Plays Written by DJ Hills
ADULT THINGS
COME STRAIGHT HOME
HORSEGIRL AND COWDADDY
I SWEAR TO GOD
TRUNK BRIEF JOCK THONG
THE CAELUMIDS
Synopses:
Adult Things – Set in the near future, in a Hamptons “more Mad Max than Maxi Dress,” ADULT THINGS follows three vapid young adults, a newly drafted soldier, and a baby that happens to be a butternut squash in the midst of an international war. When the traumas of war begin to spill over the walls of their beach compound, the characters’ apathy is pushed to a breaking point as they confront the violence and terror they have been sheltered from for so long.
come straight home – Structured as a short story collection for the stage, come straight home follows two brothers on an epic river journey, as they age from 14 to 92, intercut with scenes from their lives that shape the people they become.
Horsegirl and Cowdaddy -Horsegirl, a trans woman in her thirties, lives a life of routine alongside her father, Cowdaddy, in a forgotten town in Southern Pennsylvania—until she falls in love with Bethel, a new-to-town teacher with a goal of improving the lives of everyone they meet. Over the course of their summer romance, Bethel physically transforms Horsegirl into the person (or thing) they want her to be. Cowdaddy’s attempts to pull his daughter back to him leads to an explosive confrontation between all of them, in the wake of which Horsegirl must decide for herself what a happy life looks like.
I Swear to God – In the early 2000s, a group of middle school kids meet to put on a play about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. When one of the children witnesses a private moment, they must choose between the love of their friends and their eternal salvation. Moving between past and present, the play looks at the impact of religious trauma and the difficulties of discovering your identity in an environment that wants you to stay hidden.
Trunk Brief Jock Thong – A group of queer eighteen-year-olds gather for the first time since graduation. As the night is upturned by unwelcome guests and exposed skeletons, everyone is forced to grapple with their own understandings of identity, ambition, and family.
The Caelumids – Blythe and Thora sit on Blythe’s porch and talk about the future. Their grandsons, Eddie and Mitchell, stand in Blythe’s yard and talk about the past. And in between them all is the scary, unpredictable present that keeps them rooted in place.
Bio:
DJ Hills (they/them) is a cross-genre writer for the page, stage, and screen. DJ’s plays include Horsegirl & Cowdaddy, come straight home, TRUNK BRIEF JOCK THONG, Adult Things (Carnegie Mellon University), and I SWEAR TO GOD (University of California Los Angeles). Their short plays …in daylight and big and small were part of Theater Masters TAKE TEN 2022 and 2023, respectively, and subsequently published by Concord Theatricals. DJ’s plays have been developed with The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, Great Plains Theatre Commons, Boston Court Pasadena, and Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. TRUNK BRIEF JOCK THONG was shortlisted for the 2023 Yale Drama Series. DJ has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, for both poetry and prose, and their poetry chapbook Leaving Earth was published by Split Rock Press. Fellowships and residencies include the Substratum writing residency, Tofte Lake Center’s National Emerging Artist Residency, and the Horticulture Playwriting Fellowship. Find them online at www.dj-hills.com.