Jillian Blevins

Jillian Blevins

Jillian Blevins is a playwright and theatre artist whose short plays have been performed in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, New Haven CT, Providence RI, Portland ME, and New York City. In 2020/21, she conceived and produced 'Digital Dionysia', a six-week online new works festival which featured her plays 'Izzy at Zoom Therapy' and 'Be The Bacchae' along with 24 other new plays...
Jillian Blevins is a playwright and theatre artist whose short plays have been performed in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, New Haven CT, Providence RI, Portland ME, and New York City. In 2020/21, she conceived and produced 'Digital Dionysia', a six-week online new works festival which featured her plays 'Izzy at Zoom Therapy' and 'Be The Bacchae' along with 24 other new plays from around the globe. In the summer of 2023, her one-act ‘The Bed Trick’ was a participating play in Valdez Alaska’s Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and her 10-minute Jewish sci-fi comedy ‘Space Laser, in Space!’ was a finalist at the Samuel French Off Off Broadway New Play Festival. Her queer historical dramedy, 'Romeo & Her Sister' will premiere in June 2024 at the New Hampshire Theatre Project, closing their season and in celebration of Pride Month. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Plays

  • Romeo & Her Sister by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 15
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: family, comedy + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, farce, period, romantic comedy
    Keyword: family, comedy, love, friendship, Charlotte Cushman, Lesbian, LGBTQ history, women, History, Shakespeare
    FULL LENGTH QUEER HISTORICAL DRAMEDY
    WORLD PREMIERE SCHEDULED, June 2024, New Hampshire Theatre Project

    In 1845, Charlotte Cushman is the most famous American actress in the world, well-known for playing men's roles in the plays of Shakespeare. Despite her international fame, she harbors a secret, hidden in plain sight: she loves women. Celebrated in her own country, she has brought...
    FULL LENGTH QUEER HISTORICAL DRAMEDY
    WORLD PREMIERE SCHEDULED, June 2024, New Hampshire Theatre Project

    In 1845, Charlotte Cushman is the most famous American actress in the world, well-known for playing men's roles in the plays of Shakespeare. Despite her international fame, she harbors a secret, hidden in plain sight: she loves women. Celebrated in her own country, she has brought her sister Susan to London to play Juliet to her Romeo. Old resentments between the sisters surface as Charlotte--along with Sallie, her dresser and closest confidant--struggles to balance her exploding career, her tumultuous relationship with writer Matilda Hays, and her affair with another young woman, all while keeping her personal life hidden from her fans, her sister, and her bitter rival, Edwin Forrest. Will the play be a success or a flop? Will Charlotte and Susan put aside their differences and come together in time for the curtain to rise? Will Forrest uncover Charlotte's secret and use it to ruin her career? And can Charlotte allow anyone close enough to know the real her?

    SHENYC 2022 SEMI-FINALIST
    WORKSHOP, WHISKEY THEATRE FACORY 2022
    READ AND RANT, ATHENA PROJECT 2023
    SALON READING SERIES, ANGELS THEATRE COMPANY, 2023
  • Mere Waters by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 17
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: judaism, Holocaust + 7 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, faith-based, period, political
    Keyword: judaism, Holocaust, abortion, women, magical realism, faith, motherhood, Birth, death
    FULL LENGTH DRAMA.
    CURRENTLY SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES.

    Gynecologist Gisella Perl arrives at a concentration camp and is assigned to work as the camp doctor. She has no tools, no antiseptic, no water. She is promised by a young female guard that if she behaves, sending all “interesting cases” (particularly pregnant women) to Dr. M, she will be reunited with her daughter Gabby, from...
    FULL LENGTH DRAMA.
    CURRENTLY SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES.

