THE ANTIQUE SHOPPE (comic romance)
2M/2F; 20-25 minutes
Hilary is attending to her retirement home's spring dance to listen to music... by herself! Flirtatious fellow resident Jack has other ideas...
APPETIZERS, or "On an Island Somewhere" (drama/sci-fi)
2M/2F
Alice and her husband host a farewell party of wine and hors d'oeuvres celebrating Tamara and her husband moving back to the Mainland after years on the Island. But why are they all there in the first place? When will they all be allowed to leave?
BADGER AND FRAME (drama)
3M/2F; 30-35 minutes
During the summer of 1978, Bobby "Badger" McCandless and Ephraim "Frame" Siebert were best friends. Today, after Bobby's funeral, Ephraim meets his childhood bestie's widow Mary Kate. As she reminisces over her life with Bobby – from being junior high school sweethearts through raising a family while taking care of his caustic mother – Ephraim relives his friendship with "Badger": their summer of exploration and adventure from its humble beginnings to its abrupt end.
Published as part of Best American Short Plays 2018-2019 (Applause)
BRIDGE OF NO RETURN (historical military drama)
3A; 15 minutes
On August 18, 1976, on the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom within the Korean DMZ, North Koreans murdered two American soldiers... with axes. A UN officer helps a diplomat determine what went down, so they can recommend what to do next.
BULLETPROOF LOVE (drama)
1F/1M'; 15-20 minutes
Ambrose and Ramona were supposed to be married. Instead, she's visiting him in prison with bulletproof glass between them. He is the strong, silent type — very strong, very silent. She has a mouth for rage. Neither can express their love to each other... And it is boundless.
This pay is included in the anthology Hellish Delights
CASSIOPEIA (comedy-drama)
1M/2F; 15-20 minutes
Angela, a 70-year-old developmentally challenged woman, is marrying Roy today!
Everything is going great until younger sister Beatrice arrives... and she is not happy!
This play is also part of the trilogy Demon Bitch Goddess.
COLIC (horror comedy)
2F/1M/1A; 15=20 minutes
A mother seems unconcerned about her baby's demonic possession.
CORPOREAL PUNISHMENT (supernatural horror)
3M; 15 minutes
Harvey shows up at an old, dark house to find Stefan in a panic next to a decapitated body holding its head in its lap. The body isn't the most unsettling thing in the room.
[CW: implied violence and discussion of suicide]
DANCED IN THEIR HEADS (horror)
3M/3F; 15 minutes
A young man is torn between two worlds: an apocalyptic hellscape and a bucolic psychiatric hospital. But which of these is actually reality?
This play is a truncated, gay adaptation of my play Sugarplum (see below).
FADE TO WHITE (drama)
1M/1F; 15 minutes
Seventy-year-old documentary filmmaker Istvan is about to interview his next subject — his school-hood girlfriend Magda, now a retired teacher — about the day one of their classmates vanished in a freak snowstorm. Reflecting on this long-ago tragedy forces Magda to confront who she's become and why.
THE FALLOW GARDEN (drama)
2F; 20-25 minutes
Glynnis and Marie-France are digging a hole in Lavinia Fowler's garden. They are not planting vegetables. This is a gothic tale of small-town extortion and revenge.
This pay is included in the anthology Hellish Delights
THE GREATER AND LESSER EDMUNDS OF THE WORLD (comedy)
2M; 15 minutes
Gideon is meeting his half-brother Augie. They've met only once before, at their father's funeral... a father who kept two families at the same time. Gideon thinks he knows what Augie wants. Gideon is wrong.
“GUTEN TAG, BABY!” (drama)
2F/1M/1NBF; 15 minutes
On a road trip to an historic motel and diner on Route 66, Vivienne hopes to help her mother, Eleanor, hold onto her memories. Turns out Eleanor remembers a few things she never mentioned before.
THE HARMONIC CONVERGENCE (drama)
2M; 30 minutes
An aging German immigrant's request to finally learn to read and write in English is met with unexpected resistance from his schoolteacher son.
*Winner, Outstanding Play, 1996 Pittsburgh New Works Festival*
This play in included in the anthology Demon Bitch Goddess.
HOLIDAZE (satirical comedy)
3M/2F; 30 minutes
Joshua, a gay Jewish man from NYC, and his Irish lover Philip are having guests over for Christmas: Joshua's southern belle ex-wife Charlotte, their activist son David, and David's new significant other who... well... they're expecting a boy, but...
I’D FOLLOW YOU ANYWHERE: a Solaris story (science fiction)
2N
Above the planet Solaris, Emery has just spent the loveliest day with River who is quite literally the Person of Their Dreams.
THE INTERIOR (solo, horror)
1N; 25 minutes
Skylar Chapin does not to well outside of big cities. Stranded in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest after a plane crash and possessing next to no survival skills, Skylar tries to make it back to civilization... only to discover an even greater danger. This is a solo play that can be performed by an actor of any gender or race within a wide range of ages.
LES JOYEAUX DILETTENTES
2F/1M; 20 minutes
A headstrong mother, a quiet daughter, and a gentleman caller. Sort of.
A romcom salute to The Glass Menagerie.
LOST STARLET
5F/2M/1A; 16 minutes
In this mockumentary sendup of TCM documentaries, the one-way rivalry between cinema icon Genevieve O'Neal and single-movie sensation Desiree Dovell celebrates American film from the Golden Age on.
