Jaisey Bates

Jaisey Bates

Jaisey Bates writes, directs and performs with their nomadic multicultural theater company The Peoplehood (the-peoplehood.com).

Awarded: David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize / Marin Theatre Company
Selected: Bay Area Playwrights Festival
Selected: Native Voices at the Autry New Plays Festival
Finalist: Princess Grace Award
Finalist: O'Neill...
Jaisey Bates writes, directs and performs with their nomadic multicultural theater company The Peoplehood (the-peoplehood.com).

Awarded: David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize / Marin Theatre Company
Selected: Bay Area Playwrights Festival
Selected: Native Voices at the Autry New Plays Festival
Finalist: Princess Grace Award
Finalist: O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
Finalist: American Blues Theater Blue Ink Award
Semifinalist: American Shakespeare Center New Contemporaries
Honorable mention: Kilroys List
Featured Play: Oklahoma City Theatre Company’s Native American Play Festival

LA/NYC development/performance venues have included the Agüeybaná Book Store, Art/Works, Articulate Theatre Company, Blank, Company of Angels, Eclectic, EST/LA, Lounge, Naked Angels, Native Voices at the Autry, Open Fist / Broadwater Second Stage, Performance Loft, Playwrights' Center Stage, Sacred Fools "We The People", Samuel French Bookshop, Studio/Stage, Tank, Unknown, Victory, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and WP Theater, in addition to a few regional U.S. and international theaters.

Virtual journeys for short plays include the Honor Roll Say Their Names project in association with the African American Policy Forum’s #SayHerName Campaign, National Action Network and The Breath Project; SameBoat's EarthQuake Festival program in San Francisco, London and New Delhi; and a theater festival in the Philippines.

Virtual journeys for full-length works have included development opportunities with Clamour Theatre Company's Clay & Water Festival, Cutting Ball Theater, Native Voices at the Autry's Festival of New Plays, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and university readings.

Journeys also include Code Red Playwrights, PlaygroundLA, The Vagrancy's Writers' Group, The Protest Plays Project's 'Heal The Divide' online playwright residency and theater actions, and Arizona State University’s RED INK Initiative: Indigenous Cultural Series for Teens.

HowlRound editors selected Jaisey's “Native Communities and Climate Change, Center Stage” as a stand-out blog for the year.

Jaisey's education includes Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service (BSFS), American University in Cairo (Johns Hopkins SAIS/Fulbright) and Loyola Marymount (MA in English).

Please email Jaisey to request permission for any use of work listed here on NPX. Thank you for your consideration.

Plays

  • the day we were born
    FULL LENGTH. On a day in the northernmost U.S. city two whales are freed and two boys are born. Raised as brothers within a culture and climate in crisis, they join the Alaskan National Guard in high school and are activated for service after graduation. From the freezing Arctic Circle to the sweltering deserts of Iraq the past and present coexist in a race against time trying to bring everyone together before...
    FULL LENGTH. On a day in the northernmost U.S. city two whales are freed and two boys are born. Raised as brothers within a culture and climate in crisis, they join the Alaskan National Guard in high school and are activated for service after graduation. From the freezing Arctic Circle to the sweltering deserts of Iraq the past and present coexist in a race against time trying to bring everyone together before it’s too late.

    Winner of the David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize
  • REAL TIME remix (reimagined)
    FULL LENGTH. In REAL TIME REMIX (REIMAGINED) four storytellers try to save our "But soft what WHITE through yonder THEATER breaks" W.A.T. world by gifting voice to Other’d words in a dangerous quest across dimensions where every breath is a RIOT OF BEAUTY, a revolutionary act of COURAGE grit GRACE faith FIRE. In a mortals/mortally wounded world rapidly running out of time how can we find ways to...
    FULL LENGTH. In REAL TIME REMIX (REIMAGINED) four storytellers try to save our "But soft what WHITE through yonder THEATER breaks" W.A.T. world by gifting voice to Other’d words in a dangerous quest across dimensions where every breath is a RIOT OF BEAUTY, a revolutionary act of COURAGE grit GRACE faith FIRE. In a mortals/mortally wounded world rapidly running out of time how can we find ways to survive – heal ourselves and our words and our worlds – and together thrive?

