Overview
Cast Size
1m, 2f
Duration
10 Mins
Setting
On the Q train to Brooklyn, Present.
Subgenre
Contemporary, Realistic fiction
Themes
Religion, Current Events, Politics
Target Audience
Teen (Age 14 - 18), Adult
Style
Contemporary Musical Theatre
Instrumentation
Piano/Vocal
Additional Resources
N/A
Cautions
Mild Adult Themes
Casting Information
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ANNA: Female Identifying, 18-35, nervous, and frightened.
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NIAZ: Female Identifying, 18-35, confident Muslim who wears a hijab.
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DOUG: Male Identifying, 18-35, nervous, scared and belligerent.
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SUBWAY ANNOUNCER: Subway worker, unseen.
Songs
Media
Production History
In 2017, Bystander was originally produced by Summerfest! at the Hudson Guild Theater in New York City, New York.
In 2018, Bystander was subsequently produced in Theatre Now's SOUND BITES Festival at the Signature Theater in New York City, New York.
Author Bios
ED LEVY wrote the libretto and lyrics for Bystander (Best Short Play or Musical; NY Summerfest, Hudson Guild Theater, 2017, Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES 5.0, Best Music; Signature Theater). He wrote the lyrics for Uncomfortable Sex (Players Theater Short Play Festival, 2017). He has had 3 short musicals produced at Lincoln Center (Across a Crowded Room, 2017 and 2015). In August of 2018, his ten minute play Picket Line, 1936 was produced at the Association for Theater in Higher Education conference. Ed studied lyric writing at BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild, the Directors Guild of America, and BMI.
ERIC GRUNIN is a composer, lyricist, and book writer. Recent work includes full-length musicals Brooke Astor's Last Affair (Music; Chicago Musical Theater Festival, 2019; Emerging Artists Theater, 2013) and Our Woman, Frank Thompson (Music & Lyrics; Musical Theater Factory/Playwrights Horizons Downtown, 2017). Also music for short musicals Bystander (Sound Bites 2018, winner "Best Music"; Hudson Guild, 2017, winner "Best Short Musical") and We're Still Here (Lincoln Center, 2019). Also book for Dybbuk of the Opera (Lincoln Center, 2019) and RansomWHERE? (Lincoln Center, 2017). He has contributed songs to MuseMatch (Feinstein's/54 Below, 2018), and The Resistance Cabaret (The Tank, 2016 & 2017); blogged for Ryan Scott Oliver's CrazyTown; and reviewed for TheaterScene. He is an alumnus of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, and holds a Doctorate in Composition from Juilliard.