    Gynecologist Gisella Perl arrives at a concentration camp and is assigned to work as the camp doctor. She has no tools, no antiseptic, no water. She is promised by a young female guard that if she behaves, sending all “interesting cases” (particularly pregnant women) to Dr. M, she will be reunited with her daughter Gabby, from whom she was separated when they left the Sighet ghetto. Guided by two bickering biblical prophetesses, Gisella treats prisoners who have fallen pregnant. Some have been assaulted, some have traded sex for life-saving goods, others just wanted to feel something aside from pain. When she realizes the scope of evil being perpetrated in the hospital, she undertakes a spiritual mission to ensure the safety and survival of the women in her care by performing secret, life-saving abortions.

    MERE WATERS is a Jewish play. It's an abortion play. It's a play about mothers, daughters, faith, and survival.

    Inspired by the life of Gisella Perl and her memoir "I Was A Doctor In Auschwitz".
    TW: Holocaust trauma, infant death, abortion, sexual violence

    SEATTLE PUBLIC THEATRE’S 2024 DISTILLERY NEW WORKS FESTIVAL FINALIST
  • The Polycule: A Comedy of Manners by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 18
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: comedy, Relationships + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, romantic comedy, satire, verse
    Keyword: comedy, Relationships, polyamory, LGBTQ, Moliere, satire, verse, comedy of manners, rhyming couplets, sex comedy
    FULL-LENGTH VERSE COMEDY
    CURRENTLY SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

    Fern attends a dinner party to meet her new boyfriend's family--which consists of his wife and the other members of their polyamorous household. An outsider to their world of consensual non-monogamy and its unfamiliar rules and norms, Fern struggles to keep up and to fit in. Written in rhyming verse and inspired by...
    FULL-LENGTH VERSE COMEDY
    CURRENTLY SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

    Fern attends a dinner party to meet her new boyfriend's family--which consists of his wife and the other members of their polyamorous household. An outsider to their world of consensual non-monogamy and its unfamiliar rules and norms, Fern struggles to keep up and to fit in. Written in rhyming verse and inspired by Moliere, THE POLYCULE satirizes the conventions of unconventional relationships.
  • Space Laser, In Space! by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 23
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, faith-based + 1 more
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    Keyword: Jewish, judaism + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, faith-based, science fiction
    Keyword: Jewish, judaism, Anti-Semitism, conspiracy, outer space, sci-fi, faith, Jewish Space Laser
    10 MINUTE JEWISH SCI FI COMEDY. Talia and David are crew-mates aboard a laser-armed satellite orbiting Earth. Faced with an unexpected and consequential choice, their disagreement about how to respond becomes a greater argument about identity, faith, and survival.

    Finalist in the 48th SAMUEL FRENCH OFF OFF BROADWAY SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL
  • Pilloried by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 14
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, period
    ·
    Keyword: medieval, public shaming + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, period
    Keyword: medieval, public shaming, Fart Jokes, parody, absurd historical comedy, comedy, pillory
    10-MINUTE MEDIEVAL COMEDY. Wilkin and Doxy are locked in the pillory awaiting sunrise, and the punishing humiliation that will follow. While Wilkin prays for a reprieve from the public shaming, Doxy takes a more philosophical view.
  • The Eighteenth Quinquennial Endlings Picnic by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 16
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: environmentalism, climate change + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: environmentalism, climate change, Endangered Species, animals, conservation, revolution, reunion
    10-MINUTE ENVIRONMENTALIST EXTINCTION COMEDY. Five Endlings--the last living animals of each of their respective species--meet for a picnic. The passing of the picnic’s founder, Lonesome George, has the surviving participants at odds: do they have a duty to use their remaining time to fight back against the cause of mass extinction, or is it enough to seek joy and solace in each other?
  • The Female Gaze by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 9
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: greek, Medusa + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy
    Keyword: greek, Medusa, mythology, fairy tale, feminism, male gaze, female gaze, queer, Violence against women
    ONE-ACT FEMINIST MYTHOLOGICAL COMEDY. Medusa is living comfortably enough in exile on her deserted island, surrounded by statues of the men she's turned to stone, when the blind Princess Metope arrives seeking sanctuary. Is Metope safe with Medusa? And who is the mysterious old man who brought them together?
  • The Prince's Shadow by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: Shakespeare, Henriad + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, period
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Henriad, love, LGBTQ, gay romance, forbidden love, breakup, heightened language, historical, classical literature
    10-MINUTE GAY SHAKESPEARIAN ROMANTIC DRAMA. In the story of Henry V, his dearest friend Poins disappears when Hal leaves his life in London to take the throne; the rest of the disreputable friends of Hal's youth are imprisoned, but Poins himself is never spoken of again.

