c/o Mark Christian Subias Agency
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Email:
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Website: sheilacallaghan.com
Sheila Callaghan's plays have been produced and developed with Soho Rep, Playwright's Horizons, South Coast Repertory, Clubbed Thumb, The LARK, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, New Georges, and Moving Arts, among others. Sheila is the recipient of a 2000 Princess Grace Award for emerging artists, a 2001 LA Weekly Award for Best One-act, a 2001-02 Jerome Fellowship from the Playwright's Center in Minneapolis, a 2002 Chesley Prize for Lesbian Playwriting, a 2003 Mac Dowell Residency, a 2004 NYFA grant, a 2005 Cherry Lane Mentorship Fellow, a 2007 NYSCA grant, the 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn Award, and the prestigious 2007 Whiting Award. Her plays have been produced internationally in New Zealand, Norway, Germany, and the Czech Republic. She has been commissioned by Playwright's Horizons, South Coast Repertory, and EST/Sloan. Her full-length plays include SCAB, CRAWL FADE TO WHITE, CRUMBLE (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake), WE ARE NOT THESE HANDS, DEAD CITY, LASCIVIOUS SOMETHING, KATE CRACKERNUTS, THAT PRETTY PRETTY; OR, THE RAPE PLAY, and FEVER/DREAM. Several of her plays are published by Playscripts.com and Samuel French, and her monologues can be found in various anthologies. She has taught playwriting at The University of Rochester, The College of New Jersey, and Florida State University, and she is currently on the faculty at Spalding University's MFA program in creative writing. Sheila is a member of the Obie winning playwright's organization 13P and resident of New Dramatists.
LASCIVIOUS SOMETHING
Full-length Comic Drama, One Intermission
1M, 3W
Minimal Set
It's 1980 and Reagan has just been elected. August fled the country six
years prior to be with his beautiful young Greek bride on a secluded
Mediterranean island, where he planted a modest vineyard. Now, his young
wife is pregnant, his crop is robust, and he is about to have his first
tasting, when a strange woman in a large-brimmed hat arrives at the
couple's guesthouse.
Developed at the Cherry Lane Theatre (2006) (Finalist for the Mentor
Project). Finalist at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival (2006).
Developed at the Soho Writer/Director Lab (2004-2005). Commissioned by
South Coast Repertory Theatre (2002).
DEAD CITY
Full-length Comic Drama, No Intermission
3M, 4W
Minimal Set
While bringing her sexy hubby his mail one morning, Samantha Blossom
notices an envelope addressed to him from his lover. This spins her out
into her day raw and entirely untethered... until she begins following a
punk-rock genius poet girl half her age. This culminates in a frenzied
chaos parade in a sex club located in the meat-packing district of New
York City. Based on James Joyce's Ulysses.
Produced by New Georges (2006). Developed at the NYSF/Public Theatre
(2005). Workshopped at the Lark Theatre (2003). Commissioned by
Playwright's Horizons (2000). TimeOut NY Critic's Pick.
"Wonderful... Sheila Callaghan's pleasingly witty and theatrical new
drama that is a love letter to New York masquerading as hate mail....
[Callaghan] writes with a world-weary tone and has a poet's gift for
economical description. The entire dead city comes alive."--New York
Times
"Sheila Callaghan's riff on James Joyce's Ulysses is stylish, lyrical,
fascinating...and eminently worthwhile...the kind of work that is
thoroughly invigorating."--Backstage
"Sheila Callaghan surprises with an understandably sprawling but always interesting narrative.... It's an adventurous riff on [Ulysses] with an especially well-rounded and human character at play's center...at once realistic and fanciful."--Variety
"[Dead City] dissects the line between brilliance and just plain ol' crazy, blurring it even further... impressive."--Village Voice
WE ARE NOT THESE HANDS
Full-length Comedy, No Intermission
1M, 2W
Minimal Set
Ever since their school blew up, Moth and Belly have taken to stalking
an illegal internet café in the hopes of one day being allowed in. They
take particular interest in Leather, a skittish older man doing research
in the café. He is a self-proclaimed "freelance scholar" from a foreign
land with a sketchy past and a sticky secret. Leather begins to fall
head over heals in love with Moth... but what about Belly? This play
explores the effects of rampant capitalism on a country that is
ill-prepared for it.
Produced by Düesseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Düesseldorf (2008). Produced by Crowded Fire Theatre, San Francisco (2006). Developed with Soho Rep (2005). Commissioned by Eye of the Storm Theatre, Minneapolis (2002).
"The gap between rich and poor yawns so wide it aches in Sheila Callaghan's We Are Not These Hands, but much of the ache is from laughter... Hands is a comically engaging, subversively penetrating look at the human cost of unbridled capitalism on both sides of the river... The anger of the play's social vision is partly concealed by its copious humor, emerging more forcefully after it's over... Hands bristles with bright, comic originality, particularly in depicting the limitations of its people."--San Francisco Chronicle
"Bold and engaging, We Are Not These Hands is as fun as it is frightening... rich in detail and full of humor and pathos."
