|
|
KEN URBAN (1974 - ) |
|
Nationality: USA Email: Click here to contact Website: Click here to visit |
|
|
Literary Agent: The Gersh Agency, NY |
Photo by KKen Urban's plays have been produced and developed by Moving Arts, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Soho Rep, Rude Guerrilla, Target Margin, The Chocolate Factory, Annex Theatre, Luna Stage, Son of Semele Ensemble, and others. His plays include I (HEART) KANT, Nibbler, Halo, The Absence of Weather, The Female Terrorist Project and 2 Husbands. His plays can be found in New York Theatre Review (Ed. Book Stowe, with an introduction by Aleks Sierz), Plays and Playwrights 2002 (Ed. Martin Denton), The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2001 (Ed. D.L. Lepidus), and The Best Women's Stage Monologues of the Millennium (Ed. Joyce Henry). He teaches at Harvard University; he makes music as Occurrence.
Plays by Ken Urban
2 Husbands | ||
| 1st Produced: | The Chocolate Factory, New York City (work in progress) | 2006 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #61398 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | multimedia theatre piece Piece | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | conceived by Ken Urban; directed by Brian Rogers | |||||
Synopsis: | In a Florida hospital room, a husband - who shall remain nameless for legal reasons - keeps vigil at the bedside of his ex- wife, now forced to live in a vegetative state. In an expensive apartment in New York, the grieving Philip hires a woman to deliver a message to his recently deceased wife. Then the letters start arriving. For both men, their beloveds won't die, and something has to give. Things end badly, and songs are sung in this meditation on wives and death. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Absence of Weather, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | Moving Arts, Los Angeles, CA | 2005 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #35222 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Developed as part of the Annex Theatre's (Seattle, WA) Hothouse Development Program (May 2001). Readings in NYC, Seattle, WA and New Jersey. Named the winner of the 2004 Moving Arts One-Act Playwriting Award | |||||
Synopsis: | James Forrestal, President Truman's Secretary of Defense, is committed to an institution after he attempts suicide. The architect of cold-war hysteria now fears that Russians have not only infiltrated the highest ranks of the U.S. government, but are hiding in the bushes outside his home. A young man joins Forrestal in his hospital room, but this mysterious figure may bring about an untimely end for the first Secretary of Defense | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Burners | ||
| 1st Produced: | Kraine Theatre, NYC | 1999 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #35223 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | Full-length (2 Acts) Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | A young painter named Edgar answers a personal ad placed by Kathy, an older business woman. But Kathy hasn't placed a typical personal, and at her urging, Kathy and Edgar exchange stories about why they are contemplating the impossible. A dark comedy about sex, success and suicide. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Female Terrorist Project, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | The Chocolate Factory, New York City | 2004 | ||||
Company: | The Committee | |||||
| 1st Published: | in the anthology New York Theater Review (Ed. Brook Stowe), 2005 | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-1-934962-32-9 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #40190 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | n/a | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | 6 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| In an America where bombings and kidnappings are daily occurrences and civil liberties a thing of the past, Amelia documents the lives of famous female terrorists, from a homegrown anti-abortion assassin to a Palestinian hijacker. After a visit by Agent from the Office of Homeland Security, Amelia finds herself drawn into a world more frightening than she could possibly have imagined. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Halo | ||
| 1st Produced: | Present Company Theatorium, NYC | 2001 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | in Plays and Playwrights 2002, The New York Theatre Experience, Inc >>> | ISBN/ASIN: | 09670234-3-2 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #35224 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | n/a | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | More actors can be cast, 10 actors is the smallest ensemble | |||||
Notes: | Recently produced at Rude Guerrilla Theatre, August 2003; the third play of the New Jersey Trilogy. A monlogue from Halo is featured in The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2001 Ed. D.L. Lepidus) | |||||
| A pageant in 29 scenes. A mother talks to herself at four different moments in her life. A young man and woman in a working-class suburb play a violent game of senseless murder. And in an update of the medieval morality play, Death visits a corporate Everyman and forces her on a journey throughout the Garden State to make amends for a life of only material gains. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Happy Sad | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2008 | |||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #55629 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Stan loves Annie, but Annie doesn't love Stan. Marcus loves Aaron, but Marcus doesn't like monogamy | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
I (Heart) Kant | ||
| 1st Produced: | Moving Arts, Los Angeles, CA | 2001 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Original Works, Los Angeles (2006) | ISBN/ASIN: | ow-kant | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #35225 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | Play/Drama One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| Four women who call the Garden State home are lost, stifled by sex, drugs, dead-end jobs and unfinished dissertations. In a play that weaves together four stories, and features a talking stuffed cat and the ideas of philosopher Immanuel Kant, the women search for happiness and instead stumble upon the sublime. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Jesus Side, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | Nautilus Milkshake, LA, CA | 2003 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #35226 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Also produced by Singularity and the committee at the Manhattan Theatre Source, NYC, May 2003 | |||||
