Anne Washburn Selected Works

A group of well-meaning liberals gather at a farmhouse in upstate NY for a relaxing weekend. A son adopted from Kenya struggles to feel connected to his new family and country. And the 45th US President sends a history-altering dinner invitation.

There is plenty of blame to spare as snow piles high, mountains crumble, and the wounds of the 2016 election break open. The mythology of America is re-written in real time as we are forced to grapple with the legend of a frightening New York man made from gold.

Butterflies are fluttering and breezes are blowing in the enchanted forest, and one saucy bunny just can’t stop boppin’ all the field mice on the head. Will the Blue Fairy be forced to curb his mischief and turn him into a Goon? In this fun-filled play with music, playwright Anne Washburn and Tony-nominated composer Dave Malloy—joined by a sensible Skink, a carnivorous Catmonster, and a band of Gentlemen Toads—spin an effervescently delightful entertainment.

Between light and shadow, science and superstition, fear and knowledge, is a dimension of imagination. An area we call the Twilight Zone. In Anne Washburn’s adaptation, the acclaimed CBS Television Series lands on stage for the first time in its history. Or its present. Or its future. Stage magic and fantasy unite as the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

As part of Classic Stage Company’s inaugural Greek Festival, playwright Anne Washburn and director Rachel Chavkin team up in this dynamic imagining of Euripides' rarely-seen final play. Featuring new music by Indie Rock duo The Bengsons and choreography by Sonya Tayeh, this electric rendering of an ancient story returns us to a world where a father is challenged to sacrifice his daughter to appease the gods.

In a ranch house deep in Texas Hill Country, a once tight-knit group of friends reunites to bury one of their own. But as they look backward through their lives, it becomes clear they’ve lost more than just their old pal. In this haunting new play from Anne Washburn, the boundaries between then and now grow disarmingly blurry as these estranged friends confront their slippery past.

A play about work. A play about play. A play about plays.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tech. Around you, a company of 14 is engaged in the very peculiar—and peculiarly impossible—task of making a new play. You’ll have a seat next to the sound designer as he mixes cues. You’ll eavesdrop on backstage gossip as it happens over headset. You’ll watch the director struggle to contain the uncontainable.

Anne Washburn took notes during her tech rehearsals over the years. Directed by Les Waters, 10 out of 12 is a wry and absorbing look at how work forms us and deforms us. A Soho Rep commission.

It is 1989, and one of the most vicious Eastern European regimes of all time is on trial. And it is 1976, and Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, at the height of their powers, mount a pageant to celebrate the glory of the Romanian nation. And it is the fifteenth century, and Vlad Tepes—the original Count Dracula—steps out of the dark mists and swings his cape about him. He looks around him and his eyes gleam red. The Communist Dracula Pageant is a wild and offbeat romp through the web of Romanian myth and history, drawn from the imagination of one of this country’s most lauded young writers. Our own election season provides the perfect backdrop for the premiere of this theatrical satire on the forging of a national identity, and the power of a president to rewrite the news.

Do you ever have the feeling that there is something right behind you? There's a chill on your neck . . . a floor creaks in the next room . . . something catches your eye. Combining whispers of dread, slivers of Macbeth, dining demons, and a muder that may or may not have happened, Apparition is about the feeling that something is coming to get you, and there is nowhere to hide.

The lives of Eva Perón, Madame Mao, Elena Ceausescu, Imelda Marcos—and those of project author Anne Washburn and director Anne Kauffman—told through gossip, tape recorders, torch songs, spectacle, and grim historical analysis. Developed with The Civilians.