Katherine Murphy
katherine@fellswoop.net
bio
Katherine Murphy's play Greater America premiered in San Francisco
in 2002 in a collaboration between Bare Bones Theatre Company
and First Seen. A workshop of her twisted Greek myth, To
Hades and Back (Again) was co-produced by Off-Market Theater
and First Seen in 2004. Her black comedy, Drug
of Choice,
an eighties relationship play about love and chemicals, has
received two staged readings. She was a co-artistic director
of First Seen, a producing playwrights collective, where she
produced several readings, workshops, and full productions
in San Francisco.
work
Plays
Drug of Choice
Full-length play
Drama
2W/2M
The story of the intersecting lives of twenty-somethings
stuck in the San Fernando Valley, enduring their relationships
through a drug induced haze.
- A staged reading was co-produced by First Seen and
Off-Market Theater.
- The first act of Drug of Choice was performed
at Off-Market Theater when Katherine was selected as
playwright of the month.
Greater America
Full length play
Drama
3F/2M/2 Either
This skewering of American family values and entertainment takes place in
a hotel room somewhere in Middle America. Because their birthday fell on
Thanksgiving this year, THE TWINS, Age 10, choose as their gift a weekend
at an amusement park. Although the park is closed, the family stays in the
hotel to celebrate the holiday. Each of the nine scenes in this twisted quest
is interrupted by GEM, our narrator, as she explains the physics of roller
coasters in malapropisms.
- Produced in 2002 by Bare Bones Theatre Company and First Seen at The
Next Stage.
- Critics choice in SFGate (“Murphy's script is at its best
when the narrator steps out of character and spins metaphoric observations
based on park rides that, at times, are sheer poetry. Family dirt and
all, ‘Greater America,’ … is a ride that's worth
taking.” -- Anna Mantzaris)
To Hades and Back (Again)
Full length play
Comedy
1M/5W/1 Either
Everyone’s hearts are in turmoil, as BERTHA, the maid,
explains the poetry of arrhythmias. The story bounces
between earth and the underworld, past and present, prose
and poetry in this askance glance at The Oresteia,
as the women try to claim the story for their own this time.
- A workshop production was co-produced by First Seen and
Off-Market Theater
Uva & Jed, All Over Again
10-Minute Play
1M/1W
A staged reading was produced for the 7th Season of San Francisco’s
Monday Night Playground and was directed by Jonathan Moscone.
Cyrana de Heart Attack
10-Minute Play
2W/3M
A staged reading was produced for the 8th Season of San Francisco’s
Monday Night Playground and was directed by directed by Ben
Yalom.
Word of the Day
10-Minute Play
2W
A staged reading was produced for the 9th Season of San Francisco’s
Monday Night Playground and was directed by directed by Tom
Ross.
