Ryan Oliveira

Ryan Oliveira

Ryan Oliveira is a Brazilian-American playwright, dramaturg, and performer, currently based in Chicago. Recent credits include productions of Desire in a Tinier House (Pride Films and Plays, 2019) and Soccer Player in the Closet (Nothing Without a Company, 2019). His work has been developed with Broken Nose Theatre, Prop Thtr, Intrinsic Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, and Commission Theatre Company. He has...
Ryan Oliveira is a Brazilian-American playwright, dramaturg, and performer, currently based in Chicago. Recent credits include productions of Desire in a Tinier House (Pride Films and Plays, 2019) and Soccer Player in the Closet (Nothing Without a Company, 2019). His work has been developed with Broken Nose Theatre, Prop Thtr, Intrinsic Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, and Commission Theatre Company. He has been a finalist for the 2016 Fetzer Foundation for Emerging Artists Grant and the 2017 Many Voices Fellowship at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, as well as a 2016 Romulus Linney Scholar at the Sewanee Writers' Conference and a semi-finalist for the 2017 O'Neill Theatre Conference. He is a proud member of ALTA’s El Semillero in Chicago, and the Pop Magic Productions Songwriting Group. MFA: University of Iowa (2015), BA: Cornell University (2008). For more information about his work, please check him out at www.ryanoliveira.com.

Plays

  • Tell Me I Can Handle It by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    5–10
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: cancer, cancer survivor + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: cancer, cancer survivor, a new life, both physical and mental health, future plans, dealing with illness, illness remission
    Evie returns home from New York after fighting cancer - with complications. She's determined to the return to the grind of the city but her body - and everyone else's bodies - are telling her to slow down. Or speed up. Or do something else. When it comes to surviving cancer, who is she - or anyone else - to tell her what to do with her life?
  • Bloopsong by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: adventure, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: ocean, fictional pandemic + 8 more
    Genre: adventure, drama, fantasy, tragedy
    Keyword: ocean, fictional pandemic, coming to terms with loss, magical queeralism, queer, climate science, play with music, fading memories, Pacific Ocean, immortal jellyfish
    In the middle of a massive pandemic, USAir Flight 76 disappears over the North Pacific Ocean. Its mysterious disappearance creates a breaking point of global collapse. While two marine researchers search for signs of intelligent life (and the plane), the partner of a passenger struggles to find a cure for the virus she's tasked to produce. And deep underwater, the Ocean is transforming that passenger into...
    In the middle of a massive pandemic, USAir Flight 76 disappears over the North Pacific Ocean. Its mysterious disappearance creates a breaking point of global collapse. While two marine researchers search for signs of intelligent life (and the plane), the partner of a passenger struggles to find a cure for the virus she's tasked to produce. And deep underwater, the Ocean is transforming that passenger into a sea creature, much to the complication of its longtime caretaker. In a world caught in political and environmental crisis, everyone's confronted with tremendous personal loss - and how to make their worlds better in light of it.
  • A Passing Glance by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: parents, family ghosts + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: parents, family ghosts, after work, overworked, lost
    A young man enters a Lyft, hoping to get home after a long night of the soul. But the driver notices something off about him...something that could really ruin her night.
  • Portrait of the Socialite as a Young Woman by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: horror, mystery/thriller
    ·
    Keyword: creature, racism + 3 more
    Genre: horror, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: creature, racism, murder, imposter, classism
    A man from the under-town paints a portrait of a socialite from the upper-town. But neither person across the canvas is posed as they seem.
  • Take Care by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: women of color, cleanliness + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: women of color, cleanliness, caregiving, undocumented immigrants, American Dream, class, Brazilian-Americans
    An undocumented Brazilian woman, Selene, has taken Martinha, the daughter of a friend from Brazil, under her wing to take care of a widowed American billionairess. Selene teaches Martinha how to work and be a “perfect American”, much to Martinha’s resistance. But the pressure to survive throws their relationship in jeopardy as work grows more difficult and their widow grows more aware of their tenuous existence.
  • The Queers Present: A Gender Reveal Party by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: gender politics, queer + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, parody/spoof, satire
    Keyword: gender politics, queer, gender relations, contemporary satire, compulsory heterosexuality, human survival, baby shower, dystopian future, Family. Gay. Straight. LGBTQ
    In some National Forest, a band of queers through a heteronormative gender reveal party, complete with fireworks and everything wrong with the straights. But once this party blows, the fallout is all about survival in a gender-obsessed society.
