STAGE
THE POISONER
2024 | BALLAD OPERA
Written by M. M. Haney
Longtime Mack City worker Jack is asked to re-start the abandoned city water plant by his new boss, Dwayne, the powerful new city manager. Although the mothballed facility has been out of commission for over 50 years, Jack successfully restarts the decrepit plant, switching to local river water expected to save the city millions of dollars. As his beloved godson Sammy falls sick and complaints of dirty water begin to surface among residents, however, Jack finds himself at the center of a complex cover up which threatens to poison him, those he loves, and the citizens of Mack City. Through Jack's deepening awareness of his own culpability, THE POISONER explores systemic racism, genuine community, and philia love that can transcend political and societal barriers.
GREUSOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES
2011 | COMEDY/DRAMA
Written by Rajiv Joseph
It’s not your typical love story: Doug and Kayleen meet at the nurse’s office in their elementary school; she’s got a painful stomach ache, and he’s all banged up from a running dive off the roof of the school. Over the next thirty years, these scar-crossed lovers meet again and again, brought together by injury, heartbreak, and their own self-destructive tendencies. With great compassion and humor, playwright Rajiv Joseph (Broadway’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) crafts a compelling and unconventional love story about the intimacy between two people when they allow their defenses to drop and their wounds to show.