About
Billy McEntee
My name is Billy McEntee and I'm the Theater Editor at The Brooklyn Rail and a freelance writer and artist.

At the Rail, I write essays analyzing new plays, particularly rigorous, nuanced works that have shorter runs and as such many not receive as much coverage. These responses aims to crack open a work and reveal its core to audiences so we can better understand and discuss the intention of a play and place in a dynamic theatrical ecosystem. I also founded Rail Shorts, which commissions playwrights to write short works accompanied by original illustrations. I was the inaugural 2022/23 Terry Helbing Fellow for the American Theatre Critics Association, and I've written for The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Vanity Fair, Travel + Leisure, American Theatre, them, Observer, and Playbill.

My co-created play The Voices in Your Head sold out its run at St. Lydia's and was, per Helen Shaw, "warm, witty, bonkers." Another piece, Geraldine Realigned Drives from Gay Place to Gay Place and You're in the Car Too, premiered at The Brick in 2023 and will return there in 2024.

I've also taught with The School of The New York Times and the Kennedy Center and am an alumnus of the O'Neill's National Critics Institute.

Arts Journalism
By Article
By Outlet
Theater
Film
TV
Food and Travel
Queer Culture
Books
Faith
Music and Podcasts
Scripts and Screenplays
  • The Voices in Your Head
  • The Voices in Your Head
    Co-created by Grier Mathiot and Billy McEntee
    Directed by Ryan Dobrin


    Featuring Christian Caro, Marcia DeBonis*, Patrick Foley*, Vanessa Kai*, Tom Mezger*, Daphne Overbeck, Erin Treadway*, and Jehan O. Young* These actors appeared courtesy of Actors Equity Association.
    Description
    A support group for people who share a bizarre bond holds a meeting. An hour-long site-specific experience, The Voices in Your Head sold out its three-week run at St. Lydia's in Brooklyn in January 2024.
    Press
    “Warm, witty, bonkers. If you need a morsel of sweet weirdness, acted by top-shelf Off-Off megastars, try Grier Mathiot and Billy McEntee’s The Voices in Your Head.” —Helen Shaw, The New Yorker theater critic


    “Wonderful. Grier Mathiot and Billy McEntee’s smart, darkly witty new work doles out information carefully; director Ryan Dobrin has many brilliant little touches.” —Joey Sims, No Proscenium

    “A one-of-a-kind experience and a hilarious dark comedy. If you are a fan of immersive theatre, do anything you can to get a ticket; it definitely is full of weird joy.” —Nolan Boggess, Theatrely
    Production photo from The Voices in Your Head by HanJie Chow
  • Geraldine Realigned Drives from Gay Place to Gay Place and You're in the Car Too
  • Artwork for Geraldine Realigned
    Geraldine Realigned Drives from Gay Place to Gay Place and You're in the Car Too
    Created by Cam Cronin and Billy McEntee
    Directed by Ryan Dobrin

    Productions
    The Brick Theater (2023 and 2024)

    Press
    A preview in Brooklyn Magazine and The Broadway Blog


    Description
    See America’s great gayborhoods with Geraldine Realigned in 60 minutes flat! Should anything go awry, Geraldine’s alter ego — a consultant named Cam, far less zany — will be on hand to course correct, and maybe chitchat about identity formation. Buckle up for a queer road trip that’s one helluva tour (de force).

  • Lindsay Lindsey Lyndsey
  • Lindsay Lindsey Lyndsey
    Written and produced by Billy McEntee
    Directed by Claire Mathiot
    Featuring Cam Cronin, Daphne Overbeck, and Dan Kuan Peeples

    Description
    Three childhood friends reunite and are unmoored — and disarmed — by each other's developed sense of identity. Lindsay Lindsey Lyndsey is a new short film about queer, triangular friendship and how who we are is both individually and communally informed. The film premieres in 2022.

    Selections
    Chelsea Film Festival
    Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival
    Los Angeles Lift Off Film Festival
    Production photo from Lindsay Lindsey Lyndsey
  • Murder Mysteries

  • Have fun with your friends while stabbing them in the back: introducing Kill Your Friends, bespoke murder mysteries for parties, get-togethers, and gatherings of all kinds! Working with individual clients, Billy crafts a three-act evening, guidebooks, and character sheets based on the party's vibe and needs. Previous murder mystery settings have included White Lotus: Thailand, an upstate farmer's market, and a ten-year cast reunion for a failed CW show, amongst others. Where do you want to Kill Your Friends? Murder mysteries cost $25 per head — visit the Contact page to get in touch!
  • Awards and Press
    Contact
    Billy McEntee
    Billy is a freelance writer available for hire. He writes criticism, company blogs and website copy, and queer scripts.

    Get in touch at williamjude92 [at] gmail [dot] com.

    All photos by Jake White.