Tom Jacobson

Tom Jacobson

Tom Jacobson has had more than 100 productions of his plays, including Sperm at Circle X Theatre Company, The Orange Grove at Playwrights Arena, and the award-winning Bunbury, Tainted Blood, Ouroboros and The Friendly Hour at The Road Theatre Company. The Twentieth-Century Way premiered at The Theatre @ Boston Court and the New York International Fringe Festival (five Ovation Award nominations, four Los...
Tom Jacobson has had more than 100 productions of his plays, including Sperm at Circle X Theatre Company, The Orange Grove at Playwrights Arena, and the award-winning Bunbury, Tainted Blood, Ouroboros and The Friendly Hour at The Road Theatre Company. The Twentieth-Century Way premiered at The Theatre @ Boston Court and the New York International Fringe Festival (five Ovation Award nominations, four Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle nominations, one GLAAD Award nomination, Fringe Festival Award for Outstanding Production of a Play, PEN Center Award for Drama) and moved Off Broadway to Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre. Making Paradise: The West Hollywood Musical was produced by Cornerstone Theater Company (Critic's Choice in Back Stage West). He has been a co-literary manager of The Theatre @ Boston Court, a founding member of Playwrights Ink, and a board member of Cornerstone Theater Company and The Theatre @ Boston Court. Most recent productions include the world premieres of The Chinese Massacre (Annotated) at Circle X and House of the Rising Son at Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA (Critic's Choice in Back Stage West and Los Angeles Times, nominated for a GLAAD Award and winner of two Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards). Film: Prairie Sonata (based on The Friendly Hour). Opera: Hopscotch, commissioned by The Industry.

Plays

  • Bunbury by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    6–8
    ·
    Genre: comedy, fantasy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Shakespeare, Wilde + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, fantasy, period
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Wilde, 19th Century British Literature, Dramatic Literature, queer, LGBTQ
    When he discovers he is only a fictitious character in The Importance of Being Earnest, Bunbury joins forces with Rosaline, Romeo’s never-seen obsession from Romeo and Juliet. Together, they win back their loves and change the world by changing classic literature.
  • Captain of the Bible Quiz Team by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: drama, immersive
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, Minnesota + 2 more
    Genre: drama, immersive
    Keyword: LGBTQ, Minnesota, Lutheran, queer
    A Lutheran minister fresh out of seminary returns home to rural Minnesota for Christmas and finds an epiphany. Winner of a Drama Critic’s Circle Award.
  • The Twentieth-Century Way by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: scandal, Sex + 5 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, period, political
    Keyword: scandal, Sex, LGBTQ, california, queer, History, based on a true story
    The true story of two actors who hired themselves out to the Long Beach Police Department in 1914 to entrap "social vagrants" in public restrooms. Thirty-one men were arrested, and the ensuing scandal led to an ordinance against "oral sodomy" in California.
  • The Chinese Massacre (Annotated) by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    18
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: American history
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: American history
    This annotated true story of the first race riot in Los Angeles history challenges the notion of history itself. As diverse a population in 1871 as today converges on Nigger Alley in response to a tong war over a woman and lynches 19 Chinese men and boys. Where does revenge end?
  • The Friendly Hour by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: midwest, South Dakota + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, period
    Keyword: midwest, South Dakota, farm, women
    Based on the actual minutes of a women’s club formed in rural South Dakota in 1934, this poignant comedy charts 70 years of personal and national history, from skinning skunks and julebukking in the 30s to restoring native prairie in the new millennium.
  • Deus Ex Machina by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama, political
    ·
    Keyword: Roman, Greek mythology + 2 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: Roman, Greek mythology, History, Pompeii
    Archeologists discover an unknown Greek play and other secrets in the ruins of Pompeii that threaten to set in motion a modern apocalypse. Part of The Vesuvius Prophecies trilogy.
  • Los York by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: 9/11, LGBTQ + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, period
    Keyword: 9/11, LGBTQ, gay, New York, Los Angeles, graduate school
    UCLA or NYU? Seduction and betrayal or self-sacrificing love? Otis is stuck between two coasts and his two gay uncles, in the middle of an America living in terror. Choosing a grad school was never this hard.
  • The Orange Grove by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    9
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: Chekhov, california + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, faith-based
    Keyword: Chekhov, california, Lutheran, religion
    A small Lutheran choir in its death-throes provides the backdrop for this Chekhovian warning of the impending doom of mainline Protestantism in America. Laughter through tears with nice lemon bars.
