Ryan Stevens (he/they) is an emerging playwright currently pursuing their MFA in Playwriting from UCLA and hailing originally from Belton, South Carolina. They have an MA in dramaturgy from USC. Ryan’s play Player King was published by StageScripts, Ltd. They have previously had work produced with Great Plains Theatre Conference, South Carolina Lab Theatre, Silver Spring Stage, MeetCute LA, St. Croix Falls Festival Theatre, Retrograde Reading Series, New American Theatre, Whiskey Radio Hour, Hollywood Fringe Festival, T. Schreiber Studio, Shakespeare Company UCLA, Dually Noted Theatre Company, and Green Room Productions.
Plays
Outlaw Song is the story of a wayward gunslinger named Billie Baxter and the cool-headed federal agent sent in to stop her, Roberta Weiss. Positioned on either sides of the law, these two women engage in a cat and mouse game of understanding, as both realize the dangers of not knowing your enemy, and likewise the dangers of getting too close. Roberta’s assistants are a hapless, put upon sheriff, and her socially inept deputies, and Billie’s posse consists of a sociopath and a sarcastic cannibal. And Billie’s idol, the professional Mexican wrestler El Soso, finds himself involved in the intrigue too. As Billie and Roberta circle each other, dragging their loved ones and cohorts into the crossfire, a story of loneliness, companionship, fate and choice emerges from the smoky saloons, dusty streets, the croonings of the slinky bar singer in the corner.
Rebecca Blue is on the verge of gaining the N.E.W. Wrestling Women's Championship. The only person in her way: her mentor, Kira Lance. Rebecca's worked hard to escape the shadow of her wrestler father, Beloved Blue, and stake her claim as the face of the next generation. But the old generation hasn't let go yet.
Thomas Gainsborough, English Landscape and Portrait painter.
Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Scottish-born French Socialite and survivor of the French Revolution.
When Gainsborough paints a portrait of Grace, they begin a torrid, decade-spanning connection that stretches through both their lives and beyond history.
Catherine and Ben, young lovers from the city, take a needed vacation to Catherine's family home deep in the Woods. They expect themselves alone, but these Woods contain things long thought gone and things never before heard. The longer they stay, the more Ben and Catherine have to reckon with the Unknown, both within and without.
Julie Guest, a native of the small town of Sheol, South Carolina, returns home after her florists’ shop in Charleston failed. Returning home to work at her mother’s bait shop, she finds that her hermetic neighbor, Ogden Flass, the enigmatic Bee-Man whose house is full of bees is the focus of a lot of local parties. The Crighton County Council has decided to fund a full profile on the town for its upcoming tricentennial, and busybody councilwoman is determined to get Ogden’s family heirlooms and history as part of the project.
Successes
The Resurrectionist received Staged Reading at UCLA in October 2018
Player King producded in USC LAB Theatre in April 2015
Blue Moon produced in UCLA MFA Ones in June 2018 and Hollywood Fringe Festival in July 2018.
Outlaw Song Produced in USC LAB Theatre, February 2017