    Created and developed during the 2021 Bay Area Playwrights' Festival.
  • when we breathe
    FULL LENGTH. Zee tries to write. Tee and She are four days gone.  LIGHTNING: a predatory white Coyote with a bard ruff and sharp white teeth in the window. THUNDER: an otherworldly howl and pounding at the door. Bee storms in, setting off a dangerous dance of blood memories, grief, horror and hope as HISTORY -- written with black ink in red blood by white hands on white pages -- opens its eyes. AND ITS MOUTH...
    FULL LENGTH. Zee tries to write. Tee and She are four days gone.  LIGHTNING: a predatory white Coyote with a bard ruff and sharp white teeth in the window. THUNDER: an otherworldly howl and pounding at the door. Bee storms in, setting off a dangerous dance of blood memories, grief, horror and hope as HISTORY -- written with black ink in red blood by white hands on white pages -- opens its eyes. AND ITS MOUTH.  

    Written through the Vagrancy Theater's 2019-2020 Writers' Group and its 2020 Blossoming Festival of New Works via Zoom.
  • BorderLands
    SHORT ONE-ACT.
    A grieving father, a new border patrol officer, two lost children and The Man in the Maze cross paths in the BorderLands under the Sonoran Desert sun. A Peoplehood REAL TIME one-act play by Jaisey Bates. Part of #TheatreActionImmigration.
  • The Litchfield Ceremony
    SHORT ONE-ACT.
    A suicidal lobsterman poet, a lost NYC college student, and a Blue Heron spirit cross paths in the Maine woods.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 25-minute one-act play by Jaisey Bates.
  • Wasted in the Wasteland
    SHORT ONE-ACT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 20-minute post-apocalyptic coming of age play featuring 2.5 screenwriters, by Jaisey Bates.
    Adapted from early scenes in a pilot based on an impossible epic radio play, this play is thinking of becoming a reduced cast (probably 12 to 14 or so) impossible epic full-length stage play someday.
  • AFTER EARTH series, No. 1: The Last Visitor
    SHORT.
    The Final Cross-time Visitation by an Unaware Alien Messenger in Disguise as a Member of the Human Species for the Purpose of Experiential Data Accumulation in the Final Years Before The Great Unbecoming of the Oort Cloud Planet, ‘Earth That Was’.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 10-minute play by Jaisey Bates.
  • AFTER EARTH series, No. 2: Dancing in the snow before a swiftly approaching sun
    SHORT.
    Two AI-human hybrids abandoned on a dying ship meet in their final moments and live infinite lives together as they dance in the snow before a swifty approaching sun.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 10-minute play by Jaisey Bates.
  • AFTER EARTH series, No. 3: A resolution devoutly to be wished
    SHORT.
    A hybrid and a bot lost in space* seek a new home for their ship's cargo of elemental entity matter from Earth That Was.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 10-minute play by Jaisey Bates.

    *after a long ago catastrophic metaverse shifting black hole encounter that alt dimension and/or annihilation vanished all crew save these two.
  • AFTER EARTH series, No. 4: Icarus AI
    SHORT.
    A retelling of the Icarus myth in a galaxy far, far away.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 10-minute play by Jaisey Bates.
  • BEAR witness
    SHORT.
    Two documentary filmmakers record a starving polar bear as Time watches.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 5-7 minute play -- or a 3-4 minute monologue -- by Jaisey Bates.
  • Camp Cryptid
    SHORT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 5-minute play about Monsters, by Jaisey Bates.
  • Dallas, Maine
    SHORT.
    A spunky tv tuned to Dallas, a Penobscot man from the 1600s,
    a temp childcare worker and two 5-year-old orphans
    cross paths in a group home in Portland, Maine.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME scene from RUN, by Jaisey Bates.
  • EenieMeenieMineyNO
    SHORT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 4-minute play re: school shootings, by Jaisey Bates.
  • i had a dream but now i'm woke
    SHORT.
    July 2016 - Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge, LA - Philando Castile, Falcon Heights, MN.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates.

    Why these words: Summer 2016 waking horror dreams led to this gathering of words in support of mutual healing, strengthened community and positive change. That we might build with our joined words an enduring...
    SHORT.
    July 2016 - Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge, LA - Philando Castile, Falcon Heights, MN.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates.

