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ROOTED IN TRADITION

CREATING FRESH WORKS

Welcome to my site.

About Walter Thinnes, Playwright

A colorful sunset over a calm lake with silhouettes of trees in the foreground.

WALTER THINNES is an emerging playwright whose thirty plus plays have received more than 140 productions, readings, or awards in 26 US states, and 6 different nations, . He is currently splitting his time between Central Florida and Northeastern Georgia. You can find some of his scripts at www.newplayexchange.org.

He is the recipient of the Colonial Players’ Promising Playwright Award, Annapolis, MD; Theatre Oxford L.W. Thomas Award, Oxford MS; Appalachian New Play Festival Judge’s Choice Award, Athens, OH; winner of the Centre-Stage New Play Festival in Greenville, SC; and most recently the winner of the Appalachian Playwriting Festival by the Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville, NC.

While I refer to my current look as 'deranged prospector come in from the hills,' of course the most frequent inquiry I get is whether or not I am Santa Claus. I tell the young 'un that, no, but I am Santa's nephew. After a quick exchange about whether the tyke has an uncle of their own, they get the concept. I explain that while the gift thing is a family enterprise and we all pitch in to help with it, Santa does all the deliveries and makes all the decisions. While I can put in a good word for them (they have been good, haven't they?) it is their parents who are in direct contact with the big man and that they had better be good, just in case. The parents are always grateful for the encounter. There you have the Legend of Walter Claus!

Recent Mountings of my Scripts 2024-26

Recently..

My full-length play BLOODLETTING IN THESE HILLS was the declared the winner of the Appalachian Playwriting Festival in 2024. There were two public readings directed by Erika Tyner and featuring the exceptional talents of Addison Amos, Tom Harrison, Austin Dakota Whitehead, Lilly Bartleson, Olivia Woodford, and Alan Steele. It received a fully mounted production as the third play of the 2025 Season of the Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville, NC on August 1-3 and 8-10, 2026. It was directed by Elizabeth DeVault and featured Raiter Montgomery as Joshua, Mike Yow as Caleb, Jason A. Phillips as Quinn, Mary Weisgerber as Anna, and Karen Covington-Yow as Lillian, I enjoyed the excellent production and the hospitality of Burnsville, North Carolina.

My short play HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEONARD continues to be popular. It was selected as a Semi-Finalist for the 2024 Off Broad Street Short Play Festival in Augusta GA. It was performed by THEATER MAKERS LABS of Middletown CT as part of their Crappy Valentines Festival on February 17, 2024 at Keeney Memorial Cultural Center in Wethersfield, CT. The script was published in the Theater Odyssey Festival Plays Volume Five book in Sarasota, FL (having been performed there in 2022). It was performed as part of the 6th Annual Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival in Fargo, North Dakota (and streamed live) April 17 & 18, 2026.

My recent script FATHER IS BACK IN TOWN was selected as the First Prize Winner in the One-Act Play Contest by Drury University in Springfield Missouri. It come with a cash prize and possible production by the theater department in a future season!

My new short play LEAVE ME A MESSAGE was featured by THE PULP STAGE in Portland, Oregon on April 1, 2024 in a live internet reading. It was part of their Pulp Factor Showcase and was directed by Jonathan Hernandez and read by Artistic Director John Marks, Colleen Socha and Katie Mortemore. The reading is now on Apple Podcasts, Audible and Spotify. Search for 'The Pulp Podcast' and 'Leave Me a Message.'

My full-length script POP TARTS AND RAMEN received a developmental reading with feedback by the members of the Theatre Club of Beacon College (featuring instructor Autumn Welt and students Ben Silva, Adonis Tomer, Charlie Ige, and Uma Lazoff) of Leesburg, FL. It also received an online reading as part of the Plays in Progress Virtual Reading Series by the Whiskey Theatre Factory in Orlando, FL on April 23, 2025.

My one-page play GRACE was published in the online and print anthology in the fall 2025 edition of MINI PLAYS, based in India

The Rover Dramawerks theatre in Plano, TX selected my short play "myspacefacebook.com" as a semi-finalist for their 2024 comedy performance.

My short play SPY BIRDS was shortlisted for the Sydney Theatre Festival in New South Wales, Australia.

Other mountings of my scripts 2021-23

Since the Pandemic closed the theaters...

My short play HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEONARD has received quite a number of productions recently.

REBOUND PRODUCTIONS performed the play as a part of their New Writing Showcase on July 26, 2023 featuring Clarisse Encontre and Christina Raise at the HEN & CHICKENS THEATRE, LONDON, UK .

It was presented in the Seventeenth Annual Ten Minute Play Festival at the ODYSSEY THEATRE in SARASOTA FLORIDA in June 2022. It was directed by Amanda Schlachter and featured Jenny Aldrich Walker and Julee Breehne.

BARRINGTON STAGE in PITTSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS presented a streaming production of it as part of their Tenth Annual 10x10 Festival in March 2021.

It was also selected as a Semi-Finalist in the OFF BROAD STREET SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL in AUGUSTA GA

My full length play THE RELUCTANT PROPHET received an excellent staged reading as part of the Talkback Tuesday Series at the Polaris North Theatre Co-operative in NEW YORK, NEW YORK on May 23, 2023. It was both well received and provided valuable feedback that further developed the script. It featured John L. Payne, Meliora Dockery, Francis Parkman, Leslie Lynn Meeker, Jen Nolan and Sophie Larin.

My short play CELEBRITY DIVORCE was performed by the PLAYWRIGHTS ROUND TABLE OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA as part of their LAUNCH Festival in March, 2022. It was directed by Dev Zebra, and featured Russell R. Trahan, Anthony Marando and Kaley Redfield. It was also a finalist in the Short+Sweet Play Festival in the Dubai, United Emirates as well as their Festival in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

My short play 2020 - A PERFECT YEAR FOR MAGICAL THINKING received a streamed production in the Old Library Theatre's 10th Annual One Act Play Festival in FAIR LAWN, NEW JERSEY on February 2021. It was also performed by STAGE DOOR PRODUCTIONS as part of their 14th Annual One Act Festival in Fredericksburg VA in January 2022. It was selected and recorded by student Lanee Stiver for Senior Directing Credit at JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY in SILOAM SPRINGS, ARKANSAS in April 2022.

My short play AT THE DINER WITH DAD (licensed by ART AGE Publications - Senior Theater Resources) was performed in GAINESVILLE FLORIDA in February 2021.

Ancient History

Way back when...

Above I have detailed recent productions, readiing and awards (essentially since the theaters re-opened after the pandemic). I have been writing seriously since 2007 and there are more than 100 events buried in that time. You can piece it together by combing through the catalogue of my work on other pages in this website. Someday I will find the time to list those events chronologically. Someday. But right now I need to get back to work writing new scripts.