Plays – William Ivers

Plays
Novels
The Monkey Fingers
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William J. Ivers

Writer, Musician, Teacher

The World Was Yours (full-length) – The Royal Court Theatre New Works Finalist

The coveted Eadburg Art Endowment is about to be awarded to one of three finalists who have three very different artistic visions. Prof. Adley Schwartz has traditional views, Z-Jones believes art is rebellion, while Joy wants her art to scream societal messages. All three find themselves in a museum waiting room while the board makes their final decision. Their divergent views escalate when they realize the lucrative grant will come with demands that may compromise their artistic and moral values.

Places You Go (full-length) – Arcadian Repertory Theatre 2019 Play Development Program Finalist, Normal Ave NAP Series Finalist

It’s Spring of her senior year. Maddy Weare a promising young musician destined for Juilliard, is in the hospital having been in a car accident, escaping with only minor injuries. Her boyfriend, however, was not so lucky. As Maddy sleeps in her hospital bed, her divorced parents, Rick and Deb Weare, enter and immediately begin playing the blame game while bullying the young intern, Dr. Hughes, who is merely trying to care for Maddy the best way he knows how.
After Maddy wakes, Rick and Deb soon learn their daughter caused the accident while sending a text and crossing the middle line into an oncoming car. This creates turmoil in this already wounded family as they grapple with the idea of covering up Maddy’s life-altering mistake. This becomes especially true when they learn this mistake cost two lives.

An Unexamined Life (one-act) – 2017 Nor’Eastern Showcase Winner, 2018 International New Works of Merit Contest

An Unexamined Life involves a retiring philosophy professor who confronts his own existential crisis on the night of his retirement party. Distraught by his own sudden lack of purpose as well as dread over his failings as a father, he decides to mimic Socrates’ suicide. In the process of finally and truly examining his life, this professor encounters a student who is in the midst of her own existential malaise. Together they make an anti-suicide pact and in their respective ways decide to give life one more chance. Throughout the play, the professor converses with Socrates’ who breaks the fourth wall at points, giving the play a surrealistic quality.

The Final Reel (full-length)

The Final Reel is a uniquely entertaining ghostly dark comic thriller set in a haunted mansion on the coast of Maine. A wonderfully inept and dysfunctional team of paranormal investigators for a staged present-day reality show entitled Ghost Encounters has come to the mansion for one final production that they hope will boost their flagging ratings. The group includes a pretentious director who idolizes the spirit of Orson Wells, a diva, a put-upon flunky, two bumbling tech nerds, a sleazy producer, a flaky psychic, and a burned out professor.

The Tamed (a short play) – Boston Playwrights’ Platform Festival Selection

The Tamed takes place moments before a widow is expected to take part in a ritual that involves throwing herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre in a final act of devotion. Her son begs her to ignore this ancient expectation and flee the village with him. This, however, becomes seemingly impossible when her patriarchal brother-in-law, enters the room ready to escort the widow to the flames. In these waning moments, she must decide whether to obey tradition or quickly think of a means of escape.

Calling Hours (a short play) – Boston Playwrights’ Platform Festival Selection

Due to the recent string of pandemics, a daughter is forced to hold her father’s wake through Zoom. During the online calling hours, an unexpected visitor logs on: her estranged sister who is currently serving a prison sentence.