Fly Jamerson

Fly Jamerson

Fly Jamerson (they/she) is a writer and dramaturg in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Their play FROZEN FLUID: An Antarctic Gender Non-Conforming Creation Myth was a semi-finalist for the O’Neill and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, as well as a finalist for new play initiatives at Kitchen Dog Theater and Unicorn Theatre. The play has been read in festivals and workshopped nationwide, and will premier...
Fly Jamerson (they/she) is a writer and dramaturg in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Their play FROZEN FLUID: An Antarctic Gender Non-Conforming Creation Myth was a semi-finalist for the O’Neill and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, as well as a finalist for new play initiatives at Kitchen Dog Theater and Unicorn Theatre. The play has been read in festivals and workshopped nationwide, and will premier at Coeurage Ensemble in Los Angeles in 2023 .

Fly’s play HOT MONEY: A Quest for Immortality in the Madagascar Vanilla Boom, was originally supported by a New Now Commission from Lauren Gunderson with additional support provided by the Network of Ensemble Theatres and Great Plains Theatre Commons, where they were a resident playwright with The Commoners from 2020-2022. The play was a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival in 2022.

Fly’s other dramatic works have been commissioned and developed at theatres across the country, including at the BlueBarn Theatre in Omaha, the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (BETC) in Boulder, CO, the Peck School of the Arts in Milwaukee, WI, The National Women’s Theatre Festival in Raleigh, NC, and at Arizona Repertory Theater in Tucson, AZ.

Fly has an MFA from the University of Arizona, where they also taught several seminars on Popular Entertainment and Culture in the school of Theatre, Film, and Television. Fly has also taught writing and performance studies at The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and The University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Plays

  • FROZEN FLUID by Fly Jamerson
    Recommendations: 13
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: adventure, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: Non-Binary, genderfluid + 8 more
    Genre: adventure, dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, science fiction
    Keyword: Non-Binary, genderfluid, genderqueer, LGBTQ, Antarctica, climate change, religion, science, environment, Transgender
    An Antarctic Gender Non-Conforming Creation Myth

    Somewhere in Mythic Antarctica, three scientists at a research facility live and conduct research out on the ice, continuously becoming and unbecoming themselves as they play out the creation of the world. Through a series of fables, Frozen Fluid chronicles the arrival of phytoplankton scientist Tay and the unraveling of the fantastic Antarctic...
    An Antarctic Gender Non-Conforming Creation Myth

    Somewhere in Mythic Antarctica, three scientists at a research facility live and conduct research out on the ice, continuously becoming and unbecoming themselves as they play out the creation of the world. Through a series of fables, Frozen Fluid chronicles the arrival of phytoplankton scientist Tay and the unraveling of the fantastic Antarctic world in which they find themself. Together, the scientists construct and deconstruct notions of gender, identity, religion, climate, and time itself.

    The play centers Trans and Gender Non-Binary characters and performers.
  • HOT MONEY by Fly Jamerson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: adventure, docudrama/historic + 3 more
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    Keyword: immortality, Madagascar + 8 more
    Genre: adventure, docudrama/historic, experimental, fable/folktale, movement/physical
    Keyword: immortality, Madagascar, chameleons, vanilla, zoology, animals, puppets, science, environment, epic
    HOT MONEY: A Zoological Quest for Immortality in the Madagascar Vanilla Boom

    This play is currently in development, and this is the first draft.

    SYNOPSIS:
    With the help of Mangoman, a strange produce clerk whose wares only smell and taste of vanilla, Smash, a zoologist, searches the depths of the rainforest for the Malagasy Crowned Eagle. Supposedly extinct for over five...
    HOT MONEY: A Zoological Quest for Immortality in the Madagascar Vanilla Boom

    This play is currently in development, and this is the first draft.

    SYNOPSIS:
    With the help of Mangoman, a strange produce clerk whose wares only smell and taste of vanilla, Smash, a zoologist, searches the depths of the rainforest for the Malagasy Crowned Eagle. Supposedly extinct for over five hundred years, Smash believes one still lives and that this mythical and immortal bird may hold the secret to living forever. Elsewhere in the rainforest, the wild vanilla orchids--which an endangered species of chameleons relies upon for sustenance--have transformed into dollar bills. Doc, a neurosurgeon, examines the perspectives of the many people whose lives are impacted by the rise and fall of the price of vanilla across the globe, while Smash and the Mangoman embark on an epic romp through the life spans of various animals and find out what it means to truly live.

    HOT MONEY was originally supported by a New Now Commission from playwright Lauren Gunderson in 2020; additional support was provided in Early Winter 2021 by a grant from the Network of Ensemble Theatres, which funded original dramaturgy by Anna Jennings; finally, a developmental workshop, directed by Barry Carman, was supported by Great Plains Theatre Commons and K+R Strategies in Omaha, Nebraska in the Summer of 2021 – thus, this full first draft.
  • INSIGNIFICANCE IS SICKENING AND LOVE MEANS NOTHING AT ALL; ALL IT IS IS THE STRENGTH TO KEEP GOING ON NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS by Fly Jamerson
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    8–9
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    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: Chekhov, three sisters + 7 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, period
    Keyword: Chekhov, three sisters, animals, Depression, addiction, family, military, PTSD, Relationships
    An adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters.

    From the program note for the 2018 production at The University of Arizona, by dramaturg Anna Jennings:

    "Adaptations of Chekhov abound, ranging from translations to radical usurpations of the original plays. Contemporary playwrights do not erase Chekhov but accompany his signature language and mood with their own. Elements of...
    An adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters.

