Alexander Attea (formerly Utz) is a Chicago-based playwright and actor, as well as the Artistic Director of Avalanche Theatre. His plays have been developed and performed with Jackalope Theatre, The Plagiarists, Platform Productions, Bower Theatre Ensemble, Three Brothers Theatre, the International Museum of Surgical Science, Illinois State University, Mississippi State University, Otherworld Theatre, Benchmark Theatre, and more. He was a member of the Jackalope Playwrights Lab in 2023 and a Resident Playwright with Three Brothers Theatre from 2018-2020. He received his BFA in Theatre Performance from Niagara University.
Plays
A Lebanese-American family runs the Lebanese Festival in a rapidly changing Buffalo, NY during the worsening climate crisis. A play that boils over, freezes, and asks how to find what you come from.
Judy, an illustrator, arrives at an artist residency in the middle of a beautiful state park. It's her very first residency and she's hoping to make the most of it. She wants to work on her art, to make connections with the people she meets, to feel like she's actually an artist. But something's holding her back - whether that be the podcast about creativity she's constantly listening to, the strangely aloof park director, or a simmering tragedy she's avoiding back at home. A play about artistry, imposter syndrome, and healing that explores how we can be better to ourselves and each other.
It's 1761. Five researchers have been selected by the Danish government to travel to the Arabian peninsula, to "Happy Arabia." But the journey isn't as happy as its destination. The doctor is incompetent, the botanist is elitist, and the linguist has enough arsenic to kill them all. And that's hardly the worst of it. When the Narrator appears and tries to save the expedition from certain failure, the researchers begin to realize that their story may not belong to them anymore.
It's 1822. A fur trader named Alexis St Martin gets shot (on accident) and ends up with an open wound in his chest, opening directly to his stomach. His doctor, William Beaumont, uses him and his wound to conduct studies on digestion for the next 11 years. And yes, this really happened. Plus, there’s a framing device of a bunch of other fur traders telling each other this story and acting it out while they travel. It’s a ride.
When a security guard goes missing inside the back room of a luxury sock store, new hire Casey decides to lead the rescue effort. And if dealing with entitled customers and ambivalent managers weren't obstacles enough, Casey is soon facing off with an owner who refuses to show his face and a doorway that seems to lead to alternate dimensions. When none of the other employees are much help, Casey alone will have to navigate the mundanity of retail to save a man from the paranormal.
Deirdre, Piper, and Will work for a mysterious artistic prodigy named Gene, creating all the works of art he claims as his own. Also, they're not really ever allowed to leave the office. So when the new employee, Jess, starts trying to change the way things are done, it looks like their lives are about to finally improve. But it soon becomes clear that enacting change isn't always easy to do.
The first four people to be born on Mars act out made up scenes imagining what it would be like to live on Earth. They are waiting to find out if they passed "The Test," allowing them to go outside for the first time in their lives. But as questions are raised about the people and places that surround them, it becomes clear that the outside world isn't as simple as they've imagined.
It’s the day before the Test for young Martian colony residents Aris, Liam, and Jo. They decide to take their mind off the big day by hanging out in an old, abandoned part of the compound — a space filled with history and ghost stories. When the compound’s AI system, MARVIN, starts giving the presentation again, Aris, Liam, and Jo find they can’t turn it off. So they decide to have some fun and play along with it, half making fun of the history, half reliving their childhoods seeing the presentation. But strange things start occurring, and the three are forced to confront their own conceptions and emotions about the past. Can they deal with the history of their planet and move forward into a new future?
A pair of intersecting outdoor walking plays for one actor and one audience member.
It's the third anniversary of the night AJ and Cara met. But they haven't spoken in weeks. AJ has a mysterious gift bag that Cara gave them on the night they met, unopened. It's time to give it back. In separate monologues each performed for one audience member, AJ and Cara walk around Chicago and reveal more about themselves and their relationship. Finally, they meet at Lake Michigan, at a fork in the road for their future.
An adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic, in which the story of Frankenstein is interwoven with elements of Shelley's own life and the origin of the Frankenstein legend. Perhaps the monsters we conjure are not always as inhuman as they seem. Written for Bower Theatre Ensemble's inaugural season.
Successes
Illinois State University presents a production of Frankenstein from October 6 - 14, 2023.
Platform Productions presents the world premiere of Gut from September 21 - October 15, 2023.
The Plagiarists in Chicago, IL present the world premiere of Arabia, Arabia! from June 16 - July 2, 2023.
Three Brothers Theatre in Waukegan, IL presents the world premiere of The Creators from May 12 - June 3, 2023.
Florida Gateway College Theatre presents Frankenstein at the Levy Performing Arts Center, October 27 - 30, 2022.