Francis RTM Boyle

Francis RTM Boyle

Francis RTM Boyle has been writing for the stage since his high school years when his plays Finding Ahab and The Once and Future Nerd won back-to-back Best New Play Awards with the All Childrens’ Theatre in Rhode Island. Having found his calling, he then studied theatre at the University of Rhode Island. In his junior year, his Illusion of a Fantasy appeared in the Strawberry One Act Festival at the Riant...
Francis RTM Boyle has been writing for the stage since his high school years when his plays Finding Ahab and The Once and Future Nerd won back-to-back Best New Play Awards with the All Childrens’ Theatre in Rhode Island. Having found his calling, he then studied theatre at the University of Rhode Island. In his junior year, his Illusion of a Fantasy appeared in the Strawberry One Act Festival at the Riant Theatre in New York City.

After earning his BFA, Francis studied Shakespeare and Performance in Staunton, Virginia, developing his craft through research and performances of Shakespeare’s works. During his studies, he co-wrote Mountain of Crime, a comedic mystery play that ran for a year at the Massanutten Resort, with James O’Connell.

Since completing his MLitt and MFA, Francis continues to write. His idea of the unpowered member of a family of superheroes became Super-Runt, a play the Cincinnati Playwright’s Initiative hosted as a reading. From a prompt asking what a person would do in their last ten minutes of life, he created Another Part of the Field, where two mortally wounded soldiers from opposing armies face their deaths together. Another Part of the Field was selected by The William Inge Festival’s New Play Lab and given a staged reading, was a semi-finalist for the Eclectic Theatre Patchwork Play Festival, and was staged at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. As part of the Inge Festival workshops, Francis studied under Lee Blessing and David Henry Hwang. From those masterclasses came Francis’ play Valentine.

Actors have shown great appreciation for Francis’ monologues. Parent/Teacher Night, Three Little Words, and Before the Storm being given staged readings at Back Porch Theatre. Francis is incredibly proud that many college students have chosen his monologues for their acting class.


Plays

  • Mountain of Crime
    Co-Authored with James Mainard OConnell (newplayexchange.org/users/85653/james-mainard-oconnell), Full Length: In this audience-interactive murder mystery comedy, the head of the National Crime Sydicate has decided to retire and has called a meeting of regional crime bosses to help him choose a successor. But when he ends up murdered before a successor can be chosen, it is up to the audience to help decide...
    Co-Authored with James Mainard OConnell (newplayexchange.org/users/85653/james-mainard-oconnell), Full Length: In this audience-interactive murder mystery comedy, the head of the National Crime Sydicate has decided to retire and has called a meeting of regional crime bosses to help him choose a successor. But when he ends up murdered before a successor can be chosen, it is up to the audience to help decide whodunnit. With six different endings, improvisational audience interaction, and a script that is adaptable to a variety of spaces, "Mountain of Crime" is a fun show for audiences and performers alike!
  • Salt the Earth
    FULL LENGTH: 20-25 Actors of any Gender: 149 BC: Rome's survival hangs in the balance. Roman hero Scipio Ameilianus must rebel from his corrupt father and then ally with his father's greatest enemy, Cato, to ensure Rome's survival by destroying neighboring Carthage.
  • Treason at the Globe
    Edited, 8/24/2022: Full-Length: February 8th, 1601, the evening after the Earl of Essex's revolt fails, a theatre-hating Puritan member of Elizabeth's secret police, code-named Horatio, uncovers evidence linking Shakespeare's company to High Treason. Horatio's investigation wends through the world of the London theatre and high society, from the boards at the Globe to seedy London taverns to...
    Edited, 8/24/2022: Full-Length: February 8th, 1601, the evening after the Earl of Essex's revolt fails, a theatre-hating Puritan member of Elizabeth's secret police, code-named Horatio, uncovers evidence linking Shakespeare's company to High Treason. Horatio's investigation wends through the world of the London theatre and high society, from the boards at the Globe to seedy London taverns to a command performance at Whitehall palace. Horatio encounters the great actors and writers of the day and comes face to face with a surprising traitor.

