Abbey Joan Burgess

Abbey Joan Burgess

Abbey Joan Burgess is a director and playwright from Chicago, IL. Her extremely loud laugh and insatiable curiosity made her destined to work in the theater. Growing up with a deep love of literature, Abbey is fascinated by plays that challenge audiences and identity politics, demand intellectual rigor, and unapologetically crack open the underbelly of our humanity with the poetry of the abstract and...
Abbey Joan Burgess is a director and playwright from Chicago, IL. Her extremely loud laugh and insatiable curiosity made her destined to work in the theater. Growing up with a deep love of literature, Abbey is fascinated by plays that challenge audiences and identity politics, demand intellectual rigor, and unapologetically crack open the underbelly of our humanity with the poetry of the abstract and experimental. Abbey concentrates in new work development, and is a proud directing alumni of the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.

Abbey graduated from Yale College in 2019 with a B.A. in Theater Studies and English, where she also served as the President of the Yale Drama Coalition. In her time as an artistic leader, director, and playwright, Abbey worked to make theatrical spaces within Yale College more accessible and diverse, as well as rebuild ties to the New Haven community through performance. Building community, accessibility, and creating room for diverse voices are central tenets of her theatrical passion, and belief that theater is an act of service.

Abbey is currently the Directing/Producing Apprentice for McCarter Theatre Center, where her assistant credits include Gloria: A Life (dir. Emily Mann), Goodnight Nobody (dir. Tyne Rafaeli) and Sleuth (dir. Adam Immerwahr).

Abbey is also a playwright. Her plays focus on disability, queerness, and the intricacies of intimacy.

Plays

  • BOUND by Abbey Joan Burgess
    Cast: 
    4–6
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: Able-bodied/disabled Tensions, disability and sexuality + 8 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Able-bodied/disabled Tensions, disability and sexuality, disability visibility, Gay and LGBTQ, family, faith vs. religion, Queer Latinx, forgiveness and redemption, closeted, acceptance
    Bennett can’t remember what happened exactly. He fell on grass. He fell on grass. And now he’s a quadriplegic. And Ed…well Eduardo hasn’t come to see him since the accident.

    This play explores disability, queerness, and the cost of forgiveness. Based on a true story.
  • CHARCOAL by Abbey Joan Burgess
    Cast: 
    6–9
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, adoption + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: LGBTQ, adoption, Alzheimer's Disease, caregiving, internalized homophobia, duty vs. desire, Generational trauma
    Some days Jan seems like her old self. And some days Annie watches the disease eat away everything she is.

    Some days Jacob can pretend he feels at home with his family. That blood doesn’t define who you are. And some days…there’s Caleb, and he can’t make himself look away, even though he knows he should.

    CHARCOAL explores family, belonging, the search for self-acceptance, and everything in between.
  • EGGSHELLS by Abbey Joan Burgess
    Cast: 
    4–7
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: mental illness, grief + 8 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: mental illness, grief, Adult Siblings, accepting death, sexual trauma, hallucinations, coping with grief, repressed memories, bisexuality, LGBTQ
    Jess’ brother just died. …Self-inflicted. He didn’t leave her a note. He always promised he would. But the thing is, he's still around. Kind of. He’s everywhere, all the time. What if she can’t let him go? What if she doesn’t want to?

    Mental illness, grief, and the deceptive power of the subconscious intertwine in this would-be memory play.
  • The Matriarch by Abbey Joan Burgess
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: family dysfunction, matriarch + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental
    Keyword: family dysfunction, matriarch, family funerals and deaths, LGBTQ, magical realism/supernatural, overcoming prejudice, forgiveness, family reunion
    The funeral of the family matriarch, Agnes. Only - no one has shown up, because, well... she was a cunt. And that's putting it mildly. With a grieving husband who refuses to accept the truth, a granddaughter who has shown up with her brand new girlfriend (surprise), and a mother who has secretly hated her mom for well - ever, together they sit and wait for the funeral goers who will never arrive, Agnes...
    The funeral of the family matriarch, Agnes. Only - no one has shown up, because, well... she was a cunt. And that's putting it mildly. With a grieving husband who refuses to accept the truth, a granddaughter who has shown up with her brand new girlfriend (surprise), and a mother who has secretly hated her mom for well - ever, together they sit and wait for the funeral goers who will never arrive, Agnes' giant portrait glaring over them all. What could go wrong? As it turns out, Agnes may still have a few tricks up her sleeve after all. **Commissioned by Alliance Theater.