Drama | 2 W, 3 unspecified | 120 minutes
An Americana play for the new American West, Deserted explores desertification in rural America and how some soil is so far destroyed that no roots can grow. Mirroring the failed root systems, the married couple, Jodie and Emma, desperately try to grow a garden with the hope that the plants will be their own roots in settling down and raising a family. After winning a sought-after grant that provides soil, seeds and biodynamic agricultural help, the two work hard to keep the dream alive, but with a neighbor that continually visits to consume anything and everything, a phone that never stops ringing and the fact that maybe they should buy a gun, settling down in an uninhabitable environment isn’t easy.
Development History:
- Reading, Artemisia Theatre, Chicago, November 2024
- Reading, Redtwist Theatre, Chicago, December 2024
5W/1M
Whittaker has been searching for the oldest cave paintings on record for years and finally the glaciologist has found them! And then she gets snowed in.
Development History:
- Development Workshop & Staged Reading - Avalanche Theatre, Chicago, March through June 2023
Production History:
World Premiere - Avalanche Theater, Chicago, May 2025
Published
1870s, coastal Connecticut. When Ginny begs Marisha to run away with her, Marisha asks for more time, for patience, and promises one day they will do it.
But Ginny is tired of waiting. And then a hurricane eats at the coast and Ginny is counted as one of the dead. Inconsolable, Marisha stalks the dark beaches looking for her, lantern held high, ethereal like a furious ghost with nothing to lose.
Development History:
- Reading - Pocket Theatre VR - Chicago, November 2023
- Reading - Red Theater - Chicago, March 2025
- Workshop and Reading - Queery Playwrights Lab, Pride Arts - Chicago, June 2025
Drama - 90 minutes
Burnt out doesn’t even cover it, Keeley is a pile of ash. She wants to sleep, wants to quit, wants to blame anyone but herself. And then the moon falls to earth as a beautiful woman and everything changes. Suddenly people are ready to trust climate scientists - now that the planet has tilted on its axis and the end of the world is in mere days.
Development History:
- Read & Rant, Athena Project, Colorado - October 2023
Production History:
World Premiere - Theatre L'Acadie, Chicago - April, 27th through May 7th, 2023
Photo of Audrey Ney and Kira Nutter by Theatre l’Acadie.
Chicago Reader Review
2 Women - 10 minute short - Climate Change Drama
Saoirse and Lore spend their last afternoon together, drinking ouzo from tea cups and watching the ocean, nostalgic for a time before the sun was too hot, travel was normal and going to California wasn’t a death sentence.
Production History:
World Premiere - SUNY Plattsburgh, Climate Theater Festival May 7th 2023
Publication:
American Theatre in the Twenty-First Century Anthology - order here!
2 Women - 75 minute Climate Change Drama
In the far future, a group of women have spent their lives on an island waiting for the last man on earth - the Rowboat Man - to row to shore and help restart the human race. After the desperate urgings from their mother however, Lorelei and Eloise must steal the man's boat and escape the island and their duty. Waiting on the beach, the two question their roles as women, reproductive rights and the consequences of climate change.
A mixture of Regency romance and feminist dystopia, the play takes place an hour before the sun sets.
Development History:
Workshop & reading - Drafted; a new play workshop (online) 2021
Production History:
World Premiere - Theatre l’Acadie, Chicago - August 2023
Photo of Laura Rojas and Brandii Champagne by Theatre l’Acadie
One Woman - 30 Minutes
Lucy Moran is on her way to her parents’ house to tell them that she is not only bisexual but she is going to propose to her girlfriend tonight. Afraid of how her very traditional parents will react, Lucy looks for help and inspiration from gay and bisexual women throughout history, gaining the confidence to leave the coffee shop and knock on her parents’ door.
Production History:
SpaceUK - online (due to Edinburgh Fringe being canceled), August 2020 - the 30 minute monologue is still up to watch here.
Check out reviews here.
four women/three men - 70 minutes
After leaving Jackson at the altar, Elsie meets the self-described has-been sculptor, Luke, at a bar. The two drink themselves into a dreamy summer romance while Elsie contemplates love, marriage and living up to the fairytale couple her parents are.
Development History:
Reading - Athenaeum Theatre, Chicago - January 2020
Reading - One Egg No Batter Production Virtual Unfinished Works Festival - August 2021
Read reviews and an excerpt here.
four women/two men - 90 minutes
Alvera Wilkes, a successful woman in her mid-thirties, has decided that she wants to have a baby through intracervical insemination. When her best friend, Robin, offers up her husband, Josh, to be the sperm donor, friendships and relationships jettison into a complicated mess. With rash decisions made and Josh’s baby on the way, the three realize the complexities that come with baby-making and how this supposedly harmless act can change everything.
Development History:
Reading - Theatre l’Acadie, Chicago - October 2021
Read reviews and an excerpt here.
