Ben Ribler

Ben Ribler is a Helen Hayes Award-nominated playwright and actor born in Alexandria, Virginia. His plays have been performed and read in various venues throughout Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland. He holds a BFA from George Mason University and continues to write and perform with award-winning theaters in the D.C. area.

Ben Ribler is a Helen Hayes Award-nominated playwright and actor born in Alexandria, Virginia. His plays have been performed and read in various venues throughout Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland. He holds a BFA from George Mason University and continues to write and perform with award-winning theaters in the D.C. area.

Scripts

A Heaven of Hell

by Ben Ribler

Synopsis

John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost” is reimagined for the 21st century, further pushing the themes and perspectives that made the original so controversial some 400 years ago.

The Angels of Heaven clamor for the Father, their supreme leader who claims to be all-powerful and all-good. Meanwhile, dissenters known as the Fallen Angels have been banished to the poverty-stricken, neglected domain known as Hell...

John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost” is reimagined for the 21st century, further pushing the themes and perspectives that made the original so controversial some 400 years ago.

The Angels of Heaven clamor for the Father, their supreme leader who claims to be all-powerful and all-good. Meanwhile, dissenters known as the Fallen Angels have been banished to the poverty-stricken, neglected domain known as Hell. Lucifer, a Fallen Angel whose children were abducted by the Father's regime, joins a group of revolutionaries to get revenge on the Father and sabotage Heaven’s new Garden of Eden experiment. However, once Lucifer meets the innocent and pure-hearted Eve, what starts as an exercise of rage turns into parental love he didn't know he could possess.

This adaptation of a literary classic asks audiences to look at a well-known story in a brand new light and see if it might have anything new to say about morality, regimes, and where they get (and lose) their power.

Tall Tale of a Wolfman

by Ben Ribler

Synopsis

This play for all ages follows Mia, a happy and wildly imaginative eight-year old who delights in the exaggerated stories her mind creates. But when the local Town Criers come with news of a Wolfman in the nearby woods, Mia's imagination begins to run wild - but not in a good way. As the Criers, her brother and her peers continue to embellish the truth about this monster, Mia must learn the importance of being...

This play for all ages follows Mia, a happy and wildly imaginative eight-year old who delights in the exaggerated stories her mind creates. But when the local Town Criers come with news of a Wolfman in the nearby woods, Mia's imagination begins to run wild - but not in a good way. As the Criers, her brother and her peers continue to embellish the truth about this monster, Mia must learn the importance of being truthful and how to prevail over her fear. This play, filled with humor, heart and a few family-friendly scares, is a joyful and cathartic hour of theater that will charm and comfort audiences both young and old.

Middle Stage Evolutions

by Ben Ribler

Synopsis

Annie is freshly off of her parents' health insurance and is trying to make her love for Pokémon a full time job. Mike is an opportunist who scalps and pawns Pokémon cards. Annie's mother Deb has never understood the whole Pokémon craze. And Raymond is debating whether or not to sell his childhood Pokémon memorabilia to pay for his upcoming wedding. Middle Stage Evolutions explores the minefield of growing up...

Annie is freshly off of her parents' health insurance and is trying to make her love for Pokémon a full time job. Mike is an opportunist who scalps and pawns Pokémon cards. Annie's mother Deb has never understood the whole Pokémon craze. And Raymond is debating whether or not to sell his childhood Pokémon memorabilia to pay for his upcoming wedding. Middle Stage Evolutions explores the minefield of growing up and asks if there is really a 'right way' to go about it.

Lost Man

by Ben Ribler

Synopsis

It's 1968. Robert Driscoll is broke, on the verge of death, and all alone in an abandoned tenement building. But nearly twenty years ago, he was Bobby Driscoll, Disney's first child star and one of the most famous and celebrated actors in the world. At age thirty-one, he is writing Truman Capote in the hopes that he will get his life story told, from his acting career, to struggles with addiction and crime, to...

It's 1968. Robert Driscoll is broke, on the verge of death, and all alone in an abandoned tenement building. But nearly twenty years ago, he was Bobby Driscoll, Disney's first child star and one of the most famous and celebrated actors in the world. At age thirty-one, he is writing Truman Capote in the hopes that he will get his life story told, from his acting career, to struggles with addiction and crime, to cherished friendships and romances, to the many avenues he pursued to find belonging, including Andy Warhol's Factory and the the counterculture circle of Allen Ginsberg.

Through the course of recounting his life, Robert must come to terms with his untimely and tragic fate while learning to appreciate all that he accomplished in his short time, as well as perhaps that he wasn't so alone in feeling lonely.

The Stallion Express

by Ben Ribler

Synopsis

- Commission for Adventure Theatre MTC and 4615 Theatre Company's QFest -

Life is great for Wild West outlaw siblings Janes and Hilly McBrillabee. But when Janes finally gets caught and thrown in jail, Hilly's attempt to rescue her doesn't quite go as planned. From a shootout with the local sheriff to moral quandaries about the outlaw life to other unseen twists and turns, this offbeat ten-minute comedy...

- Commission for Adventure Theatre MTC and 4615 Theatre Company's QFest -

Life is great for Wild West outlaw siblings Janes and Hilly McBrillabee. But when Janes finally gets caught and thrown in jail, Hilly's attempt to rescue her doesn't quite go as planned. From a shootout with the local sheriff to moral quandaries about the outlaw life to other unseen twists and turns, this offbeat ten-minute comedy embraces the Western genre and all of the wacky, wonderful intrigue that comes with it.