PRODUCTIONS/READINGS
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
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"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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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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NOVEL
Two ambitious writers mine their trauma to create a masterpiece in a writing program helmed by a horror novelist, only to make a terrifying discovery about the program's endgame.
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Development:
Charlotte Street Foundation, 2022*
Kansas City Scratch Night, 2022
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"Maniacal" - Charlotte Street Audience Member
"Twisted" - Scratch Night Feedback
WE ARE BLOOD
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:
Kansas City Public Theatre (Theatre Lab, 2021)
Northwestern University (Zoom Reading, 2020 password: Frances)
Ashland New Play Festival (Semifinalist, 2022)
Austin Film Festival (Semifinalist, 2020)
Rave Theatre Festival (Finalist, 2020)
Kansas City Script Circle (2020)
University of Oxford (Workshop, 2019)
BAD PRESS
Fundraiser for the ACLU by Wide-Eyed Productions
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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.
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.
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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.
DOUBLE FEATURE AT HOLLYWOOD AND VINE
​Double Feature at Hollywood and Vine re-imagines Shakespeare's Twelfth Night set in 1930s Old Hollywood. When two twins are tragically separated on their journey to a better life in Los Angeles, the sister, believing her brother dead, assumes his identity to get work as a movie extra, only to take the silver screen by storm... as a man! When her brother unexpectedly arrives in Hollywood, struck with amnesia, mistaken identities, love triangles, general hilarity, and an unforgettable reunion ensue in this Shakespearean retelling.
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WE ARE BLOOD
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:
Kansas City Public Theatre (Theatre Lab, 2021)
Northwestern University (Reading, 2020)
Ashland New Play Festival (Semifinalist, 2022)
Austin Film Festival (Semifinalist, 2020)
Rave Theatre Festival (Finalist, 2020)
Kansas City Script Circle (2020)
University of Oxford (Workshop, 2019)
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.
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Development:
Charlotte Street Foundation, 2022*
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.
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"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
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"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.
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.
PUBLICATIONS
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The 29 Best Places To Eat & Drink In Kansas City - The Infatuation
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I traveled to all 50 states to find solutions to America’s political division: Here’s what I learned on the ground - The Fulcrum
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How to Support LGBTQ Young People Ahead of the Election - The Trevor Project
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Our Resolution: Defeat Anti-LGBTQ Bills in 2023 - The Trevor Project
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What Trevor Learned on the Ground at the Walkouts and Rallies in Florida - The Trevor Project
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"50 States of Mind – What Americans could learn from a visit to all 50 states" - Oxford Political Review
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"Enough of the Social Media OUTRAGE" - USA Today
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GradeSaver (TM) ClassicNotes: All the President's Men - Amazon