Plays

(90 mins., 2 W, 2 M)

Drama

Unit Set

What happens to love when it is forgotten? Is love a choice? Is memory? Annie wakes up in a hospital bed after surviving a deadly car crash with two men standing over her. One of them is possibly her husband the other is her lover, which is which? The effects of her amnesia play tricks on her mind and her reality as she tries to piece together who she is now and who she was before the accident occurred. Obscura propels us into the mysteries of identity and love through a series of flashbacks and flash forwards built on the confused memories of this central character. An estimated 5.3 million Americans live with a disability related to traumatic brain injuries. Annie’s journey is just a hazy reflection of many of these untold stories.

WINNER SETC Charles Getchell New Play Award; National Finalist KCACTF David Mark Cohen Award, 2006; Princess Grace Award semi-finalist, 2006

7 Minutes to Midnight

(65 mins, 4 W, 4 M or more)

Drama

Unit Set

Are you ready for that great atomic power?

On July 16, 1945, the Trinity test in New Mexico awakens the Greek God Kronos (otherwise known as Saturn). After killing his father and devouring his own children, he was banished to the underworld by his son Zeus and is just waiting for the end of the world which will set him free. The dawning of the atomic age means the time draws nigh. Using text, movement and music, this ensemble-based play weaves together several stories from 1945 to now, showing Oppenheimer and other members of The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists as they try to warn the military and others about the impending cold war and the arms race. It examines the "nuclear" family of the 1950s, the fear of the 1980s, and how millions grew up under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. The clock is ticking for us all.

Produced and developed with the student ensemble at Bellevue College, Bellevue, WA, October, 2008. Kennedy Center Mark Cohen Award Regional Selection, 2009.

The Albatross

(90 mins., 1 W, 2 M)

Drama

Unit Set

David is an award-winning poet and teacher at a small private university. He has a great academic job and a golfing buddy in his colleague Mark, a recent divorcee. But underneath his polished lectures about “life as an artist”, he hides a secret pain, the suicide of his wife five years ago, a pain numbed through alcohol. He is violently shaken out of this numbness by Sofia, one of his eccentric students. A reactionary response to one of her poems begins a chain of events that will eventually cause David to drown under the watery weight of the past. He becomes a mentor to Sofia, recognizing her amazing talent yet also wary of it. There’s something else about her that he won’t talk about it, can’t talk about, and it’s this denial that will eventually cause his downfall.

WINNER John Gassner New Play Award, 2009; Reading Portland Theatre Works, 2008; Reading Northwest Playwrights Alliance, 2008

Burning Botticelli

(2 hrs, 8 M, 3 W)

Drama

Unit Set

The Birth of Venus. The Bonfire of the Vanities. The Voice of God. Artists. Charlatans. Haiku-spouting parrots. Crucifixions. Death by fire. Just another day in the art world.

“Botticelli, Venus, a Monk, a Navajo woman, a conceptual artist, and a haiku-spouting parrot all walk into a bar…” sounds like the beginnings of a joke, but all those elements are mixed up in this eclectic look at the art world, both past and present. How does morality dictate our works of art? What is art? What is spirituality? Burning Botticelli explores the sacred and secular aspects of art, identity, inspiration and the artistic process by jumping back and forth through three different worlds— the mythical Navajo world in the Arizona desert, the Renaissance world in Florence, and the contemporary art world in New York. Of course, they all have something in common…don’t they?

Produced by Amanda Dubois Productions and Present Company Theatre in the 8th Annual New York International Fringe Festival (fringeNYC)

Mad at the World

(85 mins, 3 M, 2 W)

Drama

Multiple Set

“Everyone is going to think this is about rage, but it’s really about something else.”

Why would Sammy, a student with good grades from a good home, walk into his high school, shoot two fellow students and take another student hostage? That’s the question on everyone’s mind as he has barricaded himself in the bathroom with a single demand—to speak to no one else but a local TV reporter named Diane Carmichael. As he reveals the details of the past few days that led up to this vicious act, we start to realize his motivations and the complexities of high school violence.

Workshop Production by FatChance Productions, NYC (2003)

Love’s Labors Won or Benvolio is Alive and Well and Living in the Bahamas

(50 mins; 5 M, 2 W or 4 M, 3 W)

Unit Set

Comedy

In this campy rendition of the bard, Benvolio takes center stage as he flees Verona with Rosaline (the gal he dated behind Romeo’s back) to escape to the Bahamas, but complications arise when he gets swindled, falls in love, gets haunted by a ghost, and must deal with pirates, potions, and Elvis tunes. Whether you hate Shakespeare or love Shakespeare, you will definitely love this show.

“A witty homage to Bill S. and a lot of fun!”-- Off Off Broadway Review

Produced by Vital Theatre, NYC (2000); Happy Hour Productions at American Globe Theatre, NYC (2003); Fauquier HS, Warrenton, VA (2004).

Decomposition

(20 mins, 1 M, 1 F)

Drama

Unit Set

A Man is being questioned by a Woman for a crime he may or may not have committed. Is it an arrest? If so, why does she mention a crime but not say what it is? Is it an interrogation? If so, why does she keep asking questions about the quality of life and when the last time was he saw the sun? And what do Irish Pubs have to do with it? This Kafka-esque tale of intrigue unfolds like a Chinese puzzle and the word “interesting” takes on a whole new meaning.