  • Mavericks by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    8
    ·
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
    ·
    Keyword: digital technology, video games + 3 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: digital technology, video games, gay and trans theatre, globalization, psychological
    In Brazil, Chisa is about to release her own video game adaptation to scores of die-hard fans. But a video game company in Japan threatens to shut it down for misuse of their copyright. What ensues is a game of hide-and-seek across Internet platforms and gay undergrounds, exposing two lonely, queer lives across the Pacific to a world that would rather see them killed...whether by Military Police or Serial Killer.
  • Distinguished Alumni of the Stanton School by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: professional women, women of color + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: professional women, women of color, definition of success, success and failure, education, education biases
    At the 25th annual benefit for the Stanton School, a former alumna threatens to disturb the continued success of the school's programming.
  • Jellyfish Queer by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: biography, comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: queer, coming of age + 4 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, drama, musical
    Keyword: queer, coming of age, Latinx, self-love, identity, Depression
    After a drunk Brazilian-Bostonian country singer casts doubt on Ryan's heritage, Ryan explores moments from his past where he reconciles his Brazilian and American cultures. Complicated with his own sexuality and religious upbringing, will Ryan ever fit into what he has been born and raised into?
  • stray by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: bilingual, Portuguese + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, tragedy
    Keyword: bilingual, Portuguese, Brazil, puppets, country, gay, family trauma, violence
    An accident separates Telma and her son, Caio, in a small Brazilian town. Caio is taken in by a stray dog, with no memory of his life beforehand. Telma takes in a stray cat to keep her company as she recovers. Both Telma and Caio move on from their accidents under new care, but are painfully drawn back to the hazy scene of the accident – and the dangerous conditions that precipitated it.
  • Desire in a Tinier House by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: desire, erotic + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: desire, erotic, tiny house, Dystopia, gay romance, outdoors
    Trevin has chased his ex-boyfriend all the way to Colorado, only to fall madly in love with his ex’s friend Carlos. Trevin seduces Carlos into a trailer-bound life where they weather disasters and dystopia in their sexual island. But can their love-home outlast jealous intruders and time itself?
  • blue bottle by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental
    ·
    Keyword: long lost love, adult relationships + 3 more
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: long lost love, adult relationships, longing, sadness, loneliness
    Mariah confesses her love to Teresa, but Teresa still pines for her lover lost to an ocean. When her lost lover sends a message in a bottle, will Teresa leave Mariah for the ocean?
  • Let Go. by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, tragedy
    ·
    Keyword: Mental Health, murder + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, tragedy
    Keyword: Mental Health, murder, Asian American, cancer, suffering, letting go, Depression, family trauma
    A bedridden women is visited her best friend and her lost son - both struggling to get her to release the suffering she has taken on...and taken upon others.
    Inspired by Frank Shyong's Los Angeles Times article, "A dying mother's plan: Buy a gun. Rent a hotel room. Kill her son."
  • A Man Walks Into a Coffeeshop by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: experimental
    ·
    Keyword: coffee, gentrification + 2 more
    Genre: experimental
    Keyword: coffee, gentrification, meditation, kitchen
    The owner of a coffee shop in Rogers Park administers her last coffee to a young woman searching for something deeper than Starbucks.
  • Here (three elegies for a gay club) by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: tragedy
    ·
    Keyword: Orlando, Orlando attacks + 2 more
    Genre: tragedy
    Keyword: Orlando, Orlando attacks, gay bars, celebration
    Three people walk, dance, and meditate through their first time, umpteenth time, and last time at the same gay club before they are taken away by the lights and sound.
  • The Winking Man by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: rape culture, Iowa + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: rape culture, Iowa, interrogation
    Three women have been accused of burning a fraternity's "party barn" in Iowa. But in the interrogation room, they struggle to unveil the true culprit of the arson: The Winking Man, a legendary Iowan they met that night...
  • Binary Care by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Robots, purpose + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, science fiction
    Keyword: Robots, purpose, end-of-life care, science, assisted suicide, sentience
    Set in the future, two scientists battle over what future their prized robot will have in the growing, yet controversial field of "compassionate care", but will that future matter if the robot cares to go "maverick” on them?
  • Chaos by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: terrorism, Survival + 6 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: terrorism, Survival, nuclear attack, chaos theory, madness, connection, extremism, racism
    Terrorists have launched an attack on a city, simultaneously stranding and banding together strangers from different locations and walks of life. Moving forward, they struggle to survive the day. Moving backward in time, they become separate entities, but more focused in the struggle to make sense of the growing madness. Fight or fly, stay or go, the play ultimately asks: At what level do we fundamentally...
