| John Belluso. John Belluso's plays include: The Poor Itch (produced by The Public Theatre), A Nervous Smile (produced by the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New Plays), The Body of Bourne (produced by the Mark Taper Forum), Henry Flamethrowa (produced by Trinity Repertory Company, Victory Gardens Theatre and Studio Dante), The Rules of Charity (produced by the Magic Theatre), Body Songs, created with legendary theatre director Joseph Chaikin (Eugene O'Neill Center/NPC, workshopped at the NYSF/Public Theater), Traveling Skin, and Gretty Good Time (produced by the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Perishable Theatre, Falcon Theatre, and by VSA arts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). Awards and Honors include a National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Playwright-in-Residence Grant for a residency at the Atlantic Theatre in New York, the AT&T On-Stage Award, the Mark Taper Forum's Sherwood Award, the VSA arts Playwright Discovery Award as well as grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Berrilla Kerr Foundation Award and honorable mention for the Kesselring Prize. In addition, from 1999 to 2002, he served as Co-Director and from 2002-2005 as Director of the Mark Taper Forum's Other Voices Project for Disabled Theatre Artists -- one of the nation's only professional developmental labs for theatre artists with disabilities. Mr. Belluso received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Dramatic Writing Program where he studied with Tony Kushner, John Guare, Tina Howe, and Eve Ensler, among others. |
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$17.95 per book
NOTE: This book contains 24 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
In 1995, a group of writers, directors and actors gathered on Manhattan's Lower East Side for what was supposed to be a one-time-only event: write, direct, produce and perform new plays within the span of 24 hours. More than a decade and just over 300 plays later, The 24 Hour Plays have been produced on Broadway, in London, Los Angeles, Chicago and across the globe.
24 by 24 features the work of today's most celebrated theatrical voices, including Tony Award winner Terrence McNally, Adam Rapp, Tina Howe, Will Eno, David Ives, Theresa Rebeck, Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, and many more!
To purchase this book of 24 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
Sleeping City by John Belluso
Three Guys and a Brenda by Adam Bock
Another Beautiful Story by John Clancy
Ray Slape is Dead by Mike Doughty
Vaudeville, Population Two by Will Eno
The Harbingers of Turpitude by Robin Goldwasser
Toccata and Fugue by Tina Howe
The Blizzard by David Ives
Space by Laura Jacqmin
The Freelancers by Lucy Kirkwood
The Rumor by Dan Kois
Recess by Richard LaGravenese
Mars Has Never Been This Close by Warren Leight
That Other Person by David Lindsay-Abaire
The Sunday Times by Terrence McNally
Poor Bob by Elizabeth Meriwether
The Master of the World Versus the Dude by Raven Metzner
Jack on Film by Adam Rapp
Open House by Theresa Rebeck
I'm All About Lesbians by Mac Rogers
Two Worlds by Christopher Shinn
Liberal Arts College by Lucy Thurber
K, X, Z and V by Ian Williams
Be Still by Stephen Winter
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| "The theatrical equivalent of a high-wire act without a net." |
| --New York Post |
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 115-125 minutes
3 females, 3 males (6-27 actors possible: 3-17 females, 3-10 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Through dramatized scenes, letters, and essays, Body of Bourne presents the biography of renowned writer and World War I pacifist Randolph Bourne, whose short but meaningful life was forever affected by his physical disabilities. From his timid childhood to his ascent to an impassioned social critic, Randolph Bourne's journey takes him around the world, overcoming physical obstacles using intellect and the help of his friends. As Bourne confronts many examples of prejudice throughout his lifetime, he remains a man firmly committed to progressive ideas and the vital need for society to understand the disabled.
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| "Belluso challenges perceived notions of what it means to be disabled, writing about the topic in fresh and disarming ways." |
| --Jan Breslauer, Los Angeles Times |
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Eyolf adapted by John Belluso
from the play Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen |
 
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Drama
Full-length, 65-70 minutes
3 females, 3 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
This stunning and lyrical adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's "Little Eyolf," by award-winning playwright John Belluso, is the story of a determined father, his cynical wife, and their crippled child. The father, Alfred, returns from a writing expedition determined to be a better father to his crippled son, Eyolf. Alfred's wife, Rita, is unconvinced that anything will change, and is especially skeptical with the arrival of Alfred's adopted sister, who she views as a rival for her husband's affection. But when the ominous and mystical town legend "Rat Wife" appears, she leaves a tragedy in her wake that makes it impossible for anyone to move forward, without first confronting the demons of their past.
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 120-130 minutes
3 females, 2 males (5-7 actors possible: exactly 3 females, 2-5 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Though she suffers from post-polio paralysis, Gretty's feisty and warm nature makes her a popular patient in her nursing home. But without family or money, Gretty faces the threat of being sent away to a state institution. Soon she will be unable to function on her own, and she begins to contemplate assisted suicide to maintain her dignity. Perhaps the support of a new young doctor, an eccentric fellow patient, and an imagined guest on her favorite TV show, can show Gretty the possibilities of leading a life of joy and hope in the face of disability.
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| "Gretty Myers is the riveting focus at the compassionate heart and thoughtful soul of Belluso's gripping Gretty Good Time... Belluso's talent for caustic humor and satire mingles in these scenes with his keen sense of the wellsprings of guilt and regret... As a character, Gretty may not be easy to take, but as created by Belluso...she is fascinating, thought-provoking company." |
| --Lawrence Van Gelder, New York Times |
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Drama
Short, 8-10 minutes
1 female, 3 males
$30.00 per performance; $17.95 per book
NOTE: This play is part of an anthology called 24 by 24: The 24 Hour Plays Anthology.
At 3 A.M., Lois and Otto go on a sort-of date to see Ground Zero. Meanwhile, a professor from Columbia helps Ben get back to the dorms after having a nightmare about the Trade Center. Though across town from each other, all four try to cope with the feelings of loss that still haunt them in the darkness. A powerful look at life in post-9/11 New York.
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Drama
Full-length, 100-110 minutes
4 females, 6 males (10-11 actors possible: exactly 4 females, 6-7 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Tam, a woman with cerebral-palsy, is working as a waitress at a diner when her ex-girlfriend JJ returns from Korea unannounced with devastating medical news. JJ wants back into Tam's life, but Tam has already begun to move on with the owner of the diner and his nine-year-old son. Balancing her relationships with her boyfriend, her ex-lover, and her drag-queen brother, Tam wonders if she will ever be able to reconcile her past with her future. Worlds collide in this sensitive, affecting drama that blurs the lines between normalcy and oddity, hope and resignation, memory and reality.
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