Work and Appearances

The Bad Faith Plays

In the Bad Faith Plays (VIRGINIA / INFERNA / CONVERSA), a Christian nationalist girl raised in a Messianic fundamentalist community in the South becomes a bisexual, progressive New York Jew. At a time of rising polarization and entrenched beliefs, what could her path show us about everyone’s journey?

Writer-performer Joanna Castle Miller's three autobiographical solo shows are designed to stand alone or be presented together in repertory. Together, they explore the cultural and ideological forces that shape our lives and attempt to contain us. And they offer a path for audiences to challenge those forces through their own journeys and, ultimately, find a safe place to call home.

The Bad Faith Plays Trilogy has received support from New York Stage & Film, The Orchard Project, the Valdez Theatre Conference, Jewish Plays Project, The Tank, and Theatre Lab @ FAU.

As a young playwright (Castle Miller) balances the childhood expectations of religion and theatre, she comes to realize the mentors she adores aren't who they appear to be, and neither are the scripts they've passed down to her.

Developed in residency with New York Stage and Film and workshopped through the Valdez Theatre Conference, INFERNA is an autobiographical 2-hander about trauma, forgiveness, and the absurd comedy of being a child.

INFERNA

Written & Performed
by Joanna Castle Miller

Following a workshop production at The Tank in NYC and the Valdez Theatre Conference, INFERNA premiered in April 2026 at Theatre Lab @ FAU and is currently in development with the Orchard Project’s Opportunity Fund.

VIRGINIA

Written & Performed
by Joanna Castle Miller

Young Joanna knows America is a white Christian nation, and she plays her part in keeping it that way by staying pure (if you don't count her thoughts about Thomas Jefferson).

When her father becomes the nominee for president for a far-right third party in 2016, she decides to make a comedy show about it… and in the process, realizes things might never have been exactly what they seemed.

The latest work in the Bad Faith Plays Trilogy, VIRGINIA has received development support from Theatre Lab @ FAU.

CONVERSA

Written and Performed
by Joanna Castle Miller

Young Joanna knows all the Jewish prayers – and how they’re really about Jesus. That’s because her mother, who wanted to be a rabbi, converted to evangelicalism through Jews for Jesus many years ago. Joanna learns all the tricks of Christian missions, eventually becoming a missionary herself. But then something ancient draws her away, to traditions she never learned and dark histories she never studied. And to a tiny village where, centuries ago, her father’s father’s father made a very different choice.

CONVERSA is about identity, migration, and change, and how the worst parts of religion keep us from the best parts – the parts that help all of us survive persecution and find our way home..

CONVERSA was a 2024 Special Finalist with the Jewish Plays Project and received its world premiere in January 2026 at Theatre Lab FAU.

In Development:

They Painted Us Real

A New Solo Show by Joanna Castle Miller

What value do our images hold these days, if any? And why does it matter?

In this new solo show, a debate champion sets out to explore these questions and ends up finding the answer in the most unexpected of places: The Mona Lisa.

Additional Work and Appearances

Some of Joanna’s upcoming work and appearances are listed below.

For more information or to request a script, contact Joanna.

Ongoing:

The Town Criers: Comedy Inspired by [Your Hometown]
Joanna is the standup, host, and historian for this unique comedy and improv show based on local history, specific to each location.

The Hudson Valley Bechdel Test Presents: HYSTERIA!
Joanna hosts with standup and storytelling for this all-women improv show based on true accounts of women society has deemed hysterical.

The World’s Next Tooth Fairy Is Marci Peterson
Portland, OR.
Pulp Stage’s live performances of The World’s Next Tooth Fairy Is Marci Peterson center older actors, in rep. You can also enjoy the new Zoom-friendly reading script, developed with Pulp Stage, on New Play Exchange.

Recent Productions:

INFERNA
World Premiere, Theatre Lab @ FAU (Boca Raton, FL), 2026
Workshop Production, The Tank (NYC), 2024
Reading, Valdez Theatre Conference, 2022.
Residency, New York Stage and Film, 2021.

CONVERSA
World Premiere, Theatre Lab @ FAU, 2026
Jewish Plays Project Dramaturgy Workshop, 2025
Jewish Plays Project National Contest, Special Finalist, 2024

EKPHRASIS
Commissioned by We the Women Collective.

KEEP THIS FAR APART
Domestic and international film festivals, 2022.
We the Women’s film anthology Keep This Far Apart is currently appearing at festivals around the US and internationally. In distribution via INTERVIEW. Written by Joanna Castle Miller, Anna Zeigler, Ming Peiffer, Gina Young, and Stacy Osei-Kuffour. Directed by Whitney White and Tyne Rafaeli.

SH@MED
Finalist, Jewish Plays Project 2021
Regional Finalist, Jewish Plays Project: Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv
Kilroy’s List, 2020

The Storehouse
World Premiere 2023 at Perisphere Theatre (Silver Spring)
Reading, Women’s History Month at Bare Bones Theatre, Spring 2022
Reading, Valdez Theatre Conference, Summer 2019