Paul William Kruse tells Queer love stories. As a playwright and media artist from Western Wisconsin, his work flows from his Catholic roots and ever-evolving experience of family. Paul often writes collaboratively, drawing from his years of experience as a videographer and documentarian. He is a 2023–2025 Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis and a cohort member of Audible’s third Emerging Playwrights Fund. His audio play Once Removed was an official selection at the 2022 Tribeca Festival. Paul’s plays have been produced by Adjusted Realists in Brooklyn, NY; Quantum Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA; the Vortex Theater in Austin, TX; and in high schools around the country. Paul has developed work at The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Yaddo, the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and Middlebury College. Paul completed his MFA at UT Austin in 2020, where he was a fellow with the Michener Center for Writers. From 2012–2022, Paul was resident playwright with Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective, which he co-founded with Adil Mansoor and Nicole Shero.

updates

2023–2025—Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis
Jerome Fellow Paul William Kruse is also looking for ways that this opportunity will allow him to deepen relationships: “This fellowship is permission to deepen my relationship with the Midwest, the part of the country that made me. It’s a chance to continue to be present with my family of origin and to make lasting new relationships here.”

Spring 2023—Eelpout at the Fresh Fruit Festival in New York City
Directed by Rachel Wolther and produced by Sarah Todes / Neon Caviar, Eelpout is a fast-paced, surreal farce, where friends are lovers, fish can talk, and life’s mysteries beckon from the bottom of a frozen lake.

Summer 2022—Once Removed official selection Tribeca Festival
The audio production of Once Removed, produced by Hatch Arts Collective under the direction of Adil Mansoor with sound design, editing, and original music by Aaron Landgraf. It is an official selection in the Audio Storytelling category of Tribeca Festival 2022.

Spring 2022—Daddies from Audible Emerging Playwrights Fund
Directed by Adil Mansoor, Daddies is available now on Audible!
Joseph is having a comically rough year. His job sucks, his relationship ended, he’s plagued by prank phone calls, and he nearly lost his father to the virus. When his best friend asks him to donate his sperm so that she can start a family, Joseph just can’t understand why anyone would bring a child into this calamitous world. The only bright spot is an intriguing new online relationship with an attractive internet “daddy” that has him rethinking his isolation until a series of revelations have him facing even bigger decisions about his future.

media

Once Removed—Series (2023–Ongoing) LGBTQ people from the Upper Midwest talk about family, both The families that made us, and families we make. Queer folks often have a unique relationship with family. We find beautiful ways to connect with and care for each other and those we love. Listen to Once Removed to hear stories from LGBTQ people of all walks of life. This project is supported by a grant from the Metro Regional Arts Council of the Twin Cities and through the Artist-in-Residence program at Unity Unitarian Church in St. Paul.

How Do You Jew? (2020–2021) In collaboration with Mason Rosenthal, I am so excited to finally be able to share more about How Do You Jew?, a video series exploring Jewish-American masculinity through the toy industry. Mason and I have been so grateful to be a part of the Rude Fusion Series with the Rude Mechs in Austin, TX, and the Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. The first two episodes of How Do You Jew screened at Catalyst Content Festival in Duluth, MN.

Sound Mind (2021) Working with One Voice Mixed Chorus Artistic Director Jane Ramseyer Miller, I helped create Sound Mind, a podcast series where queer voices in Minnesota explore mental health through art. Each episode features a different LGBTQ artist sharing their deeply personal and inspiring stories and takes listeners on a journey through the intersections of identity, adversity, and self-expression.

Through Broken Doors (2020) I had the chance to work as a teaching artist with Adil Mansoor, Sadah Espii Proctor, and a brilliant/revolutionary/powerful ensemble of students at Point Park University in Pittsburgh to create Through Broken Doors, a digital devised performance piece.

First Take: Mobile Media Classroom (2014–2016) First Take is an art education resource that offered low-cost, high-quality media art making for students of all ages in Pittsburgh, PA.

Kairos Dirt, (2016, co-writer and producer) feature narrative, Best Feature award at Indie Memphis Film Festival 2016 in Memphis, TN

memory keep(h)er, (2016) series of dance shorts, collaboration with dancer/choreographer Jasmine Hearn, the CURRENT SESSIONS Volume VI, Issue II: Movement Currency, August 2016 in New York City, NY; On site /In site 2016 in Winston Salem, NC; Barnstorm Dance Festival 2016 in Houston, TX; and Afronaut(a) 2016 in Pittsburgh, PA

Home, (2016) music video created in collaboration with the Dreams of Hope, a performance ensemble for queer and allied youth, distributed online

Parallel, (2016, director of photography) short narrative, written and directed by Mia McCullough, The Midwest Independent Film Festival 2016 in Chicago, IL

Jasmine+Paul, (2014–2015) series of dance shorts, collaboration with dancer/choreographer Jasmine Hearn, The Outlet Dance Project 2015 in Hamilton, NJ, and Pittsburgh Filmmakers March 2016 Film Kitchen

Diq, (2012) short experimental, CNKY Scene Film Festival 2012 in Cincinnati, OH

The Year I Broke My Voice, (2011, director of photography) short narrative, Richard Hoggart Cinema at Goldsmiths University in London, UK, 2014; Why Marriage? Arts Festival at Darst Center in Chicago, IL, 2014; De Cavia Filmhuis in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2013; Fringe! Film Festival in London, UK, 2013; TranScreen Amsterdam in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2013; Bangalore Queer Film Festival in Bangalore, India, 2013; and The Block Theatre in Evanston, IL, 2013

Hold, (2009) short narrative, recipient of a Braff Grant 2008, Chicago, IL

Oops, I Missed, (2008) short experimental, Darryl’s HLP Festival 2008 in London/Toronto/New York and Bearded Child Film Festival 2008 in Grand Rapids, MN

Cello Lessons, (2006) short narrative, Cannes Film Festival 2006 in France