Plays Written by Roger Q. Mason:
THE DUAT
LAVENDER MEN
CALIFORNIA STORY
THE WHITE DRESS
THE PRIDE OF LIONS
HIDE AND HIDE
Synopses:
The DUAT – (1 Black man) A former COINTELPRO informant battles for soul redemption in the Egyptian afterlife. (one-act performance work; solo show; complete script available)
Lavender Men (1 Multiracial TGNC human; 2 white men) – Contemporary gender non-conformist Taffeta (they/them) plays post-mordem matchmaker to Abe Lincoln and his queer legal assistant Elmer Ellsworth, only to realize they are the one who needs real love healing. (queer historical fantasia; complete script available)
California Story (3 Genderqueer humans of color; 2 Latinx men; 1 Latinx woman; 1 white man) – As California becomes a white (I mean, American) state, the last Mexican governor of California tries to use the new “rule of law” to his advantage, causing his downfall. (epic theatre; complete script available)
The White Dress (1 Blasian genderqueer human; 1 Butch-femme human; 1 Black Man; 1 Filipina woman; 1 white man) – Jonathan wears dresses, kisses girls, shames his family and banishes the gender to hell. (full-length performance work; drama; complete script available)
The Pride of Lions (2 cisgender white men; 1 blond white genderqueer ingenue; 2 Black female impersonators; 1 Latinx female impersonator; 1 older white female impersonator) – In 1928, five female impersonators were imprisoned for indecency after performing in Mae West’s The Pleasure Man. This is what happened on their first night in jail. (full-length historical drama; in progress)
Hide and Hide (1 white man; 1 Filpina woman) – Set in the seedy underbelly of 1980 Los Angeles, a queer Texan fugitive and a Filipina undocumented immigrant collide in a sham marriage meant to change their lives for the better in the City of Angels. (poetic noir performance work; drama; complete script available)
Bio:
Roger Q. Mason (they/them) was recently dubbed by The Brooklyn Rail as “quickly becoming one of the most significant playwrights of the decade.” Their playwriting has been seen on Broadway at Circle in the Square (Circle Reading Series); Off and Off-Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, New Group, The Fire This Time Festival, Dixon Place, American Theatre of Actors, Flea Theatre, and Access Theater; and regionally at McCarter Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, Steep Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse, Theatre Rhinoceros, Open Fist Theatre Company, EST/LA, Coeurage Theatre, Rogue Artists Ensemble, Son of Semele, and Skylight Theatre. They are an honoree of the Kilroys List; the Chuck Rowland Pioneer Award; the Fire This Time Festival Alumni Spotlight; and the Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore Producers Award. Mason’s films have been recognized by the Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, SCAD Film Festival, AT&T Film Award and Atlanta International Film Festival. They’ve screened at Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, SCAD Film Festival, Hollyshorts, Outfest, Bentonville Film Festival, Outshine Film Festival, and the Pan African Film Festival. Mason holds degrees from Princeton University, Middlebury College, and Northwestern University. They are a member of Page 73’s Interstate 73 Writers Group, Primary Stages Writing Cohort, the co-host of Sister Roger’s Gayborhood podcast, and the lead mentor of the Shay Foundation Fellowship and the New Visions Fellowship.
Website: www.rogerqmason.com