Jordan Noble

Jordan Noble

Jordan Noble’s plays include Jr, Come High Water, Ritual of Darvo, Better Tenants, and My Brother Death. His work has been developed or produced by Old Dominion University’s Playtime Theatre, Barter Theatre — the state theatre of Virginia, Over Our Head Players’ Snowdance Comedy Festival, Walking Shadow Reader’s Theatre, JaYo Theatre, and Tiger’s Heart Players. Jordan is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild, and...
Jordan Noble’s plays include Jr, Come High Water, Ritual of Darvo, Better Tenants, and My Brother Death. His work has been developed or produced by Old Dominion University’s Playtime Theatre, Barter Theatre — the state theatre of Virginia, Over Our Head Players’ Snowdance Comedy Festival, Walking Shadow Reader’s Theatre, JaYo Theatre, and Tiger’s Heart Players. Jordan is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild, and holds a degree in English from Old Dominion University and a certificate in Shakespearean and Contemporary Acting from the Guildhall School in London. Originally from southeastern Virginia, he now lives and writes in London UK with his wonderful wife of 15 years.

Plays

  • Jr
    Gracia is a Latina entrepreneur using her chemistry undergrad degree to run a small cleaning business specializing in rare animal messes. Her fiancé is Jason, a young politician who's gearing up for a run at the state senate, trying to stay independent.

    In the world of Jr, birth is a genetic roll of the dice. A couple can have poisonous snakes for children. You might have an orangutan...
    Gracia is a Latina entrepreneur using her chemistry undergrad degree to run a small cleaning business specializing in rare animal messes. Her fiancé is Jason, a young politician who's gearing up for a run at the state senate, trying to stay independent.

    In the world of Jr, birth is a genetic roll of the dice. A couple can have poisonous snakes for children. You might have an orangutan brother, or an uncle who's a cockatiel. And they're just that - animals. They don't break into Disney songs or even talk, they just make a mess. Most people hope for Juniors - human children.

    Newly pregnant, trying to grow her business and feeling the pressure of uncertainty surrounding her impending motherhood, Gracia discovers that her family history isn't what she was told, and the identity she's always grown up with is false.

    She's left to clean up the mess that revelation leaves behind, and is forced to decide what kind of family she wants to make for herself.
  • Answering Machines
    Lauriston Moss is facing the end alone. He and his AI assistant take stock of what he will leave behind, and they discover a mysterious piece of property in his name. When he arrives, it turns out to house a machine that believes it’s his long deceased mother. On his last night, can he learn the lessons of generations, and leave a positive mark on the world?
  • My Brother Death
    Jeremy’s little brother Kevin is different. He never speaks, always wears that oversized black hoodie, and he has the miraculous ability to free people suffering in pain from their earthly bonds. Their parents are so proud of Kevin. The world celebrates him. Jeremy pretends not to know him. Through school, careers, marriage, life, Jeremy runs from his brother’s reputation, but will he find too late that he’s...
    Jeremy’s little brother Kevin is different. He never speaks, always wears that oversized black hoodie, and he has the miraculous ability to free people suffering in pain from their earthly bonds. Their parents are so proud of Kevin. The world celebrates him. Jeremy pretends not to know him. Through school, careers, marriage, life, Jeremy runs from his brother’s reputation, but will he find too late that he’s run from much more? My Brother Death is a darkly comic drama about family, remembrance, and celebrating life.
  • Come High Water
    In a southern American town, two brothers pack up their childhood home to move their father, a retired sheriff suffering from dementia, to an assisted living facility. When historic flooding overtakes the house, precious things must be abandoned, old grudges bubble up, and the rushing waters deposit a victim of their father’s questionable past on their doorstep. Come High Water is a play about memory, justice,...
    In a southern American town, two brothers pack up their childhood home to move their father, a retired sheriff suffering from dementia, to an assisted living facility. When historic flooding overtakes the house, precious things must be abandoned, old grudges bubble up, and the rushing waters deposit a victim of their father’s questionable past on their doorstep. Come High Water is a play about memory, justice, and climate change.

    Francis Seton — Older of the Seton brothers on the edge of forty. Former US Army, currently works odd labor jobs. Recently divorced and trying to make the best of it.

