Playwright Chat: Jordan Morille
Jordan brought his play, Thirty Deep to our virtual stage on October 22, 2020. When I first read his work, I could tell he was a brilliant character writer. His work felt the southern gothic darkness of Tennessee Williams but with the soulful storytelling of a Merril Haggard.
The characters are not glamorous or destined for a bright future. They are in a perpetual state of mourning for the children they have lost. Fate, destiny, and inspiration bring them to the spot where they will do anything, say anything or pay anything to get just a little bit back of what they lost.
To watch the full production:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcoB90Rq1Oo
Podcast: https://anchor.fm/qplayers/episodes/Thirty-Deep-by-Jordan-Morille-elg3tu
He was open to revisions to make the work suitable for virtual production. He is the kind of playwright that every theater company wants to work with on a project.
In the last days of Guns-N-Stuff taxidermy shop, Montgomery (owner and operator) is given a unique request: stuff, treat and mount the dead son of customer Janice. The money’s good, enough to keep the place afloat for a while longer, but is it worth it?
Twitter: @JordanMorille
NewPlay Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/2631/jordan-morille
Cast
Directed and Produced by A.J. Campbell
MONTGOMERY Gary Payne
WHISKY Tori Clay
JANICE Judy Lewis
COOKIE Barrie Alguire
STAGE DIRECTIONS Shayen Gardner
Jordan Morille
Jordan is a Texas-born/bred playwright and lecturer at Texas State University in San Marcos. He was awarded the 2015 John Cauble National Award for Outstanding Short Play at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for Norma’s Rest, which later went on to become published in the Best American Short Plays 2014–2015 anthology. He was also a national finalist for the Gary Garrison Ten-Minute Play Award for his play Jars.
Previous accolades include The 2014 Ken Ludwig Award for best body of work (including the plays: love, Norman, Thirty Deep, Jackalope, and Speedball), Second Place for the National Partners of American Theatre Award (love, Norman), and national finalist for the John Cauble Award (Speedball in 2014, and Thirty Deep in 2013). His ten-minute play, Tiger Barb, was a semi-finalist in the 2018 Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway short play festival. His novella, The Juneborn, is published in The Running Wild Press Novella Anthology. Jordan is also the proud father of Josephine and Oliver Morille.