    Terrorists have launched an attack on a city, simultaneously stranding and banding together strangers from different locations and walks of life. Moving forward, they struggle to survive the day. Moving backward in time, they become separate entities, but more focused in the struggle to make sense of the growing madness. Fight or fly, stay or go, the play ultimately asks: At what level do we fundamentally make peace with the chaos around us? Or does such a thing even exist?
  • Passing Time in Animal Town by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5–8
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: loss, seasons + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, fable/folktale
    Keyword: loss, seasons, animals, online community, video games, belonging, books
    In the virtual community of Animal Town, sheepish Mari struggles to fit in with her younger, more experienced, seemingly picture-perfect villagers. The longer she gets to know her neighbors, the more she discovers her value in creating a community that has long felt like a lonesome pass-time. But what will the neighbors think when they slowly discover Mari’s real-life descent infiltrating her actions in Animal Town?
  • Fall by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: unrequited love, accident + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, tragedy
    Keyword: unrequited love, accident, midwest, fall, karaoke, music, bisexuality, breakup, Iowa
    A skydiving excursion gone horribly wrong leaves Ariel to pick up the pieces of his own life without his close friend, Lucas. Moving on without him proves difficult with constant Lucas-laced reminders from students, ex-boyfriends, and strangers, forcing Ariel to look back at his entanglements with Lucas to unearth the core of his grief. Is he letting go of a Lucas he really loved? Or a Lucas that let him go?
  • The Sisters Campinas by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    9
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Art and Artists, death + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, drama, melodrama
    Keyword: Art and Artists, death, suicide, old age, illness, escape, Sao Paulo, dissatisfaction, Brazil, country
    Three sisters - Olga, Maria, and Iara - have been spiritually shackled to their father's Brazilian estate for forty years. In the wake of their neighbor's death, however, Olga suddenly becomes inspired to paint, while Maria and Iara experience a rush to rekindle lost romances once again, all in an effort to escape the humdrums of age, place and their sister-in-law's obsessive "improvements...
    Three sisters - Olga, Maria, and Iara - have been spiritually shackled to their father's Brazilian estate for forty years. In the wake of their neighbor's death, however, Olga suddenly becomes inspired to paint, while Maria and Iara experience a rush to rekindle lost romances once again, all in an effort to escape the humdrums of age, place and their sister-in-law's obsessive "improvements". But in this adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters, can they finally escape their home that has been prison and workplace for so long?
  • Soccer Player in the Closet by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: soccer, video games + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: soccer, video games, masculinity, bilingual, fathers, Brazilian, competitive gaming, online soccer
    Cristiano is a top-ranked online soccer player. And for five years, he has never stepped out of the apartment he's lived in with his father. But when Cristiano finally departs his apartment, his friends and landlord can't seem to get his "stench" out. Little by little, they clean out his apartment, hoping to set his memory free, but what they uncover are painful secrets about themselves...
    Cristiano is a top-ranked online soccer player. And for five years, he has never stepped out of the apartment he's lived in with his father. But when Cristiano finally departs his apartment, his friends and landlord can't seem to get his "stench" out. Little by little, they clean out his apartment, hoping to set his memory free, but what they uncover are painful secrets about themselves and Cristiano – and how difficult it is to get someone to simply move on.
  • Darra and Siri in the Supermassive Black Hole by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: purpose, dark sky park + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: purpose, dark sky park, Architecture, black holes, galaxy, matter, dark matter, Art and Artists, friendship
    Two women watch the Milky Way at a Dark Sky park in an attempt to enjoy the present, only to confront how small their futures seem in the grand scheme of the universe.
  • Sea of Trees by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    9
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, musical + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: suicide, anime + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, musical, tragedy
    Keyword: suicide, anime, rock and roll, puppets, talking cats, loneliness, lost childhood, ghosts
    Music by: Adam Phillips
    Book and Lyrics by: Ryan Oliveira

    In Aokigahara – also known as the Suicide Forest of Japan – a young woman named Aimi seeks to reunite with her lost lover, Kats…much to the chagrin of her stuffed calico cat, Neko. She learns from a priest that the only way to communicate with Kats is through a near-death experience, so she plays with suicide to meet him....
    Music by: Adam Phillips
    Book and Lyrics by: Ryan Oliveira

    In Aokigahara – also known as the Suicide Forest of Japan – a young woman named Aimi seeks to reunite with her lost lover, Kats…much to the chagrin of her stuffed calico cat, Neko. She learns from a priest that the only way to communicate with Kats is through a near-death experience, so she plays with suicide to meet him. Unknowingly, every close call with death brings her closer to total destruction at the hands of the malevolent spirits of the forest, including Moriko, who desires to devour her delectable soul. Aimi’s only hope of finally reuniting with Kats on the same side of life is a sacrifice – but how big of a sacrifice will she actually make?
