THE FOOD OF LOVE by Phase Eight Theater Co.

premiering February 13th 2021

My adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac returns with a new star and co-writer, Andres D. Bravo, in a safely distanced radio version billed as "dinner theater at home". Tickets are available for the show stream as well as prepared five-course meals for pick-up from local caterers.

NEW VOICES: YOUNG VOICES

premiering June 2019

I am dramaturging Players by the Sea's 2018-2019 New Voices program, which I participated in during its initial 2016-2017 season. This year, the program puts a spotlight on teen voices Lauren Hancock and Worth Culver. I have supported their writing and editing process with feedback, readings, research, and guidance and am happy to lead a talkback after the June 7th premiere.

THE FOOD OF LOVE

Thursdays April 4th, 11th, and 25th,  2019

A mystery of identity, the poetry of a beautiful meal, a recipe for romance. This site-specific play in five courses is a queer take on the literary classic Cyrano de Bergerac and gives "dinner theater" a whole new meaning: attendees are served the same romantic dinner Roxanne enjoys in the show's plot.

The script was developed with Phase 8 Theatre Company's ensemble of Stephanie Santiago, Linzy Lauren, and Terrence Scott under the direction of JaMario Stills. Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art's Head Chef Amanda Henninger created the menu and feasts for two performances and an encore at the museum's NOLA cafe.

 A CAPTIVATING CAPER

April 11, 2019

Three suspicious characters; two stolen artworks; several clues; one night of museum mystery and interactive intrigue. This one-hour immersive experience was designed for a dinner party in the galleries of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.

HALLOWEEN MOON RISING

October 25-26, 2018 at the Matheson Museum

Museum-goers became Prohibition-era murder witnesses and active investigators in this immersive theater experience equally inspired by authentic Florida history and the cult film CLUE. The Matheson History Museum and Y-Not Theater company brought this seance-sational story to life. 

Photos by Aleksandr Wilde.

PONTYPOOL

October 2019

Canadian playwright Tony Burgess' cerebral take on zombie viruses  PONTYPOOL was selected for adaptation to the Players by the Sea stage and a Northeast Florida setting. I worked with Tony and local makers to ensure the transposed location and elements (e.g., blizzard to hurricane) served the story.

NOMINEE: BEST PLAYWRIGHT

FOLIO Weekly Best of Jax 2018

It's an honor just to be a playwright, but I'm delighted to be nominated alongside talented folks for the reader-determined title of Best Playwright. Congratulations to Al Letson on winning this honor.

WOMEN'S WORK

July 12, 19, & 26, 2018

Commissioned by Phase 8 Theatre in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, this immersive theatre piece centers on three freshman art students whose experience of a semester long course unfolds over three acts and three stories of the downtown museum campus, including the third floor exhibit "A Dark Place of Dreams", featuring the work of Louise Nevelson.

NYC READING: MADAME BONAPARTE

March 2018

A staged reading produced by Rockslide Productions at Park Center West not far from the New York Historical Society.

MADAME BONAPARTE

May 26 - June 3, 2017

Players by the Sea's inaugural New Voices festival, the culmination of a year-long play development process, presented Madame Bonaparte, adapted from the book Wondrous Beauty by Carol Berkin.

EU Jacksonville said, "...facts were so well presented that we were enthralled by Betsy’s unlikely but true story."

THE FUTURE IS FEMALE FESTIVAL

May 16, 2017

Clamour Theater Company invited me to participate in a night of one acts. I obliged with "The Precdent", a ten minute play about a continuum of women throughout history making the decision to strike out on their own.

TO THE SEA

October 21, 2015

Like the creek, sea, and river they connect to, the stories of a boy, a man, and an elder flow, shift, and interweave in this three-man, theatrical exploration of the human relationship with water commissioned by Players by the Sea and LEAP Creative.

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Photo illustration by Jim Alabiso.

FROM FATHER TO SON: AN ODYSSEY

November 2014

I adapted and directed Homer's classic from the point of view of his son Telemachus in order to suit the high school that commissioned.

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Photo by Celeste Burns.

WAR PAINT: A SUMMER CAMP STORY

2012

This original one act chronicles the night before summer camp ends: games are afoot, friendships will be tested, and hearts may be broken, all by the glow of the stars and in the beams of the flashlights. Offers colorblind and some gender flexible casting.

XOCHITL: A TALE OF A PRINCESS AND A PEA

April - May 2011

Express Children's Theatre in Houston, Texas commissioned this bilingual, one act version of The Princess and the Pea set in Mexico. Informed by the convergence of European and Native cultures, I set it in the 1700s.

SLAMMED

2009-2010 season

The Milwaukee Repertory Theater commissioned this three-person one act to tour as a complement to their mainstage, August Wilson's Radio Golf. Developed in partnership with and directed by Brent Hazelton.

MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB FINALIST

2009

My ten-minute play off the couch was presented at Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Utkarsh Ambudkar (Pitch Perfect) and Chris Abbott (Girls), as a finalist for the Dentyne REALationships playwriting competition.

THISBE & PYRAMUS

April 2020

 ten-minute verse play about a contemporary couple distanced not by a wall, but by the invisible and deadly virus she encounters on the job.

THE GRAIN OF THE LAND, TREVIEWS.COM

June, 2023

This is a great place to showcase a sample of your written work or write a short description about your project. Did you collaborate on a print or multimedia project? If so, dazzle your visitors with images and video. Make sure to include a link to the full live project or document so readers can enjoy the entire piece.

A PRECIOUS TRUTH, CUIK MAGAZINE

June 2023

This is a great place to showcase a sample of your written work or write a short description about your project. Did you collaborate on a print or multimedia project? If so, dazzle your visitors with images and video. Make sure to include a link to the full live project or document so readers can enjoy the entire piece.