Nora Brigid Monahan (she/they) is a playwright and performer best known for creating and starring in the international cult-hit solo musical DIVA: Live From Hell (music and lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen). Her other stage works include Aunt Jack, The Fifth of November (2026 Kendeda Prize Finalist), and musical adaptations of The Danish Girl (music by Alex Parker) and Virginia Woolf’s Orlando (music and lyrics by Cynthia Saunders). Nora’s plays and musicals have been developed by Goodspeed Musicals, The York, The Lark, NYSAF, Penn State Musicals, and Less Than Rent Theatre, alongside screen projects with EntertainmentOne and Mark Gordon Pictures. She has a BA in Theatre from Fordham University, an MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College, and a very chatty toddler at home.
Free
Online via Zoom
February 1 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm CST
The Fifth of November by Nora Brigid Monahan
NBM is in big trouble! After having one of her plays censored by a major off-Broadway theater (which probably should remain nameless), NBM attempts to reclaim her voice by writing a radical, unrequested sequel to the film V for Vendetta. But wait! Now the Secret Service is investigating her on suspicion that she is trying to use her writing to instigate a violent revolution. But wait! Her lawyer and agent both drop her, so she has to hire a very expensive, certainly copyrighted TV character to defend her! But wait! It seems like her new girlfriend doesn’t actually like her all that much! What starts as a meta-theatrical satire of corporate-driven storytelling spirals into a quasi-legal extravaganza about censorship, authenticity, and political power, which ultimately hands the reins (and Guy Fawkes masks) directly to the audience.
Is this script right for you?
This play contains stylized violence; transphobia/transphobic language; extensive, colorful swearing; discourse on political violence
*If you have any questions about this online Member Open Play, please reach out to Hannah, at hannahj@pwcenter.org
Nora Monahan