Produced by Vital Theatre, NY (2000); semi-finalist of Turnip Theatre’s 7th Annual 15-page Play Festival (2001); Brass Tacks Theatre Company’s Rosetta Festival (2002); Brüka Theatre, Reno, NV (2004).

Einstein’s Brain

(15 mins., 2 M, 1 F)

Dark Comedy

Unit Set

In this dark comedic satire of a fifties TV show, this is the story of Dr. Stanley, the man who performed the autopsy on Albert Einstein, his alcoholic son, the young woman who loved Einstein, and of course, Einstein’s brain floating in a glass jar.

Produced at Ensemble Studio Theater, NY (1999)

Green-Eyed Monster

(10 mins. 1 M, 1 F)

Comedy

Unit Set

A wife confronts a deep, dark secret about her husband’s sexual fantasy with an unusual object of affection: Ms. Piggy. This is the play where the infamous “Miss Piggy” audition monologue originated.

Semi-Finalist Turnip Theater’s 11th Annual 15-Minute Play Festival, NYC, 2005; Produced by Brass Tacks Theater Company, NY (2001), Brüka Theater, NV (2004).

Love and Death in the Time of Crayola

(15 mins. 1 M, 1 F)

Comedy

Unit Set

Sabina and Bartholomew are both precocious pre-schoolers with a penchant for creating with crayons. It’s life and death for a four year old boy in love with an older woman (she’s five!) when she loves another boy. Can Bartholomew win her heart with his genius? Or will he have to challenge his rival to a duel? One thing is certain, in the end, someone is eating crayons.

WINNER “BEST PLAY” & “AUDIENCE FAVORITE”!—Turnip Theater’s 10th Annual 15-Minute Play Festival, 2004, NYC. Produced by Gallery Players of Park Slope, NY (2003); Brüka Theater, Reno,NV (2004); 13th Street Rep, NYC (2006), TheatreRats Chester Horn Play Festival, NY (2007.

Painting by Numbers

(15 mins. 1 M, 1 F)

Comedy

Unit Set

Wes and Jane are friends walking through the Museum of Modern Art. When Jane tells him that their significant others might be sleeping around with each other, they have to decide to hire a “gumshoe”. But then Wes comes up with a plan to exact revenge.

XXIX Annual Samuel French Short Play Festival, June, 2004; Originally produced by Brass Tacks Theater Company, NY (2003); Brüka Theater, Reno,NV (2004)

Stuck Outside of Dayton with the Bob Dylan Blues Again

(15 mins., 2 M)

Comedy-Drama

Unit Set

Deegan and Tweedy are sitting on a road in Dayton. They are musicians. They are friends. They are stuck. Deegan wants to settle down with his pregnant girlfriend and Tweedy wants him to stick to his dreams. Tweedy might be able to convince him except for the fact that he slept with Deegan’s girlfriend.

Produced by Gallery Players of Park Slope, June 2004.

Dog Park or Sexual Perversity in Magnuson

(10 mins. 3 M, 1 F)

Comedy

Unit Set

A play written in the style of David Mamet for the Mamet Schmamet Festival. In Magnuson dog park, Jake the pug teams up with the older, wiser Duke, a great dane, to help Tiger, a young retriever, mate with Bambi, the poodle. Riffing on Mamet’s dialogue, style and his famous plays American Buffalo and Sexual Perversity in Chicago, see how dogs relate when humans aren’t watching.

Published in Ten 10-Minute Plays Volume III, 2010; Originally produced by Theatre Schmeater, Seattle (2007).

Measure of Love

(10 mins. 1 M, 4 F)

Comedy

Unit Set

The night before Anna’s wedding, she confesses to her three bridesmaids the one fault she has with her groom—his tiny penis. Unfortunately, the man with the small sex organ arrives to break off the engagement. But he won’t be able to leave until the women can judge for themselves the size of his package.

Produced by 14/48, the world’s quickest theatre festival, One World Theatre, Three Card Monty and Capitol Hill Arts Center, Seattle, WA, January 2008.

Queen Bee

(15 mins. 1 M, 1 F)

Comedy

Unit Set

What happens when you’re a temp—just a temp—and you are loaned out to a female marketing executive with a specific and very unorthodox proposition? Do philosophical ideals really stand a chance against a smooth-talking saleswoman’s desire to have a baby?

Produced by The Gallery Players of Park Slope, NY (2003).

Stripping Diamonds from the Dog Soul

(15 mins., 1 M, 1 F)

Surreal Drama

In an isolated cabin in the woods, Caleb is visited by a dying water Sprite. Is she looking for his help or for revenge? In this lyrical play of word and dance, spells are woven in language and imagery.

Produced by Vital Theatre, NY (2000)

The Art of the Forecast

(10 mins, 1 M, 1 F)

Comedy

Unit Set

What do third nipples and decapitated floating heads have in common? Find out when Harmony paints a portrait of her weatherman boyfriend, Larry, on what she hopes is the first night he’ll stay over. But what happens if he doesn’t like the portrait? A sweet, comedic play about honesty in art and relationships.

Produced by Brass Tacks Theatre in the Rosetta Festival, April 2004.

The Raven Flies North

(15 mins, 2 M, 1 F)

Comedy

Unit Set

A man wears a raincoat on a train, convinces another man that the U.S. is in a cold war with Canada, and then Raven enters. Who is she? And can a person really have transplanted eyeballs?

Semi-Finalist Astoria Performing Arts Center Playwright Contest, May, 2004; Reading in Rosetta Festival, Brass Tacks Theatre, April 2004

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