Here is a list of my produced plays.*
* you can find a list of short plays (once known as one-acts) here.
A FUTURE PERFECT
Claire and Max find their values put to the test when best friends Alex and Elena announce they are having a baby. Claire is climbing the corporate ladder in advertising, while her husband Max is a puppeteer for PBS. With friends entering into parenthood, they ask: What happened to the indie-rock kids that hated everything their parents believed in? 2W, 2M, 1G
"A prescient look at the present.” —The Boston Globe
“Urban specializes in such telling, potent slips of the tongue; in his hands, a mere wrong word is like a wrecking ball.” —TheARTery.com
“A wickedly funny comedy.” —WGBH, Boston Public Radio
“A coming of age story for the new millennium.” —TalkinBroadway.com
Production History: Speakeasy Stage Company in Boston (Jan-Feb 2015)
Published by Dramatists Play Service
A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK
On his way home after a year in East Africa, a young aid worker goes back to a shabby Amsterdam hotel room with a fellow American. The two strangers replay their pasts and confess their shared fear that they betrayed the people who needed them most. 2M
“An absorbing tale of conscience and connection. [A Guide for the Homesick is] a probing, multilayered study of guilt [that] steadily gains power and ultimately more than rewards your attention.” —The Boston Globe
“An affecting tale of love and loss. Hilarious and deeply emotional, utterly compelling and believable.” –Metro
“A theatrical tour de force!” —TheaterMania.com
“Radiant and searing! Sizzles with erotic energy. Flawless.” —WBUR, Boston Public Radio
“Continually rich and surprising. A gripping drama packed with genuine emotional power.” —The Arts Fuse
"A blistering new play." —TalkinBroadway.com
“Drama at its best! One of the finest dramatic pieces offered this season, and should not be missed.” —White Rhino Report
“A gripping psychological thriller that manages to achieve an impact that some dramas fail to in three hours with ten times the cast. A masterclass.” –The Arts Desk
“Thrills both the nerve ends and the grey cells. It’s a masterpiece.” –The Theatre Times
“A phenomenal play which leaves one questioning social injustices and the responsibilities of international interventions. Gripping and profound. A must see.” –North West End
Production History: Huntington Theater Company in Boston (Oct-Nov 2017) and Trafalgar Studios in London’s West End (Oct-Nov 2018)
Published by Dramatists Play Service
NIBBLER
In the summer of 1992 in Medford, New Jersey, Adam and his gang of friends face life after high school. But when the fivesome encounter a mysterious visitor from another world, their lives are forever changed. A dark comedy about that time when everything and nothing seems possible. 4M, 2W
“Part science-fiction yarn, part horror tale, sex farce and memory play, Ken Urban’s NIBBLER about teenagers in suburban New Jersey, offers a poignant thesis: When we find ourselves, we lose something, too.” —The New York Times
“Nibbler is a very real story about crossing that not-always-defined line between teenhood and adulthood. ... Like the titular character, you’ll want to sink your teeth into this one.” —The Huffington Post
“Urban’s script is witty and original, an undeniably new take on growing up and moving on.” —Charged.fm
“The writing is honest, clever, and totally shameless. ...Nibbler’s treatment of a fundamental feeling of confusion and dread—the fear of the change you don’t expect, and also the fear of the change you see coming—is something anyone can appreciate. ... it’s funny, it’s sweet, and it’s constantly surprising.” —Theasy.com
Production History: Produced by the Amoralists and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (Feb-March 2017)
Published by Dramatists Play Service
SENSE OF AN ENDING
Charles, a disgraced New York Times journalist, arrives in Rwanda for an exclusive interview with two Hutu nuns. Charged with homicide, the nuns must convince the world of their innocence during the 1994 genocide or face a lifetime in prison. When an unknown survivor contradicts their story, Charles must choose which version of the truth to tell the world. 3M, 2W
“There’s a lot to admire in Mr. Urban’s script. Fast-paced, fluid and taut.” —The New York Times
“A superb play about the Rwandan genocide…so intense that, in between each scene, you can hear the audience gulp for air.” —Time Out (London)
“One immediately feels the enormity of the devastation at the heart of [Urban's play]. Can a country, in which nearly 20 percent of the population is murdered by their neighbors in 100 days, ever fully recover?” —TheaterMania.com
“Urban's play is a compelling political thriller which not only discusses major issues of guilt and complicity, but also examines the moral choices made by all of his finely drawn characters.” –Tribune
“Cogent [and] troubling…the [play’s] striking final moments demonstrate that this playwright’s sense of an ending is perfectly intact.” —The Village Voice
Production History: Theatre503 in London (May-June 2015) and 59E59 Theatres in New York (Aug-Sept 2015)
Published by Methuen Drama and Dramatists Play Service
THE AWAKE
