Isabel Beatriz Tongson

Isabel Beatriz Tongson is a Filipina-American playwright and actor based in New York City. She is a two-time winner of the Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival, a two-time Gold Key winner for Dramatic Script from the Scholastic Art and Writing Association, winner of Best in Show at the Central Florida Theatre Festival for Dramatic Script, a Semi-Finalist for the Gary Garrison National Ten-Minute Play Award by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and a finalist for the #ENOUGH Plays Project for which she was inducted into the Dramatists Guild of America at age seventeen. Her original plays have been produced by colleges and production companies nationwide, notably The Blank Theater of LA, Valencia College, and the MD Virtual Ensemble. She has had staged readings of her...

Isabel Beatriz Tongson is a Filipina-American playwright and actor based in New York City. She is a two-time winner of the Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival, a two-time Gold Key winner for Dramatic Script from the Scholastic Art and Writing Association, winner of Best in Show at the Central Florida Theatre Festival for Dramatic Script, a Semi-Finalist for the Gary Garrison National Ten-Minute Play Award by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and a finalist for the #ENOUGH Plays Project for which she was inducted into the Dramatists Guild of America at age seventeen. Her original plays have been produced by colleges and production companies nationwide, notably The Blank Theater of LA, Valencia College, and the MD Virtual Ensemble. She has had staged readings of her work by NOMADS of Columbia University and The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. In the spring of 2022, Isabel directed, produced, and starred in a staged workshop presentation of her original play Morningside Song which successfully raised funds for the Broadway Advocacy Coalition. Additionally, she is an accomplished screenwriter having been among the first selected for the Orlando Urban Film Festival Jump the Sun Workshop. Her play Droplets Pellets Bullets was recently published in anthology and is available for licensing by Concord Theatricals. Isabel also worked as a production assistant for Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks on Grief Hotel by Liza Birkenmier, directed by Tara Ahmedinejad. She is currently adapting and directing a production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing for the King’s Crown Shakespeare Troupe to be put up in November 2023. She is a firm believer that fine arts can bring about major social justice and change and wants to have a part in spearheading a more diverse and inclusive arts industry.

Scripts

Orlando & Wilde

by Isabel Beatriz Tongson

Synopsis

Orlandos quietly shape history. Living above all constructs of humanity, Orlandos are the embodiment of the divine and scour their respective times for how they can leave their mark on the world. One Orlando has found their purpose at a women’s college advocating for women’s suffrage in the early 20th century. When a poet and fellow student who calls herself Wilde enters the picture, Orlando instantly falls for...

Orlandos quietly shape history. Living above all constructs of humanity, Orlandos are the embodiment of the divine and scour their respective times for how they can leave their mark on the world. One Orlando has found their purpose at a women’s college advocating for women’s suffrage in the early 20th century. When a poet and fellow student who calls herself Wilde enters the picture, Orlando instantly falls for her, putting their heavenly ambitions in jeopardy. In spite of the world denying their true desires, Orlando and Wilde must realize the divinity of love and discovering one’s most authentic self.

A White Girl's Understudy

by Isabel Beatriz Tongson

Synopsis

Lyn Talaga has achieved her childhood dream. She is an off-stage understudy in the new
Broadway play Speakeasy Love and covers the lead female role. During a performance, the man
she is in love with and also the male lead of Speakeasy Love-- Ben Muller-- begins to question
whether he is truly in love with his co-star-- Sienna Russo-- whom Lyn covers for. Lyn imagines
herself in scenarios onstage playing...

Lyn Talaga has achieved her childhood dream. She is an off-stage understudy in the new
Broadway play Speakeasy Love and covers the lead female role. During a performance, the man
she is in love with and also the male lead of Speakeasy Love-- Ben Muller-- begins to question
whether he is truly in love with his co-star-- Sienna Russo-- whom Lyn covers for. Lyn imagines
herself in scenarios onstage playing opposite of Ben, but the drama of Speakeasy Love bleeds
into her reality as she is forced to confront the truth of her job. Lyn recalls memories with fellow
understudy-- Andrew Hererra, crew member-- Taylor Kumar, and stage manager-- Bo Jian,
all of whom are artists that have been forced out of the spotlight. When a connection with Ben at
intermission leads to him and Sienna's relationship spiraling mid-performance, Lyn recalls a
memory key to why she wanted to be an actor in the first place. With a new opportunity for Lyn
to be a principal actor opposite Ben, Lyn must ask herself if her greatest desires are truly what
she wants and if they are authentic to the artist she is.

Droplets Pellets Bullets

by Isabel Beatriz Tongson

Synopsis

Alex, Suma, and Lee hide from a monster that ravages their fantasy world home, when in reality, Alex conjures false memories of a fantastical setting to cope with the trauma of a school shooting. The play conceptually explores the phenomenon of false memories as often experienced by students and teachers who witness school shootings and recall vivid memories of the event that conflict with evidentiary accounts...

Alex, Suma, and Lee hide from a monster that ravages their fantasy world home, when in reality, Alex conjures false memories of a fantastical setting to cope with the trauma of a school shooting. The play conceptually explores the phenomenon of false memories as often experienced by students and teachers who witness school shootings and recall vivid memories of the event that conflict with evidentiary accounts.

Droplets Pellets Bullets is published and available for licensing with Concord Theatricals in The Blank Theater's Young Playwrights Festival 30th Anniversary Collection.

Morningside Song

by Isabel Beatriz Tongson

Synopsis

In 1912 New York City, Ana–a Filipina violinist and Caleb–a half-Irish English student are torn between worlds as they find their identities as unprecedented first-generation immigrants. Ana pursues her dream of being a violinist at the cost of knowing her heritage. Caleb attempts to find the unknown half of his ethnicity despite the disapproval of his family. Burdened with the responsibility of a better life...

In 1912 New York City, Ana–a Filipina violinist and Caleb–a half-Irish English student are torn between worlds as they find their identities as unprecedented first-generation immigrants. Ana pursues her dream of being a violinist at the cost of knowing her heritage. Caleb attempts to find the unknown half of his ethnicity despite the disapproval of his family. Burdened with the responsibility of a better life for future generations, they must choose whether to sacrifice their lives for those yet to come or fight to better their own lives now. Morningside Song is a play dedicated to those who dare to dream in a society that does not cater to them.

A House With a Broken Swing

by Isabel Beatriz Tongson

Synopsis

Vee has lived in a haunted house her entire life and craves freedom, while Chris is a supernatural nerd. When they meet on a randomized video-call platform, Chris attempts to help Vee escape a house with a mind of its own.

Vee has lived in a haunted house her entire life and craves freedom, while Chris is a supernatural nerd. When they meet on a randomized video-call platform, Chris attempts to help Vee escape a house with a mind of its own.

Time Waisted

by Isabel Beatriz Tongson

Synopsis

In an alternate history where the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory did not burn down, Ruth, Helen, and Ida relish in the victory of factory workers' rights but realize the American patriarchy still encroaches on their everyday lives. They must also face their internalized misogyny as they grapple for control over society's view of themselves and their desires. Ruth wants to live her life as a modern spinster with...

In an alternate history where the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory did not burn down, Ruth, Helen, and Ida relish in the victory of factory workers' rights but realize the American patriarchy still encroaches on their everyday lives. They must also face their internalized misogyny as they grapple for control over society's view of themselves and their desires. Ruth wants to live her life as a modern spinster with Helen, Helen wants to be married without giving up her independence, and Ida must face the abusive nature of her marriage, using the little freedoms she is granted as a coping mechanism.