The Cooking Gene

The Cooking Gene premiered as part of NativeAliens Theatre Collective’s Short Stories 10. Special thanks to Rosie Best and the students of Toledo School for the Arts for their assistance in developing the play.

“Jonathan Dorf’s writing soars above the typical fare we’ve looked at for young actors. In The Cooking Gene he takes what can be a challenging subject and manages to make it funny and touching and genuine at the same time. Our audiences were moved by this lovely piece of work.” – Donald Shenk, Artistic Director, StillSpeaking Theatre (San Marino, CA)

The Cooking Gene was awesome! If I were a teacher, I would definitely put it into my forensics rotation… I think it poses a rewarding challenge for young actors because the characters are so candid and well drawn. It’s just the sort of material I wish more teachers and students would take a risk on.” – Bradley Hayward, professional playwright

Synopsis

When a high school home economics family budgeting assignment requires each student to choose a pretend husband or wife, a gay teen shakes things up by choosing his boyfriend to be his husband.