Play-by-Play
Recent productions and readings:
OPERA LIBRETTO: The Pride of Pripyat: Tales from the Chernobyl Disaster, music composed by Sunny Knable performed at the Manchester Fringe Festival, July 1-2, 2023
ALL IN THE CONFEDERACY reading through NYU Arts and Entertainment Network on January 28, 2019.
THE TRUTH ABOUT DINOSAURS produced by Georgia College Theatre and Georgia College & State University on October 1-2, 2018.
MASTER WILDER AND THE CABALA received a workshop production at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign April 27-29, 2018, directed by Marti Lyons. Followed by presentation at The Third International Thornton Wilder Conference July 12-14
Staged reading January 13, 2017 of The Rising Class at Dreyfuss Theatre on the Fairleigh Dickinson University Florham Campus, for the Soundings Reading Series of Writers Theatre of New Jersey. Directed by Michelle Tattenbaum.
Staged reading December 15, 2016 of Jim Knable The Reverend's Daughter for Magic Time at Judson Memorial Church. Directed by Rosemary Andress
MASTER WILDER AND THE CABALA
A creative adaptation of Thornton Wilder's first novel, The Cabala
Developed through a workshop and staged reading at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, directed by Henry Wishcamper, April 2017. Workshop production at UIUC April 2018, directed by Marti Lyons.
THE CURSE OF ATREUS
Drama
A white motorcycle cop gets a flat tire on the freeway and ends up meeting Grace, a black female mechanic, at her auto shop. As a rookie, he wants to keep the flat off the books to save face. Despite their differences, an understanding begins to develop. But when Grace's son shows up and meets the description of a suspected car thief, a Tragedy of the 21st Century is set in motion. (2 Men, 1 Woman)
Reading produced by 12 Peers Theatre for their Modern Myths Podcast
GREEN MAN
Drama
"GREEN MAN is a meditation on the mysteries of the human heart and how our emotions can trigger intense connections with others both conscious and otherwise... Knable is a playwright of considerable talent who is sensitive to the often intense pain and quirky personalities of those who create the art and music we all consume and the buildings we use... You'll find that the images and themes of "Green Man" - and perhaps even the character himself - haunt you for many days to come." -Eric Marchese, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A play about love, loss and gargoyles. Ronald and Abigail are missing someone, as is their stone sculptor friend Genice. They all seem to find the person they're missing in The Green Man--a character shifter who someday might hold still. Featuring songs and music by Jim Knable. (2 Men, 2 Women)
West Coast Premiere Production at STAGEStheatre in Fullerton, CA June 2015.
Rehearsed staged readings at Ars Nova NYC, Premiere Stages, NJ and The River Stage in Sacramento, readings at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Premiere Stages and for National New Play Network.
SPAIN A seriously magical comedy
Barbara, recently deserted by her husband of five years, discovers a Conquistador in her living room. Though she has had vivid fantasies about Spain, the Conquistador and his cruel and bloodthirsty approach to life were never part of them... until now. Through him and a maze of real and imaginary characters--including her best friend Diversion, a Mayan Ancient, and a very familiar guitar player--Barbara sorts through the leftovers and finds her Duende. (2 Men, 3 Women)
Produced October 2007 by MCC Theatre starring Annabella Sciorra, Veanne Cox, Michael Aronov, Lisa Kron and Erik Jensen. Previously produced at New York Summer Play Festival 2006, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, The New Jersey Repertory Company, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Actor's Express in Atlanta, Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis, New York University with staged readings at Arena Stage in D.C. and Interact Theatre in Philadelphia.
"Knable is an imaginative dramatist with a supple talent for the bizarre. His text is a maze, or perhaps a mirrored hall in an amusement park, where nothing is what it appears to be... outrageously funny." -ROBERT L. DANIELS, VARIETY
"Funny, whimsical and wildly charming" -Michael Dale, BROADWAYWORLD.COM
"You will feel warmed by the demented cheer of this story of a wife whose strange and entrancing dream helps her cope after her husband leaves... SPAIN bears great similarities to Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz in its rendering of a bizarre dreamscape where truth lies hidden in the madness... At its cockamamie heart, the play is a sweet story about an angry, cast-adrift woman who finds in dreams strength and resources she didn't know she had... If you are looking for a bit of warm-weather diversion, SPAIN is the place to be."
Jayne M. Blanchard, The Washington Times
"Knable has landed somewhere on the map close to Christopher Durang and John Patrick Shanley."
NY Theatre Wire.com
Destiny and the Little Man
An adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's "The Man of Destiny" commissioned and performed through Nightcap Riot, 2016.
GRIP THE RAVEN
A historical fantasy
A meeting between Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens really happened. But the rest - a shared Raven, a bewitching Muse (Virginia, the teen-cousin wife of Poe), and the effect these two literary Titans had on each other is the great mystery. It's 1842 and the future flies on dark wings. Staged reading through Yale Cabaret Hollywood, 2016. (2 men, 1 woman)
THREE GIFTS FOR LENNY BRUCE
A loose adaptation of "The Three Gifts" by Y.L. Peretz, inspired by the life of Lenny Bruce. Commissioned and produced 2014 by Target Margin Theatre at Abrons Arts Center. Lenny Bruce dies and gets stuck in a Yiddish folk tale where his life's good and bad deeds are weighed... and balance perfectly. So now he has to go back to his mother's past, his stripper ex-wife's pasties, and his own obscenity trial to collect the good deeds that will tip the scales-- or maybe Lenny's got another plan. (2 men, 2 women)
WHITE MOUNTAIN
A contemporary drama
A play about a boy who looks white but says he's black to get into college, and why that matters. (3 Men, 2 Women)
Reading at Tom Noonan's Paradise Factory, directed by Michelle Tattenbaum, 2013.
