Playwright
Dance On Bones
FULL LENGTH, play for actors and jazz musicians
1 – 4 Actors
1 – 4 Jazz Musicians
In a world very like our own, in which sea levels are rising, trees are being ravaged, and jazz may be the only thing that can save humanity. Dance On Bones is inspired by and structured around jazz music and riffs off of the folklore of the jazz scenes in St. Petersburg, Russia and New Orleans, Louisiana; creation myths; flooding cities; and current environmental circumstances washing away our shores.
PRODUCTION
- Upcoming: Summer Repertory Theatre, Columbia, Missouri. Directed by Matt Saltzberg (June/July 2018)
- Upcoming: Boston Conservatory, Freshmen Ensemble Devising Production. Directed by Mark Krawczyk (May 2018)
- Towson University 150th Anniversary Signature Event. Directed by Peter Wray. (March 2016)
DEVELOPMENT
- Reading, Charlestown Working Theatre. Directed by Mark Krawczyk. (December 2015)
- Workshop Production, Chesapeake Arts Center. Directed by Yury Urnov. (March 2015)
- Workshop Production, Ilkhom Theater of Mark Weil, Tashkent, Uzbekistan . Directed by Tyler Polumsky and Gavin Reub. (April/May 2014)
- Towson Theatre Lab Readings (November 2013 & March 2014)
- Generous Company Readings (October 2013)
FELLOWSHIPS and SUPPORT
- Generous Company/Dramatists Guild Fund Grant (June 2013)
- Cultural Fellowships in Russia, a program of the Likhachev Foundation, funded by The Foundation of the First President of Russia Boris N. Yeltsin and the Committee of External Relations of St. Petersburg (May 2013)
Last Chance: tales of a broken heartland
SERIAL OF ONE-ACT PLAYS, Dark Comedy
4M/4W
Episodes: Trash, Ain’t Nothin’ Quik ‘n Easy, Watersheds, Loser, Ninjas & Squirrels, Cut Once, Measure Twice,Trailer, Tall Buildings, Enough
As convenience stores and a new highway begins to bypass life in the community Last Chance, people try to hold onto their way of life as it is being ripped from their grasp. From flying refrigerators to the horrors of meth to the death of the local store, Last Chance provides an extended viewing experience designed to create a new community of audience and artists.
PRODUCTIONS
- Episodes: Trash and Ninjas & Squirrels – Towson University, Center for the Arts, (November 29 – December 8 2012). Directed by Peter Wray
DEVELOPMENT
- Episodes: Ninjas & Squirrels, Loser, Trash, Cut Once, Measure Twice, Ain’t Nothin’ Quik ‘n Easy, and Trailer (Staged Readings) – Show and Tell Collective, Baltimore, Maryland (June & July 2014)
- Episodes: Trash, Cut Once, Ninjas & Squirrels, and Measure Twice (Readings) – Spooky Action Ranch @ The Hideout and The Vortex, Austin, Texas (March 19 & 20 2014)
- Episodes: Cut Once, Measure Twice, Trash, Ninjas & Squirrels, Ain’t Nothin’ Quik ‘n Easy, Watersheds, Loser, Enough, Tall Buildings (Readings)- Generous Company’s GUMBO, Baltimore Theatre Project (January 6 – 8, 2012)
Yury Klavdiev’s Martial Arts
(translated with Yury Urnov)
ONE ACT, Dark Comedy
4M/3W
A cross between Pulp Fiction and Bridge to Terebethia, Yury Klavdiev’s play plunges us into a dark world in which a young boy is given a package of heroin as an inheritance and must figure out how to deal with consequences the may cost his innocence.
PRODUCTIONS
- Breaking String Theatre, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, Austin, Texas, 2013. Directed by Graham Schmidt
- Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region II, Towson, MD, 2011. Directed by Yury Urnov
- CITD/Towson New Russian Drama Conference, Towson MD, 2010. Directed by Yury Urnov
- Towson University, Towson, MD, 2010. Directed by Yury Urnov
DEVELOPMENT
- Commissioned by the Center for International Theatre Development/ Towson University New Russian Drama project, 2009
PRESS
“The images persist in the mind with that delicacy. That achievement in suggesting these odd subtleties in English from the Russian original does credit to the translators, led in this case by Dave White.” — Austin Live Theatre (Robinson)
“A shameless and exuberant celebration of American pop culture.” — Baltimore City Paper
“This black comedy strikes its balance between humor and violence.” — Time Out NY
“The action of Martial Arts is rapid and the setting is antipathetically engrossing.” Austin Live Theatre (Scipione)
PUBLICATION
- Real and Phantom Pains: An Anthology of New Russian Drama, ed. John Freedman, New Academia Publishing, 2014.