--Oakland Tribune
"Quirkily compelling... [Callaghan's] attacking much larger ideas about economics, politics, the discrepancy between global haves and have-nots, and the exoticization of the other. And once again she manages to get her jabs in while offering up weirdly engaging characters... Whimsical and daring... subversively smart."--East Bay Express
"Callaghan's characters reflect a set of tensions, affinities, and contradictions as they negotiate love and survival that speak fluently of their mutual alienation from a half-illusory world of winners... a satisfying mix of the satirical, madcap, and bizarre... a nicely original creation, broadly absurd yet also shaded by a deep ambivalence."--San Francisco Bay Guardian
CRAWL, FADE TO WHITE
Full-length Comic Drama, No Intermission
2M, 3W
Minimal Set
Louise is selling an expensive family heirloom to keep her daughter April in school and cease her more sordid "consultant" profession. April rushes home with lover in tow to halt the proceedings and save the lamp, but it has been intercepted by a quiet and bizarre middle-aged couple with a haunting secret. Attempts to reclaim the lamp are made, as a misplaced father slowly fades to white in the background.
Produced by Theatre of Note, Los Angeles (2005). Staged reading with Nascentworks (2005). Developed at the Playwright's Center, Minneapolis (2003). Commissioned by South Coast Repertory Theatre (2000).
"A flair for the peculiar distinguishes playwright Sheila Callaghan... [she finds] raw emotion under the deadpan uproar... Crawl has arresting elegance."--Los Angeles Times (Recommended)
"Sheila Callaghan takes us through the looking glass into a play with surreal plot developments... a strange-but-touching study
of estrangement, loneliness and reconciliation."--LA Weekly (Recommended)
"Callaghan's dialogue is sharp and bizarrely incisive, surely heralding another step in the evolution of a great contemporary playwright."--Entertainment Today
"The brilliance of Sheila Callaghan's play and a lesson to every aspiring writer is that she takes a mother-daughter conflict, dissects it, probes every aspect with jewel-like precision, incorporates flashbacks, contrasts it with frightened surreal neighbors--then presents the results in 90 taut minutes structured with the lyric prose of a poem. This densely layered play raises as many questions as it answers but it's a quirky delight."--CurtainUp
SCAB
Full-length Comic Drama, One Intermission
1-2M, 3W
Minimal Set
Anima's sphere of desperation and self-destruction is invaded by the arrival of her perky new roommate, Christa. Moved by a particularly malevolent statue of the Virgin Mary and a houseplant named Susan, Anima and Christa soon enter into a profound and intimate friendship that incurs traumatic results.
Produced by Live Girls Theatre, Seattle (2005); Blue House Theatre, Los Angeles (2004); Impact Theatre, Berkley ( 2003); and WET, NYC (2002). Workshopped by South Coast Repertory (2001). Staged Reading by Playwright's Horizons (2000). Workshopped by Printer's Devil Theatre, Seattle (1999).
"Scab... is written with a yen for interesting language and liberally salted with well-observed details of the lives of newly minted adults.... The play shines."--New York Times
"Sheila Callaghan crafts sparkling dialogue for two goofy graduate students in LA... Romantic entanglements are added with wit, and sensitivity. A whip-smart play."--TimeOut NY
"A provocative playwright who's just beginning to garner a national following, Callaghan creates work that's realistic and unpredictable, dark and funny, reassuring and disturbing."--Philadelphia Weekly
"It's opposites-attract meets love-triangle, though Callaghan spices it up by bringing into this fray a heckling Virgin Mary statue, dark angels who play tiny musical instruments and relatives who poop their pants. This magical David Lynch-esque undertow sets Scab apart from others in this oeuvre. Where some plays are quirky, Scab is downright weird; where others give closure, Callaghan opens a wound."--Seattle Times
CRUMBLE (LAY ME DOWN, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE)
Full-length Comic Drama, No Intermission
1M, 2W, 1 female child, age 11 (can be played by an adult)
Minimal Set
Janice asks for seven very strange objects for Christmas this year. Her perpetually anxious mother complies, suspecting Janice might blame her for the absurd circumstances in which her father disappeared. Janice reveals the dark nature of these objects to her mother on Christmas morning and a calamity ensues. Special appearances by Harrison Ford and Justin Timberlake, and a talking Apartment.
Produced by Moving Arts Theatre, Los Angeles (2005), Dog and Pony Theatre, Chicago (2005), and Impact Theatre, San Francisco (2005). Workshopped by Clubbed Thumb, NYC (2003). Workshop performance by Manhattan Theatre Source, NYC (2000).