  • Ouroboros by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, experimental + 3 more
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    Keyword: Catholic, Lutheran + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, experimental, faith-based, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: Catholic, Lutheran, Italy, Rome, Florence, Siena, Venice, mysticism
    Two American couples get caught in a chronological palindrome on a trip to Italy. Stigmata, alchemy, adultery and St. Catherine of Siena’s severed head plague a nun and a minister in this circular love story that is a comedy if performed forward and a tragedy if performed backward.
  • Sperm by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    7–12
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: French, whales + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, period
    Keyword: French, whales, Marie Antoinette, rhymes
    Pulled from the stomach of a whale, an American whaler is bleached blind and becomes a modern Tiresias in the court of Louis XVI. He seduces Marie Antoinette and sets the king on a path to destroy France and ultimately humankind. A tragicomedy in rhymed couplets.
  • Tainted Blood by Tom Jacobson
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    8
    ·
    Genre: comedy, horror + 2 more
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    Keyword: vampire, Oscar Wilde + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, horror, mystery/thriller, period
    Keyword: vampire, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ireland, 19th Century British Literature
    Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Arthur Conan Doyle use logic and religion to fend off a seductive vampire in this fang-in-cheek comedy/thriller.
  • The Beloved Disciple by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, period
    ·
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Marlowe + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, period
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Marlowe, Alternate British History, LGBTQ, queer
    Christopher Marlowe, sixteenth-century author of Doctor Faustus, was murdered at the age of 29. This tragicomedy speculates that his death was tied to his scandalous play about the relationship between Jesus and the disciple John.
  • The Bachelors Club by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, period
    ·
    Keyword: queer, Native American + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, period
    Keyword: queer, Native American, Oklahoma, linguistics, paleontology, Tar Pits, Choctaw
    A queer Los Angeles couple plunges into the surprising history of LGBTQ+ people in Oklahoma, including a two-spirit Choctaw (1905) and a gay mayor (1964).
  • The Bell Witch by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    10
    ·
    Genre: drama, horror + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: early American history, female empowerment + 3 more
    Genre: drama, horror, musical, period
    Keyword: early American history, female empowerment, metoo, ghosts, supernatural
    The true story of the most famous poltergeist in American history; it terrorized a Tennessee farm family in 1820. Theatricality and psychological exploration combine to make this folk tale more than just a ghost story about the only poltergeist known to have committed murder. A musical, believe it or not!
  • Clytemnestra by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Greek mythology
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, period
    Keyword: Greek mythology
    Adapted from Menander, this play tells the Electra story from the point of view of Clytemnestra, a brilliant woman with a biting wit. The funniest Greek tragedy you've ever seen! Part of The Vesuvius Prophecies trilogy.
  • Cool My Tongue by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama, political
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, religion
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: LGBTQ, religion
    Five gay men in a Christian “change” program struggle with spirituality and desire in this comedy-drama, with devastating consequences. Ironies abound in a program that accomplishes the opposite of its aims.
  • Crevasse by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama, period
    ·
    Keyword: Leni Riefenstahl, Nazi + 8 more
    Genre: drama, period
    Keyword: Leni Riefenstahl, Nazi, Walt Disney, Anti-Semitism, fascism, film, propaganda, animation, History, WWII
    In 1938 Leni Riefenstahl went to Hollywood to find American distribution for her award-winning film, Olympia. Only one studio head would meet with her: Walt Disney. An astonishing true story of betrayal, Nazi propaganda and cartoons.
  • Cyberqueer by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    8
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, technology
    Genre: comedy, farce, romantic comedy
    Keyword: LGBTQ, technology
    A lonely college professor finds sex, danger and romance on the Internet in this comedy the Los Angeles Times called “dazzling” and the L.A. Weekly called “menacingly funny.”
  • The Devil's Wife by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: devil, religion + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, fable/folktale, period
    Keyword: devil, religion, atheism, feminist, supernatural, hell, folk tale, Sexy
    A handsome, wealthy landowner who woos three sisters isn’t what he seems. But neither are they. A harrowing comedy that goes to hell.
  • Diet of Worms by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, docudrama/historic, faith-based, period, political
    Five medieval German nuns fight Martin Luther’s Reformation by staging mystery plays based on the Biblical Apocrypha. A comedy that breaks taboos and religious relics.
  • Hell Mouth by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: fashion, Hollywood + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: fashion, Hollywood, women
    Torn between his Midwestern parents and the Beverly Hills owners of an unknown Caravaggio Hanging of Judas, Tim rediscovers himself while making the art history discovery of the century. Imagine your own mother on the Worst Dressed Women’s List.
  • Hot Stones by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, massage + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: LGBTQ, massage, erotic
    When Doug’s wife sends him to a masseur, he goes on a dangerous journey of self-discovery deep into his own heart and soul. The strangest things go on in Doug’s head during massage—but not nearly as strange as what the masseur is planning.