  • Nothing Bad Happens to Her by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: cancer, boy bands + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, tragedy
    Keyword: cancer, boy bands, mother, treatment, side effects, Childhood, young love, surgery
    Lucy is in the hospital for the third time in her young life. Yet she falls in love for the first time with a fellow patient who is a fallen boy-bander. Both of them want to escape this hospital, but every step she falls in love with him makes her fall deeper into illness. Lucy's mother and doctor desperately rescue her from dangerous blood counts and other complications, but can they rescue her from...
    Lucy is in the hospital for the third time in her young life. Yet she falls in love for the first time with a fellow patient who is a fallen boy-bander. Both of them want to escape this hospital, but every step she falls in love with him makes her fall deeper into illness. Lucy's mother and doctor desperately rescue her from dangerous blood counts and other complications, but can they rescue her from the charming lilts of adolescent love that only she can hear?
  • A Taste of Rubies by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    8–11
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: forbidden love, partridge + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, fable/folktale, tragedy
    Keyword: forbidden love, partridge, lorca, mother and son, birds, murder, gossip, coast, Sailor, fado
    Inspired by Federico Garcia Lorca's "Two Lovers Murdered by a Partridge", a sailor and a musician meet in a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast, inspiring the ire of birds and people alike. And then they disappear. A woman seems clueless as to their whereabouts until she takes in an injured partridge several days later who is desperately looking for her son. Deeply nested prejudices...
    Inspired by Federico Garcia Lorca's "Two Lovers Murdered by a Partridge", a sailor and a musician meet in a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast, inspiring the ire of birds and people alike. And then they disappear. A woman seems clueless as to their whereabouts until she takes in an injured partridge several days later who is desperately looking for her son. Deeply nested prejudices are confronted as mothers struggle to move on and sons struggle to move out amidst the incoming flock of bloodthirst that seems to spread from person to partridge.
  • Swordplay by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    6–8
    ·
    Genre: adventure, comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Gamergate, Gamers + 8 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: Gamergate, Gamers, MMORPG, video games, co-op, Fantasy, cheating, computers, bard, Sex
    Serah is a young computer science student suffering from depression, but finds inspiration and solace by playing Swords and Stones (an online role-playing game) with her boyfriend, Robert. When she surpasses his abilities, he tries to better himself by cheating…with a game store employee (and in-game guild member) and the misogynist hacker who twists Robert into kicking Serah out of the game and their home....
    Serah is a young computer science student suffering from depression, but finds inspiration and solace by playing Swords and Stones (an online role-playing game) with her boyfriend, Robert. When she surpasses his abilities, he tries to better himself by cheating…with a game store employee (and in-game guild member) and the misogynist hacker who twists Robert into kicking Serah out of the game and their home. In order to beat her depression on both sides of the screen, Serah must re-connect with herself and beat her broken reality on her own terms…with a little help from a jilted game store employee.
  • Dogs in the Debris by Ryan Oliveira
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: tornado, Oklahoma City + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: tornado, Oklahoma City, dogs, mother and daughter, distance, ruins, pick up the pieces
    After a tornado has struck a town, a mother searches for her lost dog in the rubble, while her prodigal daughter presses her to return to shelter before another storm strikes.
  • The Rigel Event by Ryan Oliveira
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, science fiction
    ·
    Keyword: astronaut, NASA + 8 more
    Genre: drama, science fiction
    Keyword: astronaut, NASA, Tromso, long distance, aliens, crash land, travel, aurora, years, love
    A freak cosmic accident sends Rigel, a NASA explorer, aimlessly spinning in space while his friend, Tom, and fiancée, Cassie, gradually move on after the tragedy. When Rigel miraculously re-enters their atmosphere ten years later, he seeks to return to his old life and love with newfound perspective, even at the expense of the new family Tom and Cassie have created in his absence. All are forced to confront a...
    A freak cosmic accident sends Rigel, a NASA explorer, aimlessly spinning in space while his friend, Tom, and fiancée, Cassie, gradually move on after the tragedy. When Rigel miraculously re-enters their atmosphere ten years later, he seeks to return to his old life and love with newfound perspective, even at the expense of the new family Tom and Cassie have created in his absence. All are forced to confront a new, deeper disaster – that perhaps their search for life on Earth and beyond is a more complicated and unforgiving endeavor than they previously figured out.