Rachel Nelson

Rachel Nelson (she/her) is a queer playwright who grew up in the Cascade mountains of Oregon. She's been living in New Orleans for the past decade, where she teaches theater, literature, and philosophy at Bard Early College.

Rachel Nelson (she/her) is a queer playwright who grew up in the Cascade mountains of Oregon. She's been living in New Orleans for the past decade, where she teaches theater, literature, and philosophy at Bard Early College.

Scripts

Rain Follows the Plow

by Rachel Nelson

4
Cast Size
4
Genre
adventure,
dark comedy,
docudrama/historic,
drama,
experimental,
fable/folktale,
movement/physical,
pageant,
period,
political,
science fiction,
tragedy

We are in an imagined future of the United States that looks very much like the depths of the Great Depression. As the power grid fails, a young radio DJ uses the airwaves to try to keep his community together. As the dust storms get worse, and the lights start to flicker, everything he thought he knew about America starts to unravel. And then something starts to grow.

An epic fable of forgiveness...

We are in an imagined future of the United States that looks very much like the depths of the Great Depression. As the power grid fails, a young radio DJ uses the airwaves to try to keep his community together. As the dust storms get worse, and the lights start to flicker, everything he thought he knew about America starts to unravel. And then something starts to grow.

An epic fable of forgiveness, transformation, and the power of finding a hand in the dark.

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Fast Car

by Rachel Nelson

1
Cast Size
3
Genre
adventure,
dark comedy,
fable/folktale,
movement/physical,
pageant,
romantic comedy

24 hours in a dusty little town in the American West. A group of teenagers decide to steal a car. After all, there's not much else to do before the sun comes up. This is an micro-epic love story about boredom, growing up, and running away.

24 hours in a dusty little town in the American West. A group of teenagers decide to steal a car. After all, there's not much else to do before the sun comes up. This is an micro-epic love story about boredom, growing up, and running away.

And Then the Moon Swallowed the Sky

by Rachel Nelson

Cast Size
3
Genre
dark comedy,
drama,
experimental,
fable/folktale,
immersive,
movement/physical,
tragedy

The morning before a total eclipse of the sun, three strangers make the journey to the ocean to watch the moon swallow the sky. They each ponder grief, togetherness, and what it means to move forward after epic loss. It's a comedy, obviously.

The morning before a total eclipse of the sun, three strangers make the journey to the ocean to watch the moon swallow the sky. They each ponder grief, togetherness, and what it means to move forward after epic loss. It's a comedy, obviously.

Midnight, The Hotel Pool, Drunk Again

by Rachel Nelson

Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
fantasy,
farce,
period,
romantic comedy

A 10 minute lavish fictional love letter to Lorraine Hansbury, if she were drunk at a pool bar in Hollywood, looking for love.

A 10 minute lavish fictional love letter to Lorraine Hansbury, if she were drunk at a pool bar in Hollywood, looking for love.