Davis Alianiello

Davis Alianiello is a playwright, director, and teacher from Providence, RI. He writes grotesque tragicomedies that explore crises of belief and belonging.

His play SNAKE was a second place recipient of the Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting from the Kennedy Center. He has two one acts published by Playscripts, which have been produced in Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Scotland, and across the US. He has developed new work with the Boston Center for the Arts, The Wilbury Theatre Group, and Theatre of the Electric Mouth. BA: Muhlenberg College, Theatre Directing / English. MFA: Hunter College, Playwriting

Davis Alianiello is a playwright, director, and teacher from Providence, RI. He writes grotesque tragicomedies that explore crises of belief and belonging.

His play SNAKE was a second place recipient of the Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting from the Kennedy Center. He has two one acts published by Playscripts, which have been produced in Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Scotland, and across the US. He has developed new work with the Boston Center for the Arts, The Wilbury Theatre Group, and Theatre of the Electric Mouth. BA: Muhlenberg College, Theatre Directing / English. MFA: Hunter College, Playwriting

Scripts

The Mailroom

by Davis Alianiello

Synopsis

Nadia takes a job in an ad agency mailroom. Her coworker is a disciple of Uncle_Hogshit, a radical online extremist. As the packages pile up and the wealthy disappear, we discover that Nadia is not who she seems.

Nadia takes a job in an ad agency mailroom. Her coworker is a disciple of Uncle_Hogshit, a radical online extremist. As the packages pile up and the wealthy disappear, we discover that Nadia is not who she seems.

Snake

by Davis Alianiello

Synopsis

There is a snake gestating in Mr. Murphy's brain. Mr. Murphy is a high school religion teacher; he is estranged from his daughter, and increasingly at odds with his son Pete (who is also his student). Pete attempts to nurse his father through his mysterious illness, while also discovering himself – his art, his grief, and his sexuality. This is a play about what happens when our bodies betray us; it is about the...

There is a snake gestating in Mr. Murphy's brain. Mr. Murphy is a high school religion teacher; he is estranged from his daughter, and increasingly at odds with his son Pete (who is also his student). Pete attempts to nurse his father through his mysterious illness, while also discovering himself – his art, his grief, and his sexuality. This is a play about what happens when our bodies betray us; it is about the dangers of belief; it is about reptiles of the mind, and what happens when they struggle to be born.

The Farm

by Davis Alianiello

Synopsis

Sasha drives her brother Tyler home from the airport. Tyler has just escaped from a cult. Sasha has just quit her job. When a secret Tyler has hidden from his sister is inadvertently revealed, both siblings must reckon with where their respective searches for home have brought them.

Sasha drives her brother Tyler home from the airport. Tyler has just escaped from a cult. Sasha has just quit her job. When a secret Tyler has hidden from his sister is inadvertently revealed, both siblings must reckon with where their respective searches for home have brought them.

California Bacchanal

by Davis Alianiello

Synopsis

Stavros is a film director who hires adherents of a mysterious cult to be extras in his adaptation of The Bacchae. When the line between fiction and reality begins to blur, Stavros finds himself at the heart of a psychedelic horror story.

Stavros is a film director who hires adherents of a mysterious cult to be extras in his adaptation of The Bacchae. When the line between fiction and reality begins to blur, Stavros finds himself at the heart of a psychedelic horror story.

db

by Davis Alianiello

Synopsis

On November 24th, 1971, an unidentified man hijacked a flight from Portland to Seattle, held the crew for a $200,000 ransom, then parachuted into the Nevada wilderness, never to be found. D.B. Cooper became a mythical figure in American pop culture. In"db," a surreal one act, he exists as a malevolent ghost: a chimerical presence haunting the lives of the people he encountered on that day.

On November 24th, 1971, an unidentified man hijacked a flight from Portland to Seattle, held the crew for a $200,000 ransom, then parachuted into the Nevada wilderness, never to be found. D.B. Cooper became a mythical figure in American pop culture. In"db," a surreal one act, he exists as a malevolent ghost: a chimerical presence haunting the lives of the people he encountered on that day.

A History of Decay

by Davis Alianiello

Synopsis

Nick is a poet. His wife Cora was his college professor. Estranged from the rest of their family, the couple visits Nick's Uncle Phil on his remote island home. When Cora discovers Phil's bizarre experiments, the rot at the heart of Nick's family is finally exposed.

Nick is a poet. His wife Cora was his college professor. Estranged from the rest of their family, the couple visits Nick's Uncle Phil on his remote island home. When Cora discovers Phil's bizarre experiments, the rot at the heart of Nick's family is finally exposed.

No Longer Gage

by Davis Alianiello

Synopsis

No Longer Gage is a biographical play about Phineas Gage, the railroad worker who famously survived an accident in which a three foot iron rod passed through his brain. In addition to being a medical curiosity, Gage was an exhibit in Barnum’s Museum, a stagecoach driver in Chile, and a wandering laborer in San Francisco, all while keeping the iron rod as his “constant companion.” No Longer Gage attempts to...

No Longer Gage is a biographical play about Phineas Gage, the railroad worker who famously survived an accident in which a three foot iron rod passed through his brain. In addition to being a medical curiosity, Gage was an exhibit in Barnum’s Museum, a stagecoach driver in Chile, and a wandering laborer in San Francisco, all while keeping the iron rod as his “constant companion.” No Longer Gage attempts to salvage a real life from historical kitsch.

Catch: Or, The Gods Are Children

by Davis Alianiello

Synopsis

Admetus is a failed athlete and little league coach whose team is made up of pint-sized Greek gods. When one of them dooms him to death, his wife Alcestis, a classical violinist, volunteers to die in his place. On the other side of death, she discovers a music beyond mortal ears. A freewheeling, contemporary adaptation of Euripides' Alcestis.

Admetus is a failed athlete and little league coach whose team is made up of pint-sized Greek gods. When one of them dooms him to death, his wife Alcestis, a classical violinist, volunteers to die in his place. On the other side of death, she discovers a music beyond mortal ears. A freewheeling, contemporary adaptation of Euripides' Alcestis.