Works written by Gabriel Jason Dean:
RIFT, OR WHITE LIES
IN BLOOM
OUR NEW TOWN
MARIO & THE COMET
TRIGGERED
ENTANGLED
HEARTLAND
TERMINUS
QUALITIES OF STARLIGHT
THE TRANSITION OF DOODLE PEQUENO
Synopses:
Rift, Or White Lies – (2M) Two brothers–one a progressive novelist; the other a convicted murderer and high-ranking member of a white supremacist prison gang. Though united through their traumatic childhood, these men must now navigate the edges of their brotherly bond. Are they truly so different? Is it possible to love someone whose beliefs you hate? Based on actual events in the life of playwright Gabriel Jason Dean, Rift, or White Lies chronicles over twenty years of estrangement, ideological divide, and the joys and heartbreaking aftermath of an explosive familial reunion. With actors swapping roles between performances, this autobiographical two-hander is an inside-out, tour-de-force examination of whiteness, maleness, truth, and legacy.
In Bloom – (7M 1W) In 2006, Aaron, an American documentary filmmaker, goes to Afghanistan to shoot a film about the sudden rise of the opium trade post-Taliban. During the shoot, Aaron encounters bacha bazi (literally translated boy play) – a subculture practice where young boys dress in women’s clothing and dance for wealthy warlords at parties. Afterwards, the boys are prostituted to the highest bidder. When Aaron meets Hafiz, one of the abused boys, his intentions in Afghanistan become personal. IN BLOOM is a dangerous allegory that examines the consequences of telling someone else’s story.
Our New Town – (5M 5W) In the aftermath of the deadliest shooting on a college campus in US history, surviving cast members of Thornton Wilder’s OUR TOWN put together an unauthorized show as a way to reclaim their theatre space and heal their broken community. But when the event is stopped mid-performance, the cast and audience must decide between compliance or defiance. A hyper theatrical blend of truth with fiction, of scene with song, OUR NEW TOWN is an immersive play that puts the audience at the center of an American crisis.
Mario & the Comet – The Venedicci Comet is headed straight toward Earth. Apocalyptics predict that it will strike, causing total annihilation; while most scientists speculate it will be a near-miss and Earthlings will behold history’s most awe-inspiring celestial event. Either way, Mario is prepared. With a chorus of rubber ducks and soaring songs about the theory of relativity, MARIO & THE COMET is a new musical adventure-comedy about how absence can be like an earth-shattering comet; but when faced together as a family, it can become a thing of beauty— a celebration of life and love.
Triggered – (3W 1M) A survivor of a mass shooting in New York City must confront her trauma, but when her awakening anti-gun activism threatens her relationship with her girlfriend, an NYPD officer, the political becomes deeply personal.
Entangled – (1W 1M) In the aftermath of a mass shooting in NYC, the black mother of a victim and the white brother of the shooter try to make sense of what happened, each individually grappling with a soul-shattering experience that few understand. An exploration of loss and survival, ENTANGLED is the story of two strangers connected by tragedy in a nation still struggling to see itself for what it is.
Heartland – ( 2M 1W) Dr. Harold Banks is a retired professor of Comparative Literature and Afghan Studies, waiting for his adopted daughter to return from teaching in Afghanistan, her native country. When Nazrullah, an Afghan refugee, suddenly arrives on his Nebraska doorstep armed only with his daughter’s copies of The Diary of Anne Frank and The Old Man and the Sea – the two men become unlikely roommates. Set in both Maidan Shar, Afghanistan and Omaha, Nebraska Heartland is the story of a father, his determined daughter, and a journey towards mercy.
Terminus – (3M 4W) TERMINUS tells the story of Eller–a progressive white matriarch–and her mixed-race grandson, Jaybo, who live together down by the railroad tracks in rural Georgia. When Eller’s mind begins to fade, her violent past in the segregated South haunts her from the very walls of the old family home. And as she descends terrifyingly closer toward a horrifying truth, Jaybo’s capacity to love his grandmother is put to the test.
Qualities of Starlight – (2M 2W) Theo Turner is a young cosmologist and his “big bang” isn’t just theoretical. His universe explodes when he and his wife travel to his hometown in the rural South to deliver news about an impending adoption and discover that Theo’s aging parents are meth addicts. A comedy about the frailty of faith, the unspoken bonds of family, and the mysterious expansion of the universe.
The Transition of Poodle Pequeno – (4M 2W) It’s Halloween in Southern California, the Santa Ana winds blow fiercely and nothing is as it seems. Doodle Pequeño is new to town and has only his imaginary goat Valencia to keep him company until there is an unexpected knock on the door. In this magic-filled, award winning play for all ages, two boys become fast friends while learning that difference is to be celebrated.
Bio:
Dubbed “feisty as hell” by the New Yorker and “a great modern American playwright” by Broadway World, Gabriel Jason Dean is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose critically-acclaimed plays for children and adults include RIFT, OR WHITE LIES (Venturous Theatre Foundation Plays for Now Grant Recipient, National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere); IN BLOOM (Risk Theatre Model Modern Tragedy Prize, Kennedy Center Paula Vogel Award, Laurents / Hatcher Award Finalist, Princess Grace Award Runner-Up); QUALITIES OF STARLIGHT (Broadway Blacklist, Kesselring Nomination, Essential Theatre New Play Prize, B. Iden Payne Awards for Outstanding Comedy & Best Original Script); TERMINUS (James Tait Black Prize Finalist, B. Iden Payne Awards for Outstanding Drama & Best Original Script, Austin Critic’s Table Award Best Production, PlayPenn) HEARTLAND (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, InterAct 20/20 Commission, Austin Critic’s Table David Mark Cohen New Play Award, B. Iden Payne Award for Best Original Script, PlayPenn), ENTANGLED (co-written with Charly Evon Simpson; New York Innovative Theatre Award Nomination Best Full Length Script), THE TRANSITION OF DOODLE PEQUEÑO (American Alliance for Theatre & Education Distinguished Play Award, Kennedy Center TYA Award, New England Theatre Conference Aurand Harris Award); and others. He has written book and lyrics for the musicals MARIO & THE COMET (NYU Plays for Young Audiences) and OUR NEW TOWN (Civilians R&D Group). Screenplays include GET GOMEZ with Cranium Entertainment, PIGSKIN and D’ANGELICO, TV Pilots WE BELONG (Humanitas New Television Writer Award Finalist), DEPLORABLE, RABBLE, and animated series TENDERFOOT. His plays have been produced or developed at places such as New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, The Cherry Lane Theatre, Araca Group, The Lark, The Flea, The Civilians, Oregon Shakespeare, The Kennedy Center, The Amoralists, Geva Theatre Center, Luna Stage, Amphibian Stages, PlayPenn, Interact, The Playwrights’ Center, Davenport Theatrical, Stage Left, The VORTEX, Theatre [502], Aurora Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Dallas Children’s Theatre, People’s Light and Theatre, Dad’s Garage Theatre, Actor’s Express, Horizon Theatre, Source Festival, Essential Theatre, and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Gabriel received the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, Dramatist’s Guild Fellowship, and the Sallie B. Goodman / McCarter Theatre Fellowship. His scripts are published through Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, and Playscripts. He is an Assistant Professor of English Literatures and Writing & Theatre at Muhlenberg College, faculty for Spalding University’s MFA Program, an alum of The Civilians R&D Group, an Affiliated Writer at The Playwrights’ Center, an Associate Artist with Monk Parrots and a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop. MFA: UT-Austin Michener Center for Writers. He grew up in Chatsworth, GA, a mill town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.