Seth McNeill

Seth McNeill is a neurodivergent playwright and theatre artist from Mississippi and other red states, where he was homeschooled until college in a family that moved every two years and once unsuccessfully tried raising emus.

Seth’s plays include That Weird Troubled Boy, Sad Lonely People, Bastard, Red Pill White Rabbit, we’re all athletes, and Bullet, which have been presented and developed at the Ancram Center for the Arts, Valdez Theatre Conference, Samuel French OOB Festival, Fresh Ground Pepper, Exquisite Corpse, The Tank, Gingold Theatrical Group, Middlebury Acting Company, Dixon Place, Fault Line Theatre, Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, Up Theater, SCAD, and the Hambidge Center. He has been named a semi-finalist for the O’Neill, the Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Prize...

Seth McNeill is a neurodivergent playwright and theatre artist from Mississippi and other red states, where he was homeschooled until college in a family that moved every two years and once unsuccessfully tried raising emus.

Seth’s plays include That Weird Troubled Boy, Sad Lonely People, Bastard, Red Pill White Rabbit, we’re all athletes, and Bullet, which have been presented and developed at the Ancram Center for the Arts, Valdez Theatre Conference, Samuel French OOB Festival, Fresh Ground Pepper, Exquisite Corpse, The Tank, Gingold Theatrical Group, Middlebury Acting Company, Dixon Place, Fault Line Theatre, Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, Up Theater, SCAD, and the Hambidge Center. He has been named a semi-finalist for the O’Neill, the Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Prize at American Shakespeare Center, and Primary Stages ESPA Drills, and has had plays published in Smith & Kraus’ Best 10-Minute Plays and the Clockhouse Journal.

Seth has also worked as a script reader and dramaturg with Theatre for a New Audience and as an educator at Barrington Stage and Hunter College, where he received a Masters in Theatre. He was a frequent playwright, literary manager, and director for Amios NYC’s monthly play festival Shotz, and is a current member of Howl Playwrights.

Seth lives with his wife Lori and hound Maximus in a very old house in the Hudson Valley and is re-learning all of that carpentry stuff his dad taught him.

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Scripts

Hanging Tree (formerly Natchetochez)

by Seth McNeill

3
Cast Size
4
Genre
dark comedy,
drama,
experimental,
political,
tragedy

Preparing to share Easter dinner, the Turpin family discusses the day’s mass shooting at a nearby school in Natchetochez. Fred, the patriarch, wonders why the news has to go on and on about how it’s a white guy, and for that matter why they have to go on and on about white guys in general because what does that have to do with it? Quentin, whose head has been filled with Yankee nonsense in the big city and has a...

Preparing to share Easter dinner, the Turpin family discusses the day’s mass shooting at a nearby school in Natchetochez. Fred, the patriarch, wonders why the news has to go on and on about how it’s a white guy, and for that matter why they have to go on and on about white guys in general because what does that have to do with it? Quentin, whose head has been filled with Yankee nonsense in the big city and has a wife who apparently wants to convert him to Catholicism even though she’s not Catholic, freaks out over minor things like his sister Candace whipping a pistol out of her purse. Maxine, the matriarch, would prefer to keep the topics of conversation on the lighter side, but when you have a huge live oak on your property affectionately known as the Hangin’ Tree, it tends to cast a shadow.

Absent is the youngest sibling, Bailey, who is either napping or hanging out with his weird friend who’s named Pete, or Howard, or something like that but definitely not Henry and who probably had a bad childhood. After it becomes clear that Bailey is caught up in the momentous events in town, tragedy strikes, and the family is confronted with questions of how well they know themselves and each other, what it means to be “one of us,” and how to handle history that we’d like to forget.

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Bullet

by Seth McNeill

5
Cast Size
1
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
experimental,
parody/spoof,
satire

A man gives a TED Talk … sorry, this is not a TED Talk, though it could be given by someone named Ted, in which case it would be Ted’s talk, but that’s not the man’s name. He talks about marketing … or something like that, he’ll work out the details and acronyms later. Will there be a later? But let’s move on to our next bullet … point, bullet point. Have we talked about cars, how they’re the best way to die? We...

A man gives a TED Talk … sorry, this is not a TED Talk, though it could be given by someone named Ted, in which case it would be Ted’s talk, but that’s not the man’s name. He talks about marketing … or something like that, he’ll work out the details and acronyms later. Will there be a later? But let’s move on to our next bullet … point, bullet point. Have we talked about cars, how they’re the best way to die? We don’t have to talk about that. Let’s talk about that.

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Bastard

by Seth McNeill

4
Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
experimental

Two brothers attend the funeral of someone they can only assume is their father ... or mother, whichever. When the sister they don't know if they knew they had arrives, reminiscences of their childhood become a bit tricky.

Two brothers attend the funeral of someone they can only assume is their father ... or mother, whichever. When the sister they don't know if they knew they had arrives, reminiscences of their childhood become a bit tricky.

we're all athletes (short version)

by Seth McNeill

5
Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
experimental,
farce,
immersive,
parody/spoof,
satire

Two sports anchors call each play of an unspecifiable sport whose rules are an utter mystery while field reporter Desiree copes with her own insignificance and passivity. As the clock counts down, each of the characters must reckon with whether they've done enough with their lives, or with Life itself.

Two sports anchors call each play of an unspecifiable sport whose rules are an utter mystery while field reporter Desiree copes with her own insignificance and passivity. As the clock counts down, each of the characters must reckon with whether they've done enough with their lives, or with Life itself.

Sad Lonely People

by Seth McNeill

9
Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
holiday,
romantic comedy

It's New Years Eve. Wade and Harriet don't know each other, but they're sort of friends.

It's New Years Eve. Wade and Harriet don't know each other, but they're sort of friends.

That Bee Gees Song

by Seth McNeill

2
Cast Size
3—4
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
farce,
political,
satire

Two guards wait for the Supreme Leader to address the nation, but she's had a bit of a night.

Two guards wait for the Supreme Leader to address the nation, but she's had a bit of a night.

The Butterfly & Stuff

by Seth McNeill

1
Cast Size
4—10
Genre
adventure,
comedy,
dark comedy,
experimental,
farce,
mystery/thriller

Gretchen and Maura are BFFs, but then Gretchen learns Krav Maga and gets sent to prison for assaulting a guy, escapes from prison, and assaults another guy. Things happen really fast, and little decisions can have a big impact.

Gretchen and Maura are BFFs, but then Gretchen learns Krav Maga and gets sent to prison for assaulting a guy, escapes from prison, and assaults another guy. Things happen really fast, and little decisions can have a big impact.