Plays written by Maggie Lou Rader
THE CHURCH OF BROKEN THINGS
BLOOD TO DRINK
LET. HER. RIP.
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
THE HELPERS
THEY PLAYED IN PEORIA
THE WONDER
LIKE DEMONS
MARY’S MONSTER
ALICE IN THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD
ALICE IN NEVERLAND
DRAGON UP!
THE INVENTIVE PRINCESS OF FLORALEE
ANGELS GUIDE YOUR STEPS
Synopses
The Church of Broken Things – The Church of Broken Things follows the intertwined lives of three childhood friends—KK, Vick, and Faith —growing up in rural Oklahoma. Against a backdrop of poverty, broken families, and the suffocating influence of small town gossip, the girls navigate adolescence, survival, and the search for meaning in a world that repeatedly fails them. As they grow older, their relationships fracture and reform under the weight of secrets, trauma, and betrayal. Each character wrestles with her own form of brokenness: KK with her yearning for escape, Faith with her conflicted faith and desire, and Vick with the scars of abuse, abandonment, and secrets. The play shifts between dark humor and raw vulnerability, revealing how laughter and friendship become lifelines in a landscape of hardship. Darkly funny and deeply raw, The Church of Broken Things becomes a meditation on resilience, memory, and the messy, unpretty ways that broken people keep going.
Blood to Drink – In this modern dark comedy about the ever present “why” behind America’s most famous witch hunt, Elizabeth Proctor finds herself on the wrong side of witchcraft accusations alongside Sarah Good, Bridget Bishop, and Ann Foster in Salem, 1692. They reckon with their faith, fears, and just how much society has suddenly forced them to have in common. Nothing brings people together like a common enemy, but when their enemy is placed directly in the middle of their cell, the rules of society that say women are subservient are quickly abandoned. Blood to Drink examines internalized misogyny, patriarchal oppression, and the radical joy wronged women choose to find.
LET. HER. RIP. – LET. HER. RIP. is the story of comradery, activism, and ferocity which lies in the crosshairs of the Match Women labor movement and the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888. Behind the scenes labor leaders, Em, Liza, and Nana are busting their lady balls to make the East End safer for women and all working people, when the headlines move away from their accomplishments to the mysterious man mutilating women in the streets. Women they know. Women of their community. Neighbors and friends. They support and reignite each other in their fight against deadly misogyny, police brutality, personal demons, their own white saviorism, social reform, and a better life for all poor East End women. But as tensions come to a head, who will make the final rip?
The Picture of Dorian Gray – When Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the stunning young Dorian Gray, Dorian finds himself wrestling between his conscience and the life lessons of Lady Harriet Wotton. This brand new adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic and only novel brings the horror of what we all keep hidden to the stage. What is your soul worth?
The Helpers – The Helpers is a new perspective from of the other side of the most famous bookshelf in history. Miep Gies, an immigrant and secretary for Otto Frank’s famous Opekta company, leads a group of helpers to preserve the residents of the Secret Annex and the spirit of goodness and survival during World War II. The Helpers is a tale of joy, hope, friendship, and resistance during one of history’s darkest moments.
They Played in Peoria – They Played in Peoria follows Donny and the rest of the 1948 AAGPBL Peoria Redwings through their ever-shifting dynamics, plenty of losses, a few wins, and the nitty gritty of finding what bands them together as a team. However, as the season progresses, things are not always as they seem.
The Wonder – The Wonder is inspired by the first documented case of spiritual possession in America. Mary Roff’s unearthly illness turns her family and the town of Watseka, Illinois upside down, that is, until Lurancy Vennum follows in her footsteps. The Wonder is a journey of hope, loss, undying familial love, and healing beyond the bounds of this world. Also, it’s a ghost story. An American Midwest Gothic ghost story for mothers and daughters.
Like Demons – Set during the backdrop of the American Civil War, Like Demons is a tale of historical fiction based on the forgotten true stories of real women who lived and fought as male soldiers on the battlefield. Their silent heroism, true patriotism, and love of honor come to life in the story of Emma Edmond’s journey as a soldier and spy for the duration of America’s bloodiest war. Emma comes to terms with her own past, prejudices, while discovering how dangerous hope can really be.
Mary’s Monster – On a dark night near the end of her life, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wrestles with ghosts: her dead children, her sister, her famous husband, her mother, and Frankenstein, her most famous creation. Death has loomed over her entire life, and now, shovel in hand, she will reckon with it, one way or another.
Alice in the Hundred Acre Wood – True crime in the Hundred Acre Wood? Yes, please! Join the fun as Alice, the best detective in Wonderland, hunts for clues in a crime caper mystery featuring some of childhood’s favorite characters. When Winnie the Pooh hires Alice to solve the case of Christopher Robin’s kidnapping, she arrives in the Hundred Acre Wood to find a very anxious Piglet, a terribly unfocused Tigger and a very Eeoyre-y Eeoyre. Will Alice find the culprit? Will she be able to bring Christopher Robin home? This literary mashup will have audiences laughing as they follow clues and help Alice crack the case!
