Duncan Pflaster (born 1973) is an American

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the pro ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, composer and actor. His first play ''Wilder and Wilder'' (a

transvestite Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western ...

adaptation of

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

), was produced in 1995 at Florida Playwrights' Theatre in Hollywood, FL. He now lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, where many of his plays have been produced in theatre festivals, such as the Spotlight On festival and the Midtown International Theatre Festival. His first film ''Strapped for Danger'' was produced by Scorpio Film Releasing in 2017, and the sequel ''Undercover Vice: Strapped for Danger II'' followed in 2021. Scorpio Film Releasing also brought him in for additional material on their film ''Code Name: Dynastud''. His plays have often been labeled as magic realism; they frequently deal with metaphysical or

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

plots, such as parallel universes,

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

life extension Life extension is the concept of extending the human lifespan, either modestly through improvements in medicine or dramatically by increasing the maximum lifespan beyond its generally-settled limit of 125 years. Several researchers in the area ...

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

. His writing often touches on themes of

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural ...

, and

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

. Pflaster is gay

Many of his plays include nudity and frank sexual situations

Pflaster is also a Verse drama and dramatic verse, verse dramatist, writing in both rhyming couplets and blank verse.

Awards

* ''The Underpants Godot'' ** 2015 UNFringed Festival Award, Best Play * ''Keeping Everything Straight'' (formerly titled ''Messin' With the Kid'') ** Full-length Play Winner of the 4th Annual Vittum Prize for 2014. * ''Pocket Universe'' ** One of the 8 winners of the Independent Play(w)rights Ten Minute Play Contest! * ''Fourteen Hundred and Sixty Sketches of Your Left Hand'' At The Secret Theatre, 2013 ** 2013 UNFringed Festival Award, Best Play ** 2013 UNFringed Festival Award, Best Actor, Emilio P. Tirado * ''The Taint of Equality'' ** 2012 Planet Connections Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor, Roberto Alexander ** 2012 Planet Connections Award, Outstanding Sound Design, Duncan Pflaster * ''The Wastes of Time'' ** 2012 Fruits of Distinction Award, Best Actress, Susan Barnes Walker * ''Bill's Threesome'' ** 2012 Fruits of Distinction Award, Best Comedy Skit * ''The Tragedy of Dandelion'' ** "Audience Favorite", MT Works NewBorn Festival 2012 ** Semi-Finalist, Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference 2011 * ''Sweeter Dreams'' ** 2011 Planet Connections Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor, Douglas Rossi ** 2011 Planet Connections Award, Outstanding Supporting Actress, Clara Barton Green * ''Mine or Yours'' ** 2nd Place, Fresh Fruit Festival One-Act Competition * ''Say Something Shocking, or the spit-take Play'' ** Winner Spare Change Theater's 2011 One-Minute Play Festival * ''The Empress of Sex'' ** "Audience Favorite", MT Works NewBorn Festival 2011 ** Semi-Finalist, About Face Theatre's 2010 XYZ Festival of New Work * ''The Starship Astrov'' ** 2010 MITF Award, Outstanding Supporting Actress, Jennifer Gawlik * ''The Thyme of the Season'' ** 2010 Planet Connections Award, "Outstanding Playwriting for an Adaptation, Revival or Sequel" ** 2010 Planet Connections Award, "Outstanding Costumes" Mark Richard Caswell ** 2010 Planet Connections Congeniality Award - Duncan Pflaster * 2009 MITF Award, "Outstanding Supporting Actor" for his performance in Kyle Baxter and John Crefeld's ''I Hate Love''. * ''Prince Trevor Amongst the Elephants'' ** 2008 MITF Award, "Outstanding Playwriting for a New Script Play OR Book of a Musical" (Tie with Monica Bauer for ''The Higher Education of Khalid Amir'') ** 2008 MITF Award, "Outstanding Overall Production of a New Comedy Play" ** 2008 MITF Award, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play" Carlos Rafael Fernández (Tie with Eric Percival for ''Bubby's Shadow'') **2006 Spotlight On Award, "Best New Play (Writer's Award)" * ''Eternity: Time Without End'' **2005 Spotlight On Award, "Best New Play (Writer's Award)" **2005 Spotlight On Award, Best Actress Clara Barton Green **2005 Spotlight On Award, Best Supporting Actor Jason Specland **2005 Spotlight On Award, Featured Actor Joe Fanelli

