PROFESSIONAL PLAY WRITING RESUME
TRAINING
Playwriting! Online Class - Lauren Gunderson
The Writer’s Room @ The New Colony Theatre - Co-Artistic Director, Fin Coe & Company Member, Will Cavedo
The Chicago Playwright’s Group - Jamie Olah
Writing in Motion - Jamie Olah
Before the fall
Based on Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Coriolanus
By Justin Verstraete
Before the Fall has received readings at Reutan Theatre Collective, Prop Thtr, & The Chicago Playwright’s Group.
This re-imagination of the Tragedy of Coriolanus by William Shakespeare theorizes a new version of the historic fall of the greatest empire in western civilization. The play follows General Caius Martius' journey from being Rome's most elite soldier to being it's most hated enemy. Martius defies Roman traditions, wreaks havoc on his friendships (the few that he has), nearly burns his family’s legacy to the ground, and even turns his back on his homeland when he joins the ranks of his arch nemesis. What will come before the fall of Rome? Martius will.
Chamberlain’s men
by Justin Verstraete
Chamberlain’s Men has received readings at The Chicago Playwright’s Group.
A humorous historical fiction piece about the comedies, the tragedies, and the felonies (allegedly) of the most famous group of theatre makers to have ever tread the boards.
BIG WEIGHT
by Justin Verstraete
BIG WEIGHT premiered on December 3, 2010 at Bradley University Theatre’s Hartmann Center for the Performing Arts, in a production directed by Becca Wenning. BIG WEIGHT was one of many one act plays that were performed in conjunction with New Faces 2010.
BIG WEIGHT made it’s Chicago premiere on July 22, 2018 with The Right Brain Project.
BIG WEIGHT will make it’s regional premiere via Zoom in the Fall of 2020 with The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol.
When Sheffield entered the gym that afternoon, he knew it would be like any other "heavy" day. Some squats, some sweat, and some stolen looks from the female coeds milling about. What he didn't know, was that his eyes were about to be opened to a whole different world by Buddy, a seemingly un-athletic new guy.
American Macabre
PLAYWRIGHT, Director, & Fight Choreographer
Story by Sean Patrick Cummings
Written by Sean Patrick Cummings & Justin Verstraete
American Macabre made its Chicago premiere with Rough Company in conjunction with Nothing Special Productions in July 2014.
American Macabre returned to the Chicago stage with a production produced by Reutan Theatre Collective in 2018.
It's the Fourth of July and Abigail has finally convinced her new beau to introduce her to his closest friends. What a better way to break the ice, she thinks, than the barbecue that the group throws every year? What may seem like an idyllic holiday party one would find in an Ira Levin novel, is actually a game from the inner sanctum of Tyler Durden's imagination; a game in which they brawl one another for a piece of the "American Dream."
Extraordinary
Story by Sean Patrick Cummings
Written by Sean Patrick Cummings & Justin Verstraete
Directed by Spencer Davis
Extraordinary , produced by Otherworld Theatre, premiered as a part of the world's largest Sci Fi / Fantasy Play festival in the world on October 2016.
A teenager unleashes her unknown extraordinary powers on a bully at school and now must face her disbelieving parents in what feels like the most awkward pre-pubescent conversation EVER. While the family convenes a government representative arrives at their door with an opportunity for the girl that may change her life forever.
A Local
A Radio Play written by Justin Verstraete
A Local has received readings at The Right Brain Project.
Kili brings his girlfriend, Jenny, home to the islands for first time. What should be a romantic spring break getaway turns into a bloody battle based on a Hawaiian legend set one thousand feet above sea level.
Free HBO
by Justin Verstraete
Developed with The Writer’s Room at The New Colony Theatre.
Free HBO has received readings at The Chicago Playwright’s Group.
Two disgraced CIA operatives, Sarah Martinez and Robert Lancaster, now working as hitmen for rival organizations, come in contact for the first time since being dishonorably discharged when they are both given keys to the same room in a run-down, side-of-the-road motel. With their fate seemingly out of their hands the two are forced to fight, reminisce, and fight some more in an attempt to reconcile their past. At least the room comes with free HBO…so that’s a perk.
13 Going on 31
Written and Performed by Justin Verstraete
13 Going on 31 premiered at the 13th Anniversary Speakeasy for The Right Brain Project on February 18th 2018.
If I, Justin Verstraete at 31 years old, could give my 13 year old self, 13 bits of advice, what I would give? Would I change anything?
The Monologue Experiment
Written and Performed by Justin Verstraete
Produced by Reutan Theatre Collective in March 2018
You rehearse and you rehearse and you rehearse a monologue to the point ad nauseaum just for the chance to perform it in front of some strangers for 1 minute in the hopes of getting job. But what happens if you introduce audience members in your piece? Will it make the piece more alive? Will the volunteers have any clue what you are talking about and act accordingly to you tactics? That's what I hope to find out.