Alice in Neverland – Alice in Neverland is a literary mashup, crime caper mystery for audiences of all ages. Join Alice, the best detective in Wonderland, who takes the case when Tinkerbell and Peter’s Shadow hire her to solve the mystery of Peter Pan’s disappearance. Upon arriving in Neverland, Alice finds that without Peter, time has been thrust forward, leaving Neverland in perpetual winter. The Lost Kids are growing up (and running off to invest in stock market) and the mermaids lement about being stuck in winter (left to steal crab-shmere blankets from fish). Will Alice find Peter before he grows up?Will time be restored in Neverland? Will Captain Hook ever be picked for the hockey team? This mashup of everyone’s favorite childhood stories will have your audiences laughing, cheering, and using critical thinking skills to help Alice decipher clues and crack the case.
Dragon Up! – Alice in Neverland is a literary mashup, crime caper mystery for audiences of all ages. Join Alice, the best detective in Wonderland, who takes the case when Tinkerbell and Peter’s Shadow hire her to solve the mystery of Peter Pan’s disappearance. Upon arriving in Neverland, Alice finds that without Peter, time has been thrust forward, leaving Neverland in perpetual winter. The Lost Kids are growing up (and running off to invest in stock market) and the mermaids lement about being stuck in winter (left to steal crab-shmere blankets from fish). Will Alice find Peter before he grows up?Will time be restored in Neverland? Will Captain Hook ever be picked for the hockey team? This mashup of everyone’s favorite childhood stories will have your audiences laughing, cheering, and using critical thinking skills to help Alice decipher clues and crack the case.
The Inventive Princess of Floralee – This two-person, interactive, 45-minute fairy tale will have your audiences “thinking like scientists” as they follow the Princess of Floralee on the adventure of a lifetime, searching for the kidnapped king kept in the clutches of a viciously vile and wrathfully wicked witch. Along the way, audiences will help the princess solve a variety of math, engineering, science, and even dance challenges as she uses her brains, wit, and sound judgment to find her father in the land Scalenfell. Our princess meets characters like a figure-skating dragon, a Platypus saving Pirate, a gate with a flair for the dramatics, and a witch! This unique educational opportunity unites science and art by giving audiences a chance to laugh, dance, and think critically about topics rooted in STEM.
Angels Guide Your Steps – In 1872, Sisters in life and the cloth, Blandina and Justina Segale are separated for the first time in their lives as Blandina leaves her home of Cincinnati to teach students of all ages and backgrounds in the wild western frontier. Though she ventures out with the goal of serving the community, she learns more about herself, the world, and her faith than she could have ever predicted. ANGELS GUIDE YOUR STEPS is a story of adventure, faith, family, and divine lessons in humanity.
Biography
MAGGIE LOU RADER (Playwright) Maggie Lou is a national award-winning playwright and AEA actor who grew up in ten miles west of nowhere in Oklahoma, and attended William Jewell College, Oxford University, and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Her work has been seen Off-Broadway in New York as well as Chicago, LA, and on Tony Award winning stages. She’s won the Theater J Patty Abramson Jewish Play Prize with Theatre J in DC and the Notre Dame College New Play Festival and was selected for Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Words Cubed Program, Red Bull Theater’s New Short Play Festival, and the Queen Short Play Festival. She’s been a finalist for the Henley Rose Playwrighting Award for Women, Central Florida Community Arts New Play Festival, twice for the Lanford Wilson Festival, a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill NPC, The Road Theater Summer Playwrights Festival, the Garry Marshall Theater New Works Festival, and Dayton Playhouse’s Future Fest. Her work has been developed at DePaul University, Human Race Theater, Inkwell Theater, Skeleton Rep, and Occasional Drawl Productions and seen at Know Theatre, InBocca Performance, 3rd Act Theater, The Marsh, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare, Urban Stages, Stages in Houston, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park where she is currently a Resident Artist. She’s eternally grateful for Derek and Stages for bringing LET. HER. RIP. To life with such joy and care. Love to Justin and the fur babies. She love-ess you.
Maggie Lou is a national award-winning playwright who attended William Jewell College, Oxford University, and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
She’s won the Theater J Patty Abramson Jewish Play Prize and the Notre Dame College New Play Festival and was selected for Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Words Cubed Program, Red Bull Theater’s New Short Play Festival, and the Queen Short Play Festival. She’s been a finalist for the Henley Rose Playwrighting Award for Women, twice for the Lanford Wilson Festival, a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill NPC, The Road Theater Summer Playwrights Festival, and the Garry Marshall Theater New Works Festival. Her work has been developed at Urban Stages, DePaul University, Human Race Theater, Inkwell Theater, Skeleton Rep, and Occasional Drawl Productions and produced at Know Theatre, 3rd Act Theater, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare, Stages in Houston, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park where she is currently a Resident Artist.