    Why these words: Summer 2016 waking horror dreams led to this gathering of words in support of mutual healing, strengthened community and positive change. That we might build with our joined words an enduring shelter from such storms. That we might write a new story worthy of our children, our children’s children. That we might learn, in the precious few moments we are gifted, to walk together in beauty this beloved ground.

    Why these words in this way: Each of us is composed of many voices, inside, outside. We read our world and each other through the ever-changing and evolving synapses and interstitial spaces of all these voices. Nontraditionally multicasting words and voices is a way in which this writer tries to bring into living play the way variable perspectives and resultant textures, dimensions, tensions and interplay dialogues of differences write who we are and our world.

  • Indian Summer
    SHORT.
    It's HOT. But it's October. In MAINE. Two spirits wait for their daughter.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME scene from RUN, a play by Jaisey Bates.
  • Inside I'm Dancing
    SHORT.
    A fourth grade student dreams of her quinceañera. But it's May 24th in Uvalde, Texas.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 2-minute monologue or 5-minute ensemble spoken word play by Jaisey Bates.

    Written as part of the CodeRedPlaywrights project.
    Honoring the memories of Eliahna "Ellie", 9, her classmates and her teachers.
    While inspired by Ellie, the...
    SHORT.
    A fourth grade student dreams of her quinceañera. But it's May 24th in Uvalde, Texas.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 2-minute monologue or 5-minute ensemble spoken word play by Jaisey Bates.

    Written as part of the CodeRedPlaywrights project.
    Honoring the memories of Eliahna "Ellie", 9, her classmates and her teachers.
    While inspired by Ellie, the character of Rosa and her thoughts and actions are imaginary.
  • It were Paradise once
    SHORT.
    It's the end of the world as we know it.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 2-minute monologue or ensemble spoken word play by Jaisey Bates.
  • Never Be Afraid
    SHORT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 10-minute ensemble spoken word play honoring Misty Upham, written by Jaisey Bates in collaboration with Misty's family and friends.

    Part of the livestreamed ‘Say Their Names’ performance readings and panel discussion on October 23, 2020, a production of Honor Roll in association with the African American Policy Forum’s #SayHerName Campaign, National...
    SHORT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 10-minute ensemble spoken word play honoring Misty Upham, written by Jaisey Bates in collaboration with Misty's family and friends.

    Part of the livestreamed ‘Say Their Names’ performance readings and panel discussion on October 23, 2020, a production of Honor Roll in association with the African American Policy Forum’s #SayHerName Campaign, National Action Network and The Breath Project.
  • On a rocky shore
    SHORT.
    A man has lost his memory on a rocky shore.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short play by Jaisey Bates.
  • Portrait of the artist as a young woman
    SHORT.
    Lucia Joyce, in a mental asylum in Occupied France, learns her father, James Joyce, has died.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word poem play by Jaisey Bates.
  • RockPaperWORLD
    SHORT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 10-minute play re: school shootings and our dying planet, by Jaisey Bates.
    Combines EenieMeenieMineyNO and Sisters Three & the Tree.
  • Sing
    SHORT.
    A woman visits the land of her ancestors for the first time.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short play by Jaisey Bates.
  • SISTERS THREE & the tree
    SHORT.
    Rendered for Zoom.
    Revised 01-10-22.

    Three star sisters and their storyteller sibling try to save the world.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 8 to 10-minute play by Jaisey Bates.
  • Story knife
    SHORT.
    A Native Alaskan government boarding school survivor and US Army Vet shares his story.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME scene from RUN, a play by Jaisey Bates.
  • summer storms
    SHORT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates.
    Combines they were dancing and i had a dream but now i'm woke.

    Why these words: Summer 2016 waking horror dreams led to this gathering of words in support of mutual healing, strengthened community and positive change. That we might build with our joined words an enduring shelter from such...
    SHORT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates.
    Combines they were dancing and i had a dream but now i'm woke.

    Why these words: Summer 2016 waking horror dreams led to this gathering of words in support of mutual healing, strengthened community and positive change. That we might build with our joined words an enduring shelter from such storms. That we might write a new story worthy of our children, our children’s children. That we might learn, in the precious few moments we are gifted, to walk together in beauty this beloved ground.

