Eljon Wardally

Eljon Wardally

Eljon Wardally is a Playwright and Screenwriter born in New York with Grenadian roots. Plays include: I Am...a Shepherdess (Finding Holy Ground Commission) Black Americanah for Sale (O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist), Blooming In Dry Season (O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist, Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship Semi-Finalist), Big Black Balloon (O'Neill National...
Eljon Wardally is a Playwright and Screenwriter born in New York with Grenadian roots. Plays include: I Am...a Shepherdess (Finding Holy Ground Commission) Black Americanah for Sale (O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist), Blooming In Dry Season (O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist, Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship Semi-Finalist), Big Black Balloon (O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference Finalist), By A Thread (Sundance MENA Theatre Lab Semi-Finalist), Bishop (O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference Semi-Finalist, Kennedy Center Finalist), Untitled Army Story (The Prism Festival Stay Awake! Theatre), The Gift (The Network One Act Festival Semi-Finalist), Home Sweet Home (The Strawberry Festival Semi-Finalist), Return To Sender (The Network One Act Festival Semi-Finalist), Docket 32357 (New Works By Young Women Finalist), Charlotte's Song (Judson Church).

Short Films include: Docket 32357 (Winner Audience Choice International Black Film Festival of Nashville, Winner Grand Jury Prize Huffington Post Black Voices Breakthrough Theater Series). Eljon wrote Docket 32357, a full length play, after suffering a stroke when she was 29. The first scene was made into an award winning short film of the same name and has been in over 30 festivals across the country. A web series of the same name was launched in 2014. The second season premiered on Seed & Spark in 2018. She received her MFA in Playwriting from Fordham/Primary Stages as part of its Inaugural class.

Plays

  • Black Americanah for Sale by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: black history, black womanhood + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: black history, black womanhood, modern day slavery, Black America, black lives matter, Black resilience, African American character
    A man in solitary haunted by the spirits of Ota Benga and the Venus Hottentot, enslaved Africans on a ship and a train, a lawyer who wants to bring slavery back, Mother Time, and Adam and Eve all bound by a noose that travels through history. Black Americanah for Sale is a take on the current prominent themes and identities of African American culture. Told in a series of vignettes, each explores imprisonment,...
    A man in solitary haunted by the spirits of Ota Benga and the Venus Hottentot, enslaved Africans on a ship and a train, a lawyer who wants to bring slavery back, Mother Time, and Adam and Eve all bound by a noose that travels through history. Black Americanah for Sale is a take on the current prominent themes and identities of African American culture. Told in a series of vignettes, each explores imprisonment, racial stereotypes, the ongoing trauma of slavery, wounds that can't heal and the power of legacy.
  • Sensitive To Bite by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, political + 1 more
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    Keyword: immigration, New York + 6 more
    Genre: drama, political, tragedy
    Keyword: immigration, New York, multi-ethnic, Middle East, Arab women, Asian American, Caribbean, Jamaican
    Set in a bodega on the Lower East Side of NY, a budding feminist and her conservative husband struggle to sacrifice remnants of their past in Syria for the sake of their uncertain future in the United States.

  • Blooming In Dry Season by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: family, coming of age + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: family, coming of age, Grenada, Caribbean, Alzheimer's, Caribbeanwomen, great roles for middle age actresses
    Set in a rum shop in the Spice Isle of Grenada, Rose, an oppressed housewife, has lived life for her husband, Fitz, a failed Calypsonian, and daughter, Garland, a gifted steel pan player. When a once in a lifetime opportunity for her daughter presents itself, Rose realizes she's put her own dreams on hold long enough and she is forced to make a decision, should she stay or should she go?
  • By A Thread by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, political + 1 more
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    Keyword: brain injury, PTSD + 6 more
    Genre: drama, political, tragedy
    Keyword: brain injury, PTSD, CTE, multi-ethnic, Army, American football, African American character, Latino actors
    Set in a third grade classroom, Nelson, a former soldier, and Cody, a former football player, try to cope with their traumatic brain injuries in a therapy group for people with similar conditions. Even though their injuries are different, they are both dependent on each other to get better but when tensions and memories of the past come to a head, they must decide whether they are strong enough to change their...
    Set in a third grade classroom, Nelson, a former soldier, and Cody, a former football player, try to cope with their traumatic brain injuries in a therapy group for people with similar conditions. Even though their injuries are different, they are both dependent on each other to get better but when tensions and memories of the past come to a head, they must decide whether they are strong enough to change their lives or fall victim to what seeks to destroy them.
  • Big Black Balloon by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 6
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: eating disorders, body dysmorphia + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: eating disorders, body dysmorphia, imaginary friend
    Big Black Balloon explores the relationship between Henry and Cleo, two people whose insecurities trigger their imaginary friends to return and take over their lives. Set in a studio apartment in L.A., the city of celebrity also serves as a character igniting the pressure to be beautiful and glamorous at all costs.
  • Bishop by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 3 more
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    Keyword: Grenada, revolution + 3 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political
    Keyword: Grenada, revolution, 1983, cultural diversity, diversity
    Bishop is set in 1983 on the tiny Spice Isle known as Grenada. As a political coup threatens to destroy and divide the nation, will the Morganson family keep the war outside from dividing their home? Will Prime Minister Maurice Bishop survive the coup? Will the island survive or will the outside powers win and dissolve any hope that the voices of the people be remembered?
  • Untitled Army Story by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: military, friendship
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: military, friendship
    Lifelong friends, Lil and Benji, magically meet under their favorite Weeping Willow tree to tackle haunting memories, explore unanswered dreams, and realize how lives are forever altered by war.
  • Homie with the Hardware by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: dark comedy
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    Keyword: coronavirus, hardware + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy
    Keyword: coronavirus, hardware, loneliness and isolation
    2020. Brandon, aka "Homie with the Hardware" posts his latest live, a show celebrating the hardware store while in quarantine.
  • The Gift by Eljon Wardally
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, tragedy
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    Keyword: unemployment, broken marriage
    Genre: drama, tragedy
    Keyword: unemployment, broken marriage
    Set in an apartment in Brooklyn, two sets of friends meet to celebrate the holiday. When tensions over employment and starting a family come to a head, one couple realizes there is very little to celebrate.