Works written by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb:
TIM’S LAST WORDS
LITTER
MEANINGLESS
THE TOTALITARIANS
A HOUSE TOUR OF THE INFAMOUS PORTER FAMILY MANSION WITH TOUR GUIDE WESTON LUDLOW LONDONDERRY
THE MAKING OF A GREAT MOMENT
FALL SPRINGS (musical with composer/co-lyricist Nikos Tsakalakos)
Synopses:
Tim’s Last Words – (4M) A dinner out with couple friends ends a bit early when Tim’s partner spews out a mysterious glob made of squid beaks from his stomach and dies. Tim impulsively takes the glob, but doesn’t really know what to do with it. Much like many of us are not sure how to handle the grief we accumulate over time. A comedy about loss and homosexuals. Semifinalist for the 2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival.
Litter – (12 M/W) Meet the Framingham Dodecatuplets, 12 siblings born simultaneously thanks to the wonders of modern science. Together they form a vaudevillian troupe, exploiting the novelty of their situation through song and dance. Now fully grown, the Dodecatuplets find themselves abandoned by those who raised them, struggling to find gigs, and significantly less cute. Family tensions intensify and when a revelation rocks the very foundation of their beliefs, the Dodecatuplets are forced to reckon with their individual dreams and having to re-learn what a family is.
Meaningless – (2M 2W) San Francisco in the late 90’s: a world that now seems very far off: a world of little worry, abundant wealth, and lots of stock options. Enter Ted, a young, gay, heartbroken (his college boyfriend has just come out as straight) man, desperate to find some purpose to his life. Moving to San Francisco with his lesbian best friend, Linda, Ted tries to “find himself,” through abstinence, dot com slavery, chat room dates, anonymous sex, gay clubs, and lots of drinking. His journeys propel him to new lows of self absorption that isolate him further from anything or anyone who actually cares about him. When the economy crashes, so does Ted. Will Ted ever stop thinking about himself? Will he survive his narcissistic journey and find some pathway towards human decency and general happiness? Or will he become just another Abercrombie body fiend cruising every night at the Bar on Castro with a Long Island Ice Tea in his hand and a sample lube packet in the other?
The Totalitarians – (2M 2W) It’s the “most important election of your lifetime” in Nebraska. Is candidate Penelope Easter the best thing to happen to the state or is she part of a conspiracy to transform it into a Totalitarian regime? A couple torn apart by their opposing personality types and careers, a conspiracist plagued with cancer and an overly aggressive politician make up the dark comedy that takes a look at politics and relationships and what happens when honesty and truth are hard to come by.
A House Tour of the Infamous Porter Family Mansion with Tour Guide Weston Ludlow Londonderry – (1M) Deeply probe the most private rooms of legendary eccentric couple Hubert and Clarissa Porter. Come face to face with “The Stick of Butter That Changed Everything.” Touch furniture. Stroke walls. Unlock secrets? Savor intimate, penetrating anecdotes and parables exuded by the worldly, singular and particular, Weston Ludlow Londonderry. A House Tour of the Infamous Porter Family Mansion with Tour Guide Weston Ludlow Londonderry is a one man play in the form of a surreal and occasionally unreal journey through the former home of a tremendously wealthy and eccentric couple, Hubert and Clarissa Porter. Audiences will be guided through an expansive mansion/compound (imagined in a theatre space), a structure that physically tells the story of the absurdly wealthy couple’s journey towards eccentricity, insanity, and sudden mysterious isolation from the outer world.
The Making of a Great Moment (1M 1W) – Mona Barnes and Terry Dean are on a momentous journey with an important mission: Tour the world the bicycle and bring humanity together with the power of theater. But our spirited heroes are faced with numerous obstacles to achieving their goal: technical limitations of their performance venues, unruly audiences, bad writing, broken bicycles, difficult terrain, blisters and back pain, the lack of laundry facilities or occasionally place to sleep and, of course, the challenge of being in close proximity, for many many many many days. But the greatest challenge to their mission is existential, a growing feeling of doubt and questioning: Why are they doing this? As their tour grinds forward the strain and questions only mount as they reckon with the scope and significance of their own lives…What will Mona and Terry’s Great Moment be?
Fall Springs (Music and lyrics by Nikos Tsakalakos, Book and lyrics by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb) (6M 6W) – Fall Springs is a charming, landlocked, cash-strapped town that sits directly on top of America’s largest reserve of cosmetic Essential Oils. And it has big dreams. But at what cost? With increased oil extraction and new fracking techniques being recklessly implemented, the ground beneath Fall Springs is beginning to crumble. Streets are cracking and buckling. Road-signs, boulders, and the occasional bartender are being swallowed into the ground. And that’s just the beginning. Only Eloise Bradley, teenage wallflower geology-buff daughter of the Mayor, seems to notice that a catastrophe is imminent. Will she be able to persuade her fellow townsfolk of the dangers before it’s too late? Of course not. Dramatic action sequences, parent/child angst, lost limbs, found souls, and a rocking, driving, passionate hook-filled score, Fall Springs takes the best of musical theatre and disaster films to forge a hilarious and heartfelt musical comedy about the consequences of pushing Nature too far and what happens when our routine lives become interrupted and we’re forced to sacrifice to save what we love.
Bio:
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, 6’6”, is a San Francisco-based playwright who often writes about misfits, biology, apocalypse, and people struggling against large systems. His works include the plays boom (TCG’s most produced play 2009-10), BOB: A Life in 5 Acts, The Totalitarians, Hunter Gatherers, The Making of a Great Moment, A House Tour of the Infamous Porter Family Mansion with Tour Guide Weston Ludlow Londonderry, T.I.C. (Trenchcoat In Common), Colorado, Litter: The True Story of the Framingham Dodecutuplets, and the musical Fall Springs with composer/co-lyricist Niko Tsakalakos. His work has been seen off-Broadway and across the world including at Ars Nova, Woolly Mammoth, Seattle Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Southern Rep, Barrington Stage Company, Kitchen Dog, Merrimack Repertory and in the Bay Area at Z Space, A.C.T., Encore Theatre, Killing My Lobster, Marin Theatre Company, Impact Theatre, and The Bay Area Playwrights Festival. His plays have received numerous awards including the Will Glickman Prize, The Stavis Award, The ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award, among others. Peter is an alumna of New Dramatists and was the Mellon/HowlRound Playwright in Residence at Z Space in San Francisco 2013-18. He holds a degree in Theater and Biology from Brown and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. He likes to promote himself online at www.peternachtrieb.com.
Website: www.peternachtrieb.com
* Please note that some titles are handled by Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, Broadway Play Publishing, and Playscripts.com. Please ask if you don’t see a particular play.