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Karen J P Howes

KAREN J P HOWES

  
Nationality:    USA
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    Robert A Freedman Dramatic Agency  (agent: Marta Praeger)

Karen is a resident playwright at SkyLight Theater in Los Angeles, a recipient of several arts grants, published in a Best-of Anthology by Smith and Kraus, and winner of the Maxum Mazumdor New Play Prize and The New Science Driven Play Award. Her plays have won numerous festivals and productions, including The Alleyway Theatre, The Academy Theatre, The Bickford, Playwright's Theatre of NJ, Playwright's Roundtable and The Blank. She has also been a semi-finalist or finalist for Ashland, Henley Rose, and Humanitas, as well as a nomine for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She is currently under commission with OpenEye Theatre to write the libretto and lyrics for a musical on the women's rights and anti-slavery movements in the late 19th century. In addition to being a playwright, Karen worked as an investigative reporter for ten years and is also a novelist, poet, and mother of four. As a writing/theater teacher, she taught at the William Inge Center under a VSA Kennedy Center grant to create an original play with special needs teens. She also worked with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to write a play for youth centering on famous artists and paintings. Other work in theater includes Artistic Director for The Young Actors Ensemble, playwriting instructor with International City Theater, and currently employed as a professor at The New York Film Academy where she teaches Dramatic Writing, History of Theatre, Comparative Literature and a course on Playwrights and Screenwriters. Karen has been a professional member of the Dramatist Guild for over 15 years and has a degree in Philosophy from The College of William and Mary and an MFA in Writing for The Performing Arts.

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

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below is a list of Karen J P Howes's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         5564 to Toronto, The         Astronomer, The         Bad Moon Rising         Day Is A Dancer, The         From the Subduction Zone         Front from Juneau         Gentlemen's Pact         Last Flight Of the Mercenary         Pop - Here We Grow Again         Road Kill         Squatters' Rights         Starless

5564 to Toronto, The

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Millibo Arts Theater In Colorado Springs, Co     11 Apr 2013

Organisations:
ix Women PlayFestival

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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Astronomer, The

Synopsis:
The play is about a real-life woman astronomer from Nantucket named Maria Mitchell, who was awarded a gold medal from the King of Denmark for using a telescope to discover a comet. She is also the first woman to be invited to join the Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her recognition doesn't come easy because a priest at the Vatican Observatory, Father Francesco De Vico, also lays claim to being the first to see the comet. So -- of course, she heads to Rome with her beautiful and more angelic cousin to convince the priest (who is in conflict with his faith) that he should concede the discovery to her. The play isn't all science -- Once the women arrive at the Vatican Observatory (the only women to ever gain entrance), they get caught up in the liberal uprising that is taking place outside the observatory doors. The uprising, known as the Italian Unification or the Risorgimento, is being led by the charismatic Italian hero, Giuseppi Garibaldi who intends to gain the support of the Catholic Church.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Reading at SkyLight Theatre (LA)    

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:
History - tragi-comedy of manners

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bad Moon Rising

Synopsis:
It's 1974 in a small Mississippi town not far from where R&B got its start. It's a town with a history of plantations and segregation. It's where the devil bought souls and where biblical scripture is part of everyday speech. But when the lights fade up on the 24 hours in which this story takes place, the war in Vietnam has been declared over, the country's president has resigned, and most of the blues clubs around town and the railroads leading to them have been closed for several years. The town might not be aware, but it's caught between a history rich with identity and a transformation into something vague and undefined. Like adolescence, this town should be something to get past and get through, but only a few people have that chance, and if the lights were to fade up on the next 24 hours, those left would be part of just another story.

Notes:
Finalist, Henley Rose Competition. Winner OCPA Festival in Orange County, CA

1st Produced:
Readings at SkyLight Theater (LA) and Mojedska Theatre    

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:
Southern Tragic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Day Is A Dancer, The

Synopsis:
a politically savvy southern household falls apart when a drifter moves to town to teach music at the local high school. Two beautiful sisters, a corrupt politician, a sleepy southern town, and a lone drifter blame each other for the murder of a black man from New Orleans.

Notes:
Single set

1st Produced:
Stage Door Players     1993

Organisations:
Atlanta New Play Workshop

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:
Southern Drama/comedy

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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From the Subduction Zone

Synopsis:
Moving in and out of time and distant places, a self-made young man seeks to connect to his rural roots and his family after being away and presumed dead for 15 years. His arrival at his family's Iowa home parallels the destruction of a city in Peru by an earthquake.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Reading Nj Playwrights    

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:
Full length Comedy/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  1 radio voice

Further Reference:
-

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Front from Juneau

Synopsis:
When a plane crashes into the bay, a bride is faced with deciding if her husband-to-be drowned or If he skipped out on their wedding. Ultimately, she asks the plane's captain if there is anything about her that a man or anyone could love.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Atlanta, GA     Aug 2016

Organisations:
Onion Man Productions

1st Published:
Best of Anthology 2017 Smith and Krauss   

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:
10 minute touching comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gentlemen's Pact

Synopsis:
What happens to a friendship and marriage when one man tells another he wants to marry his wife

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Zephyr Theater, Los Angeles     11 Nov 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:
Short play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last Flight Of the Mercenary

Synopsis:
a cheerful and lighthearted woman and her great dane turn the tables when a wedding at her bed and breakfast is destined to turn into a funeral. While appearing light and romantic, the play is designed to impart a bit of Philosophy, String theory and Shakespeare.

Notes:
Single unit set.

1st Produced:
[reading] Skylight Theatre. 1816 1/2 N VERMONT AVE. Los Angeles, CA 90027     12 Apr 2015

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:
Romantic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Pop - Here We Grow Again

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Atlanta, Ga And Southeast Tour    

Organisations:
Academy Theater

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:
Children's

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Road Kill

Synopsis:
a waiter at a Diner has the ability to stop a woman from committing suicide - or not.

Notes:
Finalist in the Maxum Mazumdar New Play Competition

1st Produced:
Allleyway Theater, Buffalo, NY    

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 - comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Squatters' Rights

Synopsis:
explores the effects of homelessness on 3 siblings in a Detroit ghetto

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:
10 minute Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1 teenager            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Starless

Synopsis:
Magical Realism meets science and love in a romantic comedy set at a cliffside Bed and Breakfast on Vancouver Island.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Readings and Festival wins: Tangent Theater, Playwrights NJ, Bickford Theatre, InKubator at SkyLight    

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:
Romantic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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