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Recently Published


The Night Before Christmas script cover



The official site for award winning
screenwriter and playwright
ARTHUR M. JOLLY.

Arthur M. Jolly


Discover the works of Arthur M. Jolly (he, him), download free monologues for auditions and classes, purchase playscripts, ask questions, and get all the info on upcoming productions. Over ONE AND A HALF MILLION visitors so far... welcome!

Since this site was created, counter random people have visited. However:





Pencils down!
I will not be optioning, selling, developing, or working on any screenplays until the strike is over. Pencils down! I stand with the WGA!


NEWS

Posted May 2023

SCREENWRITING WORKSHOP - Valdez Theatre Conference.

I will be back at the Valdez Last Theatre Conference again this June - my twelfth year in a row! This year, I'll be teaching a workshop on Screenwriting, covering story structure as well as the basic nuts and bolts of the craft, but also focusing on adapting a stageplay for the screen. I can't wait to see my friends - old and new - there!





The Lady Demands Satisfaction in Davis, CA.

The Lady Demands Satisfaction will be produced FREE in the park (yay outdoor productions!) in Davis, CA by the Acme Theatre Company on Memorial Day weekend.

Acme Theatre Productions




ASHES in Warsaw, IN at Warsaw Community High School.

Ashes will be produced at Warsaw Community High School, in Warsaw, IN on May 5th.

Ashes at Warsaw Community HS




RISING in Keller, TX at Indian Springs MS.

Rising will be produced at Indian Springs Middle School, in Keller, TX on May 11th.

Rising at Indian Springs MS




The Lady Demands Satisfaction in New Zealand!

My sword-slinging, feminist farce The Lady Demands Satisfaction will have another swing, this time in Wellington, New Zealand at the Stagecraft Theatre - only my second or third production in that country. I only wish I could travel there to see it... although, maybe... I mean, it's New Zealand. It's on my bucket list!

Stagecraft Theatre, Wellington, NZ





THERE IS NO PLAY has premiered after being BANNED.

There Is No Play premiered at the Kansas Thespian Festival, after wonderful drama teacher Angela Bin reached out to me upon learning that the play had been banned by a different school in a different state. I was so privileged to be able to zoom in for the initial reading, and incorporated some of the feedback from her students. Huge thanks to them all and CONGRATULATIONS to the entire Fort Scott Thespians Troupe (#7365) for winning the highest honor a troupe can receive, the Gold Honor Troupe Award, and to Angela Binn for winning the Southeast KS Director of the Year award!

Kansas Thespian Festival




I'M IN A BOOK!

I contributed a chapter about Friday the 13th part IV to Caillou Pettis' Inspiring World of Horror! Check it out!

The Inspiring World of Horror





EIGHT BALL TO BE RELEASED IN THE UK

My short film that won the Hammond House International literary Prize for a Screenplay, Eight Ball is set to be released to film festivals! And here's a trailer for it!




NEW PUBLICATION!

YouthPLAYS has just published my - can you believe it? - TWELFTH play with them! The Night Before Christmas is an inclusive, fun and funny re-imagining of the famous poem that begins "Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house..."

The Night Before Christmas Play




Buy me a latte?

So this site is almost at 1.5 million visitors (see the counter above), and I added a button for the "Buy me a coffee" website, thinking it might offset the cost of hosting the free monologues to download. Well.. it didn't. There was an initial burst of tips from some lovely friends, for which I am very grateful... and since then... Nada. Ah well, one day I might be surprised!




A fun interview on Playwright's Spotlight!

I ended up talking to James Elden for an hour and a half - but there's some good bits throughout about techniques of playwriting!

And, for those of you who only listen to a friends podcast to see if you're mentioned in it (yeah, I know actors!)... here's a few highlights and mentions:
09:38 Babes With Blades
10:44 Babes With Blades ... oh, and several more times!
15:45 Writing Out of Sequence
17:20 The Free Republic of Bobistan & the Nicholl Fellowship
20:30 The 5 Elements of Drama
28:50 Character relationships
29:40 Kelly Younger
31:35 The Last Frontier Theatre Conference
40:00 The New Play Exchange
47:45 City Theatre
59:28 Writing Action Sequences
1:01:18 Editing a scene
1:07:50 Getting Published
1:11:00 Next Stage Press and YouthPLAYS
1:19:40 Bree Pavey and Loft Ensemble
1:25:45 Loft Ensemble
1:24:00 Mrs. Dilber's Fabulous Bedcurtains





NEW KID NEXT DOOR - RADIO THEATER

New Kid Next Door is out now as a radio play by Gather by the Ghostlight Podcast, hosted by Jonathan Cook, performed by Luke Romagnoli, Kelsie Johnson, and Sophie Cook.

Gather by the Ghostlight Podcast




What are you writing?

I'm still working on a play about The Mysterious Disappearance of Agatha Christie - developed with Houston's Alley Theatre. Here's some inside info, courtesy of Brendan Bourque-Sheil and the Landing Theatre New Works Podcast!




On Writing Monologues


A drama teaching friend of mine asked me to muse on what makes a strong standalone monologue for her class... so here's my take on it!





My headshot is by Jessica Sherman Photography.