Robin Berl

Robin Berl writes from the lens of a parent and mixed race woman of the CHamoru diaspora. She seeks to create work at the intersection of care and art: infusing care into the artistic process, making art that cares for the people who engage with it, and recognizing art as a form of care itself.

Robin’s short plays have received readings or productions with HB Studio, NY; Asian Pasifika Arts Collective and Strand Theater Company, MD; Sandy Spring Theatre Group, MD; Spooky Action Theater, Washington D.C; Duluth Playhouse, MN; Winding Road Theater Ensemble, AZ; Soul Rep Theatre, TX; Little Fish Theatre, CA; Breaking Wave Theatre Company, Guam.

She wrote “A New Old Way of Life: A Trongkon Lemmai Adaptation” for Breaking Wave Theatre Company’s Podcast Plays Legends of Guåhan series...

Robin Berl writes from the lens of a parent and mixed race woman of the CHamoru diaspora. She seeks to create work at the intersection of care and art: infusing care into the artistic process, making art that cares for the people who engage with it, and recognizing art as a form of care itself.

Robin’s short plays have received readings or productions with HB Studio, NY; Asian Pasifika Arts Collective and Strand Theater Company, MD; Sandy Spring Theatre Group, MD; Spooky Action Theater, Washington D.C; Duluth Playhouse, MN; Winding Road Theater Ensemble, AZ; Soul Rep Theatre, TX; Little Fish Theatre, CA; Breaking Wave Theatre Company, Guam.

She wrote “A New Old Way of Life: A Trongkon Lemmai Adaptation” for Breaking Wave Theatre Company’s Podcast Plays Legends of Guåhan series (available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts).

Her monologues are published in The PGE Faces of America Monologue Festival Anthology #2 and Smith and Krauss The Best Women’s Stage Monologues 2023.

She was a 2021 C1 PlayLab Circuit Volt Lab writer with Company One Theatre.

Robin graduated from University of Delaware with BAs in English Literature and Ancient Greek and Roman Studies. Robin is a member of Dramatists Guild.

Robin’s first full-length play, Dua: The Monster’s Story (a retelling of the Medusa myth) had a reading as part of the 2023 Kennedy Center Local Theatre Festival and had its World Premiere with Theatre Prometheus, Washington, D.C. in May 2024. Broadway World called it, “a remarkably compassionate play that brings emotional depth to not only Medusa’s character, but all of the characters, ultimately asking us to consider what might happen if we have mercy on monsters.” DC Theater Arts proclaimed, “‘Dua: The Monster’s Story’ at Theatre Prometheus is a masterwork of anguish.”

Scripts

Dua: The Monster's Story

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

Dua: The Monster’s Story reclaims the Medusa myth, giving voice to the woman called “monster.” We follow Dua as she takes refuge in a cave and creates a home for herself and the children she now carries within her. Dua must face the trauma of the rape that pushed her down this path, her goddess-given ability to turn living things to stone, and the impossibility of ever being allowed to return home. As Dua’s...

Dua: The Monster’s Story reclaims the Medusa myth, giving voice to the woman called “monster.” We follow Dua as she takes refuge in a cave and creates a home for herself and the children she now carries within her. Dua must face the trauma of the rape that pushed her down this path, her goddess-given ability to turn living things to stone, and the impossibility of ever being allowed to return home. As Dua’s belly grows, so does her power. Ultimately, in confronting the goddess who transformed her and the hero fated to kill her, she is forced to decide how best to protect herself and those she loves.

Set when the gods ruled with vengeance and women were wives and mothers or nothing at all, Dua: The Monster’s Story exists both frozen in time and outside of time. It holds a mirror to the past and the present, daring us to question society to create a better future. This play demands: Why are some called heroes while others are condemned to be monsters? Who gets to make that choice? And what choices are left, in the end, for a woman alone?

A Brush with Gentle Giantess

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

A mother and father attend their adult daughter’s art show. For an elephant.

A mother and father attend their adult daughter’s art show. For an elephant.

Support

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

AIMEE needs a bra. So of course she goes to Soultree, a boutique for intimate apparel, owned by TONI who just so happens to be AIMEE's older sibling, who AIMEE hasn't seen or spoken to in years.

This play seeks to connect siblings who have a complicated relationship with each other, with gender expectations, and with breasts.

AIMEE needs a bra. So of course she goes to Soultree, a boutique for intimate apparel, owned by TONI who just so happens to be AIMEE's older sibling, who AIMEE hasn't seen or spoken to in years.

This play seeks to connect siblings who have a complicated relationship with each other, with gender expectations, and with breasts.