Synopsis: | Haunted by memories of molestation, Alexander is encouraged by his therapist Mary to seek out the perpetrator. More than a bad touch bubbles to the surface when son confronts would-be father Frank. A twisted comedy about love and mass murder. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Mushroom | ||
| 1st Produced: | Kraine Theatre, NY, USA | 2006 | ||||
Company: | ||||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #55041 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Andrew and Laura sit in a waiting room, thinking the worst has happened. But things get much worse. What has happened to Mark? And what's behind that door, the door that begs to be opened? | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Nibbler | ||
| 1st Produced: | Rude Guerrilla, CA | 2003 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #35227 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | n/a | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | The second play of the New Jersey Trilogy. Readings in Seattle, WA and NYC. | |||||
Synopsis: | Five teenagers spend the summer before college dabbling with sex, drugs, space aliens and Republican politics. A comedy about those awkward days when verything and nothing seems possible. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Or Polaroids (Version 2x) | ||
| 1st Produced: | HERE Arts Center, NYC | 2002 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #35228 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | Hour-long drama for voices One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | Variable, can be done with an ensemble of 5 to 15 | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Haunted by political executions, performance art and porno, a group of insomniacs discover that justice and sleep come only at a price. A meditation on violence for five or more speakers inspired by first-hand accounts of the Rwandan genocide as well as cases of insomnia following the World Trade Center disaster. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Private Lives of Eskimos, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | 440 Studios, NY | 2007 | ||||
Company: | The Committee Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | Original Works, Los Angeles (2009) | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-1-934962-36-7 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #71919 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | with doubling | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| Marvin's life is thrown into chaos when he receives the news that his sister has been killed in a tragic train bombing. His only remaining connection to her is the voice mail she left on his cell phone, which he has just lost. His hunt to find it leads Marvin down a cyber rabbit-hole, filled with mysterious SPAM- speaking Eskimos, black black snow, a violent Detective, and a strange woman in a distant land who claims to have acquired his phone through 'dishonorable means.' Fans of the surreal are sure to love this funny and poignant story of loss and life after anti-depressants. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Sense of an Ending | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #35229 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | Full-length (2 Acts) Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Developed as part of the 2002-2003 Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, NYC. Readings in NYC at Soho Rep and the Epiphany Theater Company. | |||||
Synopsis: | Charles, an African-American journalist, travels to Rwanda, five years after the genocide, to interview two nuns about to stand trial for crimes against humanity for their presumed role in the murder of thousands of Tutsis at a church. Charles arrives, thinking he knows who is guilty and who is innocent, but his two guides help Charles understand that things are never that simple. An Easter play for non-believers. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
Too Much Too Soon | ||
| 1st Produced: | Theater for the New City | 29 Sep 2011 | ||||
Company: | Lesser America and Red Elevator Production | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #132622 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | short play | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | An evening of short plays by Nikole Beckwith, Dean Imperial, Nick Jones, Melissa Ross, Emily Schwend and Ken Urban | |||||
Synopsis: | Too Much Too Soon is a collection of short plays commissioned by Red Elevator Productions and Lesser America. The production is a sequel to Red Elevators Too Little Too Late, that ran at HERE Arts Center in 2010 and that earned three New York Innovative Theater Award nominations, including Best Short Play, Best Actress in a Featured Role, and Best Ensemble. It included work by Lucy Alibar (Sundance Screenwriting Award), Bekah Brunstetter (Be A Good Little Widow), Sam Forman (The Moscows of Nantucket), Amy Herzog (4000 Miles - Lincoln Center, After the Revolution - Playwrights Horizons), Elizabeth Meriwether (No Strings Attached, New Girl) and Daniel Talbott (Yosemite - Rattlestick, Theater Hall of Fame Fellowship Award). Following Too Little Too Lates example, Too Much Too Soon will spotlight the work of promising and fiercely adventurous playwrights with distinct and diverse voices. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
White People | ||
| 1st Produced: | May 2009 | |||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Boston Theater Marathon XI - 2009 Anthology - 50 Ten Minute Plays Boston Theater Marathon XI - 2009 Anthology - 50 Ten Minute Plays ~ By Kate Snodgrass (ed) - Smith and Kraus, 2010 | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-15752577164 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #114770 | |||
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 | |||||
|
| ||||||
Genre: | Ten Min | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| Now an annual tradition, The Boston Theater Marathon utilizes hundreds of actors and dozens of directors to sponsor 50 ten-minute plays in 10 hours (five plays per hour!), each one supported by a different New England theatre company | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
|
