Michael Merriam is a playwright, screenwriter, and spoken-word artist living in Minneapolis, MN. Michael tells personal narratives with an emphasis on disability, stories of the fantastic, reworked folk tales, and anything else that strikes his fancy.
He has appeared on stage in the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Tellebration!, StoryFest Minnesota, Story SlamMN!, with the RockStar Storytellers, and over the air on KFAI 90.3FM and Minnesota Public Radio. Michael competed in the Story SlamMN’s Grand Slam in 2013. He is a member of Story Arts of Minnesota.
Michael is available for festivals and other events. Please contact Michael booking information and rates.
Playwrighting
At the Edge of Flight
Melissa Ballister, formerly known as the superhero Ball Lightning, lives a dreary life in a government funded nursing home after surviving a stroke, until a new nurse arrives with an offer from a mysterious shadow organization, thrusting a now normal and un-powered Melissa back into the world of superheros and supervillains.
Run Time: Approximately 30 Minutes. Parts: 2 women, 1 man, 1 any.
Production History: Three performances as a part of Gadfly Theatre Company’s Final Frontier Festival: Heroes and Villains. Cassandra Snow, dir. June 2016.
The Cursed Script written with Fox B. Barrett
When a group of radio actors begin to unknowingly perform a curse script, they find themselves locked in the broadcast booth with all the monsters brought to life as they perform. Can the actors escape, or will they be the next victims of The Cursed Script.
Run Time: Approximately 30 Minutes. Parts: 1 woman, 2 men, 3 any.
Production History: Three performances as a part of Planetfest. Matt Allex, dir. March 2018.
Out of the Woods: A Tale of Red, the Wolf, and The Woodcutter
When Red flees to her grandmother’s cottage in the woods to escape an arranged marriage, she encounters an annoying narrator, a polyamorous wolf, a surprise witch, and a lonely woodcutter seeking family, but not a wife, as a blizzard descends on them all.
Run Time: Approximately 30 Minutes. Parts: 3 women, 2 men.
Production History: One performance as a part of Bunbury Theater Company’s One-Act Festival. John Nicols-Pate, dir. March 2023.
Three performances as a part of Gadfly Theatre Company’s Final Frontier Festival: Fairy Tales. Immanuel Elliot, dir. June 2017.
Watch a staged reading of Out of the Woods here!
Steadfast written with Evan Pedersen
Can Soldier save his lover Dancer and their unborn child from a nameless bureaucracy whose rules disallow the disabled from having children while maintaining his honor? Or is it time to cast honor aside?
Production History: Red Shift Radio Drama. Evan Pedersen, dir. October 2014.
The Storm
On a far-future colony world, a young performer inherits a derelict theater from her late Uncle, but on a world where everything must serve a purpose, can she get open a new production and prove the need for live theater before the colony administrator claims the building for the community? The performer, her wife, and a sentient ghost-light work frantically to save the theater as outside the storm approaches, threatening the entire colony.
Run Time: Approximately 10 minutes. Parts: 2 Woman, 1 Man, 1 Any.
Publication History: Quarantine Bake-Off Challenge #1
“Read: The Storm.”
Screenwriting
• Award Winner: First Time Screenwriter – Cult Movies Independant Film Festival 2023 for The Terror at Tierra de Cobre.
• Semi-Finalist: Unproduced Feature Script – Cult Movies Independent Film Festival 2023 for The Terror at Tierra de Cobre.
• Award Winner: First Time Screenwriter – Movie Play International Film Festival London 2023 for The Terror at Tierra de Cobre.
• Award Winner: Unproduced Feature Script – Movie Play International Film Festival London 2023 for The Terror at Tierra de Cobre.
• Semi-Finalist: Unproduced Feature Script – Mojo Internrational Film Awards 2023 for The Terror at Tierra de Cobre.
• Semi-Finalist: Unproduced Feature Script – Sci-Fi Action Film Festival 2023 for The Terror at Tierra de Cobre.
• Semi-Finalist: Unproduced Feature Script – Santa Fe Independent Film Festival 2023 for The Terror at Tierra de Cobre.
• Semi-Finalist: Unproduced Short Script – Brooklyn International Short Film Awards 2023 for Stopping By.
• Semi-Finalist: Unproduced Short Script – Dallas Short Film Festival 2023 for Stopping By.
• Semi-Finalist: Unproduced Short Script – Phoenix Shorts Festival 2023 for Stopping By.
o Honorable Mention: Unproduced Feature Script – Screen Craft SFFH Competition. 2020. for The Horror at Cold Springs