Lindsay Joelle
  • ABOUT
  • PLAYS
    • THE GARBOLOGISTS
    • TRAYF
    • DALLOWAY
    • ACHILLES AT GITMO
    • THE MESSENGERS
  • DRAMATURGY
    • TRAYF
    • THE GARBOLOGISTS
  • RESUME
  • CONTACT

THE GARBOLOGISTS

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Cast of Philadelphia Theatre Company. Photo: Wide Eyed Studios
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(1F, 1M, 90 min.) Danny’s a white, blue-collar New York City sanitation worker. Marlowe’s the Black, ivy-educated newbie who just joined his route. Thrown together in the cab of a nineteen-ton garbage truck, they spend their first shifts bickering and one-upping each other as they sort through the city's refuse. But as their lives become increasingly entwined, these two essential workers from different worlds discover there's more that binds them than picking up the trash.

ORDER the Script
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Northlight Theatre, Chicago

PRESS


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"'The Garbologists' has already been presented in a dozen productions — and not just because it’s a two-hander that doesn’t require a full cast or fancy costumes. It’s remarkably well paced and balanced between the wisecracks (or their failures) and eventual pathos, with nuggets of story information and plot turns regularly along the way in a satisfying whole."
--BroadwayWorld DC
Beneath the jokes and sharp-edged dialogue is a rumination on labor, grief, and human connection in unlikely places...What we throw away says more about us than we realize, and Joelle leans into that idea with restraint and precision."
--BroadwayWorld Arizona
"Lindsay Joelle's script is delightfully intimate, surprising, and profound, filled with sometimes unexpected laughter and even tears. Titled for the archeological study of trash, the play mines the territories of external perception and the human heart."
--onStage Pittsburgh
​"A Must See!...
Joelle's finely crafted play is laced with wit and wisdom."
--BroadwayWorld Philadelphia ​​
​"Buddy comedies don't come much tidier than Lindsay Joelle's celebration of the essential worker... As Danny and Marlowe discover, even the messes others leave in their wake can be a gift when they meet the moment just right."
​--The Washington Post
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​"Run time is about 90 minutes with no intermission but you'll never look at your watch." 
​​--BroadwayWorld Palm Springs
​"Exiting playgoers were saying, 'I never knew about any of this stuff.' And that glimpse of an unknown world (one we see every day) is part of the charm."
-- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"'The Garbologists' delves into the world of trash—and it's very deep... "
--Metro Philadelphia​

PRODUCTION HISTORY


  • Philadelphia Theatre Company, PA (2021)
  • City Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA (2022)
  • ​Northlight Theatre, IL (2022)
  • Bulldog Theatre, NC (2022)​
  • Dezart Performs, CA (2023)
  • Forward Theater, WI (2023)
  • Cape May Stage, NJ (2023)
  • ​Theaterworks Hartford, CT (2024)​
  • Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, OH (2024)
  • Shadowland Stages, NY (2004)
  • ​Theater Alliance, DC (2024)
  • ​Invisible Theatre, AZ (2025)
  • Curtain Call Theater, NY (2025)
  • Gloucester Stage, MA (2025 - upcoming)
  • Theatre Squared, AR (2026 - upcoming)
  • Theatreworks Colorado Springs, CO (2026-upcoming)

SELECTED ACCOLADES


  • Desert Theater League Award for Best Original Writing
  • Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Commission
  • ​National New Play Network Collaboration Grant (w/ Curious Theatre, CO)
  • 2020 Kilroys List​
  • Selection, Playwrights Foundation Reading Series​
  • ​Selection, City Theater Momentum Festival​
  • Selection, PlayPenn New Play Development Conference​
  • Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival
  • Finalist, Leah Ryan's FEWW Emerging Playwright Prize​
  • Finalist, Florida Repertory Theatre's PlayLab​
  • Finalist, SPACE Residency
  • Finalist, BRIClab Residency​

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Looking for The Garbologists dramaturgy? The page you want is HERE.
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  • ABOUT
  • PLAYS
    • THE GARBOLOGISTS
    • TRAYF
    • DALLOWAY
    • ACHILLES AT GITMO
    • THE MESSENGERS
  • DRAMATURGY
    • TRAYF
    • THE GARBOLOGISTS
  • RESUME
  • CONTACT