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twenty(20) for 2020
A Playwriting Challenge and Contest
aka “The QuaranTENs”
WINNING PLAYWRIGHTS
APRIL 6 - Danielle Gallo
Danielle Gallo is an actress, director, and theatre artist based in Washington, D.C. Previous credits include: Folger Theatre (The Merry Wives of Windsor, Love's Labor's Lost), Chesapeake Shakespeare Co. (Romeo and Juliet), Rorschach Theatre (She Kills Monsters), 4615 Theatre (Enron), and of course, Annexus Theatre Co.'s wacky and wild production of Thanksgiving at Macbeth's. Danielle is a recent graduate of American University (class of 2019), where she was the first ever double major in Theatre and International Relations. Educational credits at American University include: The Wolves, Assassins, Dracula, Hamlet, As You Like It, and many more. As a director, Danielle has worked with Imagination Stage (Helen Hayes Winner You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown), 4615 Theatre (Macbeth), American University (Shared Space, Blood Wedding, Circle Mirror Transformation). See her next in Taffety Punk's In The Belly of the Whale when this quarantine stuff is over! Danielle-Gallo.wix.com/work.
ABOUT THE PLAY, FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT: Someone wise once told me: “do something every single day to call yourself an artist.” In times like these, staying creative, and connecting through art with people all over the world-- that’s what matters. That’s why we are artists. And that's what keeps me going.
APRIL 7 - BRANDON RASHAD BUTTS
Brandon Rashad Butts is excited to be a part the Annexus digital family! Cold Feet was a chance to explore the confines of toxic relationships, truth, and the hetero-normative standard of "growing up". In terms of quarantine, one can't help but wonder what will happen on the first day back in the world. His full-length plays Personal Protection and Reclamation have received readings at Baltimore Center Stage. His short plays Between Us and Profiled have been produced at Manhattan Repertory Theatre, The Secret Theatre, and Blue Pearl Productions.
APRIL 8 (TIE) - Dana Schwartz
Dana Schwartz is a writer, director, actress working in her adopted home of Los Angeles for the past couple of decades. Her full length play Early Birds had its World Premiere at the Atwater Village Theater in 2019, produced by Moving Arts. Her play @Playaz is a 2019 O'Neill Finalist. Perspective recently enjoyed its World Premiere at Theater at the Museum at LACMA. The PTA and That Time She Proposed were in several productions of the internationally renowned Car Plays, notably at REDcat LA, Disney Hall, Segerstrom Arts and Costa Mesa. Undead was slated to be produced at Theater Roulette in Cleveland this summer. As a director, Dana has worked with many theaters including Moving Arts, Sacred Fools, Offending Shadows, Actors Theater NoHo, Victory and Lyric. As an actor, she trained in New York at AADA and HB Studios, and has appeared in productions all over the world. She is the co-creator and Producer of Theater at the Museum at LACMA, and is currently the Producer of the MADlab New Play Development Program at Moving Arts, where she is also a company member.
APRIL 8 (TIE) - Audrey Lang (Quarantenner)
The Unusual Ones: A Club Penguin Rewritten Play
AUDREY LANG (she/her/hers) is a playwright, actor, and theatre artist born and raised in New York City. In 2020, her play You Have To Promise was a finalist for American Stage’s 21st Century Voices New Play Festival and her play Rye Bread was a semi-finalist for Play-Makers Spokane’s Women Are Funny Prize. Additional full-length plays (both completed and in development) include alex getting better, Dear Anna, Birdie and Cait, The Field Trip, Mini-Golf is a Real Sport, Cannoli is Plural, and You Go Down to AC, or, The Atlantic City Play. Audrey’s short plays have been performed nationally and internationally, including London’s Theatre503, Chapel Playhouse, and New Wimbledon Theatre, as well as venues in New York City and Ithaca, NY. Audrey is an Associate Member of the Dramatists Guild and a member of Ring of Keys. She was a 2017 resident at SPACE on Ryder Farm and is an alumna of the MCC Theater Youth Company Playwriting Lab. B.A. Theatre Studies, Ithaca College. www.audreyglang.com
ABOUT THE PLAY, FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT: My (yes, college-aged) friends and I discovered Club Penguin Rewritten together while studying abroad in London and have kept it up--especially now, while we're all stuck in our separate houses. So, I borrowed some of our actual usernames and penguin traits!
