Dennis A. Allen

Founded in 2000, Keen Company is an award-winning off-Broadway company producing theatre that connects. Keen Teens is a unique and free educational theatre program run by the Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company. Keen Teens seeks to improve the quality of plays written for high school students by commissioning scripts from highly-regarded playwrights and gives students the opportunity to work with professional artists in an off-Broadway setting. This collection includes:The Doctor Will See You Shortly by Laura Neill(Comedy / 2w, 8 any gender + optional ensemble)Fed up with long wait times and dismissive diagnoses, teenagers in a gynecologist's waiting room decide to build their own community toward healing. Powered by exuberant flash mobs that express rage, power, and helpful tips about what could be going on with your vagina, The Doctor Will See You Shortly is a dramedy for anyone who's ever felt dread about going to the gynecologist.The Odds Are... by Dennis A. Allen II(Comedy / 6w, 3m, 1nb)Set in the not-too-distant future at a gambling addiction rehabilitation center for teens, The Odds Are... shines a spotlight on 16-year-old Jasmine and the other young residents as they navigate personal struggles and grapple with the societal forces that brought them there.Milewalkers by Jess I. Valles(Comedy / 4 w, 5m, 1nb)It's time to "run" the mile, but for Fahren, Alyssa, Sonia and Savannah, the mile is something you walk with friends while you contemplate love, mortality, friendship, and Hot Fries. Milewalkers asks us to return to middle school and revisit all the big and small ways that young adults tackle big life questions.

How did the artists of the Harlem Renaissance respond to the historic events that shaped their time? And how are contemporary creatives dealing with the issues of the present moment in their own work? These questions lie at the heart of the Apollo commission of the New Black Fest, which has engaged playwrights to explore these themes in 10-minute plays.The collection includes:Cliff & Clara & Her Baby by Lauren WhiteheadColor Theory by Eric Micha HolmesGoddess Help Us by Christina AndersonHolding by Zora HowardIt's Complicated by Michael BradfordRampjaar by James IjamesThe Moon, The Sun and the Stories We Play by Dane Figueroa EdidiThy Will Be Done by Dennis A. Allen II

"It's always death that brings about change in the world " says ailing patriarchUncle Cecil who will leave in his wake a suicidal child a woman in deepmourning and a devastating family secret. When the family comes togetherto say goodbye his dying sets in motion events that will change their worldsforever. When We Wake Up Dead is an exploration of grief mental illness andthe fragility of familial bonds. In this play filled with moments of tendernessand vulnerability we're reminded how the past can forever haunt the present.