Jarrett King

Jarrett King (he/him) is a playwright and educator based in Chicago, Illinois. His play A War of the Worlds—an afrofuturist reimagining of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast—was the inaugural production in Penfold Theatre Company’s new play commission series and received 12 B. Iden Payne Award nominations, including Best Original Script. Other works include The Possible, Box (“Best Theatrical Production” - DMagazine’s Best of Dallas 2025), Frog Splash (Definition Theatre Amplify New Play Commission, 2026 O’Neill Semi-Finalist) and St. Miles (2025 O’Neill Semi-Finalist, 2025 Blue Ink Award Finalist), which was developed as part of Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Residency. He is the 2023 recipient of Undermain Theatre’s Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work and is a two-time second...

Jarrett King (he/him) is a playwright and educator based in Chicago, Illinois. His play A War of the Worlds—an afrofuturist reimagining of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast—was the inaugural production in Penfold Theatre Company’s new play commission series and received 12 B. Iden Payne Award nominations, including Best Original Script. Other works include The Possible, Box (“Best Theatrical Production” - DMagazine’s Best of Dallas 2025), Frog Splash (Definition Theatre Amplify New Play Commission, 2026 O’Neill Semi-Finalist) and St. Miles (2025 O’Neill Semi-Finalist, 2025 Blue Ink Award Finalist), which was developed as part of Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Residency. He is the 2023 recipient of Undermain Theatre’s Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work and is a two-time second rounder at the Austin Film Festival. As an actor, he has over two decades worth of credits performing in film, television, and professional theaters including Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Salvage Vanguard, Penfold Theatre, and the Mary Moody Northen Theatre. As an educator, he has worked as a Teaching Artist at Steppenwolf, Silk Road Rising, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Shakespeare Slam, and as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University. He is the Director of Education at Court Theatre (2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Beverly Arts Center. iamjarrettking.com | @MrJarrettKing

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Scripts

Frog Splash

by Jarrett King

Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
drama

It's 2009. Ray and Fleet are best friends and pro wrestling mega-nerds who own a VHS tape of an extremely rare match. When someone makes them a very (very) large cash offer for the footage, their seemingly unbeatable friendship begins to unravel. A comedy about fandom, myth, and whoop-ass.

It's 2009. Ray and Fleet are best friends and pro wrestling mega-nerds who own a VHS tape of an extremely rare match. When someone makes them a very (very) large cash offer for the footage, their seemingly unbeatable friendship begins to unravel. A comedy about fandom, myth, and whoop-ass.

St. Miles

by Jarrett King

1
Cast Size
6
Genre
drama

Five years ago, the Ellis family lost one of its members, a young Black man named Miles, to an act of police violence. Now Miles’s mother Opal wants him to be recognized as a saint. As the Ellises navigate the arduous canonization process, the family clashes and battle lines are drawn. Is true salvation on the other side of it all? There are 10,000 saints in the Catholic Church—not one of them is African...

Five years ago, the Ellis family lost one of its members, a young Black man named Miles, to an act of police violence. Now Miles’s mother Opal wants him to be recognized as a saint. As the Ellises navigate the arduous canonization process, the family clashes and battle lines are drawn. Is true salvation on the other side of it all? There are 10,000 saints in the Catholic Church—not one of them is African American. Yet.

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Box

by Jarrett King

Cast Size
7
Genre
biography,
docudrama/historic,
drama,
movement/physical,
period

Part magic show, part historical speculation, part romantic drama—this play explores the harrowing story of Henry Box Brown, the abolitionist lecturer and early magician who escaped slavery by mailing himself to freedom. Using actual magic, this world premiere imagines an unwritten chapter in the story of one of history’s most overlooked folk heroes.

Part magic show, part historical speculation, part romantic drama—this play explores the harrowing story of Henry Box Brown, the abolitionist lecturer and early magician who escaped slavery by mailing himself to freedom. Using actual magic, this world premiere imagines an unwritten chapter in the story of one of history’s most overlooked folk heroes.

A War of the Worlds

by Jarrett King

Cast Size
8
Genre
adaptation,
biography,
comedy,
dark comedy,
docudrama/historic,
drama,
period,
political,
radio drama,
satire,
science fiction

Both comic and gripping, A War of the Worlds reimagines Orson Welles and his radio troupe, The Mercury Theatre, as a group of Black artists fighting to hold their place at the CBS radio studio. In the hope of securing a critical corporate sponsorship, Welles orchestrates a last-ditch ratings stunt that causes national panic and secures their undeniable – if infamous – place in media history.

Both comic and gripping, A War of the Worlds reimagines Orson Welles and his radio troupe, The Mercury Theatre, as a group of Black artists fighting to hold their place at the CBS radio studio. In the hope of securing a critical corporate sponsorship, Welles orchestrates a last-ditch ratings stunt that causes national panic and secures their undeniable – if infamous – place in media history.

The Possible

by Jarrett King

Cast Size
1
Genre
docudrama/historic,
drama,
political

A play that explores the cyclical nature of resistance and resilience as a weary Black activist watches past footage of himself while preparing for a rally.

A play that explores the cyclical nature of resistance and resilience as a weary Black activist watches past footage of himself while preparing for a rally.