    Why these words in this way: Each of us is composed of many voices, inside, outside. We read our world and each other through the ever-changing and evolving synapses and interstitial spaces of all these voices. Nontraditionally multicasting words and voices is a way in which this writer tries to bring into living play the way variable perspectives and resultant textures, dimensions, tensions and interplay dialogues of differences write who we are and our world.

  • The Wager
    SHORT.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 10-minute play re: gender roles and language in which two gods make a bet and head to LA and bigly lose (their powers sanity way), adapted from an early scene in a new full-length play, THE ACADEMY, by Jaisey Bates.
  • they were dancing
    SHORT.
    Revised 6-12-21 on the fifth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates, written for AFTER ORLANDO, an international theatre action curated by Missing Bolts Productions and NoPassport Theatre Alliance & Press.

    Why these words: Summer 2016 waking horror dreams led to this gathering of...
    SHORT.
    Revised 6-12-21 on the fifth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates, written for AFTER ORLANDO, an international theatre action curated by Missing Bolts Productions and NoPassport Theatre Alliance & Press.

    Why these words: Summer 2016 waking horror dreams led to this gathering of words in support of mutual healing, strengthened community and positive change. That we might build with our joined words an enduring shelter from such storms. That we might write a new story worthy of our children, our children’s children. That we might learn, in the precious few moments we are gifted, to walk together in beauty this beloved ground.

    Why these words in this way: Each of us is composed of many voices, inside, outside. We read our world and each other through the ever-changing and evolving synapses and interstitial spaces of all these voices. Nontraditionally multicasting words and voices is a way in which this writer tries to bring into living play the way variable perspectives and resultant textures, dimensions, tensions and interplay dialogues of differences write who we are and our world.


  • TO HISTORY/To Whom It May Concern -- ONE: War/Paint
    SHORT.
    ONE: War/Paint -- A Letter from Allies of the Indigenous Silenced.
    WAR: On 12-26-1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged before an audience of thousands.
    PAINT: On 5-26-17 the New Native Theatre’s event had no audience because their would-be audience members went to the Walker to protest a representation of the scaffold built to silence the Dakota 38.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short...
    SHORT.
    ONE: War/Paint -- A Letter from Allies of the Indigenous Silenced.
    WAR: On 12-26-1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged before an audience of thousands.
    PAINT: On 5-26-17 the New Native Theatre’s event had no audience because their would-be audience members went to the Walker to protest a representation of the scaffold built to silence the Dakota 38.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates,
    written for THE HEAL THE DIVIDE Protest Plays Initiative.
  • TO HISTORY/To Whom It May Concern -- TWO: War/Games
    SHORT.
    TWO: War/Games -- A Letter from Allies of the Indigenous Silenced.
    WAR: A town where the government paid bounties for Native captives or scalps whether man, woman or child.
    GAMES: A town with a chamber of commerce whose leadership set up “The First Annual Hunt for the Indian!” treasure hunt aiming to encourage shoppers to Shop Local during the holidays.
    A Peoplehood REAL...
    SHORT.
    TWO: War/Games -- A Letter from Allies of the Indigenous Silenced.
    WAR: A town where the government paid bounties for Native captives or scalps whether man, woman or child.
    GAMES: A town with a chamber of commerce whose leadership set up “The First Annual Hunt for the Indian!” treasure hunt aiming to encourage shoppers to Shop Local during the holidays.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates,
    written for THE HEAL THE DIVIDE Protest Plays Initiative.
  • TO HISTORY / To Whom It May Concern -- Two letters from Allies of the Indigenous Silenced
    SHORT.
    Two letters from Allies of the Indigenous Silenced: ONE: War/Paint and TWO: War/Games.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME short spoken word ensemble poem play by Jaisey Bates,
    written for THE HEAL THE DIVIDE Protest Plays Initiative.
  • unquiet American dreams
    SHORT.
    A woman wakes from dreams of crying children in cages.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 2-minute monologue or ensemble spoken word play by Jaisey Bates.
    Part of #TheatreActionImmigration.
  • WAIT.
    SHORT.
    WAIT -- this woman has something to say.
    A Peoplehood REAL TIME 2-minute monologue or ensemble spoken word play by Jaisey Bates.