Hank Kimmel

Playwright / Dramaturg / Producer

1769 North Akin Drive
Atlanta, GA 30345
hwkimmel@gmail.com

Website: www.hankkimmel.com

NPX page: http://newplayexchange.org/users/2311/hank-kimmel

  • Board President and Co-Founder, Working Title Playwrights, an Atlanta-based theatre company dedicated to the development of playwrights and new plays.  www.workingtitleplaywrights.com 
  • Board President, Alliance for Jewish Theatre. www.alljewishtheatre.org
  • Producer, Kitchen Six Players, Atlanta. Develop content for theatre performances at both traditional and non-traditional locales such as restaurants, legal conferences and speed-dating events.
  • Playwright.  Plays have been produced / showcased at and with the following theatres:  Jewish Theatre of the South, CenterStage Theatre, Jewish Repertory Theatre of Buffalo, Jewish Women’s Theatre, Interplay, Theatre Ariel, Jewish New Play Project, Illusion Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse, Alliance Theatre, Actors Express, the Academy Theatre and more.
  • Dramaturg. Help playwrights primarily affiliated with WTP and AJT further develop their work.
  • Member, The Dramatists Guild.
  • Member, The Hebrew Benevolent Temple, Atlanta.

PLAYS

A sampling of plays with Jewish content. For a full listing, please visit Hank’s NPX page or web site.

LONGER:

  • Hank Kimmel’s Shorts.  A compendium of short comic plays that can be grouped by the following topics: Jewish Life, the Holidays, Parenting, Political Correctness, Love/Romance, Divorce, Sports, Suburban life, Lawyers.
  • Divided Among Themselves.  A righteous rabbi tries to make peace with her scheming and deceased father.
  • Confessions of a Hit Man. The first reunion of two ex-football players 15 years after their ill-fated collision paralyzed them both in different ways.
  • Meant to Be.  A Jewish couple defy their differing expectations and religious beliefs over the span of 40 years, as they discover what it means to test love, death and fate.
  • The Education of Benjamin First.  Mis-matched roommates reconcile their racial and religious differences as a friendship takes hold during the Vietnam era.
  • King David & The Giant. An aging and overconfident King David needs help from a lowly shepherd girl to overcome both Satan and Goliath’s angry brother, who both thirst for revenge.
  • Table For One. Bad service at a good restaurant leads to an unexpected friendship between an elderly Jewish patron and a younger African-American bus boy.
  • Holiday Dis-Enchantment.  A Jewish Christmas Holiday Show where the Jewish characters struggle and find joy on December 25th.

SHORTER:

  • Matza for the Rich.  An adaptation of a 19th Century short story by Avraham Reisen. It is the week before Passover, and the workers of a Russian bakery are frantic about who will get the biggest tip from the richest lady in town. (Permission granted.)
  • Saved on the Day of Atonement. On the holiest day of the year, Oliver struggles to find a seat in the sanctuary.
  • The Day Santa Ignored Us. When a Jewish mom confronts a dismissive department store Santa, she gets surprisingly swept away by the holiday spirit.
  • Father-Son Campout.  A modern-day twist of the binding story where an 88-year-old father wants to be sacrificed by his 55-year-old son.
  • Beat the House:  A Hanukah Midrash:  In a high-stakes game of dreidel, a desperate Uncle Jerry tries to outsmart his scheming niece and nephew.
  • Father-Son Outing:  The Trip to Northlake Mall.  With visions of the binding story overtaking his soul, a Father tries to convince his 10-year-old son to play out his biblical impulse.
  • An Answer to their Prayers. Two strangers find unexpected love in the back pew of a synagogue.
  • Proper Business Etiquette. Two young technology workers, one Black and the other Jewish, realize they might have to do more than adhere to stereotype to save their jobs.
  • The Music Man Goes Yiddish.  A traveling rabbi tries to convince two converts that this is the real deal.
  • Redemption of a Football Widow.  A wife threatens to commit suicide during the 1991 Super Bowl and her husband, a life-long New York Giants fan, is trapped between divided loyalties.
  • Winners Never Quit.  After striking out four times in a JCC Little League game, a son finds his father’s consoling words to be upliftingly dis-consoling.
  • Early Morning Appointment. Mrs. Kartee awaits a service delivery call that may take the rest of the day, if not the rest of her life.
  • Politically Incorrect Dating. Jessica has found the perfect date for her friend Scott, who learns he’s not as open-minded as he thinks.
  • Welcome to Our Holiday Show.  The disclaimer for an elementary school show proves to be more entertaining than the show itself.
  • Mrs.  Palsgraf’s Dream Team. A young lawyer must figure out if he’s ready to represent the most famous plaintiff of all time.
  • Your Local Neighborhood Pharmacy. A man with social anxiety receives unwanted attention when he tries late at night to fill his prescription.
  • The Day Our 5th Grade Teacher Taught us about Religious Tolerance.  A monologue where a 5th grade teacher tries to figure out the holiday spirit while justifying her divorce. 
  • The Name Game.  Chuck becomes increasingly baffled when everyone else at the party can’t remember the name of someone he should know.
  • My Life In Theatre.  A series of plays, skits and monologues about a life in theatre.
  • The Trespassers. A trilogy of 10-minute plays about the destructive effects of chauvinism, machismo and chivalry.
  • The Cycle Of Death. A man summoned to a funeral parlor joins an odd game of musical chairs where the goal is to be forever remembered.

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