    Emmett Seton — The younger, mid thirties. Has built his life deliberately, having started from almost nothing, having left home after coming out. Works in cyber security.

    Lesley Seton — Retired sheriff of a rural county. 60-something widower sliding into Alzheimers disease. People person who now struggles to read people.

    Ty Reynold — Black man in the rural south, late thirties. An autodidact whose humbly ambitious life was cut short by wrongful conviction. Lives in anticipation of the starter pistol of his release date.

    Sally George — Mid-twenties. Proud of her rural upbringing and will never move ten miles away from family. Redneck girl-power. Believes in service over self and America.
  • Human Sacrifice
    Once-celebrated former star of television and film turned acting guru, Holland Dean, breaks down barriers and personal walls so students can build honest characters on clear foundations. If they’re willing to make sacrifices, he can make their artistic dreams come true. Unless it’s all a lie. Someone here is definitely lying. Human Sacrifice is a drama exploring the contradictions in dramatic practice, cult...
    Once-celebrated former star of television and film turned acting guru, Holland Dean, breaks down barriers and personal walls so students can build honest characters on clear foundations. If they’re willing to make sacrifices, he can make their artistic dreams come true. Unless it’s all a lie. Someone here is definitely lying. Human Sacrifice is a drama exploring the contradictions in dramatic practice, cult tactics, and overcoming abuse.
  • Better Tenants FULL LENGTH
    It’s 1986 and Gareth Miller is winning at life. He’s raking in beaucoup bucks from his record store assistant manager job, killing it selling magazines door-to-door, he has a great apartment, and somehow a beautiful genius girlfriend. He’s totally not a disgusting slob destroying his apartment building and contributing nothing. He’s exactly the person we’d want fending off an alien invasion of body-snatchers...
    It’s 1986 and Gareth Miller is winning at life. He’s raking in beaucoup bucks from his record store assistant manager job, killing it selling magazines door-to-door, he has a great apartment, and somehow a beautiful genius girlfriend. He’s totally not a disgusting slob destroying his apartment building and contributing nothing. He’s exactly the person we’d want fending off an alien invasion of body-snatchers trying to save humanity from itself. PSYCH. Better Tenants is a satirical one act comedy about humanity's self-destructive tendencies and our effect on the environment.
  • Better Tenants 10-Minute Version
    Gareth Miller has made a terrifying discovery about the other residents of Hampton Towers. Something alien is taking over their bodies and minds. When he seeks help from the building superintendent Angie, she’s less than enthused. Can Gareth save the building from the aliens, or does the building need saving from Gareth?
  • Like Art
    Curator Samatha Wood has invited influencer Piper Ray to do a live event in hopes of attracting more visitors to a struggling, obscure art museum. Using AI and a Likert scale survey, the featured exhibit allows users to make changes to a painting in real time. If only the board hadn’t allowed local artist Hugo Anders to stage a protest piece alongside the exhibit. He’s going to fight back against the machines...
    Curator Samatha Wood has invited influencer Piper Ray to do a live event in hopes of attracting more visitors to a struggling, obscure art museum. Using AI and a Likert scale survey, the featured exhibit allows users to make changes to a painting in real time. If only the board hadn’t allowed local artist Hugo Anders to stage a protest piece alongside the exhibit. He’s going to fight back against the machines even if it kills him and the museum, too.
  • Smarty
    Assistant principal-in-training Jessica Schott is left to hold down the fort when a troubling trend is discovered in her high school. Students are discovered passing cash and a little baggie of white powder. Through interviews with the students involved, she discovers that their actions are both less troubling than initially thought, and somehow so much more. Smarty is a comedy in one act based on actual events...
    Assistant principal-in-training Jessica Schott is left to hold down the fort when a troubling trend is discovered in her high school. Students are discovered passing cash and a little baggie of white powder. Through interviews with the students involved, she discovers that their actions are both less troubling than initially thought, and somehow so much more. Smarty is a comedy in one act based on actual events, but fictionalized to highlight themes of class, inequality, and punitive discipline.
  • Apex
    Mankind celebrates becoming an apex predator with a little get together, but his guests are less than enthusiastic about his approach to the new position. Apex is a short comedy about climate change and man’s effect on the planet as apex consumer.
  • Taste
    Thom Stanhope has a bad habit of dining in fine restaurants when he knows he can't pay. The food is only half the plan, though. He wants the jail time to save him from the dangerous cold of the winter months.

