Natalie Bates

Natalie Bates began her career as an actress, working successfully on stage in New York and Chicago, and in film in Los Angeles. There, she also started writing seriously and saw her first novel, Friend of the Family, published to excellent reviews in the US and Europe. She has since written several children’s books and ghosted a celebrity biography. A few years ago she returned to the theater, this time as a playwright, starting with a three-act drama about incestuous child abuse, These Things Happen. Many of her projects, including Miracle on I-84, The Best of Friends, Always, and Overnight, were developed in the HB Playwrights’ Seminar and The Game had a production in the HB Playwrights’ Theatre, directed by Karen Ludwig. Always was selected for Circus Theatrical’s one-act play...

Natalie Bates began her career as an actress, working successfully on stage in New York and Chicago, and in film in Los Angeles. There, she also started writing seriously and saw her first novel, Friend of the Family, published to excellent reviews in the US and Europe. She has since written several children’s books and ghosted a celebrity biography. A few years ago she returned to the theater, this time as a playwright, starting with a three-act drama about incestuous child abuse, These Things Happen. Many of her projects, including Miracle on I-84, The Best of Friends, Always, and Overnight, were developed in the HB Playwrights’ Seminar and The Game had a production in the HB Playwrights’ Theatre, directed by Karen Ludwig. Always was selected for Circus Theatrical’s one-act play festival in 2010 in Los Angeles, while in the same year Things Change received top votes in the fall Estrogenius Festival. In 2013, Atlanta's Theater-to-Go included The Game in an 18-month run. Recently, the HB Playwrights' Foundation presented an Equity showcase production of an evening of three of her one-act plays. In June of this year, the Gallery Players presented production a of The Game in their Black Box Festival, and in the same month, Abingdon's Benefit Challenge presented a new short play, Happy Returns. In July the Fresh Fruit Festival presented a production of her new play, Telling, a tribute to two unlikely pioneers of the marriage equality movement.

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Scripts

Changed

by Natalie Bates

Cast Size
7
Genre
drama

Changed is a period piece, a play set in a time when a young person’s becoming transgender was radical if not earth-shattering, especially for an ordinary family in small-town New England.
Dylan, 22, arrives for dinner at his grandparents dressed and groomed as a boy, hoping to win acceptance and instead triggers an explosion of grief in his grandma (Kitty) at the ‘death’ of her beloved Lisa. The grandfather...

Changed is a period piece, a play set in a time when a young person’s becoming transgender was radical if not earth-shattering, especially for an ordinary family in small-town New England.
Dylan, 22, arrives for dinner at his grandparents dressed and groomed as a boy, hoping to win acceptance and instead triggers an explosion of grief in his grandma (Kitty) at the ‘death’ of her beloved Lisa. The grandfather (Ed) is more understanding, and as the situation worsens—Dylan’s mother, who has seemed supportive is exposed as merely humoring him-- Ed seeks the help of a trans woman he has learned about from a friend. Hearing his account of Dylan’s behavior, Julia becomes alarmed and insists on visiting him immediately. The two arrive as Dylan is attempting suicide. Julia, who has suicide-prevention experience and EMT training, takes over the attempted rescue at the end of Act 1.
Ed declines to tell his wife of Dylan’s suicide attempt, but his demeanor stirs up old issues of distrust between the couple, which have magnified Kitty’s sense of loss. Meanwhile, Julia forces the recovering Dylan to confront his own illusions about the transition and design a resilient and positive future. She volunteers, over Dylan’s objections, to meet with his grandparents to help explain. This takes place, and Julia reveals both herself as transgender, and that Dylan has tried to kill himself. Kitty is overwhelmed, especially when Ed threatens to end their relationship if she can’t make a loving choice.
Julie leaves alone, and on her way home in the dark she is attacked by two local thugs who ‘object to her presence on the planet’, leaving her unconscious. Fortunately, we learn as Julia recovers at home, Dylan left soon after her and found her. Despite the risks ahead, Dylan takes the courageous course to continue his transition. A final meeting with Ed and Kitty at the local diner, after many tears and much self-reflection, gives further cause for hope.

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Over Easy

by Natalie Bates

Cast Size
1
Genre
comedy

Larry Weinstein has checked into a hotel after a fight with his wife

Larry Weinstein has checked into a hotel after a fight with his wife

"Telling"

by Natalie Bates

Cast Size
7
Genre
docudrama/historic,
drama,
period,
political

Telling, is set in a Chicago suburb in 1972. Two women, married with grown children, have discovered, to their astonishment, that they have fallen in love. Not such a big deal in 2013. But in those days, at their age, in that neighborhood, with these husbands and these kids, it will be a monumental struggle to wrench free of conventional obligations and carve a space to live out their love. It's based on a true...

Telling, is set in a Chicago suburb in 1972. Two women, married with grown children, have discovered, to their astonishment, that they have fallen in love. Not such a big deal in 2013. But in those days, at their age, in that neighborhood, with these husbands and these kids, it will be a monumental struggle to wrench free of conventional obligations and carve a space to live out their love. It's based on a true story of two women and their families.

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