Plays written by Allison Gregory:
THE LOYALS
BACKSTORY
TRENT’S LAST CASE
LULU IN ROCHESTER
THE NIGHTGARDEN
NOT MEDEA
WILD HORSES
MOTHERLAND
UNCERTAIN TERMS
Synopses:
The Loyals (3f, 4m, ethnically diverse): Meet Peggy Shippen – young, bright, socially prominent, politically ambivalent. At eighteen she becomes Mrs. Benedict Arnold – but wait, is she a knowing partner in her infamous husband’s outrageous attempt to destroy a country fighting for its independence? A comedy about treason that deftly undresses patriotism, espionage, and the greatest act of disloyalty this young country had ever seen. These are complicated times, those were complicated times; if history is the fundamental lens we view the present through, should we be worried yet?
BackStory (3f, ethnically diverse): BackStory probes the intricacies, wit, and betrayals between two estranged sisters – one an incarcerated mother, the other an influential lawyer who helped put her away, when a benevolent stranger becomes an invisible link between their lives. Who in the world volunteers at a prison – and more importantly, why?
Trent’s Last Case (3f, 4m, ethnically diverse): No one seems to be mourning the late Wall Street tycoon Sigsbee Manderson, who’s body is discovered on the grounds of his summer estate. When painter and sometimes-super sleuth Philip Trent is tapped to investigate, he manages to fall in love with the dead man’s oddly enigmatic widow – and jump to all the wrong conclusions. With loads of plot, wit, and theatricality, Trent’s Last Case twists and twists again before the shocking truth is finally revealed. Based on the book Agatha Christie cited as “one of the best detective novels ever written.”
Lulu in Rochester (1f,1m): Inspired by real events, Lulu in Rochester follows the fascinating, tumultuous partnership between famously reclusive silent-film star Louise Brooks and acclaimed Eastman House film-curator James Card. When he attempts to persuade his irreverent idol to flee New York City for Rochester and to view her celebrated films for the first time, Louise must confront the myths and perceptions that have shaped her life and her work. His obsession and her need for the truth shed light on the mystery of why ‘Lulu’ inexplicably disappeared at the height of her fame –- or possibly never existed.
The Night Garden (5f, 3m, ethnically diverse): A restless daughter, her doting father, a remote castle deep in the forests of Styria. Townspeople are falling victim to a malevolent plague no one can identify. Young Laura’s quarantined world is altered by the startling arrival of a beguiling young woman. Soon a different kind of affliction invades the castle inhabitants, from which no one is protected. The Night Garden is inspired by Carmilla, a short story by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, published in 1872 — more than twenty years before Bram Stoker penned Dracula, covertly basing his characters on Le Fanu’s and forever shaping our concept of the undead.
Not Medea (2f, 1m, ethnically diverse): What if the show you came to see is not the show you need to see? A working mother escapes to the sanctuary of the theatre and encounters a play she desperately doesn’t want to watch, so she manipulates the show– and the audience, leading them through her own very personal story. A synthesis of myth/magic/real world, Not Medea is a fierce slap-down about love, lust, motherhood, and forgiveness — and something else entirely.
Wild Horses (1f, any ethnic): It’s the 70’s, there’s music and make-outs and freedom is just out of reach. A savagely-funny play about a threshold summer that forever alters an adolescent girl, as portrayed by her grown-up self. Complex and timeless, this is a coming-of-age story for all generations. The pathos and hubris of her teenage years, the struggle for identity, independence, and authenticity, and the desire to find her place in a complicated world – it all come rushing at us as she takes us on the ride of her life.
Motherland (2f, 5m, ethnically diverse): A self-made woman does her crafty best to protect her wayward children, keep her food truck business competitive and thriving, and impart a kind of moral code in a city battling the War on Poverty. Funny, forceful, and tragic, in Motherland grit, guile and guns are everyday parenting tools, and hope comes at a cost. A contemporary riff on Mother Courage.
Uncertain Terms (4f, 1m, ethnically diverse): When Dani decides to sell the family home in 2009, she is in for more than she bargained for, and not just because the bottom has dropped out of the housing market and the country is headlong into a recession. Her ex-husband insists that Dani’s deceased mother said he could live in the house forever. Dani is getting no help from her unemployed brother, the realtor has lost her bearings, and a surprise visitor may or may not be telling the truth about who she is and what she wants. Unloading the past is complicated.
Bio:
Allison Gregory’s plays have been produced nationally and internationally by a fusion of professional theatres, academic stages, and non-traditional spaces. She has received support and commissions/grants/development from Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Kennedy Center, South Coast Repertory, Indiana Repertory Theatre, The Playwright’s Center, the Skirball-Kenis Foundation, Hedgebrook, The New Harmony Project, GEVA, Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT Theater, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, The National New Play Network, Northwest Playwright’s Alliance, Austin Scriptworks.
Allison’s spirit of invention takes many forms. Her plays range from historical satires centering on under-represented women which ask us to reconsider how we got where we are, to muscular contemporary interpretations of mythology and fairytales, to intimate dramas and rowdy, irreverent children’s theatre. Her work includes Not Medea and Wild Horses, which were O’Neill Finalists and received multiple Rolling World Premieres through NNPN; Motherland, a reimagining of Brecht’s Mother Courage for a diverse world, and Trent’s Last Case, an adaptation of a popular 1913 detective novel.
Allison’s plays for young audiences include Go Dog. Go!, adapted from the P.D. Eastman book and co-written with Steven Dietz; Peter and the Wolf, which toured nationally; a revved-up Red Riding Hood; Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter, which premiered simultaneously in the U.S. and Poland; Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!; Junie B. is Not A Crook; and Junie B., Toothless Wonder — all adapted from the beloved book series by Barbara Park. Allison has been recognized by TYA USA as “One of the 10 Most Produced TYA Playwrights”. Her plays are published by Dramatic Publishing, Playscripts, Smith & Krauss, and Rain City Press.
Website: www.allisongregoryplays.com