my work.

My playwriting work occupies two spaces, and though I’ve divided them here, it’s important to say that they overlap, inform each other, and seep into each other’s worlds regularly. As a playwright rooted in my hometown of St. Louis, I create plays for my community; I also write plays for the incarcerated communities I serve as a teaching artist in prisons throughout Eastern Missouri. The plays in this latter group are often written collaboratively with the artists, all of whom are participants in Prison Performing Arts’ restorative justice work.

The two groups are divided here as "St. Louis Original Plays” and “Plays for Incarcerated and System-Impacted Artists.”

St. Louis Original Plays

Wild Nights: a sleepover hosted by Emily Dickinson, during which we hope to see the Face of God. Emily Dickinson and her best friend, Sue, host a sleepover for Boston teenagers in 1997, in the hopes of becoming so delirious that they will see the Face of God. Production planned for Spring 2025.

The Pavement Kingdom: a clinic escort play. A clinic escort named CHARON gives her field guide to the abortion clinic parking lot. The writing and workshopping of this play were funded by the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission. Originally produced by Chorus of Fools in January 2025.

Romanov Family Yard Sale: a purgation play. It is July 1919, one year after the last ever Russian Tsar, Tsarina, and their children were murdered. The distant, and more importantly living, Romanov cousins have set up a yard sale in a formerly Tsar-sponsored Russian theatre wrecked by the Bolsheviks. No one cares about these Romanovs, but they are Romanovs nonetheless. Written for Equally Represented Arts (ERA) in St. Louis. Produced by ERA in July 2024. (Circle Award Nominee for Outstanding New Play)

The Brechtfast Club. Co-Written with Lucy Cashion for Equally Represented Arts (ERA). A group of East German Stasi officers are stuck at work spying on a Saturday. Unexpectedly, they pick up a transmission of a high school detention...in America. A Brechtian adaptation(ish) of THE BREAKFAST CLUB. Produced by ERA in Summer 2023.

Margaret Fuller Magick Show: a play in two magickal ceremonies and one magic trick. Margaret Fuller, nineteenth-century writer and feminist, must perform a magick show (yes, with a k) on a ghostly cruise ship to avoid her early death. The writing and workshopping of this play was funded by the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission.

Brontë Sister House Party. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë—of Victorian literary fame—are trapped in a purgatorial time loop where they are forced to throw a fabulous house party every night. Commissioned by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival in 2021 for the Confluence Regional Writers' Project. Produced by SATE in Fall 2022. (Circle Award Winner for Outstanding New Play)

Tonya and the Totes in Subterrastrata. A woman is in the process of fossilization in the Earth's underbelly—in a layer composed entirely of complimentary canvas tote bags. Produced by SATE as part of the 2021 Aphra Behn New Play Festival.

Everything I eat in a day. Kirsten shows us everything she eats in a day. Produced by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival during the pandemic.

Immersion Play. Megan asks her Mexican boyfriend, Domingo, to only speak Spanish with her to help her improve her beginner language skills for their upcoming trip to Mexico City. First produced with SheNYC at the Connelly Theater in Summer 2019, with a pop-up performance in St. Louis in October 2019.

Plays for Incarcerated and System-Impacted Artists

Frankenfathers. A group of Frankenstein-type monsters decides to create a human son to raise to work in their quilting shop. Instead, they get a daughter. Commissioned by Prison Performing Arts. Script is property of PPA.

The Lost Boys Family Reunion. The former Lost Boys of Neverland are back together after growing up. They are throwing their regular "Lost Boys Family Reunion," a backyard barbecue where they remember the moments they knew they had to grow up. No pirates allowed. Written in collaboration with incarcerated artists. This play was commissioned by Prison Performing Arts of St. Louis for performance at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. Script is property of Prison Performing Arts.

Little Women Town. The residents of Little Women Town must tell the story of Louisa May Alcott’s novel every day, living out the story’s most famous scenes in perpetuum. Each March sister must play her role, but at what cost? When do they get to define for themselves the parameters of their own little life? This play was commissioned by Prison Performing Arts for Women's Eastern Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center in Missouri. Written in collaboration with incarcerated artists at WERDCC. Script is property of Prison Performing Arts.

Gatsby of a Thousand Faces: a play of literary corrections. A troupe of Jay Gatsbys have decided to hold an academic conference of “literary corrections” to present to their Creator, F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s unclear if this is a friendly academic presentation…or an ambush. Commissioned by Prison Performing Arts for performance at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. The play is inspired by writing from incarcerated artists. Script is property of Prison Performing Arts.

Britches! A Play for Lady Romeos. Charlotte and Susan Cushman’s sisterly rendition of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with Charlotte as Romeo and Susan as Juliet, has turned out to be far more popular and profitable than they ever imagined. Back in their hometown of Boston after playing to sold out houses in London, the sisters remount the show with a new addition: a female actor named Joan now plays Benvolio. This play was commissioned by Prison Performing Arts for Women's Eastern Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center in Missouri. It was inspired by writing from incarcerated artists. Completed with the support of a Folger Shakespeare Library Virtual Artistic Research Fellowship. Script is the property of Prison Performing Arts.

The Caverns of Wingwood: A Parable of Reptilian Philosophy. Two travelers accidentally free a group of men from an underground cave. The only trouble is that the men don't think they are men—they think they are dragons.Commissioned by Prison Performing Arts for performance at Northeast Correctional Center. The play is inspired by writing from incarcerated artists. Script is property of Prison Performing Arts.

The Society of Dream Interpreters. This is the place where messages are sent through dreams. A sort-of post office in between the moments of sleeping and waking. Our Dream Interpreters receive messages and try to sort them back to the right sleeping minds.Commissioned by Prison Performing Arts for performance at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. The play is adapted from writing by incarcerated artists. Script is property of Prison Performing Arts.

The Golden Record: a brief and imperfect catalog of lost new years and cosmic time, performed while hurtling through space. Two interstellar travelers (and a chicken named Filberta) fly through space to a new home. While they travel, they listen to transmissions from their own golden record. Commissioned by Prison Performing Arts for performance by the PPA Alumni Theatre Company. The play is an adaptation of several writings by justice-impacted individuals and currently incarcerated artists. Script is property of Prison Performing Arts.