Rebecca Gorman ONeill

Rebecca Gorman ONeill

Rebecca Gorman O'Neill was born in Akron, Ohio. She started writing plays at Dartmouth college, where she earned her BA in Drama and English. When she won the Eleanor Frost Playwriting award her junior year, she was very relieved to have an excuse to stop acting. Rebecca went on to earn her M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University.

After working at Seattle Repertory...
Rebecca Gorman O'Neill was born in Akron, Ohio. She started writing plays at Dartmouth college, where she earned her BA in Drama and English. When she won the Eleanor Frost Playwriting award her junior year, she was very relieved to have an excuse to stop acting. Rebecca went on to earn her M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University.

After working at Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and Glimmerglass Opera, she finally landed at the Denver Center Theatre Company, where she held titles ranging from Assistant Props Master, to Member of the Playwrights’ Unit, to “unofficial dramaturg.” She remains a member of the Higher Education Advisory Council for the DCTC.

Since 1994, Rebecca’s original plays have been produced in across the country and in Canada. Her plays TELL-TALE and THE GREATER GOOD are available from Eldridge Publishing and Next Stage Press, respectively.

Currently (2015), her play MYNX & SAVAGE is part of the Edge Theatre's "On Your Feet" development series, and her play THE GHOSTS OF US is being produced by Athena Project, both in Denver.

Rebecca is an Professor of English at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where she serves as the teaching playwriting, screenwriting, cinema studies, and the graphic novel.

Plays

  • Lucia by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: adaptation, biography + 7 more
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    Keyword: insanity, James Joyce + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, biography, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, melodrama, period, tragedy
    Keyword: insanity, James Joyce, art and literature, dance, Jungian psychology
    Lucia is the story Lucia Joyce, daughter of James Joyce. Under the treatment of Karl Jung for madness, hysteria, and catatonia, Lucia is pulled through memories of her past and ominous hints of her future. Lucia, beloved by her father as his muse, and as the only one who truly understood him, negotiates the treacherous waters of her memory in a pattern inspired by Ulysses - shifting style to match subject...
    Lucia is the story Lucia Joyce, daughter of James Joyce. Under the treatment of Karl Jung for madness, hysteria, and catatonia, Lucia is pulled through memories of her past and ominous hints of her future. Lucia, beloved by her father as his muse, and as the only one who truly understood him, negotiates the treacherous waters of her memory in a pattern inspired by Ulysses - shifting style to match subject. In the end, Lucia is bent by Jung to face the hard truths of her life – is she a misunderstood genius, lost in her father’s shadow? Or is she, in fact, insane - the protective figures in her life nothing more than figments? With imagery of light, Lucifer, and Lucia di Lammermoor, Lucia gropes her way through her darkness, at last finding truth, and a truth is cold comfort.
  • Mynx & Savage by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: comic books, graphic novel + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: comic books, graphic novel, Art and Artists, writers, superhero
    SYNOPSIS
    Description: MYNX & SAVAGE is a tri-level story of a comic book writer, the characters of his superhero story, and the creatures of his "serious" work. When corporate powers start pushing him to produce, he is torn between the comfort of fantasy and the necessary truth.

  • The Ghosts of Us by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: divorce, Sisters + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: divorce, Sisters, Chekhov, cabin in the woods
    The Ghosts of Us – Synopsis

    Emma and Jackson are getting a divorce. To fulfill the terms of an ill-conceived prenuptial agreement, they must spend 36 hours together, no modern conveniences or distractions, before their divorce can be legally filed.

    In an idyllic cabin in the Rocky Mountains, the couple begins their 36 hours sentence. They each bring backup: Jackson’s best friend...
    The Ghosts of Us – Synopsis

    Emma and Jackson are getting a divorce. To fulfill the terms of an ill-conceived prenuptial agreement, they must spend 36 hours together, no modern conveniences or distractions, before their divorce can be legally filed.

