Dan Giles

Dan Giles

​Dan Giles (he/him) is a New York City-based playwright originally from Massachusetts. He is currently a playwriting fellow at Juilliard.

His plays have been produced and developed with Ensemble Studio Theatre, Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop, New Light Theater Project, First Floor Theater (Chicago), Haven Theatre (Chicago), FaultLine (San Francisco), the Kennedy Center (DC), Great Plains...
​Dan Giles (he/him) is a New York City-based playwright originally from Massachusetts. He is currently a playwriting fellow at Juilliard.

His plays have been produced and developed with Ensemble Studio Theatre, Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop, New Light Theater Project, First Floor Theater (Chicago), Haven Theatre (Chicago), FaultLine (San Francisco), the Kennedy Center (DC), Great Plains Theatre Commons (Omaha), Citizens Theatre (Glasgow), Mull Theatre (Isle of Mull), Playwrights’ Studio (Scotland), and others.

​Awards include the New Light New Voices Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Award, and the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting. MFA Carnegie Mellon. Alum of Youngblood, the collective of early career playwrights at Ensemble Studio Theatre.

dangilesplaywright.com

Plays

  • Polar Bear in a Fish Tank in a Mall in China by Dan Giles
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    8
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 8 more
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    Keyword: comedy, horror + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, farce, horror, mystery/thriller, political, satire
    Keyword: comedy, horror, reality tv, gay, queer
    On the set of a reality TV show deep in the snowy mountains, seven gays compete for the love of one bachelor. But when one of them vanishes, they discover that game isn't what it seems, and that the house is full of secrets: a curse, a conspiracy, a monster. Stalked by an implacable terror, each must decide for himself: did he come here to make friends? Or to win?
  • Mike Pence Sex Dream by Dan Giles
    Recommendations: 7
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: drama, comedy + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, horror, political
    Keyword: drama, comedy, contemporary, Politics, queer
    In the aftermath of the 2016 election, newlyweds Gary and Ben find their marriage put to the test. Ben wants to fight the power. Gary wants to climb the corporate ladder to comfort and safety. When an unscrupulous client makes him an irresistible offer, Gary sets down a path of violent delights that will lead to violent ends. Mike Pence Sex Dream is a romantic travesty about bringing home the bacon and fucking a pig.
  • Breeders by Dan Giles
    Recommendations: 12
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: gay, hamsters + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, farce, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: gay, hamsters, adoption, LGBTQ, Neil Patrick Harris, feet
    Two men, Dean and Mikey, prepared for ages to have a baby, but now Dean’s doubts gnaw at him. Two hamsters, Tyson and Jason, are abruptly pregnant with nine babies, and now Tyson’s fears nibble at her. Nobody was planning to eat anyone. Things just got out of hand.
  • How You Kiss Me Is Not How I Like To Be Kissed by Dan Giles
    Recommendations: 5
    ·
    Cast: 
    2–60
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: love, Swedish furniture
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: love, Swedish furniture
    Kiss her, poorly. Decide to take him home anyway. Define the relationship. Set sensible boundaries. Confess secrets. Meet her dad, blow it. Fall in love casually, strangely, effortlessly. Negotiate monogamy. Take him to IKEA, regret it, survive it. Fight about work. Fight about family. Fight about marriage. Make a life together. Fall out of love as easily as you fell in. Now what? How You Kiss Me...
    Kiss her, poorly. Decide to take him home anyway. Define the relationship. Set sensible boundaries. Confess secrets. Meet her dad, blow it. Fall in love casually, strangely, effortlessly. Negotiate monogamy. Take him to IKEA, regret it, survive it. Fight about work. Fight about family. Fight about marriage. Make a life together. Fall out of love as easily as you fell in. Now what? How You Kiss Me Is Not How I Like To Be Kissed explores the pursuit of romantic love in the lives of two people who want desperately to believe in it.