dinah berkeley

Dinah (they/them) is an American playwright, poet, performer, director, deviser, educator, and queer being currently based in Chicago. Their work is rooted in the soils of physical storytelling, utilizing the art of mime, clown and puppetry. They have a diverse and in depth range of experiences in new works development and devised theatre practices. Their work has been witnessed globally from Chicago to NYC, San Francisco to Edinburgh Scotland, in El Bolson Patagonia, and even on Zoom! As a writer, they were a Poetry Nation Semi-Finalist, and are published in Fresh Words Contemporary Plays Volume Five. Thank you for reading!

Dinah (they/them) is an American playwright, poet, performer, director, deviser, educator, and queer being currently based in Chicago. Their work is rooted in the soils of physical storytelling, utilizing the art of mime, clown and puppetry. They have a diverse and in depth range of experiences in new works development and devised theatre practices. Their work has been witnessed globally from Chicago to NYC, San Francisco to Edinburgh Scotland, in El Bolson Patagonia, and even on Zoom! As a writer, they were a Poetry Nation Semi-Finalist, and are published in Fresh Words Contemporary Plays Volume Five. Thank you for reading!

Scripts

How Fly When No Sky? Or, Toucans Are Gay And You CanToo!

by dinah berkeley

Cast Size
4—6
Genre
comedy

Tasha and Gene catch up over gay bruuuuunch! They’ve been booked and blessed,
Tasha is the new host of the hit TV variety show “Pussy Fire,” and Gene just became
the first trans person to defend trans rights in front of the supreme court, and, oh right,
the sky is falling. As they catch up with enthusiastic vigor, overlapping several topics,
discussing their weeks, the latest tea, who did what, and who, the sky...

Tasha and Gene catch up over gay bruuuuunch! They’ve been booked and blessed,
Tasha is the new host of the hit TV variety show “Pussy Fire,” and Gene just became
the first trans person to defend trans rights in front of the supreme court, and, oh right,
the sky is falling. As they catch up with enthusiastic vigor, overlapping several topics,
discussing their weeks, the latest tea, who did what, and who, the sky plink plink plunks
it’s way into their weekend reunion. It’s all fabulous until it’s not, as the two besties
attempt to pluck debris from their mocktails and dodge chunks of sky.

In another part of the world, a pair of gay toucans attempt to escape their cage.

The world weighs and weighs and weighs until it breaks open and the two scenes
converge, melding into something completely new.

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Reasons To Die

by dinah berkeley

1
Cast Size
4
Genre
drama,
fantasy,
horror

Vivian can't sleep. She tosses and turns meeting with various people that she used to know, and some creatures she found on the internet. She gathers her data, she weighs a decision.

Vivian can't sleep. She tosses and turns meeting with various people that she used to know, and some creatures she found on the internet. She gathers her data, she weighs a decision.

The Garden Club

by dinah berkeley

1
Cast Size
8
Genre
comedy,
farce

A midwest suburban Garden Club welcomes it's newest member and prepares for their biggest event of the year, the annual flower show. When they receive word that Barbara, President of The Garden Club of America, will be attending, the club ups their game. But when they hear that Barbara, President of The National Garden Club, will also be attending, the club must come up with a strategic plan to keep the Barbaras...

A midwest suburban Garden Club welcomes it's newest member and prepares for their biggest event of the year, the annual flower show. When they receive word that Barbara, President of The Garden Club of America, will be attending, the club ups their game. But when they hear that Barbara, President of The National Garden Club, will also be attending, the club must come up with a strategic plan to keep the Barbaras separate. Why? Because of the rival of the Barbaras of course! The stakes build to an uproarious evening of drugs, drag and horn tooters. What are horn tooters you might ask? You'll have to read to find out. ACT I ends in a flourish of flowers and vomit.

ACT II begins where we left off but takes a sharp turn when Suzanne, the newest member of the club uproots her neighbors tree in an effort to halt the farce. What follows is something completely different. The audience is revealed and the characters must now face how to move forward with the play.

The Garden Club delights in the frivolities of suburban middle class life and offers potential for growth after the upheaval.

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The Apothecary Stories

by dinah berkeley

Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
period,
verse

An exploration of a singular moment, suspended in Elizabethan time, told from three differing points of view.

An exploration of a singular moment, suspended in Elizabethan time, told from three differing points of view.

Will & Way

by dinah berkeley

2
Cast Size
5
Genre
comedy,
experimental,
movement/physical

In an old long forgotten theatre two artists reside, Will who fears staying and Way who fears leaving. The two keep themselves busy as they await Our moment. Way mostly organizes their rock collection and Will keeps finding excuses to leave the stage. Every time Will leaves, a panic sets in for Way. The world is crumbling, their moment has yet to come, "nothing to be done" thinks Way, "everything to be done"...

In an old long forgotten theatre two artists reside, Will who fears staying and Way who fears leaving. The two keep themselves busy as they await Our moment. Way mostly organizes their rock collection and Will keeps finding excuses to leave the stage. Every time Will leaves, a panic sets in for Way. The world is crumbling, their moment has yet to come, "nothing to be done" thinks Way, "everything to be done" thinks Will.

read more