Paul Calandrino

Paul Calandrino

Paul Calandrino is a Northwest playwright and actor who holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College and teaches playwriting at Oregon Contemporary Theatre. He is a founder and former executive producer of the NW Festival of Ten-Minute Plays. Writing almost exclusively for an audience of one, himself, he has not been widely produced, but his plays have been a local sensation in his current home of...
Paul Calandrino is a Northwest playwright and actor who holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College and teaches playwriting at Oregon Contemporary Theatre. He is a founder and former executive producer of the NW Festival of Ten-Minute Plays. Writing almost exclusively for an audience of one, himself, he has not been widely produced, but his plays have been a local sensation in his current home of Eugene, Oregon. Calandrino claims that his work "interrogates the hilarious nonsense of human experience," and that writing is his way of "laughing out loud." Not that he doesn't take things like life, love, politics, family, illness, and mortality seriously. He does. He just writes about the lighter side of things, usually. His status in the world is greatly elevated by being the partner of the amazing novelist Cai Emmons (Weather Woman).

Plays

  • The Fifth Hypothesis
    Full-length: Ecologist and sasquatch researcher Astrid receives a visit from her brother Max at her secluded single-wide trailer in the Marble Mountains. He comes with news of a fantastic inheritance, but in order to get her share, Astrid has to convince Max she's not crazy.
  • The COVID Industrial Complex
    10-Minutes: A recent widower, Conrad, applies to join the Pandemic Makers Society, but during his Zoom interview he learns his creations might fall short of the prestigious group's standards.
  • Valentina: A Monologue
    In the 1700s a Russian peasant woman, Valentina Vessilyev, gave birth to 69 children. This is her story.
  • Senator Lovechild and the Mudmen of Western Tennessee
    10-minute Play: Senator Lovechild is about to cast the deciding vote on an historic piece of legislation when she is visited by the serenading mudmen.
  • Pursuit of Happiness
    10-Minute Play: Joel needs half of his brother Steve's liver, and Joel's wife Andrea hopes that Steve will also pay for the surgery.
  • Left Turn
    10-Minute Play: Donovan has been trying to make a left-hand turn at a very busy intersection for 13 years.
  • Hotfix
    10-Minute Play: Two Seattle high tech workers argue about a woman's place in technology.
  • Duluth Neanderthal Association
    10-Minute Play: A stranger shows up at a regular meeting of the Duluth Neanderthal Association wanting to join. Apes will be apes.
  • What it Feels Like to Feel Hungry
    10-Minute Play: Maury has a foolproof plan for discovering what it feels like to feel hungry. His wife Tina holds the key to his success.
  • Shrimp & Gritts: She's Gone
    Full-length Play: The lives of two oddball drinking buddies--Shrimp, the lesbian mayor of a small coastal town, and Gritts, a retired Merchant Marine captain--are upended when the captain's partner of many years leaves without warning. Their painful process is underscored by the rocky relationship of a singing duo, Clementine & Ruud, who serenade us with songs of love, loss, and healing.
  • Shrimp & Gritts: The Long & Winding Trail
    Full-length Play: Two years after their worlds were rocked by their sudden abandonment by a dear friend, small town denizens Shrimp and Gritts are again thrown into a tizzy, when Shrimp returns from a trip that included a tryst with Serena, their long lost friend. New to the scene are Kandy, a bartender developing a line of gourmet treats, and her new-ish boyfriend Breech, who's intent on building a scenic...
    Full-length Play: Two years after their worlds were rocked by their sudden abandonment by a dear friend, small town denizens Shrimp and Gritts are again thrown into a tizzy, when Shrimp returns from a trip that included a tryst with Serena, their long lost friend. New to the scene are Kandy, a bartender developing a line of gourmet treats, and her new-ish boyfriend Breech, who's intent on building a scenic trail along the coast. Nothing ever goes well for these people!
  • My Happy Hour with Pegoda
    Full-Length Play: Paul, a small-town playwright and actor, has come up with a brilliant plan to gain more clout by writing a play starring himself and the best actor in town, Dan. Paul invites Dan to meet him for beers to convince him to do the project and to brainstorm ideas. Things go badly until their friend Ellen shows up. Then things get worse, finally devolving into a muddle of regret, lies, sad truths, and, ultimately, karaoke.
  • That Sunny April Afternoon
    10-Minute Play: War correspondent Margaret Bourke-White and Gen. George Patton face off on the occasion of the Liberation at Buchenwald.
  • Perdido Beach
    Full-Length Play: A family tries to rebuild itself after Gabe, the 17-year-old son of single mom Verne, returns home after serving two years in the California Juvenile Justice system for his peripheral involvement in the shooting death of a gay man. Set entirely inside the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Verne finds herself in a crisis that challenges her identity as mother, friend, and lover to the people who depend on her the most.
  • Subduction
    10-Minute Play: "The really big one” could hit anytime, and Sam and Declan are maybe a little over prepared for it.
  • Daggit
    10-Minute Play: A community theatre rehearsal endures an unwelcome visit by the legendary playwright whose iconic play they're rehearsing.
  • Hot Yoga
    1-page Play: A couple practices hot yoga, she better than he.
  • "G"
    1-page Play: A woman meets with her "G" connect in a parking garage.
  • William Tate
    2-page Play: William Tate, half man, half iguana, encounters the woman he left behind.