Jeffrey James Keyes

Jeffrey James Keyes

Jeffrey James Keyes is a current member of Pipeline Theatre Company's PlayLab and the founder of The Convening. He co-authored New York Times Best Seller Killer Chef with James Patterson. He is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA Playwriting Program. Theater credits include: The End of Days (SoHo Playhouse/New York International Fringe Festival), The Biltmore Academy (Chicago's Prologue...
Jeffrey James Keyes is a current member of Pipeline Theatre Company's PlayLab and the founder of The Convening. He co-authored New York Times Best Seller Killer Chef with James Patterson. He is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA Playwriting Program. Theater credits include: The End of Days (SoHo Playhouse/New York International Fringe Festival), The Biltmore Academy (Chicago's Prologue Theatre Company), Imaginary Friends (Samuel French OOB Festival & Prologue Theatre Company), I'm From Driftwood (Project Y/Access Theater), Immortal: The Gilgamesh Variations (Bushwick Starr), Dance Dance Arden (3LD), Cell Beget Cell (Old Vic Theater, London), Room 407 (59E59), Josh Groban Fanclub (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Into the Shallow End (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Moonshine on the Rocks (78th Street Theater Project), and Williamsburg (Manhattan Rep). He was the story producer on the travel series Out in GayCities with Lexus and additionally worked as a producer on the Sundance series, "Revealing", featuring Joe Zee and MTV's "True Life".

His short films 181 and Uniform have been featured in over thirty festivals and he recently won the 2019 Artists' Patron Fund's Gold Award for Cream City, a television pilot he is co-writing with Matt W. Cody. He is additionally the scriptwriter for "Digital Arrest", a virtual reality project that won the top award at the 2019 NYC Media Lab. In 2020 he was awarded the inaugural PEN America L'Engle/Rahman Prize for Mentorship.

Plays

  • The Holiday Play
    Crafts. Storytelling. Healing. Come join Orange and Clove for an unexpected holiday experience. Go back to the basics and gather with us as we roll up our sleeves and embark on some good old fashion holiday crafting exercises. We’ll swap stories, unpack the holidays, and go back to the basics while working together to not only craft, but discover some hope and a bit of magic for the holiday season.

  • The End of Days
    The End of Days is the story of Nina and Kitt; two estranged lovers reunited on December 21st, 2012, the end of the Mayan Calendar. Kitt shows up at Nina’s doorstep hoping to find the “same old Nina” he met when they were back in college. Will this night be the End of Days or the beginning of their new life together?
  • Reconciliation
    A pair of former lovers are reunited in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Kiki
    When two friends run into each other on the late-night subway a secret comes out.
  • Homecoming
    When a queer prodigal son returns home after his parents have passed he comes face to face with what was, what wasn't, and what could have been.
  • Aftermath
    Two couples come together 602 days after losing their teenagers in a school shooting.
  • Safe Word
    Nelson shares the story of how he got into kink for the first time.
  • What If, a monologue
    It's 2019 into 2020 and when the clock strikes twelve a new romance blossoms.
  • Uniforms
    When Susan is called into to her son’s school for an infraction of the rules, and a heated discussion of education, ethics, and modern day parenting ensues.
  • Up There, a monologue
    Robbie didn't know about the abductions before he moved to the Berkshires. Tonight's the night it happens to him.
  • Pizza Face, a monologue
    Ryan retells the story about when he almost didn't make it out of the forest.
  • The Runner
    Who knew going for a run could turn into a nightmare?
  • Imaginary Friends
    Imaginary Friends is a short haunting in which Sasca, Leslie, and Alice have an intimate discussion about the hauntings of their childhood.
  • Isle Royale
    Twin brothers Nick and Alex, joined by high school friends Ken and Josh set out on a backpacking trip on Isle Royale, a tiny and remote island just off the Eastern coast of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s the summer after their senior year of high school and the last opportunity the boys will have together before going to college and work. Once they arrive on the island, the boys connect and kick off what...
    Twin brothers Nick and Alex, joined by high school friends Ken and Josh set out on a backpacking trip on Isle Royale, a tiny and remote island just off the Eastern coast of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s the summer after their senior year of high school and the last opportunity the boys will have together before going to college and work. Once they arrive on the island, the boys connect and kick off what could potentially be their best expedition to the island. From the moment they set foot on Isle Royale, the mysterious apparition of a young Ojibwe Indian girl stalks and follows them through forests and past ancient copper mines. In a violent and explosive evening, the truth about two of the boys comes out and the brothers which leads to arguments, fistfights, and broken hearts. In the middle of the island the twins break out into a fight where both lose their footing and collapse through an abandoned mine shaft. Only one makes it out alive. In Isle Royale, the wilderness has no rules.

  • Questions
    Katie and Steve try out a new app called Questions and get a little too personal.
  • Blue Into Black
    Blue into Black is inspired by the story of Tyler Clementi, a college student and victim of online bullying who committed suicide at the age of 18 on September 22, 2010. In this short play young Timothy meets a strange man in the middle of the George Washington Bridge.
  • Stanley Hotel
    Sofia and Devan are amateur ghost hunters in their late 20s/early 30s spending their vacation at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Instead of finding a ghost, the pair reconnects and finds each other.
  • TENDER
    Two lovers want to figure out where they went wrong. By going back and tracking their relationship Clara and Robert realize the truth and gin-soaked lies that have pushed them apart.
  • Christmas, a monologue
    Eric copes with losing his partner to COVID-19
  • When They Sleep, a monologue
    Marnie (could also be Marty for a male-presenting actor) shares an intimate story about an encounter with a ghost late at night.
  • Day of Reversal
    Evan challenges his father's politics.
  • The Bastards of Treasure Island
    The Bastards of Treasure Island is about two Americans who attend a "work conference" in a fictional Caribbean island, a place where everything goes wrong.
  • Graveyard Shift
    Tony's working the late shift under the George Washington Bridge when he experiences a brush with the supernatural.
  • Framed
    On the first night of a business trip Mara discovers an infant in her hotel room.
  • Surprise
    A short surprise
  • Happy Birthday Leroy, or When (the Photographer) Winks at Me
    A one-minute play in which Gladys stops a photographer who looks like her late son in the NYC gay pride parade.
  • I don't drive
    Jeremy shares the lie about why he doesn't have his driver's license yet.
  • Hedda Gabler
    A close adaptation of the Ibsen classic. Hedda is trapped in a life (and marriage) she doesn't want.
  • Beverly
    Beverly's just trying to leave the theater, she doesn't understand why everyone keeps clapping.
  • Southies
    Austin and Sean entertain the final guest at a dinner party that's gone on far too long.