April 9 - Jeff Dunne
Jeff Dunne began writing plays actively in 2017, and has since created over fifty scripts, the majority of which are for stage, but a few for screen and radio. His works have won nearly three dozen awards and festivals, seen over forty productions across the country, and several have been adapted to film. You can learn more about Jeff’s works by visiting www.bearcreations.org.
April 10 - Jeff Dunne
Jeff Dunne began writing plays actively in 2017, and has since created over fifty scripts, the majority of which are for stage, but a few for screen and radio. His works have won nearly three dozen awards and festivals, seen over forty productions across the country, and several have been adapted to film. You can learn more about Jeff’s works by visiting www.bearcreations.org.
April 11 - Emilie Holmstock
Emilie is an Actor and Director working in the DC/Baltimore area. This is her first stab at playwriting.
ABOUT THE PLAY, FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT: Seeking Goodbye was written based on my own person anxieties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
As I've struggled with my feelings during isolation, it took me weeks to realize that what I was most afraid of wasn't getting sick, it was being unable to say goodbye. With Hospitals on lockdown, children, spouses, parents, friends, and co-workers are isolated at their most terrified. The thought of someone being so alone during a time when they'd normally be surrounded by friends and family really gets to me, especially as the virus has taken hold of younger populations than anticipated. In "Seeking Goodbye" I wanted to explore a little how important it is to have a chance to make that peace.
April 12 - Ryan M. Bultrowicz
Ryan M. Bultrowicz is a Mexican-American playwright based out of Washington D.C. and Virginia. He’s interested in creating innovative, experimental, and magical shows. His works have been produced all over the world. He is the author of Dream Date (Queensland University, Australia), The Rabbit’s Hole (Baumholder American School, Germany), Shower Thoughts (Network Theatre, London), The Audience Disturbs Marcel’s Bath Time and He Is Very Upset With You All (Tiny Dynamite, Philadelphia), Three Women and an Onion (MadLab, Ohio) and many more. His acting credits include playing Macbeth (Macbeth), Vincent Cradeau (No Exit), Creon (Antigone), Scoop Rosenbaum (The Heidi Chronicles) and many more.
He graduated from Longwood University as a Communication Studies major with a concentration in Mass Media. He spent his free time there working with the theatre department in numerous ways that included acting and writing. He is passionate about theatre and hopes to create works that will force audiences to question their comforts and beliefs.
April 13 - Ryan M. Bultrowicz
Monsters are Made in the Minds of Men
Ryan M. Bultrowicz is a Mexican-American playwright based out of Washington D.C. and Virginia. He’s interested in creating innovative, experimental, and magical shows. His works have been produced all over the world. He is the author of Dream Date (Queensland University, Australia), The Rabbit’s Hole (Baumholder American School, Germany), Shower Thoughts (Network Theatre, London), The Audience Disturbs Marcel’s Bath Time and He Is Very Upset With You All (Tiny Dynamite, Philadelphia), Three Women and an Onion (MadLab, Ohio) and many more. His acting credits include playing Macbeth (Macbeth), Vincent Cradeau (No Exit), Creon (Antigone), Scoop Rosenbaum (The Heidi Chronicles) and many more.
He graduated from Longwood University as a Communication Studies major with a concentration in Mass Media. He spent his free time there working with the theatre department in numerous ways that included acting and writing. He is passionate about theatre and hopes to create works that will force audiences to question their comforts and beliefs.
April 14 - Carolina Chaimovich
The Stages Of Feeling Like You Don’t Belong In The World And Then Realizing Maybe You’re Right Trigger Warning: Self-Harm
Carolina Chaimovich is a playwright and actor who graduated form American University in 2018 with a degree in Theatre Arts and a minor in Communication. She currently resides in Mexico City, where she works as a teacher.
ABOUT THE PLAY, FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT: This play accompanies a girl as she is trying to commit suicide. I think stories like these are so important to be told, and I wanted to find the realness, the humor and the darkness in it, in a compelling way that was generous and courageous.
