Bomb|Shell
8 short plays about War & Peace
part of the BPP’s Major Playwrights Series

Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 6 – 8 & 13 – 15 at 8pm

Bloomington Playwrights Project
107 W. 9th St.
812.334.1188

$18 General Admission
$15 Students/Seniors
available at BCT Box Office
114 E Kirkwood Ave.
812.323.3020
11am - 6pm M - F
and 12 - 5pm Sat/Sun


Produced in partnership with
IU Themester


Opening Night Reception
featuring complimentary Hors d'oeuvres & Oliver wine and a live performance by a cappella vocal ensemble Kaia
Friday, September 30
7:00pm - 8:00pm

Oliver Wine Tasting & Talkback
with playwright Paris Barclay

Saturday, October 1
7:00 - 8:00pm | Wine Tasting in BPP Lobby
Talback immediately following 8pm performance

Bomb|Shell Bios

Paris Barclay (Playwright, Fine) is an accomplished playwright and composer, having written over 18 musicals and plays, including One Red Flower, based on soldiers’ letters written during the Vietnam War (produced at the North Shore Music Theatre; the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia; Carnegie Mellon University; and the Village Theater in Seattle among others). He also wrote and composed the musical Almos’ a Man (SoHo Rep), and co-directed and contributed songs to Order My Steps (the Cornerstone Theater Company.) He is also one of television’s most sought-after directors and producers, having helmed over 120 episodes of shows like In Treatment, NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, Lost, The Good Wife, House, Sons of Anarchy, and Glee. He’s won two Emmys (six nominations), a DGA Award (ten nominations), and four Peabody Awards. He co-created the television series City of Angels, and co-wrote the MTV Film Pedro with Dustin Lance Black, receiving a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for their retelling of the story of The Real World’s Pedro Zamora.

Fine Synopsis
When a soldier suffering from severe post-traumatic stress syndrome cannot overcome his haunting memories of war atrocities after returning from Iraq, his family begins to feel as if they all have blood on their hands.


Jeff Daniels (Playwright, Praise Ye the Lord) has performed on Broadway in God of Carnage (Tony nomination), Fifth of July (Drama Desk Award), The Golden Age and Redwood Curtain, and Off Broadway in Circle Repertory’s Johnny Got His Gun (Obie Award), Lemon Sky at Second Stage (Drama Desk nomination) and Blackbird at the Manhattan Theatre Club (Drama League nomination).  He’s performed in LA in God of Carnage at the Ahmanson Theatre.  As Founder and Executive Director of Michigan’s Purple Rose Theatre Company, he has written 14 plays, including Guest Artist (Runner Up, Steinberg New Play Award), Across the Way (Finalist, Steinberg New Play Award) and the Escanaba Trilogy. Mr. Daniels has appeared in over 50 films, including The Squid and the Whale (Golden Globe nomination), Something Wild (Golden Globe nomination), The Purple Rose of Cairo (Golden Globe nomination), Gettysburg, Pleasantville, Terms of Endearment, The Hours, 101 Dalmatians, Dumb & Dumber, Speed, The Lookout, Fly Away Home, Good Night, and Good Luck, Arachnophobia, Ragtime and Howl. An accomplished singer-songwriter, Mr. Daniels has recorded five CDs and toured across the country, with proceeds from his recordings (jeffdaniels.com) supporting his theatre company.

Praise Ye the Lord Synopsis
An attack on perspective that shows multiple angles on what it means to be the chosen one.

Jesse Eisenberg (Playwright, A Little Part of Us) can currently be seen in Sony’s 30 Minutes or Less, opposite Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson.  He also recorded the lead role for the Fox’s animated film, Rio, opposite Anne Hathaway, which has grossed $482MM worldwide.  Jesse’s best known and most-highly acclaimed role was his Academy Award-nominated performance depicting Facebook founder and CEO ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ in David Fincher’s highly acclaimed The Social Network.  In addition to being nominated for eight Academy Awards, the film also earned $225MM worldwide.  Jesse also starred in the box office hit, Zombieland, for Columbia Pictures alongside Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin.  Previously, he starred opposite Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds and Bill Hader in the coming of age comedy, Adventureland, for director Greg Mottola, which garnered a nomination for Best Ensemble Cast for the 2009 Gotham Awards.  Jesse also starred in the indie film, Holy Rollers, opposite Justin Bartha. The film, which premiered in the Dramatic Competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, was picked up by First Independent Pictures and released May 21st, 2010.  Jesse is also well known for his role in Samuel Goldwyn Films’ The Squid & The Whale, in which he starred opposite Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Ensemble Cast, and Jesse received nominations for an Independent Spirit Award and a Boston Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor.  He also starred in Dylan Kidd's and Artisan's Rodger Dodger, opposite Campbell Scott and Jennifer Beals.