    Inspired by true events.
  • Valentine
    FULL LENGTH: 5 characters: 3W, 2M: Eromax, the Emperor of Rome, His wife, Prisca, Eromax's sister, Aurelia, her husband Valentine, and Aurelia's lover, Juliana all change when their lives of pain, abuse, envy, and guilt are touched with faith, love, and forgiveness during the period of the Early Christian Church.
  • Another Part of the Field
    2023 Eclectic Theater Patchwork Play Festival Semi-Finalist
    2016 William Inge Festival New Play Lab

    15 MINUTES: 2 Characters, Gender & Race Neutral, flexible pronouns available: Two mortally wounded soldiers from opposing armies face their last moments together.
  • Don't Disturb the Clams
    Short Play: 2W, 1M: Synopsis: Inspired by “real” events. A young, A-list singer and her new film-star boyfriend look for a place to stage their paparazzi photos. When their photographers cannot find the remote, Rhode Island beach, the two enlist the begrudging help of a local who only wants to continue clamming.
  • Naming Rights
    Short Play: 2 Female Roles: Patron and benefactor at war! Ten minutes from announcing plans on their brand new theater, Aurora (a donor) and Kat (Artistic Director) spar over who should get the right to name the new building. Aurora insists on naming it after her family charitable trust, while Kat insists on naming it for their recently deceased founder.

    Updated 2/6/2023
  • The Relief
    Short Play (15 Minute): 3-4 Characters, Gender & Race Neutral: Set on the Ark, a generation-colony ship 20 years from Earth and 60 years from its target, four mid to late teenagers have been training since birth to be the relief crew, when Loba, the trainee captain, decides to quit. Fate and Free Will collide with little time to spare.
  • Renegade Elfs' Christmas Workshop
    SHORT PLAY: 4 Characters, Gender & Race Neutral: Santa is our unreliable narrator as Christmas Elfs Hadley, Ellery, and Robin break away from Santa's egotistical business practices and begin their own toy factory.
  • Revived Presidential Debate
    10 MINUTE PLAY: 3 Characters: Gender and Race Neutral: In a year of unparalleled political nastiness, the American people have recalled the major party candidates, and have brought Presidents Washington and Lincoln back to life to run for president once more. Edward R. Murrow has also been revived to serve as moderator. The three realize this is not their America.
  • Spite Check (formerly known as A Night at the Opera)
    2019 Inge New Play Lab Alternate

    SHORT PLAY: 2 Actors, Gender and Race Neutral: A young chess champion and his/her interviewer spar in code over the details of his/her life. A simple interview with an acerbic, reclusive prodigy is not what it seems.
  • Amid the Bombs, a Monologue For Times of Fear
    During a crisis, it falls to a teacher to calm their students.
  • Before the Storm, a Monologue
    An emergency: the Chief of Surgery briefs the ER and hospital staff as the President of the United States and her husband are arriving with gunshot wounds.

    Reading: Back Porch Theatre, December 2020.
  • The Condemned, a Monologue
    Monologue: An assassin's last words before he/she is executed for killing "the most hated man in the nation."
  • Host Duties, a Comedic Monologue
    Monologue: An energetic and sometimes inappropriate Eucharistic Minister prepares to ask to be promoted from hawking the Blood of Christ to dispensing the Body of Christ hosts. In their multiple attempts to ask what should be a simple question, their motivations and the inner workings of the Eucharistic Ministry at Saint Stephens are revealed.
  • How I Joined the Navy, A Monologue
    Monologue: On the eve of his first battle, a Navy Corpsman, whose job it is to serve as a medic to the Marines on Guadalcanal, reveals how he came to be there.
  • I Deflagrate, a Monologue
    Monologue: An eighth grade student stays behind to explain to their teacher why they didn't give the answer in Chemistry class. They did know the answer, but the reasons why they didn't go to the board are more complicated.
  • Paperweight, a Monologue
    Monologue: A mundane item's incredible story: the relationship of a handgun with her owner.
  • Parent / Teacher Night, a Monologue
    Monologue: an exasperated English teacher explains a failing grade to disinterested parents.

    Reading: Back Porch Theatre, Feb. 2021
  • Three Little Words, a Monologue
    The aftermath of one desperate person's search for human kindness on the internet.

    Reading, Back Porch Theater, August 2021
  • When I Open my Eyes, a Monologue
    He's been Elyssa's best friend for years and he's secretly in love with her. When Elyssa's boyfriend makes her cry once too often, he tells her how he feels about the boyfriend... and about her. What will happen after he professes his love?