John David Westby

John David Westby

Human, marketer, playwright, actor, brander, writer, reader and creative not always in that order. John's plays have been viewed in staged readings and produced at theatres in Chicago metro area, including Random Theft & Other Acts (3 productions), Person or Persons Unknown, The Ultimate Christmas Carol, The Ballad of CC Scrooge, Directly Into the Sun, Dear Abigail/Dear John: An Incandescent Love Story...
Human, marketer, playwright, actor, brander, writer, reader and creative not always in that order. John's plays have been viewed in staged readings and produced at theatres in Chicago metro area, including Random Theft & Other Acts (3 productions), Person or Persons Unknown, The Ultimate Christmas Carol, The Ballad of CC Scrooge, Directly Into the Sun, Dear Abigail/Dear John: An Incandescent Love Story (video production), A Very Common, Uncommon Love Story (Zoom production), and Working Hard or Hardly Working (10-minute play). John is a network playwright at Chicago Dramatists and a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Plays

  • Dear Abigail/Dear John: An Incandescent Match
    John and Abigail Adams were the original power couple of the American Revolution. They spent many years apart and that distance produced a voluminous correspondence that shines a bright light on their incandescent relationship. This play covers the years 1774 - 1776 up to July 4th and the Declaration John has worked so hard to pass. The play was developed using the letters of John and Abigail Adams as a base...
    John and Abigail Adams were the original power couple of the American Revolution. They spent many years apart and that distance produced a voluminous correspondence that shines a bright light on their incandescent relationship. This play covers the years 1774 - 1776 up to July 4th and the Declaration John has worked so hard to pass. The play was developed using the letters of John and Abigail Adams as a base and then adapted for stage and zoom screen . The play was streamed during the pandemic in 2021.
  • Random Theft & Other Acts
    Three college-educated, under-employed, and unlikely bank robbers find themselves where no suburbanites should - a seedy run down motel in the middle of nowhere - when their plans spin widely out of control and they must grapple with suspicion, kidnapping, and the universal laws of cause and effect. Cast of seven (2W, 5M). 1 unit set.
  • #Christmas Makeover - A Modern Christmas Carol
    Dickens classic gets turned on its head as old Ebenezer becomes Ms CC Scrooge, an ambitious woman with a popular QVC Heart of Stone jewelry line and an online payday loan business that's just as heartless. Bobbi Cratchit is her beleaguered assistant while her ex-partner Marlene, chooses this year to pay a long-delayed visit to her old friend to give her the Christmas makeover she deserves. A female-focused...
    Dickens classic gets turned on its head as old Ebenezer becomes Ms CC Scrooge, an ambitious woman with a popular QVC Heart of Stone jewelry line and an online payday loan business that's just as heartless. Bobbi Cratchit is her beleaguered assistant while her ex-partner Marlene, chooses this year to pay a long-delayed visit to her old friend to give her the Christmas makeover she deserves. A female-focused ensemble with doubling and tripling will round out this holiday world.
  • Person or Persons Unknown
    A horrendous multiple murder. A daughter, a father, and two ambitious reporters. Past and present collide as media coverage and a sensational investigation distort truth and justice to become the story. Eight actors (4 women, 4 men). Multiple locations in continuous action.
  • The Ultimate Christmas Carol by E Scrooge Esq.
    This modern adaptation of the classic Christmas Carol puts Charles Dickens on stage with an ensemble cast of mismatched locals to enact a Christmas story written by his friend, Ebenezer Scrooge, Esq. Mayhem and misanthropy ensue as Dickens assumes the role of Bob Cratchit, the Ghosts play hooky, and Tiny Tim won't stop rapping in church. The ensemble cast doubles and triples and even quadruples characters...
    This modern adaptation of the classic Christmas Carol puts Charles Dickens on stage with an ensemble cast of mismatched locals to enact a Christmas story written by his friend, Ebenezer Scrooge, Esq. Mayhem and misanthropy ensue as Dickens assumes the role of Bob Cratchit, the Ghosts play hooky, and Tiny Tim won't stop rapping in church. The ensemble cast doubles and triples and even quadruples characters.

    Suggested cast size can be anywhere from 7 to 10 or more depending on production resources and how many characters can be played by each actor. There would be the option to include 2 – 4 children or young adults who act as a chorus to sing original songs and perform sound effects and other business the producer would like to create.
  • Directly Into the Sun
    A mother and daughter learn to deal with loss, love, and the new discoveries brought to light by a not-so-brilliant private investigator as a diligent insurance adjuster methodically pays the claims on past disasters.