"This whimsically eloquent view of a widow, her daughter and their anthropomorphic apartment, all bereft and bonkers, is a potent example of postmodern narrative invention... Ionesco never blended absurdity, terror and sentiment more strikingly... [a] sweetly audacious parable... Callaghan's breakthrough work."--Los Angeles Times (Critic's Pick)
"Soon-to-be classic... Whatever you do, don't miss it... Amazing..."--Entertainment Today
"[Callaghan] understands that theater is the ideal place in which to explore nonrealistic notions... original... intriguing... as off-kilter as the playwright's imagination."--Chicago Sun Times (Recommended)
"This is an amazing script, one I want to get my hands on and read again and again. It's touching, bittersweet, brutally honest at times, and freakishly surreal at others... This is not a fluffy show, nor is it depressing. It is thought provoking."--East Bay Voice
KATE CRACKERNUTS
Full-length Poetic Fable, One Intermission
4M, 5W, one puppet
Minimal Set
Kate's sister Anne, a ravishing beauty, wakes up one morning to discover a sheep's head between her shoulders. Thus begins the journey of the two sisters in their quest to return Anne's true head to its proper place. The journey is sidetracked, however, by Kate's obsession with a slim raver-boy who has a nasty little addiction. Based on the British fairy tale Kate Crackernuts.
Produced by The Flea Theatre, NYC (2004), 24th Street Theatre, Los Angeles (2003), and The Bloomington Playwrights' Project, Bloomington IN (2002). Staged reading by ASK Theatre Projects, Los Angeles (2001). Workshopped by Printer's Devil Theatre, Seattle (2000).
"Strange, dense, brilliant wordplay...part poetry slam, part rave, part dog-eared storybook theater, and all edgy, infectious, ultra-theatrical entertainment. Kate Crackernuts is an adult fairy tale that, like its tough but vulnerable heroine, follows a warped dream logic while keeping its sharp-tongued wits about it."--Los Angeles Times
"There's a wild terrain of words in this playwright's head...fantastical...a primal psychological crucible."--Village Voice
"A pulsing dreamscape where fairy tale meets rave...Breathtaking, ingenious innovation."--The Trojan Horse
"Watching it is rather like viewing a Pablo Picasso exhibit--full of color, angles, movement, musicians--and if you must ask what this actually means, you've missed the show."--Herald Times
NEW SHOES
One-act Absurd Drama
2M, 2W
Minimal Set
Richard, a middle-aged Vietnam vet, falls asleep one night next to his nagging wife and wakes up in the arms of his beautiful young secretary. His grasp of reality subsequently begins to crumble as his tortured past penetrates his benign present in real-time.
Produced by Moving Arts, Los Angeles (2000). Workshop performance by Expanded Arts, NYC (1997). Winner, 2001 LA Weekly Award for Best New One-act.
"Sheila Callaghan's New Shoes by far tops the bill... Callaghan's play tells the potent tale of Richard whose average life becomes infected with memories of a Vietnamese love affair... Throughout all this, a fantasy collage, merging disparate elements of his reality, unveils his secret yearnings."--LA Weekly
"The highlight of the evening was New Shoes by Sheila Callaghan of New York... As the act moves on, the audience is drawn deeper into the man's mind, wondering what he is thinking and where the scenes will take us... Talking to other audience members, some did not understand it at all, and others found it captivating."--Los Angeles Local Art Works
"When it's over we feel overwhelmed by the compelling images which dragged us into the inner haunts of the tortured man." --Reviewplays.com
TUMOR
One-act Comedy
2M, 3W
Minimal Set
Pete is pregnant. Sarah is pregnant. Kathie is pregnant. Richard is reacting badly to Kathie being pregnant. In stylized monologues and short scenes, each story is traced until the pregnancies arrive at their inevitable wacked-out conclusions.
Produced by Lincoln Center Theatre Lab, NYC (2002) and Screaming Venus, NYC, 2001. Staged reading by Annex Theatre, Seattle (2000).
"Playwright Sheila Callaghan explores the territory in all sorts of inventive ways."--nytheatre.com
AMERICAN JACK
One-act Drama
1M, 1W
Minimal Set
A fragmented and theatrical portrait of a Greek survivor of Nazi occupation, who subsequently builds a life for himself in America in the 70's brick by brick.
Produced by Moving Arts, Los Angeles (2003).
"Sheila Callaghan is another writer who plays with language, creating rhetorical sculptures with her repetitive phrases. In American Jack, Callaghan explores the journey of a man whose village in Greece was torched by occupying Germans in 1943, whose mother was raped by soldiers, and whose father was killed... Callaghan's language, however, is the key to the dramatic yet abstract tone of the piece."--Backstage West
SOAK
15-minute Awkward Comedy
1M, 2W, 1 Accordion Player
Minimal Set
Heidi and David come to this space every day. Something tragic happened here, but all that remains is the ghost of a German chanteuse, an accordion player, an iPod, and a shrine to Bjork. And everyone is drunk.
Produced by Sanctuary: Playwright's Theatre, NYC (2004).