Hilton is the author of five award-winning plays.  Read critics' comments here.



Most recent news: 

  • Gifted, a comedy, was staged at the American Globe Theatre in Manhattan, for the 19th Annual New York City 15-Minute Play Festival.​

  •   In Bed with Chuck and Lois just swept the Desert Theatre League Awards at their annual gala in October of 2013.  It won for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Lead Female Performer, and Outstanding Supporting Male Performer.
  •  Burying Aunt Beulah will be produced by Script2Stage2Screen on March 7th and 8th, 2014.
  •  Burying Aunt Beulah will be part of the New Works Series of the Phoenix Stage Company in Connecticut, October 24th, 2014.​
  • Does This Show Make My Butt Look Fat will be reprised at Theatre on the Square in Indianapolis, Feb. 28-Mar. 29, and they anticipate another extended run.  It will also be performed in New Jersey in May of 2014.

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Previous Awards:

IN BED WITH CHUCK AND LOIS won Sacramento’s Beyond the Proscenium Playwriting Competition and was produced in Sacramento to rave reviews and a stand-room-only extended run.   It was most recently performed at the Arthur Newman Theatre in Palm Desert in January of 2013. It was also performed at Theatre On The Square in Indianapolis, November of 2009, following a great run of "Does This Show Make My Butt Look Fat?" in Spring of 2009.

Synopsis: When Beulah, the feisty, critical grandma moves in, her bitterness over being abandoned in an orphanage pushes the family to the snapping point. But it teaches her daughter the essential role of forgiveness in life, and her arc of growth takes her from victim to conqueror, from misery to joy. Near the end we make the surprise discovery that Beulah was sterilized during the ugly chapter of eugenics in this country. We also learn that Beulah did something heroic. And truth, it turns out, changes everything. Based on an all-too-true story.

Cast of 6

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS won the Long Beach Playhouse contest and was produced to an equally enthusiastic response at the Manhattan Beach Community Church Theatre. Compared to Neil Simon and Eugene O'Neill, this comedy-drama brings us a man who most unexpectedly learns the meaning of life. 
Synopsis: With every event coming from the author's own life, this show is about our national obsession with weight, dieting, and looking good. The star shares comical attempts at losing weight, or at least concealing it, and shares some of the wonderful, mostly chocolate, recipes that will forever make her quest impossible. (Depending on time and budget, these sinful concoctions can be made on stage with audience volunteers.) Perfect for Ladies’ Night Out. And for men, what could be better than learning the perfect response to that dreaded question? They laugh as hard as the women do. Best of all, this play zings those who would define us by our figures, from fashion designers to celebrities, and ends with a delicious taste of self acceptance, served up with an inspiring reminder of the things that really matter most.


​ Purchase the script here   

                         

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BURYING AUNT BEULAH won the Los Angeles Women in Theatre contest and was staged in Desert Hot Springs, then had a successful run in 2011 at Theatre on the Square in Indianapolis. 
Synopsis: This uproarious full length play, in two acts, examines the role of trust in a marriage. The knock-out twist? Separate actors play their brains so we can see what they're really thinking! 
Cast of 5

jonihilton.com

Synopsis: George Cavaro is a cynical, tough magazine editor who finds himself in the hospital with a chest burn from trying to work on his car.  Nothing can slow him down, not his wife and two kids, not even a chest burn. In this snappy comedy he corrects the grammar of his hospital roommates, edits the menu, and makes enemies with everyone who meets him. That is, until he meets Tuyen, a Vietnamese night nurse, who’s as stubborn and feisty as he is, and ends up teaching him the meaning of life. Cast of 7 
THE CHRISTMAS TRIPLE WHAMMY was performed in Queens, New York, 2012 
DOES THIS SHOW MAKE MY BUTT LOOK FAT?  Was just published by ArtAge.  This hilarious one-woman show for a gifted comedienne has played to packed houses in Sacramento, Palm Desert, and Indianapolis.  It can also be cast with six women sharing the “monologue.”

Synopsis: Dan and Julie discover that having gifted kids isn't much of a gift.

GIFTED won a spot at the American Globe Theatre in Manhattan, New York and was produced there during the Spring of 2013.


Synopsis: A young girl's devestating revelation about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy is exceeded only by her mother's blundering attempt at consolation.