About
Lonnie Miller is an emerging playwright whose work focuses on family, memory, loss, and Jewish identity.
Their most recent piece, Far Eden, sets the story of Ruth and Naomi in a quiet forest grave site on the Oregon Trail, as three women rebuild family and community in the wake of deep loss. It was performed at the Creede Repertory Theatre as part of the Headwaters Festival in 2024.
Lonnie's playwriting journey began with three
10-minute plays produced at Newton North High School as part of their annual Playwrights Festival. Her plays have since been produced by college theatre organizations including SpikeTape at Wesleyan University and NOMADS at Columbia University.
Rabbitman
8-year-old Danny discovers a book from his bedridden grandmother, written in a mysterious ancient language. He and his mother, Jodie, embark on a quest to find the ancient sage, Rabbitman, the only person who can read it. In a fantasy world presided over by a trio of enigmatic Chess Ladies, Danny and Jodie must brave goblins, the city bus system, and a lot of complicated metaphors as they journey to the Ancient Temple. What awaits them there won't harm them, at least not in the way they think.
Run time: 1hr 30 min.
Produced by NOMADS at Columbia University, December 2022.
Inheritance
A play about cultural connections across time and what it means to reclaim your identity, Inheritance follows Maya, a young Jewish woman who finds letters from her
great-grandmother Libbie revealing a rich family history she barely knows. Weaving together scenes from Libbie's life with Maya's stumbling discovery of the past, the play is a contemplative and intimate exploration of Jewish identity and how to bring the past with you as you move forward.
Run time: 45 min.
Produced as a radio play by WCKR at Columbia University, October 2022.
Produced by SpikeTape at Wesleyan University, May 2022.
Ten-Minute Plays
Far Eden:
Naomi, a Jewish immigrant, argues about plans for the future with her two daughters-in-law after losing her sons to cholera on the Oregon Trail. Family, community, faith, and female strength intertwine by a quiet forest gravesite in this adaptation of the Book of Ruth.
Get Home:
Three siblings find themselves trapped in the woods when the youngest, Bo, steps into a fairy circle and is afraid to leave it. With night drawing in, typical childish taunting soon turns to serious matters as the siblings struggle with their family relationships after their parents' divorce.
Pilot:
Jamie wants nothing more than to be a pilot, just like her hero Han Solo and her beloved oldest sister Lydia. After Lydia's death, Val, the middle child, takes it upon herself to stop Jamie from playing violent games with toy guns. With their mother deep in grief, it is up to the two remaining sisters to negotiate the loss and rebuild their own relationship.
Stage Left:
It is the 1920s, and showbusiness is a cutthroat industry for young Vaudeville actresses Lillian and Judy. The arrival of a charming and ambitious talent agent may change everything for Lillian. But is fame worth the loss of a friendship—or something worse?
Run time: 10 min. each.
Far Eden was produced by Creede Repertory Theatre as part of the Headwaters New Works Festival, August 2024.
Get Home, Pilot, and Stage Left were produced by Theatre Ink at Newton North High School as part of the Annual Playwrights Festival, 2018-2020.
