Terry Guest

Terry Guest is a 3 time Jeff Award winning playwright, actor, director and teaching artist. His play The Magnolia Ballet had its National New Play Network (NNPN) rolling world premiere in 2022 and has since gone on to win two Jeff Awards, the NNPN Best New American Play Award, and was featured on NPR. Terry went on to direct his play Marie Antionette and the Magical Negros at the Story theater which won three Jeff Awards (including Best Director and Best New Play for Terry). Other works include: At The Wake of a Dead Drag Queen, OAK, The Madness of Mary Todd (Goodman Playwrights Unit Commission), and A Ghost in Satin (Williamstown Theatre Festival). As an actor Terry has worked at regional theaters including Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Alliance Theatre, About Face Theatre and Actors...

Terry Guest is a 3 time Jeff Award winning playwright, actor, director and teaching artist. His play The Magnolia Ballet had its National New Play Network (NNPN) rolling world premiere in 2022 and has since gone on to win two Jeff Awards, the NNPN Best New American Play Award, and was featured on NPR. Terry went on to direct his play Marie Antionette and the Magical Negros at the Story theater which won three Jeff Awards (including Best Director and Best New Play for Terry). Other works include: At The Wake of a Dead Drag Queen, OAK, The Madness of Mary Todd (Goodman Playwrights Unit Commission), and A Ghost in Satin (Williamstown Theatre Festival). As an actor Terry has worked at regional theaters including Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Alliance Theatre, About Face Theatre and Actors Express. He is a Governing Ensemble member at The Story Theatre, a Hermitage Fellow and a teaching artist at Jackalope, Writers Theatre and Chicago Children’s Theatre.

Scripts

The Magnolia Ballet

by Terry Guest

Synopsis

What do we do with the ugly history of racial injustice in America? Do we put it on display or lock it away and hope to forget it? Do we embrace it or are we embarrassed of it? What happens if we decided to just burn it all to the ground, could we ever rebuild? The Magnolia Ballet is a Southern Gothic fable about a Queer Black boy, his father and the ghosts that live in the walls of their old family home....

What do we do with the ugly history of racial injustice in America? Do we put it on display or lock it away and hope to forget it? Do we embrace it or are we embarrassed of it? What happens if we decided to just burn it all to the ground, could we ever rebuild? The Magnolia Ballet is a Southern Gothic fable about a Queer Black boy, his father and the ghosts that live in the walls of their old family home. Spanning 400 years, the show explores the complex relationships between multiple generations of Black and White people living in the state of Georgia.

At The Wake of a Dead Drag Queen

by Terry Guest

Synopsis

Courtney Berringers would like to welcome you to her wake! But—make no mistake—this ain’t your grandma’s funeral. At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen is a one-act play about Blackness, southern queerness, and the fine art of drag. From African Gods and Goddesses to Trina and Whitney Houston, At the Wake thoughtfully uses storytelling, drama and drag to explore identity, illness, and the narratives we construct for...

Courtney Berringers would like to welcome you to her wake! But—make no mistake—this ain’t your grandma’s funeral. At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen is a one-act play about Blackness, southern queerness, and the fine art of drag. From African Gods and Goddesses to Trina and Whitney Houston, At the Wake thoughtfully uses storytelling, drama and drag to explore identity, illness, and the narratives we construct for ourselves. Come party at the wake. Bring your own heels!

OAK

by Terry Guest

Synopsis

Oak is a southern gothic horror about 3 kids, an old woman with a shotgun and a mysterious creek monster.

Oak is a southern gothic horror about 3 kids, an old woman with a shotgun and a mysterious creek monster.

Marie Antionette and the Magical Negros

by Terry Guest

Synopsis

This is a play about rage. Revolt. Revolution. Revenge. It is about what happens when black people grow tired of sitting down and turning the other cheek. What are we left to do? Do we scream? Pray? Should we be peaceful? Should we riot? Can the tools we have used in the past possibly work for the future or do we need to write a new script? Using trap music, fashion shows and the backdrop of the French...

This is a play about rage. Revolt. Revolution. Revenge. It is about what happens when black people grow tired of sitting down and turning the other cheek. What are we left to do? Do we scream? Pray? Should we be peaceful? Should we riot? Can the tools we have used in the past possibly work for the future or do we need to write a new script? Using trap music, fashion shows and the backdrop of the French Revolution, Marie Antionette and the Magical Negros reimagines the myth of the lost monarchy and put it into the hands and mouths of Black people.