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Stephen Kaplan

STEPHEN KAPLAN

  
Nationality:    USA
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Literary Agent:    n/a

Stephen Kaplan grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles and wrote his first play, And Jack Came Tumbling After (Old Globe Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre and HERE and Lincoln Center Theatre's American Living Room Series) when he was 15. The play won the California as well as Blank Theatre Company's Young Playwright's Contests and led him to write his next play, Self Addressed, which was produced by the Blank in addition to being presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Since then he has written The Seventh Son; In Mrs. Baker's Room (Commission: Abingdon Theatre Company, Winner: Father Hamblin Award for Outstanding Playwriting, Center for Spiritual Living's Playwriting Contest); A Real Boy (Premiere: This Is Water Theatre, Bryan, TX; Semi-Finalist: PlayPenn, Dayton Playhouse FutureFest; Ashland New Play Festival, MTWorks' Newborn Festival); Exquisite Potential (Winner: NJ Playwrights Contest (w/production), Dezart Performs' Reading Series (w/production) and Across the Generations New Jewish Play Festival, Finalist: Woodward/Newman Drama Award; Semi-Finalist: Seven Devils Theatre Conference); When the Mayonnaise Goes Bad (written with Will Nolan - The Vital Theatre Company); The Book of Daniel (Winner: New American Comedy Showcase Award); Tim Eless, Private Eye (with Noah Wyle @ Blank Theatre Company); Dreams of Reason (Northwestern University); Oh, Happy We (The Theatre-Studio); and Six Seniors in Search of an Ending (a special commission written for President Bill Clinton). Stephen earned his BFA from NYU (Playwrights Horizons and CAP21) and is finishing his MA in Theatre Studies at Montclair State University. He served as Chair of the theatre program at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (the "Fame" school).

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

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

         And Jack Came Tumbling After         Big City, The         Book of Daniel, The         Elevator Play, The: Beyond Thunderdome         Exquisite Potential         For Unto Us         Four Play with a Gun         Helen Keller Visits Martha Grahams Dance Studio         In Mrs. Baker's Room         Oh, Happy We         Real Boy, A         Self-Addressed         Seventh Son, The         Tim Eless, Private Eye         una casa/a home         When The Mayonnaise Goes Bad

And Jack Came Tumbling After

Synopsis:
A black comedy dealing with the battle of the sexes. Jack and Jill have just killed Jill's former lover "Harry." Throughout the course of the play, however, the audience learns that Harry's real name is also Jack and that Jill has a plot to kill every Jack in the world because of the "Jack and Jill" nursery rhyme which she feels teaches women to be subservient to men by having them "fetch the pail of water" for him and come "tumbling after" him.

Notes:
* WINNER: Blank Theatre Company, Young Playwrights Competition; * WINNER: California Young Playwrights Competition; * WINNER: International Thespian Society Playworks Competition

1st Produced:
Blank Theatre Company's Young Playwrights Festival     1994

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Plays   -

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:  1

Further Reference:
-

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Big City, The

Synopsis:
a man wants to be the Mayor of the Big City and he does not care who dies on his climb to the top.

Notes:
Music by Corey Samuels; lyrics by Stephen Kaplan; book by Stephen Kaplan

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Book of Daniel, The

Synopsis:
It's Daniel's Bar Mitzvah and in between a show-tune singing band singer and discussions on the true nature of the matzoh ball, Daniel sees and hears all and struggles with his own sense of tradition and family, discovering what it really means to become a man.

Notes:
* WINNER: New American Comedy Award; * WINNER: Blank Theatre Company's Young Playwrights Competition

1st Produced:
Ukiah Players Theatre, Ukiah, Ca     01 Jun 1999

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:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Elevator Play, The: Beyond Thunderdome

Synopsis:
A farce that takes place in an elevator stuck between the 46th and 47th floors of the offices of Trotsky, Dostoevsky, Hammersmith and Ping, LTD on the day that Tina Turner is scheduled to make a special appearance at the office.

Notes:
* WINNER: Kitchen Sink Festival

1st Produced:
Expanded Arts, New York, NY     01 May 2000

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:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Exquisite Potential

Synopsis:
All parents think their children are great. Alan Zuckerman just happens to think his son, David, is the Messiah.

Notes:
* WINNER:New Jersey Playwrights Contest; * WINNER: True False Theatre, Second Annual Polygraph Tests Residency; * WINNER: Across The Generations New Jewish Play Festival; * WINNER: Dezart Performs' Play Reading Series; * SEMI-FINALIST: Seven Devils Theatre Conference

1st Produced:
New Jersey Playwrights Contest, Wayne, NJ     01 Apr 2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Play/exquisite-potential   -

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  1

Further Reference:
-

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For Unto Us

Synopsis:
Mary and Joseph, two 5-year-olds, discuss religion, different kinds of families and gender roles as they play with Mary's new Christmas present, a doll.

