PLAYS AND SCREENPLAYS
These theatre and film works are a form of contemporary Western Tragedy. They are explorations of love, pain, sex, sacrifice, and of our civilization in decline. These works are spiritual in that they reveal the tragic protagonist’s obsession with the Other Side, and through overreaching, the protagonist makes the ultimate sacrifice of the Self- a reconciliation with the dark double of humanity. In these plays, souls are searching for connection in the emptiness of the modern world. Tragedy as an art form makes the spectacle of human pain beautiful. This work asserts that art is in essence immoral, and in this, it is nourishing to society. The Tragic Impulse in ritual is the essence of the Typhonian Tradition, for in performance, the actor becomes one with the Astral Double- in essence revealing the mysteries of existence on stage with acts of transgression in language, sound, and action.
*For rights to performance contact Joshua Ruebl at joshuaruebl@gmail.com.
STAGE PLAYS:
SALOME'S MOUTH (2018)
Salome’s Mouth: A Play
This play is about love in the midst of social upheaval. In Judea, Tetrarch Herod Antipas has to lead a society of many cultures and keep the region harmonious for the Roman Empire. Jokanaan, an itinerant Jewish agitator, has been captured by Herod to be used as political blackmail. Herod's stepdaughter Salome has other ideas for Jokanaan. This play is a re-imagining of the story of Salome and John the Baptist. It is about desire and how desire is the enemy of both the state and all ideology.
THE SUNRISE (2015)
The Sunrise: A Play
This play is about a soldier returning to America after his tour of duty in an unnamed desert country. In this desert, he witnessed and took part in several atrocities. Unable to be near his wife and child, he moves to Los Angeles, a city in another desert, in an attempt to change his life. There, he meets a failed actress and brings her to his room for a night of role-playing and personal confession. This also contains the short piece “Falling.”
PALISADES (2015)
“Palisades: A Drama in Two Acts”
Michael and Sarah, after being married for eight years, question their relationship and confront the conflicting emotions that they have in regard to their identity and their place in a world that has grown increasingly devoid of meaning. A third party, a young photographer named Caroline, enters and disrupts their lives. She shows Michael and Sarah how their bodies and minds are manipulated by the false reality in which they reside and the delusional concepts in which they believe.
VIVIAN (2012)
Vivian: A Tragedy in Two Acts
“Vivian” is an examination of what it means to be American Aristocracy. Who decides the hierarchical order? Who is born into a life where one can influence culture? Vivian Garrison has led a life of daring and decadence, and has returned to her hometown city for a life of bourgeois comfort. However, her shadow dream-world and her fantastic past invades to shatter her newfound reality.
SCREENPLAYS:
DESERT MAN- A SCREENPLAY (2023)
This screenplay is about a rock musician from Los Angeles named Mickey Connaughty who has to return to his hometown of Tucson after his music career implodes because of heroin addiction. There he meets a young Yaqui woman and falls in love with tragic results. This screenplay is about the Western materialist mindset in conflict with the spiritual realm of nature. It is influenced by the filmmakers Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell. To request to read this screenplay, write to joshuaruebl@gmail.com.