Malcolm, a devoted son, floats on a bed with his mother on an endless sea, as Gabrielle, an Eastern European actress, awakes to a new life in America. Meanwhile, Nate is on the run from a faceless interrogator. These three strangers discover that a mysterious corporation bonds them together. 3M, 3W, 1G
"Ken Urban's words are poetry. Voices and story lines converge and diverge like an elaborately mixed recording. The dialogue is full of stylized harmonies and dissonances; plots and characters operate in counterpoint. It is a structure that brings to mind Walter Pater's famous dictum that all art aspires toward the condition of music, a fusion of form and subject matter." —The New York Times
"[An] engaging tapestry of stories…[T]he descriptive, hallucinatory monologues require the audience to color in the details of scenes occurring in a character's mind. The fantasies resolve into emotional realities that, as in all our lives, must ultimately be borne rather than escaped." —The Village Voice
Production History: 59E59 Theatres in New York (Aug-Sept 2013) and First Floor Theater in Chicago (Feb-March 2016, return engagement July 2016)
Published by Dramatists Play Service and TheatreForum (Issue 46)
THE CORRESPONDENT
A grieving husband hires a dying woman to deliver a message to his recently deceased wife in the afterlife. When he receives letters describing events that only his wife could know, he must determine if the correspondence is from a con artist or if his wife has returned from the grave. 2M, 1W
"WOW! It was dramatic and twisty and an exciting new work that will leave you in awe!" —Joan Rivers
"A sharp new play that takes a stormy look at desire beyond the grave. Four Stars!" —Time Out (New York)
"Do you believe in ghosts? What about the afterlife? Chances are, after a viewing of Ken Urban's unsettling drama, you'll be left questioning many of your deeply held beliefs. You don't want to miss this disquieting play, the specter of which will likely linger in your thoughts for days after." —TheaterMania.com
Production History: Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre in New York (Jan-March 2014)
Published by Dramatists Play Service
THE HAPPY SAD
Armed with art and flowers, Stan discovers his girlfriend Annie wants to take a break. Meanwhile, long-term boyfriends Aaron and Marcus struggle with the question of monogamy. In a city with too many options, the lives of these two couples (and their friends) become intertwined when Stan and Marcus meet online and hook up. 4M, 3W
"Ken Urban’s theatre work keeps on getting better and better. An entertaining, provocative and thoughtful look at twenty/thirty-something angst. There's wisdom here and wit." —Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
"Urban is brilliant, provocative and gushing with talent!" —OC Weekly
Production History: The Flea Theater in New York (Spring 2008) and Summer Play Festival at the Public Theater in New York (July 2009)
Published by Dramatists Play Service
Adapted into a feature-length film by the author
THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ESKIMOS
After the sudden death of his sister, Marvin turns to his girlfriend, therapist and co-worker for comfort, only to find himself alone in his grief. Then he loses his cell phone. When he calls his number in hopes of retrieving the phone, a mysterious woman answers. Marvin finds himself falling for this mysterious stranger. But things are never what they seem. 3M, 2W
"A play for the electronic post-9/11 age by a prizewinning, surreal writer who captures well the absurd elements of contemporary life."—The Seattle Times
"A taut and gripping contemporary techno-thriller—the kind of tale Hitchcock might spin were he alive in our electronic age." —Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
"Exceptionally well written." —WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio
Production History: The Committee Theatre in New York (2007), Stage Left/The Mill in Chicago (2009) and Open Circle in Seattle (2011)
Published by Dramatists Play Service
THE REMAINS
Married for a decade, Kevin and Theo are the ideal couple in the eyes of their families. But at dinner this Sunday, Kevin and Theo have big news. A comedy about the tragedy of love. 3M, 2W
“Meticulously crafted.. [and] well stocked with humor. THE REMAINS will spark recognition in anyone who has ever had a long- term relationship — or endured a tense family dinner.” – The Washington Post
“A Landmark Play! Beautifully nuanced, Ken Urban’s new play [is] a riveting comedy that mourns a gay marriage on the rocks. See it with someone you love.” – DC Metro Theater Arts
“Ken Urban’s emotionally rich family dramedy… cracks the shell of anyone who has been in a long-term relationship.” – Washington City Paper
Production history: Studio Theatre in Washington, DC (2018)
WASPS (an adaptation of Aristophanes)
Bedazzler just wants a little refinement, but it's hard when your dad is a war vet addicted to beer, trailer park women, and jury duty. With the help of her libidinous gal pals, Bedazzler devises a plan to put her old man on the straight and narrow, but, as with most Greek comedies, Fate won't make it easy. 3M, 4W plus 2 puppeteers
Production History: Produced by Studio 42 in New York (2013) and developed by Target Margin (2007).