Drew Pisarra
he/him/his
Brooklyn, NY
An award-winning monologist and poet, Drew Pisarra has toured his one-man shows on both coasts and has recently turned to writing plays for others.
Biography

An award-winning monologist and poet, Drew Pisarra has toured his one-man shows Singularly Grotesque, Queer Notions, and The Gospel According to Saint Genet to such venerable institutions as Bumbershoot and On the Boards in Seattle, The Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, Maryland Art Place in Baltimore, and Highways in Los Angeles. He has been the recipient of grants and commissions from the likes of the Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX), Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), Portland Art Museum, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and the Cafe Royal Cultural Foundation. His short plays "Burst," "Misery & Good Fortune" and "Serves Three" have been seen off-off-Broadway. Currently, he is at work on a trilogy of tragicomedies inspired by mid-century movie stars. 

Plays

by Drew Pisarra

Upon passing in 1993, horror icon Vincent Price was banished to Hell. Since he'd played so many evil characters, the powers-that-be decided he'd spend eternity in the fiery pits. Luckily, the Mormons — thanks to Price's brilliant turn as Joseph Smith in the biopic Brigham Young — petitioned for an upgrade. So now Price is getting a second chance with a doppelganger spirit guide to help him navigate the seven sins of Dante’s Purgatorio. Price must look back at a life/career that's become inextricably intertwined. What makes a man? What makes a soul? Vincent Price is about to find out.

Cast:
3M
by Drew Pisarra and Jerry Mouawad

For Imago Theatre's Artistic Co-Director Jerry Mouawad and his collaborator-playwright Drew Pisarra, life isn't a dream. It's a farcical bout of insomnia. A nameless woman struggles to get a grip on reality in a psychologically-boobytrapped room cohabitated by a talkative puppet, a mysteriously silent roommate, and a dancing coat. A monologue fantasia with a cameo by King Lear, "My Bedroom Is an Installation" delves deep into the loopiest subconscious that comes with sleeplessness.

Cast:
1 W, 1 M/W
by Drew Pisarra

Inspired by the late film auteur Jean-Luc Godard's breakthrough movie Breathless, playwright Drew Pisarra’s whirlwind noir concerns two wayward kids who find themselves in over their heads while negotiating the drop-off of a mysterious package to a middle-management menace—in a universe where telephone booths still exist. This co-production of The Tank is directed by James Dean Palmer. Commissioned by Imago Theatre with additional support from Atelier 86 and The Drawing Board.

Cast:
1M, 2W
by Drew Pisarra and Jerry Mouawad

This dance-theater piece uses inner monologues in an extremist fashion, as co-playwrights Drew Pisarra and Jerry Mouawad expose the muddled minds of a choreographer and his company of dancers struggling to find a sense of purpose (with a nod to Pirandello).

Cast:
8 M/W
by Drew Pisarra

The title character suffers from a rare but crippling illness which leaves him with a memory that lasts mere seconds.  The Strange Case of Nick M. -- Imago's trippy audio journey into his fragmentary world -- is hosted by a cocky podcaster who has unearthed a box of long-forgotten reel-to-reel tapes once belonging to Nick's lead psychotherapist (the famous if controversial Dr. Polina K). Listening secretly to these taped conversations, we witness the ambitious doctor's dangerous tinkering with Nick’s mind as Dr. Polina K. struggles to reactivate his frozen memory. Along the way, we also hear from Nick himself (the amnesiac pianist), Betty (his wife and primary caretaker), and Liz (their resentful daughter). Yet while their collective shoot-from-the-hip, '70s-idealistic approach leads to a temporary improvement in Nick's condition, the patient ultimately unravels when one risky experiment backfires disastrously. Suddenly, the promising therapy results in a tragedy worse than the one which Nick had been experiencing before he fell under Dr. Polina's care.

Cast:
2M; 3W

Successes

My Bedroom Is an Installation was named one of the five best plays of 2023 by Portland, Oregon's Willamette Week: https://www.wweek.com/arts/theater/2023/12/26/these-were-the-best-portla...

Drew Pisarra was part of the inaugural session of ArtPark's writers summer residency program c/o Foundlings Press (2023).

Drew Pisarra was awarded a Creative Engagement Grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) for the "live" radio play Price in Purgatory (2023).

Voiceover, a new dancetheater piece co-written by Drew Pisarra and Jerry Mouawad, will premiere at Imago Theater's Summer 2022 season. See the link for more details: https://www.imagotheatre.com/voice.html

Drew Pisarra was the first prize grant winner in the Words category for Curious Elixirs: Curious Creators (2021).