Doug Brook

Writing • Theatre • Management • Education



"Magnificent works like those by... Doug Brook..."



Good Times, about Retrograde



"The best plays include... this delightful world premiere penned by Doug Brook."



Triangle Arts & Entertainment, about The Miles High Club



"An audience favorite... fun and light, but keeps the audience on its toes, waiting for the next mystery to be revealed."



Santa Cruz Sentinel, about The Case of the Cereal Killer



"A clever piece... a pithy comment on the power of entropy."



Monterey Herald, about Retrograde



THE HOOD OF SHERWOOD



ROBIN AND HIS MERRY MEN... AND WOMEN





This adventure merges classic Robin Hood tales with a contemporary sensibility. How did Robin and his band of merry men (and women) band together? Who are some of the original characters we don't usually see?


Robin and his crew help those less fortunate, until crossing Guy of Gisbourne and then the Sheriff of Nottingham. Robin is jailed, the Sheriff plots a revolution, and only these noble outlaws can save the day, in a timeless story where nobility comes not from noble title, but from noble service.


Watch the premiere production



ORIGINAL SYNERGY



A SATIRE OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS





In the beginning, the Big G created a committee. Original Synergy chronicles the actual events behind Creation, as abridged in Genesis. The Big G assembles a committee of his Ego, Super Ego, Id, Left Brain, Right Brain, and (once woman is created) Feminine Side.


Available in online and in-person editions! Catered to each medium.



LOT IN LIFE



LOT'S WIFE AND HER SALTY PERSPECTIVE





As a rabbi begins a talk about the biblical story of Lot, Lot's Wife steps out of the story and into debate about what really happened.


From her own salty perspective, Lot's Wife reveals the complete story as untold by the Bible. They meet in the desert at the local watering hole, marry, and deal with "crazy Uncle Abraham's" new religion that has the neighbors talking.



RETROGRADE



FROM HATE TO LOVE, AND BACK AGAIN





John and Lynn are coworkers who hate each other. Forced to work together, they find tolerance, then collaboration, friendship, and finally romance. A retrograde is a melody that goes from Point A to Point B, then returns exactly in reverse to Point A. So goes John and Lynn, step by step back to where they started, but changed by the journey.


Published in 8 Tens @ Eight Festival anthology, Smith & Kraus


Winner, 4th Annual Ten-Minute Playwriting Contest, Actors' Theatre (Santa Cruz, CA)


Watch the premiere production


"a trim, minimalist piece, examining the failed trajectory of an office romance. ...a clever piece, which makes a pithy comment on the power of entropy." – Monterey Herald


"Magnificent works like those by... Doug Brook neatly encapsulate the elliptical, cyclical, and fickle nature of romance..." – Good Times


New York premiere at Theatre Row on 42nd Street

starred John-Paul Lavoisier (One Life to Live) and Kerri Tucker (Guiding Light)



THE CASE OF THE CEREAL KILLER



FILM NOIR SATIRE MEETS FAMILY DYSFUNCTION





It was a Monday like any other Monday, except that it wasn't. Mason makes a bowl of cereal and steps out for the newspaper. When he returns, the cereal is gone and the mystery begins. Mason, in his trenchcoat, fedora, and pajamas, goes through each member of his family to find the culprit, but what he finds is... The Case of the Cereal Killer.


Winner, 15th Annual Ten-Minutes Playwrighting Contest, Actors' Theatre (Santa Cruz, CA)


Watch the premiere production


"An audience favorite... fun and light, but keeps the audience on its toes, waiting for the next mystery to be revealed." – Santa Cruz Sentinel



THE MILES HIGH CLUB



A COMEDY TOO BIG FOR THIS PLANET





A NASA official interviews an astronaut couple for the first manned Mars mission, so NASA can study long-term effects on a marriage during a three-year trip. The interview becomes less routine as it broaches certain marital relations in space. Ambitions for space wrestle with desire for privacy. Will they put aside their inhibitions in the name of science, or give up outer space for personal space?


Winner, 10 by 10 in the Triangle, The ArtsCenter (Carrboro, NC)


"This one (The Miles High Club) is a hoot, and the three really sell it... The ArtsCenter does it again with ten jewels of the one-act variety." – Classical Voice of North Carolina


"The best plays include... this delightful world premiere penned by Doug Brook." – Triangle Arts & Entertainment


"...feels like a leftover from a 1970s TV sketch show." – Independent Weekly



FINDING GOD



WHAT IF GOD DATED ONE OF US?





Molly returns home early from Europe. Her parents, happy for her return, are even more delighted to hear that Molly found God while away...


Until God walks into the living room, changing their lives forever. Or at least for the rest of the play. Or is he really God after all?


Premiere production, Pear Slices 2010, The Pear Avenue Theatre



WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO HANUCLAUS?



YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A HANUCLAUS





Santa Claus quietly shares drinks at a bar with his blue-suited counterpart, HanuClaus. As they ready for the holiday season, they hash through business trouble and family issues, and lament what's happened to their holidays.


The new barmaid, Ginny, does not recognize HanuClaus, setting him off about how he and the original purpose of his holiday are forgotten. HanuClaus and Santa eventually turn against each other, pulling no punches in the most unexpected bar fight in the history of religion.


New York premiere at the Bowery Poetry Club




FULL LENGTH & ONE ACT





FULL LENGTH


The Hood of Sherwood

Silicon Valley Shakespeare, Saratoga, CA production August-September 2018

Theatre Bay Area Awards recommended production

Theatre Bay Area Awards finalist, fight choreography


Original Synergy (comedy formerly This Week’s Agenda)

Theatre Chevruta, Los Gatos, CA staged readings October 2014

Semi-finalist, 2007 ARTSport Playwriting Contest, Playhouse on the Green, Bridgeport, CT 2007

Finalist, 5th Annual Full-Length Playwrighting Contest, Actors’ Theatre, Santa Cruz 2004


More Than Petticoats (historical drama principal writer)

The Tabard Theatre Company, San Jose, CA September 2007


Self Expression (comedy/drama)

Honorable Mention, 1st Annual Full-Length Playwrighting Contest, Actors’ Theatre staged readings May 1999


ONE ACT


Lot in Life (full-length one-act)

Silicon Valley Shakespeare, San José, California online reading performance August 2020

Association for Jewish Theatre Playwrights Forum staged reading (selection) November 2010

Playwrights Festival, Curtain Players, Westerville, Ohio staged readings July 2010

Runner Up, 11st Annual Full-Length Playwrighting Contest, Actors’ Theatre, Santa Cruz staged readings September 2009


The Big Fish Story (biblical satire)

Finalist, 2010 Playwrights Festival, Curtain Players, Westerville, Ohio July 2010


Winter Follies (two one-act murder mysteries)

Stabbed in the Bach, Who’s Going to Die Tonight? JCC Theatre, Birmingham, AL December 1990


Interpersonal Relations (comedy)

Indian Springs Theatre, Indian Springs, AL February 1990



SHORT PLAYS (10-15 MInute)





Retrograde

Multiple college productions (Clemson, Hartwick, Flagler, Case Western…) 2003-2005

Streetlight Players, 42nd Street Studios, New York, NY Off-Off Broadway Equity Showcase November 2002

Published in 8 Tens @ Eight Festival anthology, Smith & Kraus, Inc. June 2001

Winner, 4th Annual Ten-Minute Playwrighting Contest, Actors’ Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA February 1999


The Case of the Cereal Killer

​Pacific Collegiate School, at Northern CA Regional One Act Festival, Campbell, California January 2011

Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, at Drive By Theatre Festival, Atlanta, Georgia January 2011

Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee June 2010

Pacific Collegiate School, Santa Cruz, California May 2010

Winner, 15th Annual Ten-Minute Playwrighting Contest, Actors’ Theatre, Santa Cruz January 2010


What Ever Happened to Hanuclaus?

Sticky, Blue Box Productions, Bowery Poetry Club, New York, New York Off-Off-Broadway December 2010


Murder of the First

Birmingham Festival Theatre, Birmingham, AL staged reading May 2014


Last Call

Finalist, 2010 New Plays Festival, Stormy Weather Players, Cornwall, New York October 2010


The Miles High Club

Winner, 9th Annual 10 by 10 in the Triangle festival, The ArtsCenter, Carrboro, North Carolina July 2010


Finding God

Pear Avenue Theatre (in Pear Slices 2010), Mountain View, CA February 2010


Richard III epilogue (or Rosencrantz and Guildenthird, Still Dead)

Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company (48-Hour Play Festival), San Jose, CA September 2014


Attention Surplus Disorder

Selected for Ross Alternative Works (RAW), Ross Valley Players, Ross, CA staged readings January 2009


Alternate Proposal

Finalist, ShowOff! Int’l Playwriting Festival, Camino Real Playhouse, San Juan Capistrano, CA January 2008

Runner Up, 8th Annual Ten-Minute Playwrighting Contest, Actors’ Theatre, Santa Cruz staged readings March 2003


Two Jews

Runner Up, 6th Annual Ten-Minute Playwrighting Contest, Actors’ Theatre, Santa Cruz staged readings April 2001


Saturday Night Six-Pack (six short plays)

Taking Back the Stage, Finding God, The Case of the Cereal Killer, Intermission, Full Retrograde, The Miles High Club

Dragon Productions, After Hours Series, Palo Alto, CA new play reading March 2009








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