Jacob Marx Rice

Jacob Marx Rice

Jacob’s work has been produced and developed at The Finborough Theatre, The Flea, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, The New Ohio, Atlantic Theatre Stage 2, and others. His play series The Suicidal Comedies - consisting of Chemistry, Coping, and Cracks - has been produced on three continents and around the country and has won the Kennedy Center’s Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting...
Jacob’s work has been produced and developed at The Finborough Theatre, The Flea, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, The New Ohio, Atlantic Theatre Stage 2, and others. His play series The Suicidal Comedies - consisting of Chemistry, Coping, and Cracks - has been produced on three continents and around the country and has won the Kennedy Center’s Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, the Excellence in Playwriting Award and FringeFAVE at the NY Fringe Festival, Producer's Pick at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, and Producer’s Encore Pick at the Hollywood Fringe. Jacob has won the Faculty Award from NYU/Tisch, and a Sloan Commission from EST, a Playwright Observership at the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Tennessee Williams Scholarship at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. He has also been a finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Lark Playwrights Week, and the Princess Grace Award and his plays have been nominated for four of London’s prestigious Off West End Awards.

Plays

  • A Thousand Natural Shocks by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Depression, mental illness + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: Depression, mental illness, pregnancy, childbirth, IVF, adoption, Lesbian, LGBT
    Kennedy is doing okay! Her depression is under control, she’s got a stable job, and her wife adores her. But when the couple decides to make a baby, they must navigate the chaos of IVF, the inevitability of pain, and the Tik-Tok teen crashing on their couch.
  • A Brief List of Everyone Who Died by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 8
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: grief, puerto rican + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: grief, puerto rican, Irish American, mental illness, love story, romance, dark comedy
    Graciela would really like everyone to stop dying. After the scarring loss of her beloved dog Buster at the age of five, Graciela decides that no one she loves will ever die. But stopping death is easier said than done. Time rolls on inescapably and, as she grows, Graciela will, like everyone else, gain and lose the people most important to her to the eternal absence of mortality. Wickedly funny and deeply...
    Graciela would really like everyone to stop dying. After the scarring loss of her beloved dog Buster at the age of five, Graciela decides that no one she loves will ever die. But stopping death is easier said than done. Time rolls on inescapably and, as she grows, Graciela will, like everyone else, gain and lose the people most important to her to the eternal absence of mortality. Wickedly funny and deeply humane, A Brief List of Everyone Who Died tells the story of all the deaths that make up a life.
  • Leni & Joseph by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: Germany, women in World War II + 7 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, period, romantic comedy, tragedy
    Keyword: Germany, women in World War II, women in history, film, documentary film-making, feminism, History, Leni Riefenstahl, Nazi
    Leni Riefenstahl is a dancer, actor, and perhaps Germany’s most influential director. Joseph Goebbels is the charmingly brutal Minister of Propaganda, intent on consolidating power for the Nazi Party. When the ambitious minister hires the even more ambitious filmmaker to shoot the greatest propaganda movie ever made, it will pull two brilliant and dangerous minds into one of most productive, powerful, and...
    Leni Riefenstahl is a dancer, actor, and perhaps Germany’s most influential director. Joseph Goebbels is the charmingly brutal Minister of Propaganda, intent on consolidating power for the Nazi Party. When the ambitious minister hires the even more ambitious filmmaker to shoot the greatest propaganda movie ever made, it will pull two brilliant and dangerous minds into one of most productive, powerful, and deeply antagonistic relationships in the history film. Leni & Joseph explores the wild true story of two giants as they flirt, fight, and shape the lives and deaths of millions.
  • Chemistry by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: dark comedy, romantic comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Mental Health, Depression + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy, romantic comedy, tragedy
    Keyword: Mental Health, Depression, mania, bipolar disorder, mental illness, bittersweet love story, contemporary romance
    Steph is a recovering depressive. Jamie overachieved himself off the deep end. When they meet in their psychiatrist's office, they can't deny their chemistry, but can they survive it? A pitch black and piercing comedy about being crazy in love.

    “A moving, insightful love story. Rice has written a love story that treats heavy, complex subjects with confidence and compassion.” The Stage...
    Steph is a recovering depressive. Jamie overachieved himself off the deep end. When they meet in their psychiatrist's office, they can't deny their chemistry, but can they survive it? A pitch black and piercing comedy about being crazy in love.