Works

Full-Length * ''The Underpants Godot'' - A comedy about a director who wants to put on '' Waiting For Godot'' with hot guys in underwear instead of old men. A representative from the Beckett Estate crashes a dress rehearsal to investigate. Produced 2015 in UNFringed Festival at The Secret Theatre, with a full production in September 2016 produced by The Secret Theatre. Two monologues from the play are published in ''Smith & Kraus' The Best Men's Stage Monologues 2016''. 2018 production with Nearly Naked Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. 2019 Production with Theatre Rhinoceros in San Francisco, California. * ''A Touch of Cinema'' - A drama about a female screenwriter in an unnamed country who has been put under house arrest, her art censored by a new fascist regime. Premiered April 2017 in the Spotlight On Festival at The Wild Project in the East Village, NYC. * ''The Tragedy of Dandelion'' - A five-act

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Tragedy entirely in

iambic pentameter Iambic pentameter () is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in that line; rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called " feet". "Ia ...

, about a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

/ lesbian princess named Dandelion. - Produced by Ego Actus, 2014 * ''Fourteen Hundred and Sixty Sketches of Your Left Hand'' At The Secret Theatre, 2013 - Winner Best Script and Best Actor, Emilio P. Tirado * ''The Taint of Equality'' - A social farce about a gay couple who don't believe that gays should get married as straight people do. - Planet Connections Theatre Festivity 2012, a monologue from it is published in ''Smith & Kraus' The Best Men's Stage Monologues 2013'' - Winner, best sound design *''The Empress of Sex'' - An erotic

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

set in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

- Planet Connections Theatre Festivity 2012 *''Sweeter Dreams'' - A multimedia play about an

independent filmmaker An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

in a

love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with ...

with her husband and her leading actor. - 2011 Winner best Supporting Actress Clara Barton Green and Best Supporting Actor Douglas Rossi *''The Starship Astrov'' - A play using

Chekhovian Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as ...

tropes to explore life on a space ship that doesn't have weekly adventures. *''Suckers'' - A Comic

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

Play - 2009 *''Ore, or Or'' - A love story about Greed and Lust and

Yamashita's Gold Yamashita's gold, also referred to as the Yamashita treasure, is the name given to the alleged war loot stolen in Southeast Asia by Imperial Japanese forces during World War II and supposedly hidden in caves, tunnels, or underground complexes i ...

- 2009 *''The Thyme of the Season'' ~or~ ''A Mid-Autumn Night's Dream'' - a sequel to

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict ...

. - 2007 *''Admit Impediments'' - A

Musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

about

Marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

- Gay, Straight, and

Convenient Convenient procedures, products and services are those intended to increase ease in accessibility, save resources (such as time, effort and energy) and decrease frustration. A modern convenience is a labor-saving device, service or subst ...

- 2007 *''The Wastes of Time'' - A Gay love story dealing with the

generation gap A generation gap or generational gap is a difference of opinions between one generation and another regarding beliefs, politics, or values. In today's usage, ''generation gap'' often refers to a perceived gap between younger people and their pare ...

surrounding the AIDS crisis- 2006 *''Prince Trevor Amongst the Elephants'' - A Big Epic Naked

Fairy Tale Play - 2005 *''Eternity: Time Without End'' Eleven people come to a secluded

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

looking for the

fountain of youth The Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring which allegedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted around the world for thousands of years, appearing in the writings of Herod ...

