Chris Reisig (they/them) is a U.S.-based theatre maker whose play Karla, Sam, and Mel Are Going Straight to Hell was part of Project Y Theatre’s 8th annual WIT Festival and received the District V KCACTF Darrell Ayer’s Playwriting Award as well as Honorable Mention for the Julie Jensen Playwriting Award. They have adapted A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It (Time Out New York—Top 10 Things to Do This Week) for performance by Idle Playthings and Titus Andronicus for Rogue Ensemble. They are a member of Breaking & Entering Writers Group. You can also find Chris on New Play Exchange.
Plays
In a barn in Nebraska three teenage girls meet up to commit suicide together. Fear, love, friendship, and family ties are forced into a new light as the three prepare to end their lives. This play deals directly with the lack of options for people experiencing a mental health crisis in rural America, the easy availability of firearms, and the fear young women have when their options for healthcare of all kinds are limited. Ultimately, it explores what it means to live, and go on living, with mental illness.
CW: suicide, suicidal ideation, gun use, discussion of self harm, discussion of sexual assault
Successes
Everybody Loves Daddy and Daddy Loves America, a ten minute play about suburbian dystopia, has been selected by 938collective for performance in June.
Karla, Sam, and Mel Are Going Straight to Hell received the District V KCACTF Darrell Ayer’s Playwriting Award as well as Honorable Mention for the Julie Jensen Playwriting Award.