The Dinosaurs
- Written by Jacob Perkins
- Directed by Les Waters
Jacob Perkins is a writer, actor, and clinical mental health counselor/researcher. His work, artistically and clinically, investigates the intersection of queer/trans identities with religious/spiritual trauma, substance use, and Existential concerns. His plays include The Dinosaurs (Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb), The Gold Room (iamaslowtide/HERE Arts Center), the Home Church Play triptych (Ars Nova, Page 73/Yale, Soho Rep., Williamstown Theatre Festival), Restaurant in D Major (Two Headed Rep), and The Interview. He was a winner of the 2020 Biennial Commission from Clubbed Thumb, the inaugural recipient of the DVRF/O’Henry Emerging Playwright Award, and is an alumnus of Ars Nova’s Play Group, Soho Rep.’s Writer/Director Lab, and Page 73’s Summer Residency at Yale. As an actor, he has appeared in new works by Agnes Borinsky, Dan Giles, and Boo Killebrew, among many others. Jacob is in his final year of graduate study at Virginia Tech, where he was named a 2024/2025 National Board of Certified Counselors’ Minority Fellow in Addictions Counseling. His current research is focused on factors that sustain recovery from substance use disorders for LGBTQ+ Appalachian individuals.
Les Waters is a Tony nominated and multi Obie Award winning director. Previous PH shows include The Christians and The Thin Place. Most recent NY credits are Dana H (Broadway), Grief Camp (Atlantic Theatre), and the revival of Eurydice (Signature). His work has been seen on Broadway, Off Broadway and many regional theaters.
Photo by Sarah Ruhl.
Every week at the same time, in the same place, a group of women share their stories of recovery. As weeks slip into years and decades spin into eternity, the women keep coming back amidst an ever-shifting, unfamiliar world. Jacob Perkins’ The Dinosaurs is a piercingly funny, loving ode to the infinite, innately human battle between holding on and letting go.
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Artwork by Molly Miller.
Creative Team
Dots
Scenic DesignOana Botez
Costume DesignerYuki Link
Lighting DesignerPalmer Hefferan
Sound DesignerA gifted writer possessed of an inquiring mind and a knack for dialogue that splits a situation wide open. Add Jacob Perkins to your list of playwrights to watch out for.
Jacob Perkins' plays feel like spare spells, for the marshaling of particular and delicate energies. I often find myself blindsided by the worlds he so delicately assembles – listening quietly and then walloped by a flood of tears.
[Perkins' writing is] a fearless and pointed look at the human condition.
