Brynn Hambley

Brynn Hambley

Brynn Hambley (she/they) is a queer and disabled playwright, theatre artist, devising artist, theatre educator, podcast host, and freelance writer based in the New York City area via New Jersey. She earned her BA in Theatre Arts from Gettysburg College and her MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College. Her work explores loneliness, disability, queerness, and the very human ability to have hope despite it all...
Brynn Hambley (she/they) is a queer and disabled playwright, theatre artist, devising artist, theatre educator, podcast host, and freelance writer based in the New York City area via New Jersey. She earned her BA in Theatre Arts from Gettysburg College and her MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College. Her work explores loneliness, disability, queerness, and the very human ability to have hope despite it all. In the past, she was a Finalist for The Independent International Award for Improper Dramaturgy, 2019 (Antidotal); received the Emile O. Schmidt Award for Excellence in Theatre, 2018; and The Mercury Poetry Award, 2017. Brynn's plays have been developed with many companies including: First Kiss Theatre Company (Della Pieta); NYC Summerfest (Retail Therapy); Cut Edge Collective (The Eleventh Star; ​Somebody Was Here); Soundscape Theater (Pumpkin Dreams); Vibrating Body (Antidotal); Waterhouse Collective (Antidotal); Loud Colorful Filth (Paradise Lost and Found); Sarah Lawrence College (Paradise Lost and Found); and the Graduate New Play Development Reading Series (Runaway Reflections). Currently, she is working on a play about the Figlie Del Coro of the Ospedale Della Pieta in Venice, Italy (Della Pieta) and a podcast entitled "Play-Mates: Find Your New Favorite Play!". Member of Cut Edge Collective, Resident Artist at First Kiss Theatre.

Plays

  • PIETA by Brynn Hambley
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: centers lgbt characters, contains LGBTQ characters + 6 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, period
    Keyword: centers lgbt characters, contains LGBTQ characters, based on historical events and characters, gay historical characters, sapphic, actor-musicians, classical musicians, a play with music
    In a convent hospital in Venice, Italy, the best musicians in the region train under the tutelage of Antonio Vivaldi. Anna Maria, Sophie, Bettina, and Cattina were abandoned at birth, like all the residents, and trained to be world-class musicians. The secret? They're all disabled or "disfigured". PIETA explores musicianship, birthright, disability, and what it really means to make your own choices about your life.
  • Antidotal by Brynn Hambley
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    1–12
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: experimental, Able-bodied/disabled Tensions + 2 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, immersive
    Keyword: experimental, Able-bodied/disabled Tensions, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain
    A surreal look at the experience of feminine identified people with invisible illness/disabilities, Antidotal is unapologetic in its analysis of the medical industry's negative feelings towards feminine patients as well as the anger, grief, and guilt that chronic illness patients deal with every day.

    Finalist for the The Independent International Award for Improper Dramaturgy, 2019
    ...
    A surreal look at the experience of feminine identified people with invisible illness/disabilities, Antidotal is unapologetic in its analysis of the medical industry's negative feelings towards feminine patients as well as the anger, grief, and guilt that chronic illness patients deal with every day.

    Finalist for the The Independent International Award for Improper Dramaturgy, 2019
    https://vibratingbody.jimdofree.com/projects/neem-2019-first-page/
  • The Eleventh Star by Brynn Hambley
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    4–5
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: adult depression, LGBTQ + 5 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, movement/physical
    Keyword: adult depression, LGBTQ, astronomy, Therapy, breakup, existential questioning, experimental
    The Eleventh Star follows two generations of women in a non-linear fashion as they deal with their depression and mental illness, while hopefully finding more healthy ways to cope. A no-holds-barred exploration of the various ways that depression can creep into a person's life, this piece dives deep into genetics, environments, relationships, and unhealthy coping mechanisms that often cause or perpetuate...
    The Eleventh Star follows two generations of women in a non-linear fashion as they deal with their depression and mental illness, while hopefully finding more healthy ways to cope. A no-holds-barred exploration of the various ways that depression can creep into a person's life, this piece dives deep into genetics, environments, relationships, and unhealthy coping mechanisms that often cause or perpetuate depression in modern day life. In the end,The Eleventh Star strives to show that with hope and love recovery is possible. Inspired by Mieko Shiomi's "Star Piece".
  • Retail Therapy by Brynn Hambley
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: One woman show, retail workers + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, experimental, political
    Keyword: One woman show, retail workers, retail store, anti-capitalism, late Capitalism, quarterlife crisis
    What happens when you've worked retail your whole young life in a society ruled by late-stage capitalism? Well for one, you learn real quick that the customer is NOT always right. A darkly funny and honest look at what capitalist ideas of success and living paycheck to paycheck can do to a person.
  • Paradise Lost and Found by Brynn Hambley
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4–5
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental
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    Keyword: accepting death, after death + 3 more
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: accepting death, after death, afterlife, morality, fear and hope
    Three people find themselves locked in a mysterious and cluttered bar room, soon discovered to be their own personal purgatory. How did they die? And how did they end up here? What follows is a discussion of death, morality, claustrophobia, and hope. Paradise Lost and Found shows us that moving on is possible, and redemption within reach.
  • Runaway Reflections by Brynn Hambley
    Cast: 
    6–7
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: Adult Siblings, identical twins + 6 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, tragedy
    Keyword: Adult Siblings, identical twins, coping with suicide, emotional abuse, happy endings for queers, family, estranged family reunion, LGBTQ
    Twenty-seven year old Leona Amantea hasn't visited her childhood home since she left it when she was sixteen. But when her identical twin sister dies unexpectedly, Leona must travel across the country to her hometown to help deal with the funeral and subsequent aftermath. A story of identity, emotional abuse, sexuality, mental illness, grief, and more, Runaway Reflections is all about how sometimes the...
    Twenty-seven year old Leona Amantea hasn't visited her childhood home since she left it when she was sixteen. But when her identical twin sister dies unexpectedly, Leona must travel across the country to her hometown to help deal with the funeral and subsequent aftermath. A story of identity, emotional abuse, sexuality, mental illness, grief, and more, Runaway Reflections is all about how sometimes the worst of situations can give us a whole new perspective on our lives.
  • Breath by Brynn Hambley
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental
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    Keyword: actuallyautistic, Academia + 4 more
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: actuallyautistic, Academia, queerness, LGBTQIA+, abuse of women, abusive marriage
    For Juliette's whole life she has wanted nothing more than to get her PhD in cultural anthropology-- well, that and to be loved. Breath tells the story of one Autistic woman's journey towards her dreams and away from the debilitating and devastating carnage of an abusive marriage. An exploration of queerness, the cycle of abuse, and what it truly means to have a healthy relationship with yourself.