Abe Koogler Selected Plays

＂Koogler’s characters are earnest, idiosyncratic, and suspicious of hierarchy. Often bitingly funny, Koogler’s plays...reveal larger truths about the economic and racial systems under which we all live.＂ -The Yale Review

Abe Koogler writes darkly comedic plays about ordinary Americans confronting larger political and economic forces, from small-town residents grappling with environmental change to slaughterhouse workers trying to retain their humanity. Although grounded in realism, Koogler’s plays often incorporate imaginary elements and heightened or musical language, creating moving and memorable works of art.

In his first play collection, Koogler’s work is brought together and introduced by the author, offering an overview of his range in style, from the naturalistic to the absurd.

Deep Blue Sound: ＂If anything links all of these people, it is an aching loneliness. That they are trying to figure out what happened to orcas, which are remarkably social animals, is among the nice touches that Koogler has sneaked into his group portrai＂ - New York Times

Fulfilment Center: ＂steeped in a luminous and illuminating empathy that feels both uncommon and essential right now＂ - New York Times

Aspen Ideas: A fast-paced and darkly comedic thriller about the poisonous appeal of believing that the best ideas win, and that winners know best.

Kill Floor: ＂never strikes a false or strained note as Mr. Koogler observes the awkward cut-and-thrust of the relationships among the characters＂ - New York Times

Advance Man: ripe with experimental language, movement, and absurdism; a dark comedy exploring what it means to be a politically engaged American.

Abe Koogler has won an Obie Award for Playwriting, the Dramatist Guild’s Lanford Wilson Award, and a Weissberger Award. He earned graduate degrees in playwriting from UT-Austin and Juilliard. He has taught playwriting at Primary Stages and Bennington College. He also works as a political speechwriter.
Abe’s plays include Deep Blue Sound (Clubbed Thumb), Staff Meal (Playwrights Horizons), Aspen Ideas (Studio Theatre, postponed due to COVID), Fulfillment Centre (Manhattan Theatre Club), Kill Floor (Lincoln Center Theatre), Lisa My Friend (Kitchen Dog), Blue Skies Process (Goodman Theatre), and Advance Man (UTNT). With fellow playwrights Katie Bender and Gab Reisman, he co-wrote the immersive journey plays Slip River and Church of the Passionate Cat, which both premiered in Austin. His plays have been directed by Daniel Aukin, Lila Neugebauer, Les Waters, and Will Davis, among others.