Willie Johnson

Willie Johnson

Plays

  • Age of Extinction
    AGE OF EXTINCTION is a full-length play examining the connections between ecosystem fragmentation, biogeography, and the loneliness of contemporary urban life. The play’s protagonist, GRUNDY, is a lonely, neurotic bookstore owner grieving both the recent death of her mother and loss of her lover. The play is set in Grundy’s bookshop, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where Grundy was born and raised....
    AGE OF EXTINCTION is a full-length play examining the connections between ecosystem fragmentation, biogeography, and the loneliness of contemporary urban life. The play’s protagonist, GRUNDY, is a lonely, neurotic bookstore owner grieving both the recent death of her mother and loss of her lover. The play is set in Grundy’s bookshop, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where Grundy was born and raised.

    AGE OF EXTINCTION begins shortly after the death of Grundy’s mother, RACHEL. Grundy learns that she’s inherited the bookshop from Rachel, and the audience learns that Rachel’s death is the third traumatic event she’s suffered in the past year. Earlier this year, Grundy’s lover, MAGGIE, left her. Shortly after that, Grundy’s cat died of a kidney ailment. Rachel’s death has left Grundy very much alone and struggling with severe insomnia.

    Grundy has no interest in running the bookshop and, almost immediately, a real estate developer named MILTON, offers to buy Grundy out of this responsibility. Milton’s company is planning to build a new high rise on Grundy’s block, so he’s hoping to acquire and demolish the bookshop. Milton’s offer leaves Grundy with a difficult choice: she can sell the store and leave her rapidly transforming urban ecosystem for a life in the Berkshires with Maggie. Alternately, she can take charge of the bookstore and, in so doing, fight to maintain her neighborhood ecosystem’s diversity. This choice frames all of the conflict in AGE OF EXTINCTION, motivating Grundy’s actions throughout the play.
  • The Followers
    The Followers is a three-act play that uses the backdrop of a high school sex scandal to examine adolescent loneliness and the forces that isolate teenagers from the rest of society. The play follows the paths of SARAH, a verbally precocious high school student, and MR. HARRIS, a struggling first-year English teacher, as they try to find meaning and connection in an alienating high school environment. To embody...
    The Followers is a three-act play that uses the backdrop of a high school sex scandal to examine adolescent loneliness and the forces that isolate teenagers from the rest of society. The play follows the paths of SARAH, a verbally precocious high school student, and MR. HARRIS, a struggling first-year English teacher, as they try to find meaning and connection in an alienating high school environment. To embody the pressures facing both students and teacher, The Followers uses a unique and innovative theatrical device called THE CROWD, six performers with shifting identities who function alternately as the play’s chorus and antagonists. As The Crowd pressures both Sarah and Mr. Harris to conform to their proscribed roles in school society, the play builds towards its explosive conclusion. The Followers alternates between teen and adult perspectives, examining both the brutal dynamics of adolescent social life and the absurdity of school as a social environment.
  • Hephaestus
    Hephaestus is a meditation on disability and sexuality— on the limitations of the body and the desire to transcend them. The play focuses on Hephaestus (Greek god of fire and metalwork), his relationship with his mother (Hera, queen of the gods), and on his desire to be recognized as the equal of his Olympian peers. As Hephaestus struggles first for this recognition, and then to transform his understandings of...
    Hephaestus is a meditation on disability and sexuality— on the limitations of the body and the desire to transcend them. The play focuses on Hephaestus (Greek god of fire and metalwork), his relationship with his mother (Hera, queen of the gods), and on his desire to be recognized as the equal of his Olympian peers. As Hephaestus struggles first for this recognition, and then to transform his understandings of beauty and divinity, we follow him on a journey from revenge to redemption to revolution.
  • Normal, Michigan
    Normal, Michigan is a comedy about existential conflicts and crises triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The play focuses on JO and FRANCES, two characters who were frustrated by the demands of adult life long before the pandemic started. Jo is a recent college graduate stuck in a customer service job. Frances is an aspiring musician whose partner recently left her. As each of them rejects the social pressure to...
    Normal, Michigan is a comedy about existential conflicts and crises triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The play focuses on JO and FRANCES, two characters who were frustrated by the demands of adult life long before the pandemic started. Jo is a recent college graduate stuck in a customer service job. Frances is an aspiring musician whose partner recently left her. As each of them rejects the social pressure to get “back to normal”, they discover that they no longer want to live the lives they’ve created. To escape from normal, however, they must take a leap into the unknown.
  • Rager
    Rager is a one-act drama about sibling rivalry and adolescent frustration. The play examines the relationship between teenaged sisters LIZ (the older sister and overachiever) and SUE (the younger sister and screw-up). Rager begins with the aftermath of a massive, destructive house party that Sue decided to host in her parents’ absence. Liz discovers the huge mess that Sue has created and panics, terrified of...
    Rager is a one-act drama about sibling rivalry and adolescent frustration. The play examines the relationship between teenaged sisters LIZ (the older sister and overachiever) and SUE (the younger sister and screw-up). Rager begins with the aftermath of a massive, destructive house party that Sue decided to host in her parents’ absence. Liz discovers the huge mess that Sue has created and panics, terrified of what their mother will do if she finds the house in disarray. As Liz desperately tries to enlist Sue’s help in cleaning up the house, the tension between the sister’s mounts, leading to an explosive climax.

