Short Screenplays

Minor Infestation

Miles is not an easy child to live with. But one morning he wakes up to discover he may have pushed his parents too far; they have replaced him with a newer, better child: a middle-aged man named Jeff. But Miles will stop at nothing to get his life back...
This is probably my favorite thing I've ever written. Just sayin'.
Minor Infestation [PDF]

The Rebellion [AKA "Rebel Archivists"]

A short screenplay I wrote about all the things one should absolutely, positively, never ever do in an archive. Inspired by one of my coworkers at the Briscoe Center, who once thought he smelled bacon cooking in the archives.
The Rebellion [PDF]

The Filing Cabinet

A filing cabinet can be a wonderful organizational tool—but getting rid of a filing cabinet can also be a nightmare. This is a comic horror short I wrote after I helped a friend dispose of her old filing cabinet; it was serious business.
The Filing Cabinet [PDF]

Stage Plays

The Fork

In "The Fork," a neurotic man named David details a date gone horribly wrong—and explores the nuances of his insurance coverage. The first monologue I ever wrote, this piece was performed in 2007 as part of the Witness Theater Fall Showcase at Johns Hopkins University. A review from the JHU News-Letter can be found here.

Written by Erin Donohue
Performed by Mike Alfieri
Directed by Jess Aloe and Erin Donohue

The Viking Age

"The Viking Age" is a surreal little play about a teenage girl and her overbearing mother, who is unhappy with her daughter's taste in boyfriends. This sounds pretty typical, except that the boyfriend in this case is a Viking warrior named Olaf, whom our teenage protagonist met online at famed Viking matchmaking site DateAViking.com. (As far as I know, this is not a real site, but how I wish it was!) This play was created in 2007 as part of the 24-Hour Theater Experiment, in which short plays are written, cast, rehearsed, and performed all in 24 hours. My cowriter, Sarah Addison, and I were given two random props—a wine glass and a viking helmet—and worked into the wee hours of the morning crafting the play. Like every aspect of the 24-Hour Theater Experiment, it is the product of creative energy and extreme fatigue.

Read more about the concept behind the 24-Hour Theater Experiment here.

Written by Sarah Addison and Erin Donohue
Performed by Christen Cromwell, Patrick Connell, and Jen Petsche
Directed by Charlotte Chen

Songs

"Peace and Trees"

Music and Lyrics by Justin Kovar
Performed by Erin Donohue, Justin Kovar, and Mandy Sutton
Video by Justin Kovar

This archival rap song was written to accompany a presentation on the processing of the Margret Hofmann Papers at the Austin History Center. Hofmann was an Austin City Council member, environmentalist, peace advocate, and all-around cool lady. Check out my portfolio to learn more about my group's experience archiving her papers. Learn more about Margret here.

"Brain in a Vat"

Music and Lyrics by Erin Donohue
Performed by Sarah Addison and Kara Anderson

I was procrastinating on an epistemology paper once upon a time, and out came "Brain in a Vat." This rather mortifying piece of song craft is a philosophical parody of a certain popular Saturday Night Live skit [slightly NSFW]. Always wanted to know the basics of Cartesian skepticism but don't feel like slogging through Descartes? "Brain in a Vat" will get you up to speed.
On some insane whim, I sent this song to the brilliant V. Alan White, a philosopher I've never met, but who makes exemplary philosophy songs. To my surprise and horror, he published "Brain in a Vat" (and its Matrix-y album art) on his now-defunct Philosophy Tunes website. I'm sure this is what my mother always dreamed I would do with my life.

Video Games

Rat versus the Big Apple

Rat versus the Big Apple is a heartwarming text adventure video game centered on the trials and triumphs of a small sewer rat in the sprawling metropolis of New York City. I wrote the game’s plot in a two-day frenzy, which was immediately followed by several months of laborious coding with a group. My group and I originally wrote the game in Java. For online access, it was ported to JavaScript by Shawn McDonald.

The game is an exotic adventure in the magic of narrative, the nostalgia of text adventures, and the mysticism of Java. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also prominently featured.

To learn more, check out my portfolio page on building the game.

World of Warcraft Character Introduction

An introductory machinima for my World of Warcraft character, Isulia. This character and video were created for Rhetoric and Serious Games, a course in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing in Summer 2013. This video was the first video I ever created in Apple iMovie, and it made me long for the sweet, sweet nirvana of Final Cut Pro.

Written and directed by Erin Donohue
Voices by Erin Donohue (yes, both voices)

World of Warcraft Magical Bikini Armor

This satirical machinima critiques the often ridiculously objectifying portrayal of women in World of Warcraft and examines gender differences in representation in video games. This short was created in iMovie as a final project for Rhetoric and Serious Games, a course in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at UT Austin in Summer 2013. Due to a nightmarish (but oddly thrilling) series of technical glitches, this short features some of the most difficult editing I've ever done in my life. It felt like building a skyscraper out of dry sand—in a good way.

Written and directed by Erin Donohue
Filmed by Erin Donohue, David DeVine, and William Brewer
Voices by Erin Donohue and William Brewer

Easy as Kimchi Pie

I'm not even sure why this is on here, except that this was such a weird project that I felt like I should put it somewhere. Like the two videos above, this presentation was created for Rhetoric and Serious Games, a course I took in Summer 2013. The assignment was to create our own quest in World of Warcraft, a game almost entirely based on quests that are like digital cocaine. The goal was to create a quest that would not only engage the player but also teach him or her a basic mechanic or skill needed to play the game. The quest also had to fit a number of intricate parameters that are of interest to no one but WoW nerds. (Ask me if you're curious.)

My project is a series of slides meant to teach new players how to collaborate and communicate in the game. It is meant to be used while actually playing WoW. (I told you, it's a weird project.)