EASON WORK SUMMARY

FULL LENGTH PLAYS:

SEX WITH STRANGERS: When a famous young blogger falls for a mysterious older women who knows nothing about the virtual world, not telling the whole truth has unforeseen and very damaging consequences.  Loosely inspired by the writing of bloggers like Tucker Max and the events of the J.T. Leroy scandal, Sex with Strangers is a story about the construct of identity and getting what you want in the internet age.      (Ninety-minute, two character mystery/drama. Unit set)   

PLAINFIELD ACE: Set in theAce Hardware store of Plainfield, Iowa. Jake, the locksmith, has always wanted out of the small town, so it’s acruel joke that his secretive co-workers, Emily and Rory, have come toPlainfield by choice but won’t talk about why.  When Jake goes on a hunt to expose their secrets he unravelsmore than he could have imagined. A truly American story about responsibility, reinvention and the realityof what we can’t leave behind in the modern world.    (Two act, three-charactercomedy/drama.  Unit set)                

40 DAYS:  A story aboutfacing crisis -- represented metaphorically by a flood in an unnamed Americantown. The play, a highly visual, physical, metaphoric, ensemble piece thatlives in the shadow of OUR TOWN and explores personal struggles in relation tocrisis and the state of decline of the American town outside of the bigcity.  Developed at LookingglassTheatre, and New York Theatre Workshop, N.E.A. artistic development grant.     (Eighty-minute,twelve-character drama. Multiple locations.)                  

AREA OF RESCUE:  Set in the dystopian near future, a family struggles with thedeath of a young Mother and grapples with the danger of focusing too much onthe afterlife in this life. Produced by Andhow Theater in New York, 2007.    (Ninety-minute,Seven character drama. Unit set)            

REWIND: Explores themeaning of success and fame in America through the life of an almost famousrock musician from the American Midwest.       (Five character drama. Multiple locations)

ADAPTATIONS:

THE GIFT GIVEN:  A SPIRITED TALE FORCHRISTMAS: adapted from the story The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain by Charles Dickens, this unique holiday treat from Victorian England's greatest storyteller is a beautiful and haunting parable about the importance of memory,the value of kindness, and the astonishing power of compassion. Six extraordinary actors/storytellers and a group of children bring to life this new holiday classic for the whole family.  Produced underthe title THE GHOST'S BARGAIN at Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ, 2007  (Seventy-five minute, five-character comedy/drama withoptional addition of two to sevenchildren.  Multiple locations)

WHENTHE MESSENGER IS HOT:  Three years afterJosie’s mother died, no one expects her to telephone from a bus station inNorth Dakota. Adapted form the stories of Elizabeth Crane, this smart and slylycomic study of love and letting go, is an insightful look at the disparitybetween what you expect and what is delivered. Produced at Steppenwolf Theatre,Chicago and 59E59 Street Theaters, New York, 2007.  (Seventy-five minute, five character comedy/drama.Multiple locations)

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS: a highly theatrical,athletic, unpredictable adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic adventure story ofPhileas Fogg and his attempt to travel around the world in 1872. Commissionedand produced by Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago, 2008.                 (Eight characters, two acts, multiple locations.)

THE COAST OF CHICAGO:  The gritty realities of everyday life in a lessthan fortunate Chicago neighborhood give way to the possibility of magic andthe power of dreams in this funny, lyrical, moving adaptation of MacArthur“genius” Stuart Dybek’s award-winning short story collection.  Commissioned and produced by WalkaboutTheater, Chicago, 2006.  Jeffnomination for adaptation.   (Seventy minute, elevencharacter drama.  Multiplelocations)

A TALE OF TWO CITIES:  The classic tale by Charles Dickensthat explores vengeance and sacrifice during the French revolution.  Commissioned by and produced atSteppenwolf Theatre, Chicago in 2004.   (Eightcharacter, eighty-minute adaptation, multiple locations.)

HUCK FINN: One of the most renown classics of American literature, this adaptationof Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn focuses on therelationship of Huck and the runaway slave Jim and how, together, they form afriendship based on trust against the oppressive social expectations of thepre-civil war South.  Produced atSteppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, 2007.   (Eightcharacter, ninety-minute adaptation, multiple locations.)

WILL OF THE MILL:  The story of a young man’s struggle to reconcile dreaming formore with the need to appreciate what he already has.  Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story, Will O’the Mill.  Commissioned by Lookingglass TheatreCompany, Chicago.          (Eight charactercomedy/drama. Multiple locations)

ADDITIONAL PLAYS –PRODUCED:

IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER:  an exploration of how fearshapes the lives of women. Produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company and Touchstone Theatre (PA).

THEY ALL FALL DOWN:  The Richard Nickel Story,co-written by Jessica Thebus.  Astory of passion, protest and preservation that follows Richard Nickel’s fightto save the building of Louis Sullivan in Chicago in the 1960’s.  Produced by Lookingglass TheatreCompany. 

OUR SECRET LIFE:  When a groupof students at an affluent private school are forced to confront their secrets,it is revealed how what they keep hidden helps develop, define, and, sometimes,destroy them.  Commissioned and produced by Middlesex School, Concord,Massachusetts. 

28: Pictures of Life in a High Tech World,produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company in association with The GoodmanTheatre.

SHORT PLAYS:

PEANUT MOMS:  When twosuburban Moms recognize each other from their previous lives in corporateAmerica, they are forced to reckon with all they left behind since discoveringtheir children’s deadly peanut allergies.                   (Threecharacter comedy.  No setrequired.)

LOST IN THESUPERMARKET:  A moment of miscommunication in aneighborhood supermarket between a long time black resident and a whitenewcomer explores the complexity of gentrification.    Producedby Vital Theatre, New York, 2007 (Four character drama. No setrequired.)