Who We Are

Bio(s)

Ezra Brain & J. Andrew Norris met at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and have been collaborating ever since. Their work has been seen at Florida Studio Theatre, Passaic Preparatory Academy, the Studio Theatre at Tierra Del Sol, UNC-Greensboro, Walking Shadow Readers Theatre, Montverde Academy -- where they served as playwrights-in-residence -- and the Tank. Their play Something’s Coming was a Finalist for the 2020 Jewish Plays Project National Playwriting Contest, and their play The End of the World and Other Small Tragedies was a semifinalist for the Future of Playwriting Prize. They have also won awards for their work for high-school audiences in New Jersey and Florida.   J. Andrew resides in North Carolina, and Ezra is based in New York. 

Ezra Brain is a trans multi-disciplinary artist, activist, and teacher based in NYC. As a theatre artist, their writing has been performed at the Tank, Literacy Theatre, Stop Pretending Theatre Project, Passaic Preparatory Academy, the New Masculinities Festival, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Studio Theatre at Tierra Del Sol,  the Art Garage, Dixon Place, and Stay True Theatre. Their play Something’s Coming (co-written with J. Andrew Norris) was a 2020 Finalist for the Jewish Playwriting Contest from the Jewish Plays Project. Ezra’s essays and articles have been published in 10 countries and 6 languages. As a filmmaker, Ezra’s work has been accepted into multiple festivals around the world. They are an award-winning teaching artist, a proud member of Ring of Keys, the Dramatists Guild, and the Editorial Board of Left Voice

J. Andrew Norris is a writer, director and actor. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he received his BA in Drama, with a minor in Musical Theatre. Since his graduation, he has worked with theatres such as Florida Studio Theatre, Triad Stage, NC Summer Rep, Literacy Theatre, and The Studio Theatre at Tierra del Sol. He was recently part of Florida Studio Theatre’s Apprentice Program, serving as the Artistic and Directing Fellow. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, reading biographies, and looking at pictures of dogs on the internet.

Guiding Quotes

Ezra and Drew are deeply steeped in the style of collage theatre; to quote Leonard Bernstein "The best composers are like magpies, they steal from everybody." To that end, here are some quote that guide Ezra and Drew's writing process. 

I believe, to learn what your audience needs, is the job, but caution that sometimes we confuse need with want.

-- Taylor Mac

Instead...of accepting the vast privatization of stress that has taken place over the last thirty years, we need to ask: how has it become acceptable that so many people, and especially so many young people, are ill?

---Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism

I’m tired of all the happy men who rule the world.

--March of the Falsettos from Falsettos by William Finn

Nazareth/
I'm fucked up/ Homie, you fucked up /
But if God got us/ 
Then we gon' be alright 

--Alright, by Kendrick Lamar

I never imagined losing my mind was going to be such hard work. ― Tony Kushner, Angels in America