Rachel Leighson

Rachel Leighson

Rachel Leighson is an actor/playwright based in NYC and LA. She was named an Honorary Mention for the 2022 Jane Chambers Award for Feminist Playwriting for her play, "Little Egg, Big World." Her writing ranges from TYA to Victorian Horror, but she focuses her work on exploring gray morality and the nuances of women's justice.

Plays

  • Little Egg, Big World by Rachel Leighson
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    4–12
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: donor conception, donor insemination + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental, science fiction
    Keyword: donor conception, donor insemination, donors, sperm donor, egg donation, lgbtq family
    As two sides of one life, Little Egg and Grown Uterus struggle to reconcile themselves as both a donor child and an egg donor. Along the way, they sort the unsortable thoughts with a host of real and imagined characters of life from parents, to geneticists, to google itself. As Little Egg searches for her father and Grown Uterus tries to come to terms with anonymous donation, the two navigate through trials of...
    As two sides of one life, Little Egg and Grown Uterus struggle to reconcile themselves as both a donor child and an egg donor. Along the way, they sort the unsortable thoughts with a host of real and imagined characters of life from parents, to geneticists, to google itself. As Little Egg searches for her father and Grown Uterus tries to come to terms with anonymous donation, the two navigate through trials of identity, abandonment, betrayal, curiosity, love, and discovery.

    A story about reproductive justice, inherited experiences, and family.
  • Blood on My Mother's Apron by Rachel Leighson
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6–8
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 5 more
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    Keyword: Famous Serial Killers, female serial killer + 5 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, horror, mystery/thriller, period, tragedy
    Keyword: Famous Serial Killers, female serial killer, mothers and daughters, legacy, identity, thriller, Victorian Women
    Ten years after Jack the Ripper shook British society to its core, another brutal crime hits the headlines: Amelia Dyer is arrested on suspicion of murdering over 300 infants, including her own daughter and son. Her one surviving child, Polly Dyer may be the key to her mother’s conviction -- if she can bring herself to remember the past. With the help of her friend Charlotte Cullum and renowned prosecutor...
    Ten years after Jack the Ripper shook British society to its core, another brutal crime hits the headlines: Amelia Dyer is arrested on suspicion of murdering over 300 infants, including her own daughter and son. Her one surviving child, Polly Dyer may be the key to her mother’s conviction -- if she can bring herself to remember the past. With the help of her friend Charlotte Cullum and renowned prosecutor Horace Avery, Polly discovers that our traditional ideas of motherhood can often hide an untamable darkness.
  • The Scarcity of Illness: A Modern Golem Myth Play by Rachel Leighson
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, fable/folktale + 5 more
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    Keyword: Golem, Jewish folklore + 6 more
    Genre: drama, fable/folktale, faith-based, fantasy, horror, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: Golem, Jewish folklore, Jewish, Value of Life, saving lives, Taking Lives, Young woman, Gray Morality
    Dr. Baer is determined to save their young patient, Hannah, at any cost - whether or not Hannah is willing to pay it.
  • La Morte Finale by Rachel Leighson
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: Grand Guignol, 18th century women's history + 5 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, horror, mystery/thriller, period, tragedy
    Keyword: Grand Guignol, 18th century women's history, 20th century history of women, French Revolution, thriller, women, features Women's Roles
    A meeting across history of a young executioner on the eve of a life change and a woman the Grand Guignol forgot. In time, perhaps Marguerite Cane and Paula Maxa can save each other's souls.
  • Too Much Engaged to Think of Us by Rachel Leighson
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: adaptation, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: adaptation, period piece + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, period
    Keyword: adaptation, period piece, feminist retelling, short play, Victorian
    Faced the with the crippling choice between bigamy and heartbreak, Jane Eyre finds herself visited by an unexpected ally.
  • Betty: a long-form monologue or short play by Rachel Leighson
    Cast: 
    1–2
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    Genre: drama, political + 1 more
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    Keyword: abortion, Roe v. Wade + 3 more
    Genre: drama, political, tragedy
    Keyword: abortion, Roe v. Wade, reproduction, Reproductive Rights, women's rights
    Gloria's employee evaluation meeting takes a devastating turn.
  • Moses Never had to Make a Brisket by Rachel Leighson
    Cast: 
    2–3
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Jewish, Jew + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, faith-based, holiday
    Keyword: Jewish, Jew, Jewish life, Passover, Pesach, Jewish Family, Jewish tradition, Yiddish, modern Judaism
    Aviva struggles to make her first Seder after her mother's death, but an ancestral visitor might have the strength she needs.