    In an idyllic cabin in the Rocky Mountains, the couple begins their 36 hours sentence. They each bring backup: Jackson’s best friend Aiden, and Emma’s sister, Sophia.
    Aiden chooses this opportunity to profess his long-secret love for Emma, Jackson chooses this opportunity to profess his long-withheld lust for Sophia. Each of the women, with their feelings for the wrong man, complete the love-square.

    As alliances shift, old grudges and long-held secrets emerge, until each member of the group is laid metaphorically bare before the others, revealing who is whole and who is broken, who holds the moral high ground, and who actually de-railed long ago.

    The character-driven, emotionally complex relationships are the core of this bold address of life’s poignant absurdity. Plus there’s a gun. Four guns, actually. And a hatchet.

  • Poison Control by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, farce + 2 more
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    Keyword: television, poison + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, parody/spoof, satire
    Keyword: television, poison, telephone, call, reality tv
    SYNOPSIS
    Charlie, alone on a stay-cation, is desperate – he’s been poisoned, and a poison control hotline is his only hope...but the poison isn’t what he’s eaten; it’s what he’s seen. Ginger, a resourceful Poison Control Hotline Operator must think quickly to save Charlie from a dangerous effects of over-exposure to binge-watched reality TV.

  • The South Star by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: war, spy + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, fable/folktale, mystery/thriller, political
    Keyword: war, spy, resistance fighters
    Set seven years in the future, during the second American Civil War, South Star is the story of a survivor, an inspiration, a reluctant hero who wishes she could just stop running. Stel finds herself in the company of two men – one an apparent victim, and one an apparent predator. What commences is a figurative game of three-card-Monty; the stakes are Stel’s life.

  • The Way Station by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, fable/folktale + 3 more
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    Keyword: trains, afterlife + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, mystery/thriller, science fiction
    Keyword: trains, afterlife, Surreal, waiting room
    “The Way Station” is the story of three strangers from different places and times, each pulled out of their travels and dropped off at a mysterious way station.

    Before they can continue their travels, each must come to terms with his or her own dark secret. One is a murderer, one is an accomplice to a crime, and one has fallen in love with the wrong person.

    As they search for a...
    “The Way Station” is the story of three strangers from different places and times, each pulled out of their travels and dropped off at a mysterious way station.

    Before they can continue their travels, each must come to terms with his or her own dark secret. One is a murderer, one is an accomplice to a crime, and one has fallen in love with the wrong person.

    As they search for a way to escape and move on, Daisy, Thomas, and Jack pull and push each other to admitting their transgressions. At this surreal crossroads, no excuse, lie, or self-delusion holds up to the scrutiny of the others, and each person must find the strength to see themselves truly and honestly. Only then may they move on.
  • Worse than Cold Feet by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: wedding, aliens + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy, science fiction
    Keyword: wedding, aliens, abduction, cold feet
    Sam is minutes away from the start of his wedding. As he tries to calm his nerves, his bride in with her guilty secret – alien abduction. With the wedding minutes away, Sam must find a way to forgive – and believe – his bride.
  • The Greater Good by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: dark, Political Dystopia + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, mystery/thriller, political, tragedy
    Keyword: dark, Political Dystopia, intellectual
    SYNOPSIS

    The Greater Good is set in an internment camp for intellectuals – dissenters of an unspecified American war. Being “anti-government” is dangerous. Being “anti-war” is deadly.

    It’s been almost two years since they were put here.

    Carter, Daniel, and Simon share a room/cell. All the internees have been told that they have a disease – a biological weapon...
    SYNOPSIS

    The Greater Good is set in an internment camp for intellectuals – dissenters of an unspecified American war. Being “anti-government” is dangerous. Being “anti-war” is deadly.

    It’s been almost two years since they were put here.

    Carter, Daniel, and Simon share a room/cell. All the internees have been told that they have a disease – a biological weapon unleashed on them by the enemy. They are separated from society for the Greater Good.