    Rager is a funny, touching exploration of adolescent relationships. It uses two actors and one minimal, stationary set.
  • The Funny Thing
    The Funny Thing is a romantic drama about age differences, and the consciousness of aging, within relationships. Focusing on two nameless characters, OLDER MAN and YOUNGER MAN, the play tells the story of an intimate relationship from beginning to end. Cutting from scene to scene in cinematic style, The Funny Thing demonstrates the inevitability of heartbreak and the struggle to learn from it.
  • Ice Cream Man
    Ice Cream Man is a one-act drama about race, violence, and the dangers of nostalgia. The play examines the conflict between two characters that live in the same American city, but occupy very different worlds. As the tensions between these characters grow, each struggles to assert his power over the other. This power struggle culminates in the play’s violent conclusion. Ice Cream Man is a fast-paced and...
    Ice Cream Man is a one-act drama about race, violence, and the dangers of nostalgia. The play examines the conflict between two characters that live in the same American city, but occupy very different worlds. As the tensions between these characters grow, each struggles to assert his power over the other. This power struggle culminates in the play’s violent conclusion. Ice Cream Man is a fast-paced and explosive exploration of race, violence, and the dangers of nostalgia.
  • Blue Balls
    Blue Balls is a one-act drama about physical disability and sexual frustration. The play examines the conflict between BENOIT, a wheelchair-bound intellectual, and PETER, an older man who is dating Benoit’s mother. The play begins with Peter arriving at Benoit’s house to pick up NICOLE, Benoit’s mother, for a date. While Peter waits for Nicole to finish dressing for the date, Benoit questions him about his life...
    Blue Balls is a one-act drama about physical disability and sexual frustration. The play examines the conflict between BENOIT, a wheelchair-bound intellectual, and PETER, an older man who is dating Benoit’s mother. The play begins with Peter arriving at Benoit’s house to pick up NICOLE, Benoit’s mother, for a date. While Peter waits for Nicole to finish dressing for the date, Benoit questions him about his life, his work, and his intentions with Nicole. The tension between Benoit and Peter escalates as Benoit’s questioning becomes more aggressive and we learn that Benoit’s physical disability has led him to feel deeply frustrated, both sexually and emotionally. The tension explodes when Benoit’s verbal prodding of Peter transforms to physical prodding, leading to the play’s climax.
    Blue Balls is a funny, explosive exploration of masculinity. It uses two actors and one minimal, stationary set.
  • A Detective Before Lunch
    A Detective Before Lunch traces the history of a childhood friendship in five short scenes. As the play’s two main characters, Becky and Natalie, prepare for high school graduation, Becky feels increasing pressure to act upon her longstanding crush on Natalie, before they graduate and their relationship becomes more tenuous. The intensity of Becky’s attraction makes Natalie increasingly uncomfortable, and this...
    A Detective Before Lunch traces the history of a childhood friendship in five short scenes. As the play’s two main characters, Becky and Natalie, prepare for high school graduation, Becky feels increasing pressure to act upon her longstanding crush on Natalie, before they graduate and their relationship becomes more tenuous. The intensity of Becky’s attraction makes Natalie increasingly uncomfortable, and this combination of tension and discomfort threatens to put their friendship in jeopardy.