PLAYWRIGHT
AS A PLAYWRIGHT,
Eli explores themes of queerness, codependence, carnality, and loneliness. Their plays often pull elements of absurdism or surrealism into a contemporary setting, or anachronism into history.
Originally from Chicago, Eli is currently an MFA candidate in the Iowa Playwrights Workshop.
Their work has been produced by the University of Iowa and Dreamwell Theatre (Iowa City, IA), as well as workshopped at The Story Theatre (Chicago, IL) and others.
BIO
After graduating from the University of Iowa with a BA in Theatre Arts and Spanish, Eli interned at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. They studied at Steep Theatre and the Chicago Dramatists, and developed their play Nest with The Story Theatre.
Eli returned to Iowa City in 2022 to begin an MFA in Playwriting. While in the program, they've taught Playwriting I and II to undergraduates, as well as received a premiere production of their script Pleasure Play at Dreamwell Theatre. Their play In This Sepulcher, We Are Fed had a workshop production at the University in 2023.
Eli has multiple plays in development, including Forgottonia, the true(ish) story of a rural Illinois town that competed in a government sweepstakes to "win" a prison.
OTHER (IR)RELEVANT THINGS OF NOTE
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Eli is also a photographer (and saves lots of money on headshots). Peep the photography website.
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Big coffee guy - recently acquired an espresso machine (purchase justified because they save so much money on headshots).
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Known to derail conversations in order to talk about their dog, Hazel.
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Probably reading some weird little book.
THE PLAYS
MYOCARDIUM; GRAPHITE
3F, 1M
At a community art center in downtown Iowa City, two young women enroll in a figure drawing class. KC, a young mother trying to overcome her fear of naked bodies, and Maya, a fiery college student on the hunt for meaning, are an unlikely team when dealing with their eccentric instructor, Jonie. As the three women survive art and each other, secrets about their pasts emerge.
Myocardium; Graphite is a hyper-natural comedy about what it costs to be seen.
SALT TONGUE
2F, 3M
On an island off the coast of Ireland in 1615, Fintan finds a young man washed up on the beach. With no memory of who he is or where he came from, Fintan brings Rossa home, where he slowly mends from the apparent shipwreck. But Rossa’s presence turns suspicious when Fintan’s daughter, Niamh, starts growing scales. The rain won’t stop. The ocean is angry. And something is not right with Rossa.
Salt Tongue is a horror play cut with dark comedy. It asks questions about identity, the body, and what defines a person.
IN THIS SEPULCHER, WE ARE FED
2M, 2F (or 1F, 1NB)
In 1790s Versailles, Sacha is the servant to a demanding Lord. When his sister and fellow servant, Flavie, swears there is a mysterious disease spreading through the estate, she begs Sacha to flee with her to Spain.
But as things grow stranger and more complicated between Sacha and his Lord, he must decide whether it's worth it to risk the unknown, or to labor in familiar comfort.
Sepulcher draws inspiration from Shakespeare and Moliere, while asking questions about desire, capitalism, and what we owe our family.
FORGOTTONIA
9-11 Actors
In 1987 rural Illinois, the inhabitants of a town politicians call "Forgottonia" are becoming desperate. The crops are failing, the government pulled their aid - what else is there to do but compete for a brand new prison to be built?
Satirical, absurd, and based on a true story, Forgottonia explores the American prison system and the ways it's failed even those on the outside.
NEST
2F, 1M, 1NB
Anne lives with her 33-year-old son Pierce in an architectural masterpiece - a home built into the side of a California mountain, secluded from the nearest town.
When C-list celebrity Trinity Isabella bustles in with an offer they can't refuse, Anne and Pierce must uproot their quiet lives in order to host a new reality TV show.
Nest is about trying to do right by people, getting it wrong, and marionettes.
NEVERS
5F, 1M
In a small Iowa tourist town, Finn shows up 3 years after her mysterious disappearance with no explanation and nowhere to live. Her old apartment has been converted into an artisanal cheese shop and her ex-girlfriend is seeing someone new.
Volleying between the present day, the 1800s French settlers who started the town, and a strange, collective dream that's haunting everyone, Nevers is surreal and desperate.
It asks what love is for and how any of us can survive it.
PLEASURE PLAY
2F, 1NB/Trans
Maeve is expecting to have sex, not see their mother.
After ten years, Abby walks through the door of the hotel room where Maeve is prepping for a client, breaking their estrangement and asking Maeve for a second chance.
Meanwhile, Maeve's partner Gracie isn't sold on the idea of Abby returning to their lives.
Also, there are aliens screaming in the attic!
Pleasure Play is an expressionist hellscape about codependence, shutting the world out, and being entirely seen.
ALL THE YELLOWS
1M, 2F or 1F + 1NB
Oakley's mother just died by suicide, and Patience is determined to make it better. Best friends since childhood, Oakley and Patience spend the last summer before leaving for college in the cemetery, performing ritual seances to figure out why Oakley's mom did what she did.
When a different ghost shows up instead, they aren't sure how to proceed.
All the Yellows is about youthful obsession, jealousy, and the stories we tell ourselves to make it all better.