D. Welser Carroll (June 20, 1987), or Daniel Carroll, is a young American playwright and performer who is currently producing at, and attending school at the State University of New York at Geneseo. His current notable contributions to the theater are contained within New York State, primarily with the New York State Theater Institute.

Plays

The Weather Plays

The Weather Plays are a series of four separate 20-30 minute peices entitled: Rain, Sun, Cloud, and Snow. The four plays surround two themes, the first of which is clearly weather. The second theme is more subtle and is hard to place into words, but at first appears to be closely related to the Apocalypse. The four plays are completely independant from one another with their own plot, setting, and time frame, but share one character who appears in all four plays known merely as "man". Rain surrounds the conversation of three companions caught in what appears to be a neverending rainstorm in an indistinct location. Sun surrounds the conversation of a man and a woman observing what appears to be a nuclear apocalypse as the two argue about what to "do" before the assumed end. Cloud surrounds the conversation of two strangers, who, by fate, end up together on a park bench discussing a sky that appears to be forever, unyeildingly grey, and the implications of disarming. Snow surrounds the petty conversations of two seemingly elderly women sitting in the living room of a house which has been buried entirely under a seemingly neverending snowfall. Their only other companion, an elderly man, seems to be in the final stages of syphilis. Rain is the only produced of the Weather Plays and was shown in the Black Box Theater at State University of New York at Geneseo.

Quantum

Quantum is a full length production based on the implications and philosophy that have surrounded the concepts of Quantum Theory and Quantum Mechanics since their introduction into modern science. Instead of addressing the ideas directly, the play accomplishes the task of merely showing, and never directly commenting on, the concepts of Quantum Theory. It surrounds four actors and one voice who are caught up in a seemingly plot-less cyclic series of actions surrounding the same distinct sound: A gunshot. Several other closely related philisophical concepts are brought into the various actions and conversations carried on by the actors in the play, all of which somehow apply to the deeply moving, and often-times deeply disturbing, ideas behind Quantum Theory and Quantum Mechanics. To date, Quantum has not been performed.

Everybody Dies on the Seventy Second Floor

Everybody Dies on the Seventy-second Floor is a rather morbid comedy in one act. It follows the journey of a righteous hobo, named Amadeus, who climbs to the top floor of an office building and systematically kills everyone. His main aim is to kill the president of the company, a one Mr. Perry Clout. In the opinion of Amadeus the heads of major corporations stand for the rape of liberty and the destruction of honesty. The plot routinely shifts from a Shakespearian tone to one with an inherant likeness to the absurd, and is approached as an epic struggle of man vs. man. The most absurd things happen, involving cinnamon buns, janitors, and swords. This show was first produced in the Black Box Theater at the State University of New York at Geneseo. This play also won second place for drama in the SUNY English Annual Competition.

Behind Door 262

Behind Door 262 is a juvenile fantasia surrounding themes faced by youth in a philosophy of work and subsiquent retribution. The action surrounds one character, Steve, who procures from the other randomly generated characters a sort of constant nameless moral. Many of the plays actions deal with individual archetypal interaction, and the climax of the show involves a large game of tag. The show owes a heavy dept to Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author. All stagings of this play are required to have a cast of actors and actresses under the age of 21. This show was first produced in the Shenendehowa Little Theater. A score was composed to accompany the action, and is available for all future productions. Heather Liz Copps, a student at Marymount Manhattan College directed it's debut performances.

Transcend My Pancakes

Transcend My Pancakes is the first play written in completion by D. Welser Carroll. Once referred to as No Exit for a high school mentality, the play surrounds the communication of four archetypal characters seemingly detained in a diner or restaurant by forces they cannot seem to conceive. All that is known is that the problem somehow involves pain, boredom, and bannana pancakes. This show was first produced in the Shenendehowa Little theater during the eleventh annual Respect Arts Festival.

References

Geisner, Jenna. "Working Title's three plays burst with variety." The Lamron 12 April 2007[2073]

Geisner, Jenna. "Danny Carroll's first Weather play strangely entertaining." The Lamron 15 Feb. 2007[2074]

External Links

2006 SUNY English Annual