SALTIMBANQUES
A Cubist Comedy-Drama
James and Louise, at the crisis of adulthood face their recently deceased mother's assertion that they are Picasso's illegitimate children. James, an art dealer, has recently escaped from a manipulative relationship with a sculptress. Louise, an artist who gave up art, has come to console her brother and convince him that his faith in his mother's madness is as dangerous as the relationship he just left. Meanwhile, Mommy's former art student stalks the twins, having been told by Mommy long ago that he is possessed by Picasso's spirit. Told in past and present time. (2 Women, 3 Men).
Workshop production at Yale University, readings at Geva Theatre and at Playwrights Horizons (Nascent Works). Showcase production at Citi Lit in London, 2016. Published with SPAIN and GREEN MAN as "The Imaginary Plays" by Samuel French.
Houdini Plays-- result of commission from Firefly:Theatre and Films
PRINCE OF AIR
A modern day struggling magician uses Houdini's greatest acts to get through a personal crisis. A play about love, magic and modern medicine.
Staged Public Readings at Geva Theatre in Rochester, directed by Jeremy Dobrish. Further workshopped at The Open Fist Theatre in Los Angeles. (2 Men, 2 Women)
Photo of Steven Klein, commissioning producer and actor. Credit: Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times
THE GREAT BEYOND
A biographical tornado focusing on Harry Houdini and his wife and partner Bess, starting and ending with the mysticism they first perpetrated then fought against. Workshopped at Walnut Street Theatre, PA. (2 Men, 2 Women)
Touring plays for Younger Audiences
THE MAGIC FISH
Music by brother Sunny Knable, Story and Libretto by Jim Knable. Based on The Brothers Grimm's "The Fisherman's Wife", THE MAGIC FISH is a comic opera performed by adults for audiences of children and well-behaved parents. It is about a boy who catches a fish who grants him a magic wish for letting him go. The boy's parents become greedy when they hear about the fish and start wishing for bigger and bigger things from him-- from new shoes to a mansion to a castle-- until the fish asks for something in return that the parents can't possibly give up... or can they? Narrated by a friendly Otter, who completes the cast of five, this re-imagining of a classic tale is full of warmth, humor, and music that is both sophisticated and accessible. It's fun for kids and has a surprising resonance with adults in this era when everyone is in trouble for making wishes on fishes. (2 Men, 3 Women).
Commissioned by the Half Moon Theatre in 2011.
Produced at Half Moon Theatre in Poughkeepsie, NY and Turtle Bay Music School in Manhattan. To be produced December 2013 at the Mondavi Center in Davis, CA.
THE BEST MISTAKE
Becky discovers that her charismatic and sometimes annoying father has not learned to read. She craftily gets him to help himself with the aid of her first boyfriend and Hamlet. (2 Men, 2 Women).
PUBLISHED BY DRAMATIC PUBLISHING
Commissioned by the Playwrights Project in 1999.
Subsequently toured from Spring of 2000 to Spring of 2002 at high schools, rehabilitation centers and libraries in Southern California. Remounted for another tour by Playwrights Project in 2008.
THE TRUTH ABOUT DINOSAURSTHE TRUTH ABOUT DINOSAURS
Three stories about kids and their love of dinosaurs, ranging from a paleontologist who's son can only get her attention by singing rock songs about dinosaurs, to a young boy who thinks he's turning into a dinosaur during his mother's illness, to a short and sweet fable about a dinosaur with feathers who gets made fun of even though she's more evolved. All tied together by a mysterious narrator who tells us "The Truth about Dinosaurs." With songs by Jim Knable.( 2 Men, 2 Women).
PUBLISHED BY PLAYSCRIPTS, INC.
Commissioned by the The Hangar Theatre of Ithaca in 2002.
Subsequently toured in the fall of 2002 at elementary and middle schools in Upstate New York, remounted and toured again by Hangar in 2008.
HYPER-FOCUS
A boy named Thomas Jefferson can't seem to focus in school. He is told he has ADD. With his widowed mom, a caring teacher and his first potential girlfriend, he figures out how to deal with it. (2 Men, 2 Women). With songs by Jim Knable.
"Hyper-Focus" is the Playwrights Project's second commission of a kid-friendly touring play [from Jim Knable]- and by far his best play yet. It concerns Attention Deficit Disorder, and it's touring local schools -- to an extremely enthusiastic reception. Having myself worked with many young students with ADD, I was particularly impressed with how accurately Knable captured the intricacies of the problem, how it is perceived by others - and how it feels from the 'inside.' His song about competing stimuli fighting for attention inside the brain of his appealing protagonist was terrific!"- Pat Launer, SD Theater Scene
PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL FRENCH
Commissioned by the Playwrights Project in 2004.
Subsequently toured in the fall of 2004 at middle and high schools, rehabilitation centers and libraries in Southern California. Produced at New River Stage in Blacksburg, VA 2016.
LOST IN WORDS
Fifteen-year old Sylvia is a star student on the path to becoming a doctor when her family moves from their native Mexico to California. As she plunges into a new school, culture and language, she worries that her lifelong goal has moved out of reach. (2 Men, 3 Women). In Spanish and English with songs by Jim Knable.
PUBLISHED BY PLAYSCRIPTS, INC.
Commissioned by the Playwrights Project in 2005.
Subsequently toured in the fall of 2005 and 2006 at middle and high schools, rehabilitation centers and libraries in Southern California. Remounted for Spring and Fall of 2006.