James O'Connor
He, him, his.
Bronx, NY
Theatre Critic: the Riverdale Press, NYC. 12 full-lengths, 7 prof. productions. Head Coach of Women's Softball, the College of Mount St. Vincent, NYC, 2018..

Plays

by James O'Connor

Rosemary is a two-act, full-length, single-set, six-character drama about Rosemary Kennedy and her family.  The time span is 1936 to the recent past.

 

We see the world of Rosemary, the eldest daughter, and the third of nine children, and her tragedy, which unfolded in secret, and which preceded her family’s ascent to the fame and heartbreak witnessed by the world.

 

The play has been produced in Chicago (2001, PROP Theatre at Victory Gardens) and Philadelphia (2003, InterAct Theatre), and was awarded Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Citation for “Outstanding New Work.”

Cast:
Rosemary Kennedy, Joe Kennedy, Rose Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Joe Kennedy, Jr., Kathleen Kennedy
by James O'Connor

A fantastic CIA project becomes a fated, tragic challenge for Howard Hughes. Based upon real events of the 1970's.

Cast:
Howard Hughes; a Russian (Medical Officer, Russian Submarine Fleet); Smith, Brown, and Jones ( who play various: Crewmen, Technicians, Executives, Bodyguards)
by James O'Connor

Autumn "next year." A baseball fan catches "the most famous home-run ball of all time." A ballpark fantasy, true to the facts.

Cast:
A cast of twelve (9m, 3w) plays baseball fans, and most of them then double as advertising and baseball execs, members of the media, and ex-players.
by James O'Connor

A "suburban gothic" and ghost story, set in June, 1980.  MIA in Vietnam for ten years, a soldier haunts his family as they await his homecoming.

Cast:
Four women, Four men. The Murtaugh family (one female teen, three young adult children), and a neighbor couple.
by James O'Connor

A chance reunion of two sisters, one a prostitute, one a "Moonie," complicates lives for both, in this look at tough lives on the street in 1970's NYC.

 

Cast:
Two female, four male.
by James O'Connor

A star pro quarterback confounds his team with a sudden desire to write poetry and make football political, his way. Set in the Visitor's Locker Room at Soldier Field, Chicago, during a big game.

Cast:
7 men, one woman, all associated with the "Milwaukee Hawks." There is some doubling for offstage (TV broadcast) voices.

Successes

ROSEMARY -- winner of the Joseph Jefferson Citation for "Outstanding New Work,"  Chicago, 2001, PROP Theatre.

 

STAY, ILLUSION -- Semi-Finalist, 2011 Ashland New Play Festival.

STAY, ILLUSION -- 1991 Finalist: Arrow Rock (MO) Lyceum; the Rosenthal Award (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), and Semi-Finalist: Sundance.