At the Wall *
Style: Drama Cast: 2 men, 21 and 31 Length: 10 minutes Setting: Veterans Day. A bare stage with a line of props on the floor, suggesting the wall of the Vietnam Memorial. Synopsis: Headed home from the army, Thomas stops in D.C. at the memorial to find his grandfather's name. Chip, a local intern visiting the wall on his day off, becomes rudely intrusive. They end up sharing Oreo cookies and a whole lot more. Production History: •Produced at Weathervane Playhouse 8x10 Fest, Akron OH •Produced SAUK Shorts Fest 2020, MI Blast Off
Style: Drama Cast: 1 woman, 30s Length: 10 minutes Setting: Control room at NASA Synopsis: Watching the first NASA launch of her career, Berniece recounts a mentor. Production History: •Virtual production in 2022 Sassy Summer Shorts, Tiny Theatre |
Bus Fare * (aka Planned Parenthood)
Style: Drama Cast: 1 man, 1 woman Length: 10 minutes Setting: A bench at a bus stop. Synopsis: A panhandler and an upper class married woman make an unlikely connection. Who ends up helping whom? Production History: •Finalist at Edward Albee Playwrights Conference, Valdez AK •Winner of Columbus Dispatch Short Short Play Contest, OH •Produced at Ohio Wesleyan University •Published at OWL Literary Magazine |
Cockpit *
Style: Comedy Cast: 2 women, 1 man Length: 10 minutes Setting: A remote concourse gate in an airport. Synopsis: An airline pilot refuses to take off until her lucky billy is returned. As her loyal flight attendants scramble to prevent a crisis, steamy secrets are revealed. Production History: •Finalist at McLaren Memorial Comedy Play Writing One Act Competition, TX •Produced at Ohio Wesleyan University |
Daddy’s Home
Style: Drama Cast: Two teenagers, brother and sister Length: 15 minutes Setting: Front room of an abandoned rural house. Synopsis: During another family crisis, Amy is drawn to the home of their tragic childhood. Brother Timmy tracks her down and tries desperately to remove her. She begs him to stay. Who wins? Production History: •Produced at Cleveland Play House Playlabs •Produced at Contemporary American Theatre |
Day Old Bread *
Style: Comedy Cast: 3 senior women Length: 15 minutes Setting: A corner table at a fast food restaurant. Synopsis: At a regular weekly gathering after choral practice, three longtime friends fight over the upcoming demolition of a treasured old building. Will Emma convince Letticia and Mary to join in the protest? Production History: •Produced at Lovecreek Productions, NYC •Produced at Contemporary American Theatre Company, Columbus OH •Finalist at OSU Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition |
The Dog and the Scientist **
Style: Drama Cast: 1 girl, around 13 Length: 10 minutes Setting: Bare stage. Perhaps a log or stone. Synopsis: A budding scientist, desperate to get to school for a pivotal exam, is trapped by an aggressive neighborhood dog. Published: - Clockhouse Magazine 2020 - included in "The Seven Ages of WoMan" by Next Stage Press nextstagepress.net/the-seven-ages-of-woman |
Driven to Distraction *
Style: Comedy Cast: 1 man, 1 woman Length: 10 minutes Setting: Bare stage, two chairs. Synopsis: Two married strangers driving to work fantasize about each other. Will they stray? Production History: *Performed 2023 One Act Festival at Baytown Theatre, Houston TX •Semifinalist at Actors Theatre of Louisville 10 Minute Play Contest |
Forever Fraternal (or, Kicker & Dozy Arrive**)
Style: Comedy Cast: 2 siblings (fraternal twins) Length: 10 minutes Setting: A womb. Synopsis: Kicker tries to convince twin Dozy to keep the status quo, but other forces intervene. Production History: •Produced at Contemporary American Theatre Company, Columbus OH •Published in GESTURE, Ohio Dominican Literary Magazine, 2003 Published in The Seven Ages of WoMan by Next State Press nextstagepress.net/the-seven-ages-of-woman |
Good Neighbors **
Style: Drama with humor Cast: 2 men, 2 women Length: 10 minutes Setting: A table in a midwest restaurant. Synopsis: Will the new neighbors be recruited to a suspicious new business venture? Is This My Support Group?