    THE PRINCE'S SHADOW imagines their farewell.
  • The Bed Trick by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 16
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: love, measure for measure + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: love, measure for measure, inspired by Shakespeare, sexual politics, consent, rape, college age actors
    ONE—ACT TRAGIC SEX FARCE. A man wants a woman who doesn't want him back. To protect her purity, she enlists a decoy to pretend to be her. A comic device as old as time isn't so funny for the decoy or her target in this play inspired by Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, classical tropes and modern love.
  • Crisis Exercise by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 9
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, political + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: gun violence, bullying + 6 more
    Genre: drama, political, tragedy
    Keyword: gun violence, bullying, gun control, gun regulation, school shootings, teens, college age, mass shootings
    ONE-ACT EPISODIC TRAGEDY. Three kids sit in a dark classroom, trying to stay quiet during a routine lockdown drill. Their friendships, and their shared understanding of what the drills mean, evolve as they age from five to seventeen.

    TW: gun violence

    High school students may perform this play royalty free (with permission from the playwright)
  • Izzy at Zoom Therapy by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: death, grief + 7 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, zoom
    Keyword: death, grief, Depression, family, Generational trauma, greek adaptation, Antigone, great for zoom, Mental Health
    ONE—ACT FOR THE STAGE OR ZOOM. Izzy, a people-pleasing young woman with a tragic family history, attends her first online therapy session. Her sister just died, and what's worse, the plague has returned. Is she going crazy, or is the curse that claimed her whole family coming for her? And what is her therapist hiding?

    Inspired by The Oedipus cycle, IAZT may be performed online or in person.
  • Be The Bacchae: an Interactive Drunken Tragedy by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    6–8
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 5 more
    ·
    Keyword: greek adaptation, great for zoom + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, experimental, fable/folktale, immersive, parody/spoof, zoom
    Keyword: greek adaptation, great for zoom, interactive, Drinking Games, audience participation, comedy, drag, improvisation
    ONE-ACT, INTERACTIVE DRINKING GAME. Audiences are invited to attend the best party in the world, hosted by the god of wine himself.

    Part irreverent adaptation of Euripides' most famous tragedy, part drinking game, and all chaos, BTB was conceived for Zoom but can and should be performed in a bar, theatre, or any venue where audiences can play (and drink) along with actors.
  • Postpartum by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 23
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: horror
    ·
    Keyword: postpartum depression, horror + 5 more
    Genre: horror
    Keyword: postpartum depression, horror, psychological horror, Mental Health, marriage, parenthood, motherhood
    15-MINUTE HORROR. The Mother had a baby a month ago. Her Husband knows something is wrong. And the baby monitor keeps making these weird noises...
  • Last Call and Other Bar Plays by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    4–8
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: bar, gender + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: bar, gender, two-hander, drinking, Any Gender, consent, romance, absurd, Surreal, Anthology
    FULL LENGTH ANTHOLOGY. Strangers meet at a bar where the bartender is mysteriously missing. A college professor’s martini-time is interrupted as he and his student negotiate over a recommendation. Three drunks swap drinks and personalities. This triptych, created to be performed on a unit set or in a real bar, explores themes of love, sex, betrayal, and the power of a good drink.
  • Tipping by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 15
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy
    ·
    Keyword: two-hander, Any Gender + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: two-hander, Any Gender, comic romance, bar, romantic comedy, Depression, Mental Health, queer romance, meet-cute
    10 MINUTE EXISTENTIAL ROM-COM FOR ACTORS OF ANY GENDER. Two strangers meet in a bar, both waiting for a bartender who never comes. Will opposites attract? Or will it be their shared unhappiness that brings them together?

