Perse Grammer

Perse Grammer (they/them) is a multidisciplinary writer and theatre artist based in Chicago. They hold a BFA in Playwriting from DePaul University, where they were awarded the Zach Helm Endowed Playwriting Scholarship in 2024 for “working to illuminate narratives of the exploited, oppressed, and marginalized”. In 2025, they were awarded the Lawrence Bundschu and Warren Snoddy Endowed Playwriting Prize.

Grammer's work primarily focuses on the body through a surrealist lens. Their latest one-act play, "burn my body before they find it", was read in in Artemisia Theatre's #WeWomen Play Festival on November 19th, 2025. "burn my body..." was produced for Trans Scribe: A New Works Festival in the Steppenwolf Lookout Series on June 7th, 2025. Grammer's latest full length play, "Left Unheard"...

Perse Grammer (they/them) is a multidisciplinary writer and theatre artist based in Chicago. They hold a BFA in Playwriting from DePaul University, where they were awarded the Zach Helm Endowed Playwriting Scholarship in 2024 for “working to illuminate narratives of the exploited, oppressed, and marginalized”. In 2025, they were awarded the Lawrence Bundschu and Warren Snoddy Endowed Playwriting Prize.

Grammer's work primarily focuses on the body through a surrealist lens. Their latest one-act play, "burn my body before they find it", was read in in Artemisia Theatre's #WeWomen Play Festival on November 19th, 2025. "burn my body..." was produced for Trans Scribe: A New Works Festival in the Steppenwolf Lookout Series on June 7th, 2025. Grammer's latest full length play, "Left Unheard", had a mainstage educational production at DePaul University in the spring of 2025.

Grammer is currently developing their play "MALFUNCTION" through a mentorship with Sandy Shinner at Shattered Globe Theatre.

If you do not have an NPX subscription, you can email Perse for their scripts.

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Scripts

Left Unheard

by Perse Grammer

5
Cast Size
6
Genre
drama

Jude has a secret, Ruth has a disability, and Alodia has both. When three siblings collide after years apart, they're forced to confront old resentments and new conflicts…plus a giant beetle intent on ruining Alodia’s life. Left Unheard examines the stories we tell ourselves—the truths we share, and what we keep carefully hidden away.

Jude has a secret, Ruth has a disability, and Alodia has both. When three siblings collide after years apart, they're forced to confront old resentments and new conflicts…plus a giant beetle intent on ruining Alodia’s life. Left Unheard examines the stories we tell ourselves—the truths we share, and what we keep carefully hidden away.

burn my body before they find it

by Perse Grammer

3
Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
fantasy,
horror,
science fiction,
tragedy

Eris believes corpses should be cremated after death. Joanna thinks they should be put on display. So does the rest of the world, which has evolved from mummification to freeze-dried preservation—as long as it’s beautiful. While their lives and loved ones go up in flames, two best friends grapple with their clashing ideas on what it means to respect the dead that surround them. A dark comedy. Or a funny tragedy.

Eris believes corpses should be cremated after death. Joanna thinks they should be put on display. So does the rest of the world, which has evolved from mummification to freeze-dried preservation—as long as it’s beautiful. While their lives and loved ones go up in flames, two best friends grapple with their clashing ideas on what it means to respect the dead that surround them. A dark comedy. Or a funny tragedy.

I Am Not Here

by Perse Grammer

1
Cast Size
2
Genre
drama,
tragedy

Is it harder to live or to die? Or, a woman confronts a stranger cleaning her father's grave.

Is it harder to live or to die? Or, a woman confronts a stranger cleaning her father's grave.