playwright | design leader
Playwriting
I write for the stage to create joy, form connections, and explore big, complicated ideas. I am passionate about the crossover between physical and digital spaces. Here are some of my produced works and what's in-motion.
Maybe She Dies
Maybe She Dies is a Little Mermaid for adults, reimagined from the 1837 original: a quite grim tale where a mermaid is obsessed with a boy, makes a rash choice, acquires a disabled body, then dies. See this story boldly reconsidered through the lens of mental illness and disability. Reject your tropes. Embrace story arcs with nuance and messiness. Challenge narratives where disabled characters are cured or killed. Be swept away by the music and soundscape. You’ll have to see which branching storyline you’ll experience of 192 possible plays.
Written by Amy Claussen, after Hans Christian Andersen, soundscape by James Rushin.
For 5 actors with doubling.
People We're Allowed to Be
(Currently writing)
People We're Allowed to Be is a play for two actors, one with a visible disability and one with an invisible disability. It takes place in a prestigious college in a scene study class where a talented theatre major with recently-acquired paralysis is paired with a frat boy masking mental illness. Essentially, the worst partners possible. They’re given a controversial, sexually-charged scene to perform. As they become more intimate through the rehearsal process and absorb the narratives they’re portraying, art imitates life and they reckon with how disability affects the people they’re allowed to be.
Presented at The Kennedy Center's Social Impact Festival with Regan Linton and Dex Kinsman. Photo credit: Jessica Wallach.
Two Tall Houses
(Currently writing)
Two Tall Houses takes place in the shared back yard of two mirror-image Victorians in San Francisco over three generations in the 60's, 90's, and 2020's. In one house is an Irish-American family and three women with mental illness. The other house is a Chinese-American family with substance use. Their storylines interweave as we explore what is changed and reborn and healed as generations reinvent and repeat themselves.
A play for 2 actors.
Photo credit: Me, in my old neighborhood on San Francisco's panhandle.
Medusa's Reflection
Perseus is on a quest to kill Medusa, and Medusa is ready for it. She has suffered enough. But wait, heroes can't claim victory without a fight. Maybe there's more to Medusa than meets the eye, if only Perseus could look at her without turning to stone.
Performed at Fighting Chance, SAFEhouseARTS in SF, CA
Starring Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor's greatest love affairs and deepest tragedies were closely observed by her producers, the paparazzi, and the world. A play-poem about Liz's early life, formed from verbatim interviews and lines from her films. Co-written with Lara Hillier.
Performed at Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY
Photo by Rachel Philipson.
Hungry
The Phoenix Flower Cafe, deep in the New Mexico desert. A comically dysfunctional, fiercely cruel, and deeply loving family are hungry for change. When a stranger shows up, will they find the magic they’re looking for?
Workshopped at Profile Theatre in Portland, OR
Read at Penguin Rep in Stony Point, NY
Read at Primary Stages / ESPA in NYC
Conceptual design by Stephen Dobay.
Pretend! The Musical
Justine is perfect princess material. However, when her fairy godmother is unable to give her a happily-ever-after, she grows up quickly. "The dreams that you wish do come true", so be careful what you wish for. Co-written with James Rushin.
Workshopped at The Pitch / Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn NY
Workshopped at MTAP / University of Pittsburgh
Workshopped at Carnegie Mellon / Playground in Pittsburgh, PA
The City
Three dreamers act out their hopes and fears in this coming-of-age collection of scenes, music, and poetry. Co-developed with the company (Christine Dwyer, Bethany James, Jamison Daniels, and Kyle Brand), as well as guest composers.
Performed at Sandbox Theatre / Paul Gleason Theatre in LA
Solo shows
I've written a collection of lyrical solo pieces, combining a theme with an element: beauty + water, home + earth, love + fire, wind + loss.
Performed at NYC Fringe Festival
Performed at Allegheny RiverStone Arts in Foxburg, PA
Performed at Garage Theatre Group in Teaneck, NJ
Performed at Perry-Mansfield in Steamboat, CO
Performed at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA
Performed at Idyllwild Arts Academy in CA