    “A moving, insightful love story. Rice has written a love story that treats heavy, complex subjects with confidence and compassion.” The Stage
    “Remarkable for its tender compassion.” The Guardian
    “Thought-provoking and devastating as well as particularly beautiful. This is the best production I have seen all year.” UK Theatre Web

    Winner of the 2014 Excellence in Playwriting Award at the New York International Fringe Festival and the 2015 Producer's Pick at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Named "One of the 10 Best Plays of 2015" by The Cincinnati Enquirer.
  • Coping by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Mental Health, Depression + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, tragedy
    Keyword: Mental Health, Depression, OCD, suicide, grief, coping with suicide
    Coping follows the aftermath of 25-year-old Connor’s suicide, as his friends and loved ones try to piece together the smoking remains of his life. His girlfriend, Sarah, struggles with the guilt of inadvertently handing Connor the means to kill himself. His sister, Jessica, attempts to control every detail of the funeral and punish anyone who questions her, while her girlfriend plays peacemaker. His roommate,...
    Coping follows the aftermath of 25-year-old Connor’s suicide, as his friends and loved ones try to piece together the smoking remains of his life. His girlfriend, Sarah, struggles with the guilt of inadvertently handing Connor the means to kill himself. His sister, Jessica, attempts to control every detail of the funeral and punish anyone who questions her, while her girlfriend plays peacemaker. His roommate, Lucas, wanders through life in a stoned haze to avoid the horror of what has happened. As each of them tries desperately to make things right, place blame, and confront their own battles with mental illness, they must find a way to come together and accept the unacceptable, or destroy the memory of the one person they all loved.

    “A finely crafted theatrical piece that knocks the wind right out of the audience.” - Quick Theatre.
    “It is doubtful the audience will ever understand the process of coping in traditional ways again after seeing Coping.” - OnStage
  • Cracks by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: science, global warming + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental
    Keyword: science, global warming, physics, chemistry, technology, suicide, coping with grief
    Nicole is trying to unboil an egg. A grad student at a lab at Stanford, Nicole is working on a new project to refold denatured egg proteins, creating world-changing applications for medicine, food storage, and bioengineering. But when a young programmer stumbles into her lab, the two women are drawn into a budding relationship that forces Nicole to confront the explosive ending of her last one. Weaving...
    Nicole is trying to unboil an egg. A grad student at a lab at Stanford, Nicole is working on a new project to refold denatured egg proteins, creating world-changing applications for medicine, food storage, and bioengineering. But when a young programmer stumbles into her lab, the two women are drawn into a budding relationship that forces Nicole to confront the explosive ending of her last one. Weaving seamlessly between two timelines, the play follows Nicole attempt to escape flood of memories constantly threatening to drown her, with the help of a giant talking egg named Humpty Dumpty.
  • Ripper by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6–10
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    Genre: adventure, horror + 3 more
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    Keyword: Victorian, Jack the Ripper + 3 more
    Genre: adventure, horror, mystery/thriller, period, political
    Keyword: Victorian, Jack the Ripper, murder, England, 19th century London
    In London, 1888, a bold young woman reporter desperate to make a name for herself starts tracking a string of gruesome murders. When she accidentally finds herself face to face with the killer, they begin an elaborate and deadly game of cat and mouse. Can she stop him and become famous in the process, or will he rip the city, and her, apart? Wickedly playful and deliciously terrifying, Ripper asks how far would...
    In London, 1888, a bold young woman reporter desperate to make a name for herself starts tracking a string of gruesome murders. When she accidentally finds herself face to face with the killer, they begin an elaborate and deadly game of cat and mouse. Can she stop him and become famous in the process, or will he rip the city, and her, apart? Wickedly playful and deliciously terrifying, Ripper asks how far would you go for the story of the century?
  • Uncertainty/Principle by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: science, physics + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, political
    Keyword: science, physics, quantum mechanics, family, religion, christianity
    Isaac, a highly regarded theoretical physicist, spends her time touring the country debunking creationists and researching a new technique to disprove God using a quirk of quantum mechanics. But when her religious mother is diagnosed with cancer, long-buried doubts begin to surface and the appearance of a mysterious stranger with an inexplicable knowledge of theoretical physics forces her to justify her beliefs.
  • Peabrain by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: anti-bullying
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, farce, movement/physical
    Keyword: anti-bullying
    Jess and Tracy are impatiently waiting for Breadman. Connor is trying to get back together with Jess. It's a classic comedy about sex and death, except they’re all pigeons.
  • Trust by Jacob Marx Rice
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: bathroom
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, horror
    Keyword: bathroom
    A trenchant and terrifying exploration of the mysteries of men's bathrooms. Paul goes to the restroom to take a simple pee. But when a mysterious stranger starts chatting with him at the urinal, things quickly take a hilarious and disturbing turn.