    As a blizzard begins, he brings along Wes, a young black man from similar circumstances, to enjoy an extravagant dinner before they turn themselves in quietly, respectfully.
    ...
    Thom Stanhope has a bad habit of dining in fine restaurants when he knows he can't pay. The food is only half the plan, though. He wants the jail time to save him from the dangerous cold of the winter months.

    As a blizzard begins, he brings along Wes, a young black man from similar circumstances, to enjoy an extravagant dinner before they turn themselves in quietly, respectfully.

    Susan Lake is a public defender trying to squeeze a blind date into a busy life, but gets caught up in trying to save the two men from the justice system she's all too familiar with.

    Part modern Bartleby the Scrivener, Taste explores the limits of American justice through punitive measures and the price of free will.
  • The Shivers
    Living with ghosts for 30-something years has left Greg a little eccentric, a little weird. In an effort to get him some more living human contact, the ghosts take out an ad renting the first floor of his grand childhood home. When the renter turns out to be a young divorcee with her 11 year old son, Tom, Greg is grumpy and the ghosts are worried. The presence of a child in the house awakens a very old danger,...
    Living with ghosts for 30-something years has left Greg a little eccentric, a little weird. In an effort to get him some more living human contact, the ghosts take out an ad renting the first floor of his grand childhood home. When the renter turns out to be a young divorcee with her 11 year old son, Tom, Greg is grumpy and the ghosts are worried. The presence of a child in the house awakens a very old danger, one that could threaten everyone's safety. Can they unravel the mystery that has plagued the house since its first inhabitants in 1883? Will they get Greg out of the house? Will Tom be safe?
  • Ritual of Darvo
    DARVO is an acronym referring to a reaction that perpetrators of violence often display in response to being held accountable. This pattern of Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender can be seen anywhere from incidents of personal abuse, to corporate wrongdoing, to war.
    Elder has brought Youth to the dark chapel of a mysterious cult at the request of its powerful leader, the Magister Exemplar, now...
    DARVO is an acronym referring to a reaction that perpetrators of violence often display in response to being held accountable. This pattern of Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender can be seen anywhere from incidents of personal abuse, to corporate wrongdoing, to war.
    Elder has brought Youth to the dark chapel of a mysterious cult at the request of its powerful leader, the Magister Exemplar, now deceased. To restore the soiled reputation of their great leader, Priest will execute the Ritual of Darvo, only possible through the help of Youth. They promise Youth the Light — safety, security, and power — but the price may be more than Youth can bear. Ritual of Darvo is a short play about power, justice, and systems of abuse.
  • Miracle Goodnight
    In his NYC apartment, a painter completes a masterpiece and dies for the 26th time. He is found by his agent, his neighbor, and a close friend and fellow artist. They must decide how to handle the possible escape of the secret of his frequent resurrection, and what to do with his masterwork. As the morning progresses, his once assured immortality becomes a worrying question.
  • Internal Negotiation
    In the middle of the night, an urgent meeting is held between upstairs management and a representative of labor from down below. The workers have demands. They’re at bursting point, but management doesn’t want to give an inch. Can they reach an agreement before it all goes south and irrevocable action is taken? Internal Negotiation is a short comedy about arguing with yourself about waking up to pee.
    ...
    In the middle of the night, an urgent meeting is held between upstairs management and a representative of labor from down below. The workers have demands. They’re at bursting point, but management doesn’t want to give an inch. Can they reach an agreement before it all goes south and irrevocable action is taken? Internal Negotiation is a short comedy about arguing with yourself about waking up to pee.

    One-minute, five-minute, and ten-minute versions available.
  • The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage
    A family-friendly take on the Grimm fairy tale about three unlikely and unusual friends who live together in the forest. They each have a job, but get tired of doing the same thing every day, and decide to change things up. It has disastrous results. It's a quick play at about 15 minutes, and involves audience interaction, with children joining the cast onstage for carefully managed, non-speaking parts.