A Little Part of All of Us Synopsis
Examining conversations among teenagers after 9/11, A Little Part of Us explores what it means to feel connected, whether to a person or an event, when the very object of your desire defies understanding.

Mark Kingsbury (Playwright, Local Contest Winner) is a retired Air Traffic Controller who grew up in Bloomington, moved away, then moved back. While he is not taking care of special needs foster children (five of whom he and his wife have adopted), he pens plays as a form of relaxation.  A few short segments have been staged in the past by the BPP in their Blizzard and Sex/Death productions.  Mr. Kingsbury firmly believes that war, even second hand war, is hazardous to children's health.

Greg Kotis (Playwright, Sarge) is the author of many plays and musicals including Yeast Nation (Book/Lyrics), The Truth About Santa, Pig Farm, Eat the Taste, Urinetown (Book/Lyrics, for which he won an Obie Award and two Tony® Awards), and Jobey and Katherine.  His work has been produced and developed in theaters across the country and around the world, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, American Theater Company, Henry Miller’s Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Stage and Film, Perseverance Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Soho Rep, South Coast Rep, and The Old Globe, among others.  Greg is a member of the Neo-Futurists, the Cardiff Giant Theater Company, ASCAP, the Dramatists Guild, and is a 2010-11 Lark Play Development Center Playwrights Workshop Fellow.  He grew up in Wellfleet, Massachusetts and now lives in Brooklyn with his wife Ayun Halliday, his daughter India, and his son Milo.

Erin Levy (Playwright, Thin White Line) is an Emmy-award winning writer for Mad Men, who still can’t believe that’s part of her bio.  A graduate of the USC School of Cinema-Television, Writing Division, she did a lot of assistant-y stuff at HBO and other production companies before serving as Team Coordinator for President Obama’s Los Angeles campaign and Field Organizer in New Mexico.  She was working on In Plain Sight when she was tapped by her former writing professor, Matthew Weiner, to join him at Mad Men as the writers’ assistant.  There, she co-wrote the season 3 finale, became a staff writer on season 4, and is currently a co-producer on season 5.  She’s won three Writers Guild Awards: two with the writing staff for Outstanding Drama Series and one for her script, “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword.”  She can now spell chrysanthemum by rote.  Try her.

Thin White Line Synopsis
Selling war to the public as a ten-minute television infomercial turns out to be more difficult than the producers bargained for.

Stephen Massicotte (Playwright, Hombres – National Contest Winner)’s plays have been produced worldwide and have won the Alberta Playwriting Competition, two Alberta Book Awards, a Canadian Author’s Association Award, three Betty Mitchell Awards and most recently, the Toronto Critics’ Association Award for Best Canadian Play. Mary’s Wedding, The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion, and The Clockmaker are published with Playwrights Canada Press. Other plays include Pervert, The Boy’s Own Jedi Handbook trilogy, A Farewell to Kings, and Looking After Eden. His screenplays include The Dark and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning. He lives in New York City. Legally.

Hombres Synopsis
An enemy in a Wild West showdown is difficult to attack, because he makes no allegiance to man or country.

Tami Sagher (Playwright, Uglies vs. Aliens) is an alumna of the Second City Mainstage in Chicago where she helped create and performed in four different revues.  In 2001, after receiving numerous job offers, Tami moved to Los Angeles where she joined the writing staff of "Mad TV.” While Tami was on staff for MADtv for 6 seasons, the show earned three Writer's Guild Nominations.  Tami is currently a Producer on the hit CBS series How I Met Your Mother.  Prior to that, Tami served as Executive Story Editor for NBC’s half-hour comedy 30 Rock and was a staff writer on USA Network’s Psych before that.   Her additional writer's credits include This American Life for National Public Radio.  A native of Chicago, Tami has performed original material (including her own one-person show) all over the U.S., Canada, and Amsterdam.  She’s the only person in her immediate family not to hold a PhD, but she has been to math camp.  Twice.