Ashley Rose Wellman

Ashley Rose Wellman is an LA playwright and screenwriter who writes plays and pilots about messy, complicated people who make bad decisions while navigating grief and trauma.

Her work has been developed/produced at Theatre of NOTE, Ensemble Studio Theatre LA, Pasadena Playhouse, The Blank Theatre, Antaeus Theatre Company, IAMA, Midnight Summit Ensemble, Spinning Plates Theatre Co., Red Cup Theatre Company, the University of Southern California, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the Great Plains Theatre Commons, and the Valdez Theatre Conference.

Her play KILL SHELTER at Theatre of NOTE won five LADCC awards, including the Ted Schmitt Award for the World Premiere of an Outstanding New Play, Co-Sponsored by The Black List, was a Stage Raw Awards Distinguished Production, won ten...

Ashley Rose Wellman is an LA playwright and screenwriter who writes plays and pilots about messy, complicated people who make bad decisions while navigating grief and trauma.

Her work has been developed/produced at Theatre of NOTE, Ensemble Studio Theatre LA, Pasadena Playhouse, The Blank Theatre, Antaeus Theatre Company, IAMA, Midnight Summit Ensemble, Spinning Plates Theatre Co., Red Cup Theatre Company, the University of Southern California, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the Great Plains Theatre Commons, and the Valdez Theatre Conference.

Her play KILL SHELTER at Theatre of NOTE won five LADCC awards, including the Ted Schmitt Award for the World Premiere of an Outstanding New Play, Co-Sponsored by The Black List, was a Stage Raw Awards Distinguished Production, won ten StageSceneLA Awards, and three LATheatreBites Awards.

Ashley also won the Humanitas PLAY LA Award, is a two-time Finalist and four-time Semifinalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and was named on the 2020 Kilroys List.

She has an MFA from USC, and an anthology of plays published by the Valdez Theatre Conference. More info: ashleyrosewellman.com

Scripts

WE'RE TRYING TO HEAL!!

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

Four women use the settlement payout from a predatory university doctor to go on a spontaneous, chaotic vacation together. As the trip veers wildly between awkward intimacy, rage, and bad decisions, a sudden bombshell threatens to explode their fragile connections. A play about broken systems, price tags on pain, and how all of us are just TRYING TO HEAL!!

Four women use the settlement payout from a predatory university doctor to go on a spontaneous, chaotic vacation together. As the trip veers wildly between awkward intimacy, rage, and bad decisions, a sudden bombshell threatens to explode their fragile connections. A play about broken systems, price tags on pain, and how all of us are just TRYING TO HEAL!!

IT'S FOREVER IN THERE, or fuck around and find out

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

Two amateur conflict journalists who were kidnapped for ransom during an ill-advised trip to an active war zone are released after years of captivity. They struggle to adjust to “normal life” while navigating their complex feelings for each other, the enormous debts they owe their loved ones, and the weird ramifications of what happens after you fuck around and find out.

Two amateur conflict journalists who were kidnapped for ransom during an ill-advised trip to an active war zone are released after years of captivity. They struggle to adjust to “normal life” while navigating their complex feelings for each other, the enormous debts they owe their loved ones, and the weird ramifications of what happens after you fuck around and find out.

Kill Shelter

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

Colleen, a disillusioned single mom, struggles to defend her work in an overfull and understaffed "kill shelter" to her teenage daughter, who has recently become entangled with a zealous pastor's son. As Colleen trains the animal shelter's bright-eyed new intern, while constantly haunted by the voices of the animals she euthanizes, Colleen and those around her face mounting and claustrophobic pressures, and...

Colleen, a disillusioned single mom, struggles to defend her work in an overfull and understaffed "kill shelter" to her teenage daughter, who has recently become entangled with a zealous pastor's son. As Colleen trains the animal shelter's bright-eyed new intern, while constantly haunted by the voices of the animals she euthanizes, Colleen and those around her face mounting and claustrophobic pressures, and struggle to break free from the cages they're trapped in.

You Are The Blood

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

Shelby Boden is a cynical stand-up comedian trying to survive in the shadow of her father, a man who's done bad, bad things. When she discovers that her father is marrying Sylvia, an eccentric young performance artist that writes to criminals, morbid curiosity leads these two women to develop a strange, charged friendship. With the looming and dangerous presence of the bloodshed in their bloodline, the entire...