Your Boy

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

TEN MINUTE PLAY. Mason visits his grandfather, Jim, with a piece of sheet music in his back pocket, hoping to entice Jim to play the piano. As Mason tells Nina, Jim's caregiver, "He doesn't think I'm my dad when he plays."

TEN MINUTE PLAY. Mason visits his grandfather, Jim, with a piece of sheet music in his back pocket, hoping to entice Jim to play the piano. As Mason tells Nina, Jim's caregiver, "He doesn't think I'm my dad when he plays."

Drive Away

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

TEN MINUTE PLAY. On Maddy's birthday, her sister Vic leaves the bar drunk with her keys in hand. It's up to Maddy--the responsible one--to keep her sister safe. What Maddy doesn't realize is that maybe Vic is trying to keep her sister safe, too.

TEN MINUTE PLAY. On Maddy's birthday, her sister Vic leaves the bar drunk with her keys in hand. It's up to Maddy--the responsible one--to keep her sister safe. What Maddy doesn't realize is that maybe Vic is trying to keep her sister safe, too.

A Right Way to Fold a Fitted Sheet

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

TEN MINUTE PLAY. Mira can't sleep and decides to do some laundry. When she goes to put the laundry away, she sees what has become of the linen closet.

TEN MINUTE PLAY. Mira can't sleep and decides to do some laundry. When she goes to put the laundry away, she sees what has become of the linen closet.

Inner Child Work

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

TEN MINUTE PLAY. Danielle's therapist recommends role play to process a painful childhood memory involving her mother, Linda.

TEN MINUTE PLAY. Danielle's therapist recommends role play to process a painful childhood memory involving her mother, Linda.

Til Dummy Do Us Part

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

Helene and Scott share a romantic evening, but when it seems like they will finally reach an important milestone in their four year relationship there is trouble with Scott's pandemic hobby--a hobby that has taken on a life of its own and Helene has been bearing with it far too long!

Helene and Scott share a romantic evening, but when it seems like they will finally reach an important milestone in their four year relationship there is trouble with Scott's pandemic hobby--a hobby that has taken on a life of its own and Helene has been bearing with it far too long!

Matriarchy

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

TEN MINUTE PLAY. Early Sunday morning before Sissy goes to church, her younger sister Bea comes over for breakfast--to celebrate Bea’s birthday and maybe something else.

TEN MINUTE PLAY. Early Sunday morning before Sissy goes to church, her younger sister Bea comes over for breakfast--to celebrate Bea’s birthday and maybe something else.

Grief Containers

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

Ashley is at a loss and her husband Barrett is struggling to help her find the way home. In a situation when neither of them can be “right,” they struggle to bridge the emotional gap. Caught between grief and celebration, Ashley seeks comfort and answers from a bird nesting in the backyard.

Ashley is at a loss and her husband Barrett is struggling to help her find the way home. In a situation when neither of them can be “right,” they struggle to bridge the emotional gap. Caught between grief and celebration, Ashley seeks comfort and answers from a bird nesting in the backyard.

Breaking (a monologue and performance piece)

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

MONOLOGUE. What do you know about breaking? What if breaking was good? What if breaking was just one part of being whole.

MONOLOGUE. What do you know about breaking? What if breaking was good? What if breaking was just one part of being whole.

Scary to Love an Addict (a monologue)

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

MONOLOGUE. Etta attempts to explain what it feels like to love her younger brother, Ansel, an addict. (An excerpt from Bread Crumbs, a twist on the Hansel and Gretel story).

MONOLOGUE. Etta attempts to explain what it feels like to love her younger brother, Ansel, an addict. (An excerpt from Bread Crumbs, a twist on the Hansel and Gretel story).

Coq au Vin (a monologue)

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

MONOLOGUE. All Sofia needs is one bottle of wine to complete her shopping list for the perfect recipe to finally make her mother-in-law love her!

MONOLOGUE. All Sofia needs is one bottle of wine to complete her shopping list for the perfect recipe to finally make her mother-in-law love her!

Daddy Daughter Dance

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

MONOLOGUE. Since she was four-years-old, Julie has celebrated Valentine's Day with her father at her church's
annual Daddy Daughter Dance and she refuses to let the pandemic take that away from her, too!

MONOLOGUE. Since she was four-years-old, Julie has celebrated Valentine's Day with her father at her church's
annual Daddy Daughter Dance and she refuses to let the pandemic take that away from her, too!

Grape Jelly

by Robin Berl

Synopsis

MONOLOGUE Nicole is ready to celebrate (wine in hand) a major mom win with the only people who could possibly understand--her mommy group!

MONOLOGUE Nicole is ready to celebrate (wine in hand) a major mom win with the only people who could possibly understand--her mommy group!