    Stel, a young woman, disturbs their uneasy equilibrium, fleeing her unstable cell-mate, Ket. Breaking many laws, the three men allow Stel to stay with them.

    Stel uses this opportunity to reach out to Carter. She has been hearing rumors. Rumors that other ghettos like theirs are being emptied out – rumors that they, too, might disappear any day. She and Carter start planning to escape.

    They are unaware that Daniel and Ket, clear leaders in the ghetto community, have already been tapped for an escape. They have been told they might leave, on the condition that they tell no one of their lost two years. They agree.

    Carter and Stel try to convince Daniel and Ket of their impending doom, while Simon goes slowly and gently crazy.

    Daniel and Ket are betrayed by those who promised them their freedom. Carter and Stel are left to face the liquidation of the ghetto, all for the greater good.

    All are amazed that such a thing could really happen.
  • Poison Control by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: poison, television + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: poison, television, irony
    Charlie is desperate – he’s been poisoned, and a poison control
    hotline is his only hope...but the poison isn’t what he’s eaten;
    it’s what he’s seen.
  • Auto-da-Fe by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: adaptation, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Expressionism, Scholar + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, experimental, period
    Keyword: Expressionism, Scholar, German, novelist
    Auto-da-Fe is a free adaptation of Elias Canetti's 1934 novel of the same name. This play was developed for the LIDA Project theatre in Denver in 2011
  • Tell-Tale by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    13–54
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    Genre: adaptation, docudrama/historic + 3 more
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    Keyword: Poe, poetry + 1 more
    Genre: adaptation, docudrama/historic, drama, period, young audiences
    Keyword: Poe, poetry, History
    Tell-Tale Synopsis

    Tell-Tale is an original play in free verse, loosely based on the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe.

    Tell-Tale is, in essence, Poe’s last confession. It takes place in the Baltimore hospital where he lay in a delirium before his death. Poe is forced to look at his life, his mistakes, his outrageous behaviors, and, in the end, he must try to find peace. This...
    Tell-Tale Synopsis

    Tell-Tale is an original play in free verse, loosely based on the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe.

    Tell-Tale is, in essence, Poe’s last confession. It takes place in the Baltimore hospital where he lay in a delirium before his death. Poe is forced to look at his life, his mistakes, his outrageous behaviors, and, in the end, he must try to find peace. This peace in death comes by way of the only peace he had in life - telling a story.

    Poe starts his story by casting himself as the dashing, tragic hero, but as the play progresses, his own memories slip from his control, turning on him and forcing him to face his life as it was, and not how he wishes it had been. Facing his life honestly, at last, Poe can find peace and resolution in death.
  • One Last Thing before I Forget by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: twilight zone-like, afterlife + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, horror, radio drama
    Keyword: twilight zone-like, afterlife, ghosts
    When your last story is gone, your ghost is released, and you move on to whatever's next.
    Violet and Harriet are each down to their last story. One wants to stay, one wants to go, and they form an unlikely alliance.
  • Gertrude and Ophelia in Hell by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: based on Shakespeare, afterlife
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, parody/spoof
    Keyword: based on Shakespeare, afterlife
    Ophelia's been dead for a while. And then Gertrude dies and joins her. In limbo because of their questionable causes of death, the two must work together to figure out how to go back and fix....everything.
  • It's the Fall That's Gonna Kill You by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: dark comedy, contemplating suicide + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: dark comedy, contemplating suicide, absurd comedy
    High up in building, Daria is done. She climbs out the window, ready to jump. There she meets Jack, who just wants a nice chat....an absurd and dark comedy.
  • It's the Fall that's Gonna Kill You by Rebecca Gorman ONeill
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Daria is ready to end it all. As she prepares to fling herself off a tall building, she is interrupted by Jack. Jack doesn't try to stop her. He's just curious.