About
the Play:
Heaven and Hell (on Earth): A Divine Comedy is an anthology of 16 short scenes each
written by a different playwright – Hilly Hicks Jr.,
Rebecca Gilman,
William Mastrosimone
and Keith Glover
among them – to form a thematic whole. In
this comic anthology, written for an ensemble of young actors, an
array of devilishly talented playwrights put a contemporary spin on a
fascinating eternal obsession. Grappling with their own diverse
experiences of vice and virtue, salvation and damnation, characters
from the twenty-something generation interpret their world with
amusing revelations and surprising insights.
The plays journey from Heaven
To Hell and points in between:
• Bad-Ass Of The Rip Eternal
by Elizabeth Wong (1
male)
• Barefoot Woman In The Red Dress
by Jane Martin (1
female)
• Capitalism 101 by
Rebecca Gilman (2
male)
• Coco Puffs by Alice
Tuan (1 female)
• Gone Goth by Melanie
Marnich (1 female)
• I-Kissandtell by
Michael Kassin (1
male)
• Just Hold Me by
William Mastrosimone
(1 male, 1 female)
• The Millennium Fallacy
by Richard Strand (1
female)
• Note To Self by Hilly
Hicks, Jr. (1 male, 1 female)
• Red Popcorn by Robert
Alexander (1 female)
• Riot Grrrrl Guitar by
Robert Alexander (1
female)
• Robin by Sarah
Schulman (1 female)
• Rosa's Eulogy by
Richard Strand (1
female)
• Saints At The Rave by
Guillermo Reyes (2
male)
• Swirling With Merlin
by Keith Glover (1
male)
• The Victimless Crime
by Deborah Lynn Frockt
(1 female)
• Virtual Virtue by
Elizabeth Dewberry (1
male, 1 female)
• The Way Down by
Richard Strand (1
male)
• White Elephants by
Jane Martin (1
female)
• Worldness by Jenny
Lyn Bader (2 female)
• Young Man Praying by
Karen Hines (1 male)
Heaven and Hell was originally commissioned by the world
famous Actor's Theatre of Louisville and performed in 2001 at the
25th Humana Festival of New American Plays. The prime purpose of this
series of brief snippets was to showcase the festival's many talented
apprentice actors. It is regularly
performed in college theatre productions as a showcase of student
talent.
About the Playwright:
These short pieces are written by some of the best American
writers of our time; from daytime Emmy winner William Mastrosimone
to New York Colbert's Award for Excellence winner 2000 Alice Tuan,
Sarah Schulman (who was admitted into the Sundance Theatre Lab
in 2001 and the same year won a Guggenheim Fellowship in
playwriting), and more.