About

DON CUMMINGS is known for his fearless and humorous writing, presented in books, theatre and film. His love-sex-and-health memoir, Bent But not Broken, was released in March, 2019, published by Heliotrope Books. Don Cummings has had short stories published in Cagibi, Epiphany, Post Road Magazine. He often performs his personal essays at venues around the country: Comedy Central’s Sit ‘n Spin, HBO Workspace, Largo, Brooklyn Reading Works, Tell It!, Personal Space and True Story.

His many plays have been produced on both coasts: The Fat of the Land was a semifinalist for the Kaufman & Hart Award for New American Comedy and was published in The Coachella Review. A Good Smoke was produced in Los Angeles and was a semifinalist for the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, had a reading at The Public Theater, directed by Pam MacKinnon, with Meryl Streep, Henry Wolfe, Grace Gummer and Debra Monk, and was optioned for Broadway. Piss Play is About Minorities So It’s Really Important, was produced as part of The New York Cringe Festival where it received the Golden Pineapple Award for best play. The Winner was a finalist for The Heideman Award at the Actors Theater of Louisville and was published in Post Road Magazine. His plays, The Water Tribe (published by Original Works), American Air, Stark Raving Mad, Loose Joints and Feed the Children! have been produced in Los Angeles. Box, starring Mink Stole and Lou Liberatore, was an official selection in the Toronto Independent Film Festival, Dam Short Film Festival, New Filmmakers New York Festival, Twin Rivers Media Festival, and was distributed by Shorts International. Oh the Horror!, a graphic novel about zombies, is now live on Instagram and Tumblr @ohthehorrola.

Don Cummings has often appeared on television—most famously as someone’s favorite snarky waiter on Dharma & Greg—and in film, but more frequently on the stage, having performed in over fifty plays. A graduate of Tufts University with a degree in biology and the two-year acting program at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, he spends his days reading, writing, composing music, and helping out other writers. He lives in Los Angeles while adhering to Hawaii’s time zone. www.doncummings.net

Featured Work

Bent But Not Broken

2019

Bent but Not Broken by playwright and storyteller, Don Cummings, is a creative nonfiction memoir, a tale about the most energetic and important member in any man’s life: the attention seeking Penis. Richly detailed, informative and insightful, Bent tells the story of one man's relationship to his penis at a critical turning point in his life when he discovers he has a rod-crippling, but possibly curable disease, in that magic place between his legs. Though money may make the world go ‘round, it was penis energy that most likely set the sexy orb in motion. People never stop wanting to know more about the function and joy of this great symbol of fecundity and pleasure. Who doesn’t know someone who has a penis? Straight penises, gay penises, penises used for ill, penises used for generous purposes, not to mention the occasionally super-talented penis everyone admires for its verve and staying power.

Cummings, a former pre-medical student, writes openly and fearlessly about being attacked by the mummifying scarring illness, Peyronie’s Disease, as he moves from limp despair to raging hope on his journey to plump and revivify his ailing penis. Few books have been written about this painful and sexually limiting condition that affects 5% of the adult male population. Bent explores the sexually stressful struggle any person would have with his domestic partner, a man who is supportive but not always understanding, with one and a half feet out the door. A harrowing kidnapping by a handsome dark stranger, powerful sexual reminiscences of younger days—Penis as Madeleine—substance abuse and the ultimate prize, marriage, makes for a universal story of survival and love. Television and movie stars (Meryl Streep and friends) add to the cast of characters, sometimes trying to influence the future direction of the penis in question, and sometimes just wondering what the penis is all about. For the sake of everyone, it is a comedy with a damn happy ending.

Other Works

  • The Water Tribe (Play)

    2022

  • Bent But Not Broken (A Memoir)

    2019

  • A Body of Work: The Tour (Rain Taxi)

    2019

  • The Body, The Self, A Book (Cagibi Express)

    2019

  • Whatever Happened to Cousin Mickey? (Cagibi, Issue 4)

    2018

  • Bent But Not Broken (Excerpt, Epiphany Magazine)

    2015

  • Solid Joints (Play)

    2014

  • The Winner (Post Road Magazine)

    2013

  • Box (Toronto Independent Film Festival)

    2013

  • The Fat of the Land (Excerpt, The Coachella Review)

    2011

  • A Good Smoke (Reading with Meryl Streep)

    2009

  • Piss Play Is About Minorities So It's Really Important (Play)

    2009

  • Feed the Children (Play)

    2009

  • Stark Raving Mad (Play)

    1999

  • American Air (HBO Workspace)

    1996

Awards and Recognition

  • PISS PLAY IS ABOUT MINORITIES SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, Cringe Festival, New York, Golden Pineapple for Best Play
  • THE WINNER, Heideman Award Finalist, Actors Theater of Louisville
  • A GOOD SMOKE, Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Semifinalist

Press and Media Mentions