Notes:
LGBT

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 Comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Four Play with a Gun

Synopsis:
Four one-act plays, all with a gun.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Blank Theatre Company's Young Playwrights Festival     1994

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Play/four-play-with-a-gun   -

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:
four one act plays

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  1

Further Reference:
-

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Helen Keller Visits Martha Grahams Dance Studio

Synopsis:
Two giants face off over the nature of art.

Notes:
part of 3rd New York New Playwright Festival (NYNP)

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Project Y 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:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In Mrs. Baker's Room

Synopsis:
When Jacob contacts Mrs. Baker to reconnect, she meets him in his classroom and is stunned to see that his third grade classroom is an exact replica of hers, down to the ditto machine he purchased on E-bay to do his handouts. He has modeled everything he does and teaches on what he recalls from Mrs. Baker. Everything. The only thing missing from his perfect classroom is Mrs. Baker herself.

Notes:
* WINNER: Father Hamblin Award for Outstanding Playwriting; * WINNER: Center for Spiritual Living Playwriting Contest; * COMMISSION: Abingdon Theatre Company

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 Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Oh, Happy We

Synopsis:
An allegorical drama in which Evelyn, an elderly woman, meets up with David, a young man, at a deserted bus stop on a rainy night. The play deals with issues of mortality, the will to live, and companionship.

Notes:
* WINNER:Blank Theatre Company, Young Playwrights Competition; * WINNER: Northwestern University's Short Play Competition; * WINNER: Vanguard Theatre West Coast 10-Minute Play Contest

1st Produced:
Blank Theatre Company, Los Angeles, Ca    

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 Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Real Boy, A

Synopsis:
Mary Ann and Peter Myers, both puppets, differ on how to best raise their kindergarten-bound human son, Max. When Max starts growing strings his human kindergarten teacher, Miss Terry, decides to take over as his parent to ensure he stays a real boy, igniting the Myers' own sets of parenting beliefs and what is really best for Max.

Notes:
* SEMI-FINALIST: 2014 PlayPenn Development Conference; * SEMI-FINALIST: MTWorks Newborn Festival; * SEMI-FINALIST: Ashland New Play Festival; * SEMI-FINALIST: Dayton Playhouse's FutureFest

1st Produced:
This Is Water Theatre, Bryan/College Station, Tx     Jul 1014

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Play/a-real-boy   -

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:
Dark Comedy 90 min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  2

Further Reference:
-

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Self-Addressed

Synopsis:
A drama that tells the story of a 17 year old boy who, upon writing a therapy letter to his dead father, brings his father back to deal with unresolved issues surrounding his death.

Notes:
LGBT; * WINNER: Blank Theatre Company, Young Playwrights Competition

1st Produced:
Blank Theatre Company, Los Angeles, Ca     01 May 1995

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 Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Seventh Son, The

Synopsis:
A Curse, A Kingdom without laughter, A Princess who likes to run and a Prince who likes to read. In this fractured fairy tale for all ages, no one is happy in the Kingdom of Eastphalia and only the seventh son of the seventh son can make things right. But will he come in time?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Bergen County Academies In Hackensack, Nj     01 Nov 2014

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Play/the-seventh-son   -

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 120 min

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  14            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tim Eless, Private Eye

Synopsis:
Tim is a private eye with short-term memory. Laura is the leggy femme fatale that comes to him with a mysterious case.

Notes:
* WINNER: Blank Theatre Company, Young Playwrights Competition; * WINNER: City Theater Company's Delaware 10-Minute Play Contest

1st Produced:
Blank Theatre Company, Los Angeles, Ca    

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 Comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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una casa/a home

Synopsis:
The Schwartz Family were Russian Jews who lived in a house in Barrio Logan in San Diego, CA in 1940. The Flores family moved from Mexico and lived in the same house in 1960. In 2014, D.J. Schwartz knocks on the door to meet the house's current inhabitants. He discovers that no one has really left the house. . .Ever.

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:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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When The Mayonnaise Goes Bad

Synopsis:
An absurdist farce that pays homage to Christopher Durang and Joe Orton with a bit of Caryl Churchill, Quentin Tarantino and Rodgers & Hammerstein thrown in. A serial killer arrives at the upper-middle class British home of Edward and Victoria only to fall in love with the couple's deformed son Shlomo and fall prey himself to the family's dark secrets.

Notes:
written by Stephen Kaplan and Will Nolan

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:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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