Style: Dark Comedy Cast: 3 men, 3 women Length: 10 minutes Setting: Windowless meeting room Synopsis: Welcome! Have a cookie and bring the crazy. Suspicions run wild when a new member joins the local chapter of WiRP (Witness Relocation Program). Production History: - Produced in NC10x10 Virtual Festival, 2020 OdysseyStage, Cary NC - Reading, Stage Brews Workshop, Asheville, NC |
Levels
Style: Drama Cast: 2 actors, any age Length: 10 minutes Setting: A bare room with three walls and two trap doors Synopsis: One person who cannot hear falls into a room with one person who cannot see. They try to find their way to the next Level. Production History: •Produced at Akron Actors and Playwrights Theatre and Ohio Wesleyan University |
Marcy's Makeover **
Style: Drama with humor Cast: 1 female, late 20s Length: 10 minutes Setting: Bare stage. Synopsis: In front of a bedroom mirror, a woman with a secret prepares for yet another hopeful date. Published in The Seven Ages of WoMan by Next Stage Press nextstagepress.net/the-seven-ages-of-woman |
One Last Mass
Style: Drama Cast: 1 young man Length: 10 minutes Setting: Church steps, a small village in the mountains of Peru. Synopsis: After a rebel raid, Father William must choose between his duty and his sense of justice. Production History: •Produced at San Diego’s Human Rights Theatre Festival, CA •Produced at Ohio Wesleyan University •Published in THE RHAPSODIST, ABTech Literary Magazine, 2017, Asheville, NC |
Tonka Mom **
Style: Drama with humor Cast: 2 women, ages 20, 45 Length: 10 minutes Setting: Christmas eve. Checkout line at a mega toy store. Synopsis: A frazzled grandmother accuses a young woman of stealing from her shopping cart. With the store closing in five minutes, who will will the battle for the last remaining Cyber toy? Production History: •Produced at Ohio Wesleyan University •Included in BEST 10 MINUTE PLAYS OF 2019, by Smith and Kraus Published in SEVEN AGES OF WOMAN by Next Stage Press nextstagepress.net/the-seven-ages-of-woman |
Two Librarians Walk Into A Bar . . .
Style: Drama with humor Cast: 2 women Length: 10 minutes Setting: Hotel room. Synopsis: Old colleagues meet at their hotel room before a library conference. Splitting Butternuts (or, Viral Spiral)
Style: Comedy Cast: 2 actors, any age Length: 10 minutes Setting: Entrance to an ER Synopsis: A bleeding patient encounters bureaucratic obstacles in the era of COVID. Production History: - PlaySlam! Sketch-tacular 2023 at Comedy Workx/Cary Playwrights Forum, NC Publication Forthcoming in the anthology "Drama in the Time of Covid" by Flowersong Press |
White Squirrel, or the Oracle Child
Style: Drama Cast: 2 women, or 1 woman, 1 man Length: 10 minutes Setting: Table and two chairs. Synopsis: In a well worn coffee house in San Juan, Lee, an exiled doctor gets a startling request from a wandering stranger. Production History: - LAUNCH 2022, by Playwrights Round Table, Orlando, FL - Semi-finalist, Birdhouse Theatre, EdgeFest Eight 2021, Atlanta GA |
Wholly Rollers **
Style: Comedy Cast: 1 woman, 70s Length: 10 minutes Setting: Table with laptop, chair in a house. Synopsis: Amelia tries to record a family oral history for her granddaughter's school project, and is determined to avoid stories that will discredit their name. But Amelia gets carried away, once again. Published: Seven Ages of WoMan, Next Stage Press nextstagepress.net/the-seven-ages-of-woman |
* one of the six short plays in A WEALTH OF BANK HOLIDAYS, see Full Length Plays
** one of the seven short plays in THE SEVEN AGES OF WOMAN, see Full Length Plays
** one of the seven short plays in THE SEVEN AGES OF WOMAN, see Full Length Plays
Suggested Duets/Trios/Quartets:
“Stranger Truths” (Bus Fare, At the Wall, White Squirrel)
“A Slight Delay in the Proceedings” (Day Old Bread, Cockpit, Splitting Butternuts, Is This My Support Group?)
“A Shared Escape” (The Dog & the Scientist, White Squirrel, A Calm in the Storm )
"Three Day Weekends" (Good Neighbors, Driven to Distraction, Cockpit)
“Collective Senses” (Receptions, Levels, Survival Babies)
"She Persists" (The Dog & the Scientist, Tonka Mom, A Pirate Escape)
"Dwellings" (Daddy's Home, The Rodent, Day Old Bread)
"Getting There" (Cockpit, Bus Fare, Driven to Distraction)
“Stranger Truths” (Bus Fare, At the Wall, White Squirrel)
“A Slight Delay in the Proceedings” (Day Old Bread, Cockpit, Splitting Butternuts, Is This My Support Group?)
“A Shared Escape” (The Dog & the Scientist, White Squirrel, A Calm in the Storm )
"Three Day Weekends" (Good Neighbors, Driven to Distraction, Cockpit)
“Collective Senses” (Receptions, Levels, Survival Babies)
"She Persists" (The Dog & the Scientist, Tonka Mom, A Pirate Escape)
"Dwellings" (Daddy's Home, The Rodent, Day Old Bread)
"Getting There" (Cockpit, Bus Fare, Driven to Distraction)