    From the program note for the 2018 production at The University of Arizona, by dramaturg Anna Jennings:

    "Adaptations of Chekhov abound, ranging from translations to radical usurpations of the original plays. Contemporary playwrights do not erase Chekhov but accompany his signature language and mood with their own. Elements of Chekhov’s Three Sisters remain visible in INSIGNIFANCE[...]; Steffens’ voice strikes a remarkable harmony with Chekhov’s. Illustrating the human capacity for love and destruction through haunting images and poetic language, this new adaptation joins countless other in reorienting the Chekhovian mood for contemporary theatre.

    But, why so many Chekhov adaptations? Through the process of this new play’s development, we found that it is the Chekhovian belief in the individual, absurd impossibility of existence, and optimism for the future that keeps theatre artists returning for more. We hope this production’s humor, pain, and hope allows you to recognize and embrace your Bear.

    'Life is long and there will be many good and bad happenings, Mother Russia is so vast.' -Anton Chekhov."
  • BELL AND BLISS by Fly Jamerson
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: biography, dark comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: science, religion + 4 more
    Genre: biography, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, science fiction, tragedy
    Keyword: science, religion, History, alexander graham bell, President, invention
    Set in the sweltering Washington DC summer of 1881, President James Abram Garfield lays dying behind a curtain in the White House - Charles Guiteau has buried a bullet deep in the President's belly, and Dr. D Willard Bliss is trying desperately to find it. Enter Alexander Graham Bell, overwhelmed and exhausted by the success of his revolutionary telephone. Both men seek greatness: for Bell, an invention...
    Set in the sweltering Washington DC summer of 1881, President James Abram Garfield lays dying behind a curtain in the White House - Charles Guiteau has buried a bullet deep in the President's belly, and Dr. D Willard Bliss is trying desperately to find it. Enter Alexander Graham Bell, overwhelmed and exhausted by the success of his revolutionary telephone. Both men seek greatness: for Bell, an invention that will redefine his success as a scientist; for Bliss, to be the ultimate medical savior of the nation. As Garfield slowly succumbs to sepsis, their failed attempts to save him fully charge the motivations of Bell's assistant, Charles Sumner Tainter, as what he hears from Bell's machine suggests what they're searching for may not be a piece of lead.

    BELL AND BLISS was inspired by primary resource materials that include not only the personal journals and letters of the titular characters, but also visceral artifacts such as President Garfield's spine and the bullet that wounded him. The playwright interacted with these primary resources at institutions including the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, the Historical Society of Washington DC, and the National Museum of Health and Medicine.
  • TILLAGE by Fly Jamerson
    Cast: 
    1–10
    ·
    Genre: adventure, docudrama/historic + 2 more
    Genre: adventure, docudrama/historic, movement/physical, musical
    A musical in development about the environmental and sociopolitical impact of agriculture on individuals and communities across the globe, including the flood plains in Nebraska and the Failed Mega Rice Project in Indonesia.
  • Through the Magic Door by Fly Jamerson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 4 more
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    Keyword: Sherlock Holmes, Mrs. Hudson + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, comedy, farce, mystery/thriller, period
    Keyword: Sherlock Holmes, Mrs. Hudson, adaptation, mystery, books, reading
    An adaptation of the biographical works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring Mrs. Hudson and the adventures she embarks on through her love of reading.
  • LOVE IS A HORSE WITH A BROKEN LEG TRYING TO STAND WHILE 45,000 PEOPLE WATCH by Fly Jamerson
    Cast: 
    6–12
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: diner, Beat poets + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, melodrama, tragedy
    Keyword: diner, Beat poets, existential, coffee, cigarettes, absurdism, waitress, gambling, addiction
    A man, haunted by the death of his childhood pet, is on the verge of eviction. A business school drop out wagers everything to get the girl of his dreams. A lovesick photographer turns her subjects into stone. All are plagued by the inability to change. All are offered an opportunity to do so. Drawing from influences and experiences ranging from Bukowski to Joyce to life-as-a-twenty-something to the Absurd,...
    A man, haunted by the death of his childhood pet, is on the verge of eviction. A business school drop out wagers everything to get the girl of his dreams. A lovesick photographer turns her subjects into stone. All are plagued by the inability to change. All are offered an opportunity to do so. Drawing from influences and experiences ranging from Bukowski to Joyce to life-as-a-twenty-something to the Absurd, LOVE IS A HORSE explores stories of addiction, existentialism, and the absurd.
  • CHICKEN by Fly Jamerson
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: bullying, flowers + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: bullying, flowers, cartoons
    Polly needs pink roses. Badly. But with four weddings, three proms and two days to Mother's Day, there's only one place left in town to get them - Flora's Festive Flowers - and they're all being used in a casket spray to honor the tragic death of a young woman. This piece explores the commodity of the grieving process, and asks: Why do we so often face our demons by becoming them?
    ...
    Polly needs pink roses. Badly. But with four weddings, three proms and two days to Mother's Day, there's only one place left in town to get them - Flora's Festive Flowers - and they're all being used in a casket spray to honor the tragic death of a young woman. This piece explores the commodity of the grieving process, and asks: Why do we so often face our demons by becoming them?

    "Fly Steffens' 'Chicken' is about the disturbingly symbiotic relationship between a bully and her victim - and how that victim's self-loathing is enmeshed in unwilling admiration for her tormenting oppressor. [...] The night's smartest, bravest and most ambitious piece." - Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2013