Christiane Swenson

Christiane Swenson

Christiane Swenson writes plays about queer people, neurosis, toxic friendships, fandoms, grief, the Internet, the collective unconscious, blood, loneliness, and heartbreak.

austin, TX / b.a. bennington college 2020 / m.f.a. carnegie mellon 2024 / cofounder NORMAL HOUSE

Plays

  • Half World by Christiane Swenson
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: fandom, tumblr + 8 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, tragedy
    Keyword: fandom, tumblr, autism, fanfiction, cringe comedy, age gap relationship, gender dysphoria, 4chan, slash fic, experimental
    After the unjust cancellation of their favorite show, a fandom goes nuclear. Through the twisty rhizomes of online chatter and Discord servers, long-distance BFFs Bianca and Isobel lament the loss of their pop-culture tether, before different sides of the internet pull them in directions they didn't expect.

    Part cringe comedy horror, part paean to the chronically online, HALF WORLD is an...
    After the unjust cancellation of their favorite show, a fandom goes nuclear. Through the twisty rhizomes of online chatter and Discord servers, long-distance BFFs Bianca and Isobel lament the loss of their pop-culture tether, before different sides of the internet pull them in directions they didn't expect.

    Part cringe comedy horror, part paean to the chronically online, HALF WORLD is an excavation and interrogation of Tumblr fandom culture in 2024. It is about getting sucked into something you love that can't love you back. There is an anchoress. There is fanfiction. There is a gun.
  • Art Gets What it Wants by Christiane Swenson
    Recommendations: 6
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: metatheatrical, four characters + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, satire
    Keyword: metatheatrical, four characters, romcom, dark comedy
    Glen and Julie, two artists high on ego and short on stability, embark on a doomed collaboration that destroys their friendship — and the fabric of the universe.
  • Chebutykin (Irina swallows a diamond) by Christiane Swenson
    Recommendations: 8
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    Cast: 
    8–9
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: three sisters, dramedy + 1 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental
    Keyword: three sisters, dramedy, ensemble
    Irina is a mess; Masha’s lashing out; Olga is just trying to hold everything together. They’re all afraid of becoming their father. But they should really be afraid of becoming Chebutykin.
  • I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM, a play for one by Christiane Swenson
    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: adaptation, horror + 1 more
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    Keyword: Closet drama, adapted solo play + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, horror, science fiction
    Keyword: Closet drama, adapted solo play, Minimal Staging, post-apocalyptic
    "It was our one hundred and ninth year in the computer."

    Adaptation of Harlan Ellison's 1967 short story for one actor and one computerized voice.