Sarah Saltwick
Playwright and more
Selected Plays
CONTACT ME: I rewrite often. Make sure you have the latest draft.
EGRESS
Co-Written with Melissa Crespo
2F, 1 M
Production History:
Salt Lake Acting Company, 2022
Amphibian Stage, 2021
Reading Theaterworks 2022
Workshops at Cleveland Playhouse and Hyde Park Theater
Finalist for ScratchPad Series at Playwrights Realm
Finalist for New Works Festival at Kitchen Dog Theater
You have just moved to a small college town to teach architecture. You have trouble sleeping. Sometimes, you lose track of time. You realize that your fears have followed you. You have no one to confide in, not
your roommate, not your students, not the prosecutor who needs you to testify as a key witness. You can’t sleep. You’re considering buying gun. But you work at a gun free campus. You don’t want to want a gun.
But here you are, wanting.
From Onstage NTX "It’s a comfort after so long in the theatrical wilderness to know that Amphibian Stage will never fail to satisfy, unerringly choosing thought-provoking and boundary-pushing works of art. Egress is a masterful look at trauma and recovery, at what we seek to escape and what that escape may cost us."
THE GIRL WHO BECAME LEGEND
3F, 2M
Produced by Zach Scott Theater 2023
Presented by John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2024
In the town of Dustbin, where rules and dust prevail, Raina embarks on a daring quest to bring a cloud back home after years of drought. Join her on an extraordinary adventure filled with outlaws, folk heroes, and a thunderstorm in The Girl Who Became Legend, a commissioned work by The Kennedy Center for family audiences.
Sizzle Reel: https://vimeo.com/867344418
THE PLEASURE TRIALS
3F
Produced by Amphibian Stage 2022
Produced by Moxie Theater, San Diego 2022
Reading Drama Shop 2023
Workshops Amphibian Stage 2016, Luna Stage 2015, Playwrights Center 2014
When Rachel and Callie start clinical trials on their new female libido enhancement drug, willing participants come out of the woodwork looking for an internal revolution. Quickly after the first dose, the effectiveness of the medicine is undeniable, but the overwhelming pressure for its success may corrupt the experiment and everyone involved.
From Onstage NTX: "There are so many, many pink pills in Sarah Saltwick’s The Pleasure Trials—spilling from pockets and purses, rolling across the stage, filling glass jars inside bright white lab cabinets. They’re swallowed one by one, by the handful—and crushed into powder for feeding to the lab’s herd of “virtuous, monogamous voles.” (Look the little critters up.)
And it’s all in the pursuit of happiness—the sexual sort, to be specific.
Directed by Kara-Lynn Vaeni, this world premiere at Amphibian Stage does have a serious, thought-provoking side. But there are plenty of laughs too, as a pair of buttoned-down research scientists search for a “female libido enhancing drug” that will do the trick for millions of women. And the play’s visuals (the pink pills and pulsing bursts of light, the flatlines and peaks of measured sexual experience) insist there is endless color and variation to the story of women’s desire—from comedy to pain, from anger to bliss, from denial to explosion."
SCARLET LETTER
6F, 4M
Produced by University of Texas at Austin in 2012
Produced by Governor's State University in University Park, IL in 2017
A new play based on a classic story. Hester Prynne has been sentenced to wear a scarlet letter. Her young daughter Pearl asks questions Hester can’t easily answer. And then a familiar stranger comes to town… This adaptation offers fresh interpretations, an expanded cast of characters, and new insights.
For images and a look at Yao Chen’s amazing costume designs, visit her website: http://www.yao-chen.com/#!scarlet-letter/c1w4f
Behind the Scenes Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UikMJF0SHNw
EUROPA
3F, 1M
Selected for Playwrights Week at The Lark, NYC 2016
Semi-Finalist for 2018 Premiere Play Festival at Premiere Stages, Union NJ
On a quiet day, in a neighborhood park, Leslie and Alma met for the first time. As their children play, the women discover they know the same man. Leslie listens. Alma tries to leave but Leslie’s the best listener she’s ever met. Fourteen years later, their children are almost grown. Bruce wants Louise. Louise wants freedom. What happens after truths are told?
Now adapted into a short film entitled USE YOUR WORDS.
A PERFECT ROBOT
Full Length, 3F, 3M
World Premier Production at the Vortex, Austin TX in 2017. Production was nominated for 7 B. Iden Payne Awards and 4 Austin Critic Table Awards, including Best Production
Reading, Kitchen Dog New Play Fest 2014
Finalist O'Nell Playwrights Conference 2014
Development and Reading, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival WA, 2013
Reading, UTNT Festival at UT Austin, 2013
Reading, paper chairs theater company, Austin 2012
A marvel of art and technology, Mollybot is an almost perfect and affordable soulmate. When her creator goes off in search of the last missing piece to her soul, her machinery is left vulnerable to the commercial and jealous side of creation. Her body and programming are threatened. With only Alan Turing at her side, can Mollybot scale the distance between robot and human, subject and self?
"Sarah Saltwick's script elegantly explores what happens when we reject the natural world for a perceived ideal and how the urge to control, buy, and sell women can replace the idea of love with the idea of possession. It is a timely work – this past weekend, we witnessed the largest mass protest on American soil from women who, after being subjected to generations of abuse, are standing strong and united, rejecting ownership, and demanding to be treated like equal human beings." Review in Austin Chronicle
"A Perfect Robot is a magnificient play that speaks to the heart of anyone conscious. " Review in Central Texas Live Theatre
TENDER ROUGH ROUGH TENDER
1F, 1M
Staged Reading, forward flux, Seattle 2017
Workshop Production, groundswell theatre, Austin 2016
Winner, Red Theater Collective Playwriting Contest, Chicago, 2014
It’s the hottest summer on record and Bell’s picked drinking over people. Mike’s got experience fighting fires but their attraction is a whole new disaster. A play built for theatrical gestures and two performers with nerves.Winner of Austin Critic's Table Award for Best New Play, 2016
SHE CREATURES/ OF MYTH AND MUD
Full Length Flexible Cast: Min 4F, 1M Max: 12F, 3M
History:Production under new title – Of Myth and Mud, Weber State University, Ogden UT, Fall 2013Production, Barnyard Theatre, Davis CA, Summer 2013Production, Nouveau 47, Dallas TX 2013Staged Reading of Bianca, the Unicorn, Barnyard Theatre, Davis CA 2012 Performance of Full Collection, Cohen New Works Festival, UT Austin, Austin TX 2011Reading of Full Collection, Moving Arts, Los Angeles CA 2010Reading of Full Collection, Selected for Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Valdez AK 2010Performed Selection, Best of Week Selection Frontera Fest, Hyde Park Theater, Austin TX 2009 !Cecilia, Nominated Best New Play Austin Critics Table 2008 Out of Ink Festival, Austin ScriptWorks, Blue Theater, Austin TX 2008
She Creatures tells the tale of mermaids, unicorns, and dragons. Creatures of myth and legend fill the room and guide Pandora on her journey of self discovery. An “Everyman” story for every woman.
