while on vacation in India. 10 years later she was discovered living with a family of tigers. Mary had come to believe that she was a cat. Dr. James Hauser, a renowned child psychologist, eventually takes Mary into his home, determined to teach her how to become a human being. But Mary may prefer the life of a cat.
  • The Head That Wouldn't Die
    A madman is on the loose and college student Penny has gotten a gun for protection over the objections of her roommate Janice. The objections prove all too true when Penny accidentally shoots her boyfriend, Glen. Granted, his sense of humor often makes people want to shoot him, but this was truly an accident. Fortunately, Janice is a pre-med genius and she is able to use a very unorthodox method to save Glen’s...
    A madman is on the loose and college student Penny has gotten a gun for protection over the objections of her roommate Janice. The objections prove all too true when Penny accidentally shoots her boyfriend, Glen. Granted, his sense of humor often makes people want to shoot him, but this was truly an accident. Fortunately, Janice is a pre-med genius and she is able to use a very unorthodox method to save Glen’s life...kind of. His head at least, but only temporarily. While Glen protests to being stored in the TV cabinet, Penny is concerned that not all of Glen’s body could be saved. After all, what’s a boyfriend without all his body parts? Janice is frantic as to what to do next as the unusual events have attracted the attention of a nosy neighbor and a curious police officer. Janice and Penny try their best to conceal the horrible secret but events soon start to spiral out of control. Janice calls upon her nerdy scientist friend, Luke. Perhaps his newest creation, the B7 robot, can save the situation. But then, what about the werewolf?

    "The Head That Wouldn't Die" is published and only available through Eldridge Publishing. There is a separate high school version available as well: "It's Alive: The Head That Wouldn't Die."
  • Oh, No! I Flew Too Close to the Sun!
    It is Rome in 120 A.D. Festus is quite excited when he learns that he has been cast in the role of Icarus in a performance at the Colosseum. However, his enthusiasm quickly wanes when stage workers Sabina and Brutus gradually fill him in as to what exactly the role requires.
  • Moon in a Barrel
    Hermann has captured the Moon in a barrel. He and his wife scheme how to make money by showing the Moon off. As they scheme, however, nosy neighbor Schmidt comes along threatening to expose the entire plot.
  • Tales of the Monkey King
    Monkey has journeyed away from his home at the Cave of the Water Curtain in an effort to gain knowledge of the world and, hopefully, discover the secret of immortality. Along the way he meets a young boy named Tim who introduces Monkey to the concept of school. At school Monkey meets the cranky teacher Old Lady Brady…who just might have the answers Monkey is seeking.

    Tales of the Monkey King is...
    Monkey has journeyed away from his home at the Cave of the Water Curtain in an effort to gain knowledge of the world and, hopefully, discover the secret of immortality. Along the way he meets a young boy named Tim who introduces Monkey to the concept of school. At school Monkey meets the cranky teacher Old Lady Brady…who just might have the answers Monkey is seeking.

    Tales of the Monkey King is loosely based on the novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en.
  • Cherries Jubilee
    Boy meets girl. They fall in love. He proposes. But not so fast! She has an unusual family tradition that just might make this proposing business a bit more difficult.
  • The Last Ballgame
    An aging baseball play by play man decides to move on from the game he loves. Before he retires, however, he has one last wish.
  • Bottom of the 9th
    Jeff decides to pop the question to Sally via the scoreboard at the Minnesota Twins game. But how is Sally supposed to answer a question like that when it's the bottom of the ninth and the tying run is on second base?
  • How Can I Tell If It's Love?
    Jack and Nora are a young couple in love. But are they really in love? Just what is this thing we call love and how can youngsters know it if they've never experienced such a thing before? Fortunately Jack and Nora have their mothers to turn to for advice on such matters.

    "How Can I Tell If It's Love?" is a satirical look at this subject as it would have been (and actually was...
    Jack and Nora are a young couple in love. But are they really in love? Just what is this thing we call love and how can youngsters know it if they've never experienced such a thing before? Fortunately Jack and Nora have their mothers to turn to for advice on such matters.

    "How Can I Tell If It's Love?" is a satirical look at this subject as it would have been (and actually was) handled by those bad old educational films made in the 1950s.
  • Monkey Play
    The result of a several years long experiment, Homer has become a talking chimpanzee. But does he really talk? Or does he merely make sounds, like a dog barking or a cat mewing, to get attention? As funds for the experiment are running out, Homer must convince his “mother” that he truly is an intelligent, talking being or it’s back to the zoo for him.
  • A Girl Named Destiny
    "A Girl Named Destiny" is a play about love at first sight...in two acts.

    Act One focuses in on Joe who is searching for a girl named Destiny.

    Act Two focuses in on Destiny who is searching for her Joe.

