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PLAYWRITING

Writing: Scripts

The Pitch

"In aiming for a space between an August: Osage County and an A24 horror film, Bernsten’s production successfully nails the tone where, whatever the third act brings, it’s well-earned... A folk horror for the folks at home, We Are Blood earns its inheritance." 

Theatre is Easy

"Dream Ticket brings satirical Republican politics through Ryan Bernsten’s highly focused Democratic lens to shed light on our corrupt love of candidacy drama, instead of where the focus should really be—on the American people." 

Broadway World

"[We Are Blood is] thought-provoking, humorous, suspenseful... menacing... downright demonic." 

DREAM TICKET

"Dream Ticket brings satirical Republican politics through Ryan Bernsten’s highly focused Democratic lens to shed light on our corrupt love of candidacy drama, instead of where the focus should really be—on the American people." - Theatre is Easy

​

"With comedy like "Veep", drama like "Scandal" and Sorkin-esque wisdom and sensibility, Dream Ticket by Ryan Bernsten is an aptly timed political play." - Theatre in the Now

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WE ARE BLOOD
see gallery/sizzle

"In aiming for a space between an August: Osage County and an A24 horror film, Bernsten’s production successfully nails the tone where, whatever the third act brings, it’s well-earned... A folk horror for the folks at home, We Are Blood earns its inheritance." - The Pitch

​

"Thought-provoking, humorous, suspenseful... menacing... downright demonic." - Broadway World

​

Is family forever? In this horror/thriller, a recently widowed New Yorker and her son return to rural Missouri to evict her estranged sister from their childhood home. Discovering the house in disrepair and the inhabitants experimenting with occult magic, the family is forced to exorcise demons from their past.


Development/Award History:

Olathe Civic Theatre Association (Production, 2023)

Angels Theatre Company (Reading Series, 2023)
Kansas City Public Theatre (Theatre Lab, 2021)
Northwestern University (Zoom Reading, 2020 password: Frances)
Ashland New Play Festival (Semifinalist, 2022)

NOVEL

Two ambitious writers mine their trauma to create a masterpiece in a writing program helmed by a horror novelist, only to find themselves trapped in a twisted experiment.

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Development:  

Kansas City Public Theatre (TheatreLab 2024)

Charlotte Street Foundation, 2022*

Kansas City Scratch Night, 2022

Excerpt available*

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"Maniacal" - Charlotte Street Audience Member

"Twisted" - Scratch Night Feedback

ATLANTIC: AMERICA & THE GREAT WAR

"... a moving and dramatic piece of theatre." - British Theatre Guide

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"tackl[es] what it means to be American. The themes and dialogue allow us to look back in glorious hindsight to the faults of the time, while the emphasis on the dangers of the media draws relevant parallels with present times... and is undoubtedly an excellent theatre piece." - EdfestMagazine

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THE NEW ORDER

In this post-apocalyptic thriller, a widowed mother and daughter take in survivors to help rebuild their farm. All is well until an other-worldly order of nomadic nuns arrives seeking shelter—as the Sisters start imposing their strange doctrine on the household, the tenants fight back against a dogma that is far deadlier than expected.

​

Development:

Kansas City Horror Play Festival, 2022

Oxford Best New Play for Voices, 2018

Corkscrew Theatre Festival, 2017

Listen to the radio play produced in partnership with Oxide radio.

BAD PRESS

Fundraiser for the ACLU by Wide-Eyed Productions

​

In this political satire, a former U.S. president recruits a national joke to run in the Democratic primary, hoping to sabotage her bland husband's competition and ensure victory. However, the media's hunger for drama has unintended consequences as the power couple attempts to harness the bad press for their own ends.

Writing: Scripts

WE ARE BLOOD
see gallery/sizzle

Is family forever? In this horror/thriller, a recently widowed New Yorker and her son return to rural Missouri to evict her estranged sister from their childhood home. Discovering the house in disrepair and the inhabitants experimenting with occult magic, the family is forced to exorcise demons from their past.

 

"In aiming for a space between an August: Osage County and an A24 horror film, Bernsten’s production successfully nails the tone where, whatever the third act brings, it’s well-earned... A folk horror for the folks at home, We Are Blood earns its inheritance." - The Pitch

​

"Thought-provoking, humorous, suspenseful... menacing... downright demonic." - Broadway World

​

Is family forever? In this horror/thriller, a recently widowed New Yorker and her son return to rural Missouri to evict her estranged sister from their childhood home. Discovering the house in disrepair and the inhabitants experimenting with occult magic, the family is forced to exorcise demons from their past.


Development/Award History:

Screencraft Stage Play Competition, Finalist 2024

Olathe Civic Theatre Association (Production, 2023)

Angels Theatre Company (Reading Series, 2023)

Jewish New Play Competition Semifinalist, 2023 
Kansas City Public Theatre (Theatre Lab, 2021)
Northwestern University (Zoom Reading, 2020 password: Frances)
Ashland New Play Festival (Semifinalist, 2022)​​

NOVEL

Two ambitious authors are accepted into an experimental writing program helmed by a horror novelist who uses unconventional methods to probe their psyches in pursuit of a masterpiece.

​

Development:  

Kansas City Public Theatre (TheatreLab 2024)

Charlotte Street Foundation, 2022*

Kansas City Scratch Night, 2022

Excerpt available*

DREAM TICKET

In this political satire recommended by TimeOut NY, Huffington Post, and The Producer’s Perspective, populist businesswoman Becky Roberts and maverick senator Les Sugarman compete for their party's presidential nomination - despite a history that wasn't strictly political. When media pressure forces them to run on the same team, their dream ticket becomes a nightmare.

​

"Dream Ticket brings satirical Republican politics through Ryan Bernsten’s highly focused Democratic lens to shed light on our corrupt love of candidacy drama, instead of where the focus should really be—on the American people." - Theatre is Easy

​

"With comedy like "Veep", drama like "Scandal" and Sorkin-esque wisdom and sensibility, Dream Ticket by Ryan Bernsten is an aptly timed political play." - Theatre in the Now

WHAT HAPPENED AT JIMMY CARTER'S FUNERAL

At the funeral of President Jimmy Carter, all living presidents and first ladies gather to pay their respects until an unexpected attack forces former rivals and leaders of the free world into a confined space with nothing but bottles of wine and old grudges to hash out.

THE NEW ORDER

In this post-apocalyptic thriller, a widowed mother and daughter on a rural farm take in survivors as an act of goodness in a desolate world. All is well until the arrival of an other-worldly order of nomadic nuns. When rations run scare, the nuns begin imposing their strange doctrine on the house and when the tenants fight back, they find that their dogma is much deadlier than anticipated.

​

Development:

Kansas City Horror Play Festival, 2022

Oxford Best New Play for Voices, 2018

Corkscrew Theatre Festival, 2017

Listen to the radio play produced in partnership with Oxide radio.

BAD PRESS

In this political satire, a former U.S. president recruits a national joke to run in the Democratic primary, hoping to sabotage her bland husband's competition and ensure victory. However, the media's hunger for drama has unintended consequences as the power couple attempts to harness the bad press for their own ends.

Writing: Pro Gallery
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