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Jordan Harrison

JORDAN HARRISON

  (1977 - )
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    United Talent Agency  represented by Mark Subias

Jordan Harrison grew up on an island near Seattle. His play Doris to DArlene recently premiered at Playwrights Horizons and his play amazons and their Men was produced Off-Broadway by Clubbed Thumb. Mr. Harrison's plays act a Lady, Kid-Simple, and Fit For Feet premiered in the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, and have been produced all over the country. His play Finn in the Underworld had its world premiere at Berkeley Rep under the direction of Les Waters. Mr. Harrison's work has also been produced or developed at actor's express, American Theater Company, Ars Nova, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, NYTW, Perishable Theatre, PlayLabs, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, Soho Rep, SPF, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Mr. Harrison is the recipient of the Kesselring Fellowship, the Heideman award, a Theater Masters' Innovative Playwright award, two Jerome Fellowships and a McKnight Grant from the Playwrights' Center, a Lucille Lortel Fellowship, and a Nea/TCG Playwright-in-Residence Grant with the empty Space Theatre. He has received commissions from arden Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep/Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cypress Films, Guthrie Theater/Children's Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons, and South Coast Rep. His plays are published by Playscripts, Inc., Samuel French, Smith and Kraus, and Heinemann. a graduate of the Brown University MFA Playwriting program, Mr. Harrison is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and an associate artist with the Civilians. He has taught playwriting at Brown, the Playwrights' Center, and SUNY Purchase. With Sally Oswald, he edits Play a Journal of Plays, dedicated to reinventing the life of plays on the page.

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

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

         Act A Lady         Amateurs, The         Amazons And their Men         Dead Act         Doris To Darlene - A Cautionary Valentine         Finn In the Underworld         Fit For Feet         Flea And the Professor, The         Futura         Grown-Up, The         Kid-Simple: A Radio Play In the Flesh         Maple And Vine         Marjorie Prime         Museum Play, The         Revision, The         Suprema
Act A Lady

Synopsis:
When the men of a small Prohibition-era town decide to put on a play dressed in "fancy-type, women-type clothes," the whole community is affected: gender lines blur, eyebrows raise, identities explode, and life and art are forever entangled. a thoughtful and exuberant Midwestern fable about the woman in every man, the man in every woman and the power of theatre to uncover both. accompanied by accordion. (This play is also available in the collection Humana Festival 2006: the Complete Plays.)

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Illusion Theatre (Minneapolis, Mn, United States)     2005

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   

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:
90-100 min Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  3 males, 3 females

Further Reference:
-

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Amateurs, The

Synopsis:
An intrepid troupe of pageant players races across medieval Europe, struggling to outrun the Black Death. The arrival of a mysterious outsider sends Hollis, the leading lady, in search of answers that can only be found off-script... and soon the 14th century plague begins to look like another, more recent one. This wildly inventive and funny new work examines the evolution of human creativity in a dark age: when does a crisis destroy us, and when does it open new frontiers?

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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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:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Amazons And their Men

Amazons And their Men
the Frau used to direct beautiful films for a fascist government. Now she's trying to make a film that's simply beautiful. the Frau casts herself in the lead role of the amazon queen Penthesilea, who falls in love with achilles on the battlefield of the Trojan War. She recruits a man from the Jewish ghetto to play her achilles. Her own sister, a long-suffering extra, plays all the nameless amazons killed in the background. With chariot crashes and adoring close-ups, it all has the makings of a glamorous war. But when telegrams start to arrive from the Minister of Propaganda, it becomes impossible for the Frau to ignore the real war outside her sound stage. a darkly comedic look at the role of artists during wartime, amazons and their Men is inspired by the life and work of Leni Riefenstahl.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Ohio Theatre, NY     2008

Organisations:
Clubbed Thumb

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:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dead Act

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
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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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Doris To Darlene - A Cautionary Valentine

Doris To Darlene - A Cautionary Valentine
Doris to Darlene, a Cautionary Valentine: In the candy-colored 1960s, biracial schoolgirl Doris is molded into pop star Darlene by a whiz-kid record producer who culls a top-ten hit out of Richard Wagner's "Liebestod." Rewind to the candy-colored 1860s, where Wagner is writing the melody that will become Darlene's hit song. Fast-forward to the not-so-candy-colored present, where a teenager obsesses over Darlene's music -- and his music teacher. Three dissonant decades merge into an unlikely harmony in this time-jumping pop fairy tale about the dreams and disasters behind one transcendent song.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
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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:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Finn In the Underworld

Finn In the Underworld
In this contemporary Gothic tale, Gwen and her sister Rhoda are packing up the belongings -- and the secrets -- in their crooked childhood house. When Gwen's wayward son Finn arrives to harvest the more fashionable heirlooms, he meets a neighbor who is not what he seems. Finn's sexual curiosity draws him down into the fallout shelter, and into the heart of an unfinished ghost story. a sexually-charged thriller about what can happen when grief goes unspoken.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Playwrights' Center (Reading) (Minneapolis, Mn, United States)     2004