APRIL 15 - Audrey Lang (Quarantenner)
AUDREY LANG (she/her/hers) is a playwright, actor, and theatre artist born and raised in New York City. In 2020, her play You Have To Promise was a finalist for American Stage’s 21st Century Voices New Play Festival and her play Rye Bread was a semi-finalist for Play-Makers Spokane’s Women Are Funny Prize. Additional full-length plays (both completed and in development) include alex getting better, Dear Anna, Birdie and Cait, The Field Trip, Mini-Golf is a Real Sport, Cannoli is Plural, and You Go Down to AC, or, The Atlantic City Play. Audrey’s short plays have been performed nationally and internationally, including London’s Theatre503, Chapel Playhouse, and New Wimbledon Theatre, as well as venues in New York City and Ithaca, NY. Audrey is an Associate Member of the Dramatists Guild and a member of Ring of Keys. She was a 2017 resident at SPACE on Ryder Farm and is an alumna of the MCC Theater Youth Company Playwriting Lab. B.A. Theatre Studies, Ithaca College. www.audreyglang.com
APRIL 16 - Alejandro Ruiz
Alejandro Ruiz gets paid to play pretend. Usually behind a microphone. Sometimes on a stage.
ABOUT THE PLAY, FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT: I wrote this short word thing while contemplating trauma, colonialism, love, and the nature of water. It was raining outside. Well, really, it was a thunderstorm.
APRIL 17 - Anna Shafer
My name is Anna Shafer. Although I am originally from Philadelphia, I recently graduated from American University, and now call D.C. home. Although it was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, I was most recently on tour as a National Player (Tour 71).
APRIL 18 - Danielle Gallo
Danielle Gallo is an actress, director, and theatre artist based in Washington, D.C. Previous credits include: Folger Theatre (The Merry Wives of Windsor, Love's Labor's Lost), Chesapeake Shakespeare Co. (Romeo and Juliet), Rorschach Theatre (She Kills Monsters), 4615 Theatre (Enron), and of course, Annexus Theatre Co.'s wacky and wild production of Thanksgiving at Macbeth's. Danielle is a recent graduate of American University (class of 2019), where she was the first ever double major in Theatre and International Relations. Educational credits at American University include: The Wolves, Assassins, Dracula, Hamlet, As You Like It, and many more. As a director, Danielle has worked with Imagination Stage (Helen Hayes Winner You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown), 4615 Theatre (Macbeth), American University (Shared Space, Blood Wedding, Circle Mirror Transformation). See her next in Taffety Punk's In The Belly of the Whale when this quarantine stuff is over! Danielle-Gallo.wix.com/work.
APRIL 19 - Eric Pfeffinger
Eric Pfeffinger is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild of America. His plays have been seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival, the Denver Theatre Center, the Geva, PlayPenn, the Lark's Playwrights Week, the Phoenix, the InterAct, Page 73, City Theatre of Miami, the Source Festival, the Bloomington Playwrights Project, and elsewhere. He's the writer and co-creator of the webseries MOTHER JUDGER, MOMMY BLOGGER, and SAD DADS.
APRIL 20 - Scott Ward Abernethy
Scott Ward Abernethy is a professional Actor, teacher, and now writer working out of the greater D.C. Area. LOCAL: Local acting credits include: Kennedy Center: Second City’s Love Factually; Constellation Theatre: Little Shop of Horrors (Helen Hayes nomination), Caucasian Chalk Circle (Helen Hayes nom), Master and Margarita; Longacre Lea: Interstellar Ghost Hour, Whipping; 4615: Measure of Cruelty, Venus in Fur; Rep Stage: The Other Place; 1st Stage: Broadway Bound, When the Rain Stops Falling; Keegan Theatre: Next to Normal (Helen Hayes award) REGIONAL: ACT: Christmas Carol; Seattle Shakespeare Co: Measure for Measure, King Lear, Love’s Labours' Lost; Book-it Rep: Jesus' Son, Anna Karenina; New City Theatre: Hamlet; Sound Theatre: Indian Ink (Gypsy award); FILM: The Infection, Off the Record; Only Connect. Scott holds an MFA in Acting form the University of Washington, and is a proud member of AEA.
APRIL 21 - Anna Shafer
BLOODSUCKERS OF SUBURBIA, OR, THE FATES STAND IN LINE FOR GROCERIES
My name is Anna Shafer. Although I am originally from Philadelphia, I recently graduated from American University, and now call D.C. home. Although it was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, I was most recently on tour as a National Player (Tour 71).
APRIL 22 - Anna Shafer
THE LAST SUPPER, OR, CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE SHOWROOM
My name is Anna Shafer. Although I am originally from Philadelphia, I recently graduated from American University, and now call D.C. home. Although it was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, I was most recently on tour as a National Player (Tour 71).
