Play House

by Alexa Derman ‘23 MFA

directed by Molly Houlahan ‘23 MFA

Content Warning:

This production contains depictions of murder, kidnapping, animal death/cruelty, sounds of gunshots, and the use of prop guns, knives, blood, and a sex toy.

Sensory Warning:

Gunshots, haze Run Time:

Approximately 90 minutes

Special Thanks:

Fresh Ground Pepper BRB Retreat, Jesús Valles, Seayoung Yim, Nkenna Akunna, Julia Jarcho, Lisa D’Amour, Dhari Noel, Kathy Ng, Ro Reddick, Harley Elias, Shannon Ryu, Fiona Maguire, Mario Gomez, Madison Fiedler, Isabel Kim, Andrew Gombas, Hannah Moloshok.

Alexa Derman is a playwright from Jersey who writes about gender, systems, and speculation. Her plays include PSYCHOPSYCHOTIC (Relentless Award Honorable Mention), GIRLISH (Fresh Ink Theatre), RESTORATION MASTER RESET (Cutting Ball in WAYS TO LEAVE A BODY), and I’LL BE IN MY HANUKKAH PALACE (sold-out at Ars Nova ANT Fest). She is a 2022-2023 Core Apprentice at the Playwrights Center and currently under commission from Manhattan Theatre Club via the Sloan Foundation. Alexa has been a finalist for Jewish Plays Project, Playwrights Realm’s Writing Fellowship, the Starr Reading Series, Pegasus PlayLab, Kitchen Dog New Works, and Unicorn Playsin-Progress; semifinalist for Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and the O’Neill. Other honors and experiences include Orchard Project Audio Lab, Fresh Ground Pepper’s BRB Retreat, an upcoming residency with Ragdale, nomination for the Cherry Lane Mentor project and the Susan Smith Blackburn, a residency with StageFemmes at Kenyon College, and at Yale the Marina Keegan Award for Excellence in Playwriting. Her work has been developed with Cutting Ball Variety Pack and Fresh Ink. BA from Yale in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies. She is currently pursuing her MFA at Brown and is a staff writer on an upcoming Netflix series. alexaderman.com

Molly Houlahan (she/hers) is a Providence based queer director. She is the previous Associate Artistic Director of Congressional AwardWinning Hypokrit Theatre Company. Hypokrit has developed work with institutions such as The Public, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, New Georges, Rattlestick, Lincoln Center/LCT3, and UNICEF amongst others. Houlahan’s select directing credits include Transhumance (Austin, TX Fringe, Auckland Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe), In Search of Maria Theresa (Cell Theatre), Gospel of the Marys (Furnace Festival), R+J (Access Theatre), How To Succeed as an Ethnically Ambiguous Actor starring Zenobia Shroff from “The Big Sick” (Castillo Theatre), Scorched (The Araca Project), and Still Life (NYC International Fringe Festival). Molly has assistant/associate directed for Kate Whoriskey, Anne Kauffman, Rebecca Taichman, Les Waters, Dan Sullivan, Tony Taccone, Lynne Meadow, and Mary Zimmerman among others at institutions such as The Public, Playwrights Horizons, Encores! at NYCC, The Town Hall, Berkeley Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the New York Philharmonic. She has worked in the producing department at The Public, the artistic department at Steppenwolf, and as the assistant to the Artistic Director at Berkeley Rep. She has assisted artists such as Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding”) and Sarah Jones (“Sell/Buy/Date”). 2019 Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow, 2017 Playwrights Horizons Directing Fellow, 20152016 Bret C. Harte Directing Fellow at Berkeley Rep, and the winner of the Louis Sudler Prize upon graduating Yale University.