Bradley Nies, Playwright

While surfing the web this morning, I found an interesting article about real spooky stories of the stage.  The following four tales come from Lisa Kay Jennings of theatrenerds.com.  Check out the website for more details! Emma Livry-A French ballet prodigy, she made the fatal mistake of fluffing her tutu next to a gaslight. Moliere-France's greatest playwright, he died of Tuberculosis while performing his play The Imaginary Invalid. The Man in Grey-An unknown man whose remains were found in 1848 walled up in a theatre in London. The Phantom of the Opera-Gaston Leroux's novel was based on a real-life disfigured contractor who fell in love with and kidnapped an opera singer.

I just finished a play that will have a staged-reading this June!  Enter Three Murderers related the ties that Jeffrey Dahmer, Jay Kelly Pinkerton, and Ronald O'Bryan had to Texas.  The reading will be hosted by Theatre Suburbia and sponsored by Scriptwriters Houston! Enter Three Murderers, Three Plays by Bradley Nies: *Alcohol and Muscles- While stationed in San Antonio, Texas, Jeffrey Dahmer meets a male prostitute bearing a resemblance to his first murder victim. *The Lord of Dead Things- While paying dominoes with a prison chaplain in Huntsville, Texas, Jay Kelly Pinkerton confesses to the violet murder and rape of an Amarillo woman. *The Man Who Killed Halloween- After poisoning his eight year-old son on Halloween in Deer Park, Texas, Ronald Clark O'Bryan refuses to admit his guilt to the heinous crime.

I am currently working on a play that takes place during the "Satanic Panic" that troubled the United States throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s.  My working title is "The Devil's Hour;" a tribute to Lillian Hellman and her classic play, "The Children's Hour." According to Aja Romano, who writes for Vox Media, most people attribute the "Satanic Panic" to the false claims made against daycare centers during the 1980s.  Allegations of this nature involved reports of children being abducted and bred for sacrifices, pornography and prostitution.  While my play doesn't deal with the abuse of children, it does deal with the allegations made against a counselor at a shelter for homeless male teens.  According to a resident of the shelter, the counselor requests he take part in a satanic ritual in exchange for being allowed to stay at the shelter after breaking the rules.  As part of these al...

It's been a while since I've been on here.  Reason is I've been writing!  My latest "masterpiece" is a play about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer . . . but with an interesting slant.  Here is a description of my play: After completing basic training in the US Army, renowned serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer completed his Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.  While no known killings happened during Dahmer's stint in The Lone Start State, this docudrama depicts a possible chance meeting of the man known as the "Milwaukee Monster" and a male prostitute baring a resemblance to Dahmer's first murder victim. Anyone want to read it?  Just let me know! Photograph :  Lorca-diCorcia, P. (Photographer). (2013, November 13).  Tim, 27 Years Old, Orange County, California [photograph].  New York:  David Zwirner and Richard Kern.

I'm considering writing about a trial that took place in Plainview, Texas in 1980.  I remember hearing about it when we lived close to Amarillo, and I recall it focusing on the accidental shooting of a teenager as she rode past the home of two self-professed occultists. Weeks before the shooting, which took place on Halloween of 1977, the couple was interviewed by a local television station and announced a witchcraft symposium they would be hosting.  This bit of self-disclosure made them a target for harassment from teenagers in their rural community. On the night in question, 50 to 100 teenagers drove past the couple's house hoping to see ritual ceremonies taking place.  A young lady in the back of a pickup was struck in the head when one of the "witches" fired a warning shot into the air.  The couple testified that the shot was fired only to scare the kids away, however, the teen died within minutes of arriving to Plains Memorial Hospital. I don't ...

Big news!  My play, The Prisoners of Driscoll Street, has been selected to be part of the Gallery Players Black Box New Play Festival in Brooklyn, New York!  This will be the first time I've had one of my plays produced outside of Texas! The play will run January 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th, with an audience talk-back on the 20th.  Read more about this incredible Off-Broadway venue in the sidebar to the right!

My play, Haunting the House , has been published and is available at www.nextstagepress!  T his farce is a crazy night of slamming doors, bloodcurdling screams, and hilarious misunderstandings.   Click on the link in the sidebar and get your copy today!