; but when they find it, it's not what they expected - 2004 *''Sleeping in Tomorrow'' - A play about parallel universes, in which the main character visits the same cocktail party in different dimensions - 2002 *''Dik and Jayne are Not the Same'' - A play about

and

lesbians A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

- but not about Cloning Lesbians - 2001 *''Amazing Dædalus'' - A play about what happens in the time between

myths Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

- 1998 *''Eskimo: The

'' *''Wilder and Wilder'' - A

adaptation of

, crossed with Walk on the Wild Side * ''Messin' With the Kid'' - A dark play about a young man who is a male stripper to support his younger brother through high school. * ''Light and Noise and Bees and Boys'' - A drama about a Lesbian who suffers memory loss from a stroke and who doesn't remember that she came out of the closet. * ''Malvolio's Revenge'' - a sequel to ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins V ...

'', queering the text. * ''Nothing but Thunder'' - A verse comedy about a young

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

going to the underworld to rescue his mother Semele. * ''Cockeye(D)'' - an adaptation of

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. ...

, which is about a young film star accusing an older director of molestation, set against an all-male adaptation of The Bacchae. One-Acts *''Pocket Universe'' A gay play about a scientist who makes a virtual universe for his office crush. Published in Smith & Kraus' Best ''10-Minute Plays 2013'', and in Independent Play(w)rights' ''Ten Minute Play Anthology''. *''Suggested Donation'' A grumpy theatre patron takes exception to the suggested donation for wine at intermission of a play. Produced by Old Library Theatre in Fair Lawn, New Jersey in 2018 and The Secret Theatre's One-act Festival in 2017. *''Hate Myself in the Morning'' A play about the army and political prisoners, played out between a young woman and the policeman she brings home for a one-night stand. *''Mine Or Yours'' A gay guy and his fag hag attempt to discern from clues whether an attractive man at a bar is gay or straight. *''Patrick and Lisa's Wedding'' A bridesmaid ducks out of the wedding reception of her ex-boyfriend, and ends up bumping into the young bride, who is having second thoughts about her new husband. *''The Fugly Train'' Two young pretty women have a philosophical crisis on the subway. *''Six Silences in Three Movements'' An experimental work which contrasts the things people don't say in a relationship. *''Hold Thy Peace, Thou Knave'' Backstage at a production of ''

'', a last-minute understudy for Sir Toby Belch goes a little haywire onstage, causing consternation amongst the rest of the cast. *''First to Fall Asleep'' A dark comedy about frat hijinx that get out of hand when a freshman passes out at a frat party. *''Prince Charming, presented without comment'' An advertising executive begins to question the saleability of

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

and questions the women in his life about their feelings on the topic. * ''New Lang Syne'' Two ex-college friends who had a brief fling meet by coincidence on New Year's Day. One has continued the party lifestyle, while the other is responsible and sober. *''(they kiss)'' A playwright writes and stars in a play so he can get to kiss an actress he has a crush on.

Non-Playwright Work

First film ''Strapped for Danger'' produced by Scorpio Film Releasing in 2017. A comic LGBTQ heist film about 3 male strippers who hide out in a frat house. An homage to the films of

Russ Meyer Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fe ...

He wrote comic sketches for Laughing Swingset Productions, available on YouTube and Funny Or Die. He has also written freelance

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

reviews for ''BroadwayWorld.com'' and ''HX'' magazine. He has written music on SongFight! under the name ''Level Nivelo'' - the band name is a reference to the

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

used in ''

Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave (TV channel), Dave since 2009, gaining a ...

'' He is also the creator of and head photographer for ''The Naughty Jewish Boys Calendar'', a photographic pinup calendar highlighting the

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, ...

side of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

men

References

Pflaster's personal site

Pflaster's listing on New Play Exchange

External links

The Plays of Duncan Pflaster

Duncan's Page on The New Play Exchange

Story about Duncan and his 2012 plays

* ttp://www.stagebuzz.com/2010/01/interview-playwright-duncan-pflaster.html January 2010 Interview for StageBuzz.com
Podcast Interview from mikeypod.com, promoting ''Admit Impediments''

(from an Anthony LaPaglia fansite)
Poem inspired by ''Amazing Dædalus'' by an actress in one of the college productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pflaster, Duncan 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights American gay writers Living people 1973 births American male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male writers American LGBT dramatists and playwrights 21st-century LGBT people