Shelby Boden is a cynical stand-up comedian trying to survive in the shadow of her father, a man who's done bad, bad things. When she discovers that her father is marrying Sylvia, an eccentric young performance artist that writes to criminals, morbid curiosity leads these two women to develop a strange, charged friendship. With the looming and dangerous presence of the bloodshed in their bloodline, the entire Boden family is left contending with damages that could be irreparable.

Hot Tragic Dead Thing

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

Bekah, a teenage social outcast recovering from a failed suicide attempt, and Miles, a golden boy with a hidden thirst for violence, are thrust into the same house when their parents try to blend their families after disastrous marriages. Bekah and Miles’ budding attraction and increasing obsession with leaving a mark on the world take them to a dark, dangerous place.

Bekah, a teenage social outcast recovering from a failed suicide attempt, and Miles, a golden boy with a hidden thirst for violence, are thrust into the same house when their parents try to blend their families after disastrous marriages. Bekah and Miles’ budding attraction and increasing obsession with leaving a mark on the world take them to a dark, dangerous place.

SHRINES

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

A family stuck in a horrifying cycle of perpetual mourning throws a party for a dead teenage girl, on what would have been her 30th birthday. When the girl’s former high school sweetheart arrives and drops a major bombshell, the night descends into chaos and forces them to contend with deeply held trauma and disturbing secrets. SHRINES is a play about blurred boundaries, Facebook, and the way we grieve now.

A family stuck in a horrifying cycle of perpetual mourning throws a party for a dead teenage girl, on what would have been her 30th birthday. When the girl’s former high school sweetheart arrives and drops a major bombshell, the night descends into chaos and forces them to contend with deeply held trauma and disturbing secrets. SHRINES is a play about blurred boundaries, Facebook, and the way we grieve now.

Willed Bodies

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

At a Willed Body ceremony—an event where medical students meet the families of medical cadavers, Lydia, an ambitious first-year med student, encounters Harrison, an anxious and tender young man who is the son of the cadaver she is about to dissect. As Lydia and her lab group cut deeper and deeper into his father’s body, Harrison and Lydia enter into an unconventional relationship that straddles the line between...

At a Willed Body ceremony—an event where medical students meet the families of medical cadavers, Lydia, an ambitious first-year med student, encounters Harrison, an anxious and tender young man who is the son of the cadaver she is about to dissect. As Lydia and her lab group cut deeper and deeper into his father’s body, Harrison and Lydia enter into an unconventional relationship that straddles the line between sweet and horrifying. Willed Bodies is a play about strange forms of intimacy and what’s under our skin.

That Long Damn Dark

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

Purgatory is a storage unit in rural Alabama for Ed and Lorraine, the gunshot-ridden corpses of a murdered married couple. Leah and Todd, their teenaged murderers, flee the state to Arkansas, haunted by memories and the unearthly talking dead. When Mara and Ethan, two recent transplants from New York City, take the young adults into their new home, the disturbing unfolding reality of the situation threatens to...

Purgatory is a storage unit in rural Alabama for Ed and Lorraine, the gunshot-ridden corpses of a murdered married couple. Leah and Todd, their teenaged murderers, flee the state to Arkansas, haunted by memories and the unearthly talking dead. When Mara and Ethan, two recent transplants from New York City, take the young adults into their new home, the disturbing unfolding reality of the situation threatens to destroy the lives (and afterlives) of all involved.

Living Creatures

by Ashley Rose Wellman

Synopsis

Two parents’ lives are ripped apart when their 10-year-old son Luke unexpectedly dies from an allergic reaction to shellfish, leaving them alone and overwhelmed by grief. As they try to navigate through the surreal world of their grief, Luke’s mother Julia accidentally stumbles into her son’s afterlife—a strange world called “The Other Place” that looks exactly like their home, only a little different and...

Two parents’ lives are ripped apart when their 10-year-old son Luke unexpectedly dies from an allergic reaction to shellfish, leaving them alone and overwhelmed by grief. As they try to navigate through the surreal world of their grief, Luke’s mother Julia accidentally stumbles into her son’s afterlife—a strange world called “The Other Place” that looks exactly like their home, only a little different and… stranger. She wants nothing more than to bridge the gap between the world of the living and the strange world of the dead, and will do anything to bring her young son back with her.