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Jacob Juntunen

JACOB JUNTUNEN

  (1975 - )
Nationality:    USA
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a

after dropping out of high school, Jacob's first play was produced by Edward albee at Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston. Since then, his plays were produced in Chicago, Austin, Minneapolis, and Portland, Oregon. He is an artistic associate at the Jeff award winning Chicago company Infamous Commonwealth Theatre, a Network Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and the Resident Playwright at Uptown Chicago's only Theatre for development, Scrap Mettle SOUL. His play, Kantor! Kantor! is currently being considered by Tadeusz Kantor's Polish state archive for publication; and Under America, his latest script, was one of five selected by the Driehaus Foundation for submission to Sundance for a potential workshop in Chicago. He currently teaches Theatre history in the Department of Performing Arts at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Research:    Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (as at 2015)

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below is a list of Jacob Juntunen's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Borderline         Catholic Worker, The         Dying Alone         In the Shadow of His Language         Inspiration Cafe, The         Kantor! Kantor!         Kantor! Kantor! (Solo!)         Kind Of Surrender, A         Lobsters And Lifers         Picture Rock         Saddam's Lions         Skism         Under America         Waiting For Management

Borderline

Synopsis:
Written on commission for Scrap Mettle SOUL, this script adapts true stories about immigration as told by Chicago's Uptown residents. Jacob worked with director Stefan Brun and composer Steven Rasberry and a diverse ensemble of non-professional actors from Uptown to create this unique performance. the goal was not to make literature but to give voice to these often ignored residents of Chicago.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Chicago    2006

Organisations:
Scrap Mettle SOUL

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
DocuDrama Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  Flexible ensemble cast

Further Reference:
-

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Catholic Worker, The

Synopsis:
Written on commission for Scrap Mettle SOUL, this script adapts true stories about the St. Francis Catholic Worker House as told by Chicago's Uptown residents. the House is part of the Catholic Worker Movement started by Dorothy Day in the 1930s; its residents provide discussion groups, housing for people down on their luck, and a living model of self-imposed poverty, hospitality and spiritual revolution Jacob worked with director Stefan Brun and a diverse ensemble of non-professional actors from Uptown to create this unique performance. the goal was not to make literature but to give voice to these often ignored residents of Chicago.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Chicago    2007

Organisations:
Scrap Mettle SOUL

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
DocuDrama Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  Flexible ensemble cast

Further Reference:
-

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Dying Alone

Synopsis:
A woman haunted by her parents and her future learns that there's more than one way not to die alone.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In the Shadow of His Language

Synopsis:
In the Shadow of His Language explores the costs of class- jumping and the imperialism we call "education."

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
[Stage Reading] Chicago's Cultural Center Studio Theatre, 77 E. Randolph St., Chicago, Il 60601    25 Aug 2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Inspiration Cafe, The

Synopsis:
Written on commission for Scrap Mettle SOUL, this script adapts the true story of the Inspiration Cafe as told by Chicago's Uptown residents. the cafe began with one woman handing out sandwiches from a red wagon and today is a non-profit agency running three restaurants, rehabilitation programs, and subsidized housing. Jacob worked with director Stefan Brun and composer Steven Rasberry and a diverse ensemble of non-professional actors from Uptown Chicago to create this unique performance. the goal was not to make literature but to give voice to these often ignored residents of Chicago.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Chicago    2007

Organisations:
Scrap Mettle SOUL

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
DocuDrama Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  Flexible ensemble cast

Further Reference:
-

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Kantor! Kantor!

Synopsis:
the life and theatrical works of Polish director/playwright Tadeusz Kantor form the basis for this haunting assemblage of text, performance and poetry. Out of the rubble of post-war Poland, and under penalty of death from first the Nazis then Stalin, Kantor created a new kind of theatre, a radical experiment in performance whose influence is still felt today. Combining Kantor's critical writings with excerpts from his theatrical pieces and recreations of his rehearsal process, award-winning playwright Jacob Juntunen creates a complex meditation on war, remembrance, and the place of art in society that is at once a work of history, of performance theory, and a profoundly moving tribute to to a visionary artist.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kantor! Kantor! (Solo!)

