Nathan Christopher (www.thenathanchristopher.com) writes plays about the universal truths of everyday life. Through the exploration of familiar moments—falling in (and out of) love, the death of a loved one, an act of violence, the slow decline of age—his work offers new perspectives, questions the conventional, provides comfort, allows us to laugh and, most of all, ask us to look inward rather than outward because that’s how we start changing the world.
Christopher is the author of eight plays: PICKING UP, THE FAREWELL TOUR, A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR, CLAIREVOYANT, EVE: A PALINDROME PLAY, GOOD BOY BAD BOY, TO REMAIN SILENT, and SORRY (NOT SORRY).
A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR was published in the Smith & Kraus Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2021 anthology.
PICKING UP was a winner in the “Script” category of the 86th annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. A musical version of the show (www.pickingupthemusical.com), created with lauded singer-songwriter Gregory Douglass (www.gregorydouglass.com), made its off-off-Broadway workshop debut to a sold-out house as part of the Emerging Artists Theatre’s Fall 2019 New Work Series. It was also featured in Undiscovered Works at Dixon Place’s Monthly Storytelling Series (NYC) in April 2020, and celebrated in a special broadcast on Musical Theatre Radio in October 2020 to mark the one-year anniversary of the show’s creation.
Christopher is a member of the Dramatists Guild, and has supported New York City's Atlantic Theater Company since 1999. Follow him on Instagram (@thenathanchristopher), Twitter (@natetc) and Facebook (nathan.christopher.94), and read his work on National New Play Exchange (NPX).
Plays
It’s late on a Wednesday evening in a nondescript bar. There are no customers; the bartender has nothing to do except kill time. She’s not supposed to be here anymore anyway, in this nothing-to-see-here town midway between two better places. Although the chicken sandwich is pretty damn good. And then a man walks in. Published in the Smith & Kraus Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2021 anthology.
Two people trying to see their way through to the end.
This short play in two scenes about the fall of humankind is palindromic, meaning that the spoken lines are the exact same in both scenes but reversed. That is, Scene Two begins with the lines with which Scene One ended and ends with the lines with which Scene One began (and vice versa). It is essential to the continuity of the play that no dialogue is altered in the performance of this piece.
It’s the 90s – when everyone still relied on the landline telephone. That landline is a lifeline to four women who have been brought together and are anxiously awaiting a phone call. As the hours slip away, tensions run high, friendships are tested and secrets are exposed. PICKING UP is a story about relationships, family, and what happens when everything is on the line.
It’s a rule kids have broken for decades: No playing ball in the house. But what happens when a super-normal mishap turns into a supernatural mystery? A fractured family is about to find out.
The greatest music legend in the world is dying. As a final gesture of gratitude to her fans, she embarks on The Farewell Tour. Although there’s no singing and no band, this global goodbye could well be her greatest performance. Told by three people each connected to the diva in a different way, this is a story about lighting up the stage, falling off the charts and what happens when our heroes turn out to be human.
It’s the 90s – when everyone still relied on the landline telephone. That landline is a lifeline to four women who have been brought together and are anxiously awaiting a phone call. As the hours slip away, tensions run high, friendships are tested and secrets are exposed. PICKING UP is a story about relationships, family, and what happens when everything is on the line.
Inspired by horrific events making headlines across the country, SORRY (NOT SORRY) examines the dynamics of power and punishment.
Successes
A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR was published in the Smith & Kraus Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2021 anthology.
EVE: A PALINDROME PLAY made its debut on the palindromic date of 11-11 as part of Tiny_Theatre’s critically acclaimed Facebook Live reading series.
CLAIREVOYANT made its debut in April 2020 as part of Tiny_Theatre’s critically acclaimed Facebook Live reading series.
PICKING UP THE MUSICAL: Sold-out, off-off-Broadway workshop debut in Emerging Artists Theatre’s Fall 2019 New Work Series. Undiscovered Works at Dixon Place’s Monthly Storytelling Series (NYC) in April 2020.
PICKING UP the Play: Winner of the Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. Finalist in the NJ Playwrights Contest, semi-finalist in The Road Theatre’s Summer Playwrights Festival.