    (Tipping may be performed on its own, or together with Recommendation and Last Call.)
  • Recommendation by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 5
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama, political
    ·
    Keyword: Me Too Movement, Academia + 8 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: Me Too Movement, Academia, consent, gender politics, bar, college, Mental Health, philosophy, revenge, ethics
    ONE-ACT PHILOSOPHICAL DRAMEDY. Lane wants her professor to write her a recommendation to her university’s graduate philosophy program. Her simple request becomes a power struggle, a seduction, and a debate on the morality of revenge.

    (Recommendation may be performed on its own, or together with Tipping and Last Call.)
  • Last Call by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce
    ·
    Keyword: surreal comedy, absurd + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, farce
    Keyword: surreal comedy, absurd, bar, drinking, hookups, breakups
    10 MINUTE ABSURDIST COMEDY. A bartender wields power over their customers as they swap seats, drinks, and personalities.

    (Last Call may be performed on its own or together with Tipping and Recommendation.)
  • I'm Not Wearing The Green Dress by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 12
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: queer, LGBTQ + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, holiday
    Keyword: queer, LGBTQ, teenage characters, coming out, holiday, christmas
    10 MINUTE HOLIDAY COMEDY. Teenaged siblings Jason and Jen are getting ready to take their annual Christmas card photos when a disagreement about what to wear threatens to ruin their picture perfect family.
  • Great Hollow by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 12
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: family, ghost story + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, fantasy, horror, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: family, ghost story, halloween, Generational trauma, poltergeist
    15 MINUTE HALLOWEEN COMEDY. Clara is enjoying a night to herself, watching her favorite scary movie in her dilapidated beach house. Kendra, who has inherited the house from her grandmother, arrives to claim it. Will Clara stand her ground, or will an unexpected connection change the fate of both young women?
  • No Clock In The Forest by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: Relationships, breakups + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: Relationships, breakups, marriage, love, inspired by Shakespeare, As You Like It
    ONE ACT EPISODIC SHAKESPEARE SEQUEL. Orlando and Rosalind are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. Orlando just wants to go to dinner, but Rosalind has something else in mind. In a series of vignettes taking place over 20 years, the Shakespearean lovers navigate disparate expectations for marriage, break each other's hearts, and seek answers in the forest where they once fell in love.
    ...
    ONE ACT EPISODIC SHAKESPEARE SEQUEL. Orlando and Rosalind are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. Orlando just wants to go to dinner, but Rosalind has something else in mind. In a series of vignettes taking place over 20 years, the Shakespearean lovers navigate disparate expectations for marriage, break each other's hearts, and seek answers in the forest where they once fell in love.

    NO CLOCK IN THE FOREST was written for Shakespeare On The Sound’s 2022 New Play Festival.
  • The Cooterville Caper: A Western Noir in Five Episodes by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Western, noir + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, mystery/thriller, parody/spoof
    Keyword: Western, noir, sketch, improv, collaboration, woman writing team, episodic, mashup, fringe, Prompt
    ONE-ACT COLLABORATIVE WESTERN NOIR.

    The Cooterville Caper was written for the Story Relay at the 2023 Valdez Theatre Conference Fringe by The Loud Mouthed Malamutes (aka Kelsey Sullivan, Jillian Blevins, Jan Probst, Erin Moughon and Dante Medema).
  • TOADS!!! (an amphibious nativity play) by Jillian Blevins
    Recommendations: 15
    ·
    Cast: 
    4–6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 8 more
    ·
    Keyword: christmas, body horror + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, holiday, horror, musical, pageant, parody/spoof
    Keyword: christmas, body horror, nativity, animals, queer, LGBT, environmentalism, religion, Birth, magical realism
    ONE ACT NIGHTMARE NATIVITY PLAY. Margot and Jodie are having a baby. A talking toad tells them why. They journey to a magical swamp where three visitors bring them gifts and sing to them.

    It's a nativity play, sort of.

    (TW: trypophobia)


    TOADS!!! was written for the 2023 Playwrights Thriving Secret Santa title exchange. (Title provided by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend.)