Synopsis:
a twenty-minute solo performance about the life and theatrical works of Polish director/playwright Tadeusz Kantor. Combining Kantor's critical writings with excerpts from his theatrical pieces and recreations of his rehearsal process, award-winning playwright Jacob Juntunen creates a complex meditation on war, remembrance, and the place of art in society that is at once a work of history, of performance theory, and a profoundly moving tribute to to a visionary artist.

Notes:
the character, Kantor, is male but the Actor need not be.

1st Produced:
Chicago    2006

Organisations:
experimental Theatre Chicago

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kind Of Surrender, A

Synopsis:
a man is lost in his own apartment. a woman from his past observes his confusion from her balcony. exploring his unfamiliar surroundings, the man wrestles with regret while the woman mocks him, challenges his memory and helps him reminisce. Sifting through the rubble of their relationship, the man rediscovers what he now lacks: "the little things, the details. . . not hearing her breathing. . ." Reinventing the "memory play," playwright Jacob Juntunen allows the memories of these moments to help the man discover his lost "home." a Kind of Surrender is honest and genuine, exposing psychological barriers laid to waste after the end of an intimate affair, revealing that the most beautiful moments of love and life which make up a "home" too often pass by unnoticed.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Portland, Oregon    2001

Organisations:
the engaged Theatre

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Lobsters And Lifers

Synopsis:
In this dark romantic comedy set in a grocery store deli, two outsiders struggle with the possibility that they may have something in common. It explores the costs and benefits of sanity and friendship, of labor unions and romantic unions, ultimately showing the desiccation of the American dream in the narrowing options of minimum wage workers.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Picture Rock

Synopsis:
atlas returns home to Gila Crossing, arizona to be with her dog before he dies. She reunites with high school friends who still talk of leaving town but never move. She thought college would help her escape, but in the end she may stay in Gila Crossing selling rocks to tourists. In this tragicomedy, Juntunen explores an absurd cast of characters and situations through which atlas must attempt to navigate.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
tragicomedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Saddam's Lions

Synopsis:
Some things just have to be lived to be understood.

Notes:
part of the Source festival

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Skism

Synopsis:
Something happened to Tristan on Halloween. He came home bruised and afraid. He won't say what happened, but Tristan's mother, Toni, knows what happens when black boys go out alone at night and come home bruised. even in wealthy suburbs, there are creatures on the street in white sheets who aren't trick-or-treaters. Tristan won't tell his mother what happened; his Father is too busy to find out. So Toni asks an old lover, William, to talk to her sixteen year old son. Somewhere along the way, William lost his idealism; Toni's phone call brings him into contact with a woman he never forgot and with her strange and intriguing son. Can forming a new relationship with these two be a way to recapture what he's lost? Or will it simply complicate the lives of everyone involved? the ultimate question posed in Skism is not what happened to Tristan, but rather, how can we know?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Under America

Synopsis:
Under America is an epic ensemble piece that explores various characters' connections to the United States prison industry. the plot primarily focuses on Sam, a lesbian journalist who lives in Chicago's upscale Gold Coast, and Michael, a seventeen-year old African American who resides just down Division Street from Sam in the infamous Cabrini Green complex. after deciding to pursue a story concerning Chicago's public housing crisis, Sam becomes involved both in Michael's world and his mounting legal problems. Through this, the lives of Sam, Michael, and their loved ones become intractably intertwined.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Waiting For Management

Synopsis:
a hilarious, twenty-minute absurdist piece about "Mallmart" workers locked in their store overnight to make sure they don't leave early.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Chicago    2004

Organisations:
24 Hour Project

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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