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   

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:
80-90 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  2 males, 2 females

Further Reference:
-

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Fit For Feet

Synopsis:
as Claire's wedding approaches she has one problem - her fiance thinks he is Nijinsky

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Humana Festival 2003: the Complete Plays, edited by Tanya Palmer and amy Wegener, Smith and Kraus, 2003   

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:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Flea And the Professor, The

Flea And the Professor, The
A young professor loses just about everything in the world - everything, that is, except for the flea who lives in his vest. Starting over again, the professor and the flea become the best of friends, start a circus act, and set off to tour the world. Together they must overcome shipwrecks, cannibals, and tickling. Adapted by Jordan Harrison and Richard Gray from the last tale by master storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, this new musical odyssey celebrates friendship, whimsy, and the excitement of the unknown.

Notes:
Music by Richard Gray; lyrics by Richard Gray; Jordan Harrison; book by Jordan Harrison. Based on A story by Hans Christian Anderson

1st Produced:
Arden Theatre, Philadelphia     04 May 2011

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:
Musical TYA 60 min

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Futura

Synopsis:
Futura ponders, among other things, whether a font can change the future. On her first day back at the University, a rogue Professor sets out to avenge her missing husband - and the lost art of ink on paper - by conducting a dangerous lesson on typography. When the Professor's lecture jumps the rails, we peer into a near future where desperate people search for the tangible in an ever more virtual age.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
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1st Produced:
TBG Arts Complex, 312 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10018     26 Oct 2010

Organisations:
National Asian American Theatre Company

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:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Grown-Up, The

Grown-Up, The
Ten year old Kai is given a magical crystal door-knob by his grandfather that enables him to travel through space and time to see future events in his life. The further along he goes, the less he feels like he's seeing into his future, but more that he is living life as most people do; all too quickly. Both poignantly sad and zany, Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison expands on the notion that life is too short to miss any moment of it.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
Humana Festival

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc. in the book Humana Festival 2014: The Complete Plays.
Samuel French, Inc - New York (2016) >>>    

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:
Full Length Play, Dramatic Comedy 75 min

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kid-Simple: A Radio Play In the Flesh

Synopsis:
Moll, a girl who invents things, wins the science fair with a machine for hearing sounds that can't be heard. But when a shapeshifting Mercenary steals the invention (and her heart), she must embark on a quest to save noise as we know it. accompanied by the last boy-virgin in the eleventh grade, Moll crosses chasms and rafts rivers into a world where sound is always more than what meets the ear. a quirky fable of innocence and experience, featuring live sound effects, mutinous onomatopoeia, and a host of woodsy temptations.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Brown New Plays Festival (Workshop Production) (Providence, Ri, United States)     2002

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   

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:
90-100 min Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  3 males, 3 females, 1 either (6-11 actors possible: 3-6 males, 3-5 females)

Further Reference:
-

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Maple And Vine

Maple And Vine
Katha and Ryu have become allergic to their 21st-century lives. after they meet a charismatic man from a community of 1950s re-enactors, they forsake cell phones and sushi for cigarettes and Tupperware parties. In this compulsively authentic world, Katha and Ryu are surprised by what their new neighbors - and they themselves - are willing to sacrifice for happiness.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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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:
Dramatic comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Marjorie Prime

Marjorie Prime
It's the age of artificial intelligence, and 85-year-old Marjorie - a jumble of disparate, fading memories - has a handsome new companion who's programmed to feed the story of her life back to her. What would we remember, and what would we forget, if given the chance? In this richly spare, wondrous new play, Jordan Harrison explores the mysteries of human identity and the limits - if any - of what technology can replace.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, Ca     26 Apr 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:
Comedy 90 min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Museum Play, The

Synopsis:
When the mastodons escape, Jame needs another exhibit for the Museum. Luckily, he has a friend with wonderful bones. the Curator is delighted with her new specimen, but she can't help wondering: Who, or what, is behind the mysterious exodus of flora and fauna? an elegiac and absurd look at the intersections of memory and desire, set to the tune of a music box.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Polybe + Seats (Reading) (New York, NY, United States)     2002

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   

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:
70-80 min Comedy/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  3 males, 3 females

Further Reference:
-

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Revision, The

Synopsis:
Two gay men rewrite the marriage ceremony to suit their needs

Notes:
Performed As part of An evening of short plays entitled: "Standing On Ceremony: the Gay Marriage Plays"

1st Produced:
Renberg Theatre, Los Angeles Gay And Lesbian Center, Los Angeles     27 Jun 2011

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:
Short play. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Suprema

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Music by Daniel Zaitchik; lyrics by Jordan Harrison; Daniel Zaitchik; book by Jordan Harrison

1st Produced:
Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Waterfordct     09 Jul 2011

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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