Harrison David Rivers

Harrison David Rivers

Harrison David Rivers is an award-winning playwright, librettist and television writer based in St. Paul, Minnesota. His plays include WE ARE CONTINUOUS (Williamstown, Geva), THE BANDAGED PLACE (New York Stage & Film, Roundabout), THIS BITTER EARTH (New Conservatory Theatre Center, Penumbra, About Face, Theater Alliance, Richmond Triangle Players, The Road, InterAct, TheatreWorks Hartford), WHERE STORMS ARE...
Harrison David Rivers is an award-winning playwright, librettist and television writer based in St. Paul, Minnesota. His plays include WE ARE CONTINUOUS (Williamstown, Geva), THE BANDAGED PLACE (New York Stage & Film, Roundabout), THIS BITTER EARTH (New Conservatory Theatre Center, Penumbra, About Face, Theater Alliance, Richmond Triangle Players, The Road, InterAct, TheatreWorks Hartford), WHERE STORMS ARE BORN (Williamstown), WHEN LAST WE FLEW (NYFringe, Diversionary, TheatreLAB, Real Live Arts, Out Front), and the musicals FIVE POINTS with Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar (Theater Latté Da), WE SHALL SOMEDAY with Ted Shen (Signature, Theater Latté Da) and I PUT A SPELL ON YOU with Nubya Garcia. His television credits include ONE OF US IS LYING (Peacock) THE NEVERS (HBO), WYTCHES (Amazon) and THE PLOT (Hulu). Harrison sits on the Board of Directors of The Movement Theatre Company and the Playwrights’ Center. He is a graduate of Kenyon College and Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

Plays

  • we are continuous by Harrison David Rivers
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic + 2 more
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    Keyword: mothers and sons, queer + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, faith-based
    Keyword: mothers and sons, queer, interracial relationships, HIV/AIDS
    Simon and his mother, Ora, have always been close. She’s been his champion, his defender, and his friend. But when a life-changing secret comes to light, can their bond survive?
  • the bandaged place by Harrison David Rivers
    Recommendations: 7
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, movement/physical
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    Keyword: queer, dance + 1 more
    Genre: drama, movement/physical
    Keyword: queer, dance, domestic violence
    Struggling to recover after an assault, Jonah realizes the only way to heal is by mending the relationships with his family.
  • This Bitter Earth by Harrison David Rivers
    Recommendations: 11
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: black lives matter, interracial relationships + 4 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: black lives matter, interracial relationships, essex hemphill, million hoodie march, trayvon martin, Tamir Rice
    A protest brought them together. But now, as his white lover, a Black Lives Matter activist, immerses himself in the struggle, Jesse, a black man, must confront his own political apathy or risk his rights and their love. This gripping and intimate new play asks what is the real cost of standing on the sidelines?
  • To Let Go and Fall by Harrison David Rivers
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    6–8
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    Genre: drama, movement/physical + 1 more
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    Keyword: HIV, aids + 2 more
    Genre: drama, movement/physical, political
    Keyword: HIV, aids, ballet, Lincoln Center
    Todd and Arthur are two former ballet dancers who reunite at New York’s Lincoln Center Plaza having not seen each other for more than 25 years. This beautifully-told story takes us through the lives of both men, their choices, their regrets, and their coming to terms with age, illness and sexual identity.
  • Where Storms Are Born by Harrison David Rivers
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: Incarceration, grief + 3 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: Incarceration, grief, Hope, family, mother and son
    Mourning the loss of her elder son Myles, Bethea tries to help her younger son Gideon through his grief. But as revelations surrounding Myles’ incarceration and death emerge, both mother and son must decide whether to fight or let go. With wit and empathy, this play reminds us of the courage and resilience it takes to chart a better way forward for the ones we love.
  • PARKS by Harrison David Rivers
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 3 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, musical, young audiences
    Raised amidst the violent racism of the 1920’s and 30’s, Gordon Parks chose to fight back with a camera instead of a gun. Inspired by the life of the iconic photographer, PARKS, tells the story of a young black man’s journey to becoming an artist. The trials and tribulations; the triumphs. The pain, the glory and the love.
  • maybe the saddest thing by Harrison David Rivers
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    In a city in the South, Deshaun sells drugs, Frankie cleans hotel rooms and Noble makes sandwiches. They’re smart. Black. And stuck. MAYBE THE SADDEST THING is a play about that most American of phenomena – the rut – and what it takes to get out.
  • Proximity by Harrison David Rivers
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, romantic comedy
    Newly divorced and sheltering at home with her two children, Ezra hasn’t been touched by another adult in eight months. When she’s introduced to Irie, a charismatic fellow single parent, at a virtual PTA meeting, their immediate attraction causes Ezra to reconsider the limits of her Covid-bubble.