This section showcases my original theatrical writing, including plays and musicals developed through performance, collaboration, and experimentation. My work focuses on storytelling driven by characters, music as a key part of the narrative, and art that dares to be a bit “out-there”.
These projects include fully developed scripts and works still in progress. Some are written for specific performers or groups, while others are exploratory pieces aimed at testing structure, voice, and musical language. In all of them, I’m interested in how music, text, and performance come together to create meaning on stage.
MOTHERHSHIP
When a deadbeat artist named Marcos has had enough of his miserable life he plans to kill himself until he meets a mysterious woman named Frayja who claims to be an alien. Frayja changes Marcos’ perspective on life while strange ‘miracles’ keep happening to him and people around town.
KinderWunsch: A New Musical Fairytale
KinderWunsch, a heartwarming musical fairy tale by German-Canadian Playwright Mira Alin Hills with Canadian composer Zach Ammon Peterson, tells a tale about a young woman Annalise in 1800’s Germany. In her desperation to provide an heir to her family, she seeks the powers of a witch with hopes that her wish will be fulfilled. She soon learns the sobering truth that there is a price for life- when her son falls in love, Annalise will have to pay for her wish with her own life.
This show is extremely powerful for young audiences with lessons about selflessness, sacrifice, forgiveness, kindness, and love, with a little hint of magic. It is even more relevant in our technology-driven world with the epidemic of disconnection from one another, that we take an earnest look at our actions and how they affect others.
Zach Ammon Peterson 