Ain’t Nothin’ Quik ‘n Easy
ONE ACT, Drama
4M/4W
When the Quik ‘n Easy convenience store comes to town, Barker’s country store just can’t keep up. Journey inside an old country store on its last night in business for the laughter, tears, and memories that can only come from home.
PRODUCTIONS
- Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO, 2009. Directed by Jamie Lindemann
- William Woods University, Westminister, MO, 2005. Directed by Melissa Alpers
- University of Missouri – St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 2005. Directed by Doc Love
- University of Missouri – Columbia, Columbia, MO 2004. Directed by Kate Berneking Kogut
- Greenbrier Valley Theater Festival of Community Plays, Lewisburg, WV, 2004. Directed by Devin McCann Preston
DEVELOPMENT
- WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory. Directed by Cathey Sawyer
PRESS
“Binds together the questions of community, responsibility, and hope.” — Marshall Democrat-News
Leaves of Hope: a play for Joplin
FULL LENGTH, Docudrama
5M/4W
Written by the people of Joplin, Missouri about the May 22nd, 2011 tornado and how it changed their town (compiled with a team of students from Joplin High School)
DEVELOPMENT
- Reading at LL Sayers in Joplin, Missouri on one year anniversary of tornado.
Pavel Pryazhko’s Panties
(translated with Yury Urnov)
FULL LENGTH, surreal drama
5M/6W
Nina wrestles with the familial, commercial, and personal pressures of being a woman in Russia.
DEVELOPMENT
- Reading at WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory, 2011
PUBLICATION
- Real and Phantom Pains: An Anthology of New Russian Drama, ed. John Freedman, New Academia Publishing, 2014.
Enough
TEN MINUTE, Drama
1M
What happens to the last person in town?
PRODUCTIONS
- Boston Playwrights Marathon, Boston MA, 2007.
DEVELOPMENT
- Reading of Russian translation at ArtFaq in Moscow, Russia, 2011
Arithmetic Insurrection – a comedy about mathematics…for kids!
ONE ACT, Children’s Theatre Grades 6 – 9
3M/3F
Six students imagine the important works of Archimedes, Galileo, Sir Ronald Fisher (statistics), and Sophie Germain (mathematics).
PRODUCTIONS
- Towson University, Towson, MD, 2010. Directed by David M White
- North Harford High School, Pylesville, MD, 2010. Directed by David M White
- Towson University Geomatics Academy, Towson, MD 2009. Directed by David M White
DEVELOPMENT
- Commissioned by the Towson University Department of Mathematics and the Maryland Higher Education Commission, 2009
Trash
ONE ACT, Comedy
2M/1W
When the lure of a promotion at the Quik ‘n Easy convenience store draws Melissa away from Last Chance, her friends Bob and Winter wrestle with her leaving.
PRODUCTIONS
- North Fauquier Festival of One Acts, Falls Church, VA, 2006. Produced by Fauquier Community Theatre
- Generous Company, Fringe NYC, 2005. Directed by Doc Love
PRESS
“Trash toes a light, easy line between chuckles and moments of throat-catching poignancy.” — New York Magazine
“The producers of the FringeNYC have found a little nugget of gold in White’s one-act comedy Trash. If you’re looking at a great comedy that never scoffs at its characters, then Trash is your bag.” – NYTheatre.com
Alice in Wonderland
ONE ACT, Children’s Theatre by Children
20M/20F
A fast-paced stage adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic about a young girl navigating her way through Wonderland.
PRODUCTION
- Beck Center for the Arts, Cleveland, OH, 2007. Directed by Dawn Youngs
DEVELOPMENT
- Commission, Beck Center for the Arts, Cleveland, OH, 2007
Watersheds
FULL LENGTH, Drama
4M/4W
A hundred year look at life on a creek in the Ozark mountains.
DEVELOPMENT
- Epic Repertory Theatre, NYC, 2006.
davewhiteplaywright.com 