  • House of the Rising Son by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: New Orleans, LGBTQ
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: New Orleans, LGBTQ
    When Trent brings Felix home to New Orleans to meet his father and homophobic grandfather, the family’s demons come slithering into the light. Watchful ghosts, sinister hustlers, and a myriad of parasites lead Felix on a Southern Gothic journey to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.
  • The Journeys of Yuzu by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 3 more
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    Keyword: India, Middle East + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, docudrama/historic, faith-based, period
    Keyword: India, Middle East, Persian, Egypt, History
    A young assassin seeks clues to his origin and discovers a secret that changes the world. Pure evil pursues impure good in this irreverent verse drama about the ultimate action hero.
  • The Lock of the Five Keys by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: adventure, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: EM Forster, India + 5 more
    Genre: adventure, drama, fable/folktale, fantasy, political
    Keyword: EM Forster, India, Mughal, Raj, English literature, poetry, Hindu gods
    An American professor pursuing a lost letter by E.M. Forster disappears in India, provoking a manhunt across three millennia in a play within a play within a play within a play within a play.
  • Mrs Christmas by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, holiday + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: christmas, mother + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, holiday, musical
    Keyword: christmas, mother, Christmas carols
    A solo musical tribute to a very unconventional mother with eight new Christmas carols.
  • Pipestone by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: Minnesota, midwest + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: Minnesota, midwest, Sisters, mother
    A middle-aged woman struggles with her suspicion that her mother was murdered by her aunt. A comedy/drama with Jello.
  • The Rosy Fingers of Dawn by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, period
    ·
    Keyword: Greek mythology, Pompeii + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, period
    Keyword: Greek mythology, Pompeii, Roman, Vesuvius
    Not even the eruption of Mount Vesuvius can stop an inventive and theatrical Roman family from putting on their production of a lost Greek classic, Menander's Clytemnestra. The show must go on! Part of The Vesuvius Prophecies trilogy.
  • The Secret Wives of Uncle Ho by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama, period
    ·
    Keyword: Ho Chi Minh, vietnam + 1 more
    Genre: drama, period
    Keyword: Ho Chi Minh, vietnam, America's Vietnam War
    An American journalist uses an interview with Ho Chi Minh as cover for a secret mission to retrieve a captured pilot with a secret mission of his own.
  • Sepia by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, period
    ·
    Keyword: Italy, Oscar Wilde + 4 more
    Genre: drama, period
    Keyword: Italy, Oscar Wilde, photography, Sicily, Wilhelm von Gloeden, fascist
    In 1936 the Italian Fascist government destroyed more than 1000 "offensive" photographic negatives taken by the renowned Wilhelm von Gloeden in Taormina in the late 19th century. But the interrogation of one of the boys in the photographs--now an old man--reveals an even more heartbreaking history.
  • Snake Wine by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    ·
    Keyword: Thai, Art and Artists + 1 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: Thai, Art and Artists, Seniors
    An international art exhibition in Thailand goes hilariously but poignantly awry when one of the American artists misbehaves so badly all the other artists turn on her.
  • Son of Othello by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, period + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: African American, Shakespeare + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, period, political
    Keyword: African American, Shakespeare, History
    A modern African-American academic plunges into a 400 year-old intrigue when he finds a 16th-century Italian diary that mentions William Shakespeare. Monks, pirates, eunuchs and actors conspire to rewrite literary history.
  • Stereopticon by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, period
    ·
    Keyword: midwest, Minnesota + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, period
    Keyword: midwest, Minnesota, LGBTQ
    Spanning more than 30 years, this comedy-drama follows two life-paths of a woman who must decide whether to marry her fiancé after she finds out he’s slept with men. A palindrome play with two endings and two beginnings.
  • Sweeter Than Pussy by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: war, revenge + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, fantasy, period
    Keyword: war, revenge, Greek mythology, odyssey, Los Angeles, Iraq
    The Odyssey re-created in the sauna of a Koreatown gym.
  • The Village Virus by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Minnesota, Sinclair Lewis
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, period
    Keyword: Minnesota, Sinclair Lewis
    Two siblings and their spouses spar over the family farm outside the town that 100 years earlier was the inspiration for Sinclair Lewis’ novel Main Street. The fictitious past predicts the actual present until the novel and real life converge hilariously.
  • Walking to Buchenwald by Tom Jacobson
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: France, England + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: France, England, German, Nazi, genealogy, travel
    When Schiller and Arjay take Schiller’s parents to Europe, both couples learn what it means to be American in a world that no longer admires the U.S. Guinea pigs playing cricket, dead bodies that talk, and an unexpected trip to a concentration camp lead to a shocking yet poignant conclusion. Nominated for a Stage Raw Award.