    (Yes, there's a lot more to it than this, but let's not spoil the surprises.)
  • At Home With The Clarks
    The Clarks are a typical 1960s sit-com family: Dad who goes off to work each day, Mom who stays home and bakes cookies, daughter Betty who is a popular high school Senior, and son "Tiger" who just might be at that age where he is beginning to discover girls.

    However a change is in the air. Not just in the home of the Clarks, but throughout the idyllic little town of Mayville. It's...
    The Clarks are a typical 1960s sit-com family: Dad who goes off to work each day, Mom who stays home and bakes cookies, daughter Betty who is a popular high school Senior, and son "Tiger" who just might be at that age where he is beginning to discover girls.

    However a change is in the air. Not just in the home of the Clarks, but throughout the idyllic little town of Mayville. It's more than just this odd new decade of the 1960s. Betty has a new best friend named Wanda who hides a devastating secret...a secret that just might lead to the end of the world as we know it.

    "At Home With The Clarks" is now published by Next Stage Press.

  • The Lightning Bug
    The year is 1939. The offices of the Magnopolis Daily News are buzzing over the rumored return of Dr. Kasady, the evil genius intent on global domination. Kasady hasn't been seen in the city in over 10 years. As the reporters race to get the story, they discover the unassuming shoeshine girl, Rishamie Reid, may know something about where Kasady has been and why he is returning. For Rishamie is no ordinary...
    The year is 1939. The offices of the Magnopolis Daily News are buzzing over the rumored return of Dr. Kasady, the evil genius intent on global domination. Kasady hasn't been seen in the city in over 10 years. As the reporters race to get the story, they discover the unassuming shoeshine girl, Rishamie Reid, may know something about where Kasady has been and why he is returning. For Rishamie is no ordinary shoeshine girl. A genetic mutation has turned her into the Lightning Bug, a super hero who can move faster than the eye can see. When Kasady arrives with his latest plan for global conquest, Rishamie may be the only person who can stop him.
  • Johnny Shoemaker
    Johnny is a nerdy high schooler who falls in love with Mary, the beautiful new girl in school. He wants to ask her out, but he can't summon up the courage to do so. Or can he? Somehow she accepts his offer of a date even though Johnny doesn't remember asking. Something odd is happening here. Is an elf involved?
  • The Zach and Lydia Show
    Lydia is a would be standup comedian auditioning for an agent who has told her "No" many times before. This time, however, she has changed up the act by adding a partner: A punch drunk ex-football player.
  • Domestic Life
    Many years ago a Husband and a Wife decide to leave their hunter/gatherer lifestyle forever and become farmers. But their new lifestyle is threatened by mice who continually get into their food stores. Is there no one out there who can help?
  • The Death of Gingerbread
    Gingerbread the goldfish is missing. Karen quizzes her mother, Syvlia, as to the odd disappearance. Karen may not like the answers she uncovers.
  • Moon in a Barrel - Minimal Staging Version
    Hermann has captured the Moon in a barrel. He and his wife scheme how to make money by showing the Moon off. As they scheme, however, nosy neighbor Schmidt comes along threatening to expose the entire plot.

    This version of the play was developed with The Pulp Stage theatre company in 2018. The format you have here lends itself to many styles of production including

    *Read-Alouds (...
    Hermann has captured the Moon in a barrel. He and his wife scheme how to make money by showing the Moon off. As they scheme, however, nosy neighbor Schmidt comes along threatening to expose the entire plot.

    This version of the play was developed with The Pulp Stage theatre company in 2018. The format you have here lends itself to many styles of production including

    *Read-Alouds (entrances and exits happen by simply sitting or standing... no need for paper scripts. You can turn off the lights and read to the glow of tablets, for extra effect)

    *Full Stagings (or scaled to whatever your production ambitions or limits may be)

    *Radio or Podcast Dramas

    *Visual Broadcasts (via Zoom or your preferred platform)

    If this style of theatre interests you further, please contact Pulp Stage artistic director, Matt Haynes for additional script options.

    pulpstagematt@gmail.com



  • Shaula: Queen of the Universe
    As members of the Earth Space Patrol, Captain Brick Jones, and his intrepid companion Skippy, explore our vast universe. One day the pair crash land on a previously uncharted planet. While attempting to make repairs they meet this planet’s lone inhabitant: Shaula, who claims to be Queen of the Universe. Shaula claims that this strange planet contains the universe’s most powerful substance and it is her job to...
    As members of the Earth Space Patrol, Captain Brick Jones, and his intrepid companion Skippy, explore our vast universe. One day the pair crash land on a previously uncharted planet. While attempting to make repairs they meet this planet’s lone inhabitant: Shaula, who claims to be Queen of the Universe. Shaula claims that this strange planet contains the universe’s most powerful substance and it is her job to protect it from all outside threats. And the biggest threat in the universe seems to be fast approaching.