THE MAN IN 119
1F/2M; 15-30 minutes
A man returns to the seaside hotel where his parents first met to scatter their ashes into the sea. The woman in the next room sees his pain and reaches out. A play about grieving, healing, love... and opera. Inspired by "Verdi Cries" by 10,000 Maniacs
MANLY MEN DOING MANLY THINGS (drama)
2M; 25-30 minutes
A year after their breakup, a closeted Formula One race car driver tracks down his ex who is immersed in his own family crisis.
This play in included in the anthology Demon Bitch Goddess.
MEDUSA (comedy)
1M/1F; 25-30 minutes
Mavis and Thor are two senior citizens out on a first date.
Thor is a perfect gentleman, but that might not be what Mavis wants.
This play is also part of the trilogy Demon Bitch Goddess.
THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY (breakup drama)
2M; 15 minutes
Rupert is a wildly successful corporate sell-out. Linus is a washed-up journalist who has never recovered from his fall from grace. They're having one last breakfast together before parting ways... maybe forever?
murmurs (light coming-of-age drama)
2M; 20-25 minutes
Ex-jock Jason has invited his physics lab partner Les over to watch the 1977 Pittsburgh Pirates home opening on TV. Unbeknownst to Les, Jason hopes they have more in common than baseball...
Published and licensed by Samuel French, you can purchase the play here.
O, FOR A MUSE OF FIRE (drama)
2A; 15 minutes
Lane, an award-winning film writer of film scores, returns home from the hospital after a car accident: memory intact but no longer able to compose. Lane's former love and dear friend Vaughn does everything possible to inspire Lane to reconnect with music and their past.
[Note: For the song Vaughn sings on pages 6 and 7, you are encouraged to compose your own music to go with the lyrics in ALL CAPS or use sheet music or the sound cue composed for the song by Christopher Chappell, by separate arrangement.]
This pay is included in the anthology Hellish Delights
OF GARDEN GNOMES AND OTHER TRAGEDIES (comic fantasy)
1F/1M; 20-30 minutes
Chantelle had one last chance to save her beloved Felix from the wicked Diabolallura's spell but it has not gone well at all. Now, they face the aftermath...
OF NIGHT AND DARK OBSCURITY (horror)
1F/1M; 12-15 minutes
Young Jessa wants revenge. She's summoned Quinton to get it.
THE OLFACTORY SOUL (horror)
1M/2F; 15 minutes
Halloween night, 2020. A woman visits a boutique perfumery in an otherwise closed boardwalk hotel. The perfumer creates a scent that "is" her.
OUBLIETTE (experimental neurodivergent horror)
2M/2A (or 4A); 20-25 minutes)
Dal is not okay. After reconciling as friends with a former romantic partner, Dal is now targeted by demons amplifying their feelings of rejection and heartbreak. Why? Because they can.
PERSEPHONE (comedy)
4F; 30 minutes
Helena gave up her daughter Persephone at birth. Today, they meet for the first time. It's going really well. Or at least it was...
POPCORN (coming-of-age comedy)
2-3M/1-2F; 10-15 minutes
Straight-laced Kip just wants to watch Nigella's cooking show, but scruffy Stan won't stop ribbing him about it. Things turns physical... really, really physical.
Note: 2M and 1F appear on stage. 1M and 1F are off-stage voices – the F is Nigella!
POSEIDON AND THE SEA NYMPH (drama)
1M/1F; 20-25 minutes
Lydia has woken up on Abel's boat. She doesn't remember how he got there or who he is. All she knows is that she's a very small woman far from shore, alone with a very big and potentially dangerous man.
[CW: discussion of sexual assault]
THE PRESIDENTIAL CHILI COOK OFF (political satire)
4F; 20 minutes
There has been a break-in at the studio of Millicent Grosvenor, the third place ribbon winner of last year's Klonopinto County Annual Chili Cook Off. Before that, the second place winner, Elvira-Lamb Winnipeg, suddenly left town. Now, the long-running champion, Nicola Sleight-Richards, appears to be behind it all! But can intrepid Klonopinto County Picayune reporter Cedar Emberhorn prove it by press time, even though the paper is weekly?!? There's a lot more at stake than a hill of beans.
RECKONER (political drama)
2F (1 is trans)/1M/1A; 20-25 minutes
A woman who recently lost her trans daughter to suicide finds herself being questioned by authorities about her father's role in a bombing.
[CW: Discussion and depictions of suicides. Mass killing. Hate speech and anti-trans rhetoric.]
SARCOPHAGUS (comedy-drama)
1M/1F; 30 minutes
Cleopatra encounters Robin Hood at a Hollywood party. She's actually a fading actress and he's a struggling assistant in this delicate comedy of acceptance and perception.
"Sickles weaves a snug little story filled with nuance, clever contradiction and hope..."
~John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
This play in included in the anthology Demon Bitch Goddess.
SHIPBUILDING (horror/sci-fi)
2A; 20-25 minutes
Somewhere out in deep space, Menzies has awoken after surviving a horrific attack. But how did Menzies survive at all? How did anyone?
THE SILENCE OF MY LONELY ROOM (drama)
2M; 15-20 minutes
A long time ago, Kenneth though he killed a demon in this room. Then he found out it was a hallucination. Today, he's back in the room for the first time since he lost his mind. Once again, he's not alone.
SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF BETHELEHEM (comedy)
1M/2F; 25 minutes
Disgraced Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson is in hell... literally and figuratively. Her current torment is being forced to rehearse a Nativity play (with loads of puppets!) with Lucrezia Borgia and the Devil. Revelations and confessions ensue.
This pay is included in the anthology Hellish Delights
THE STEPS (monologue play)
1F/2M (can be played by children or adults)
Inspired by Helen Levitt’s 1939 photo "Halloween," three children with masks stand on large concrete steps. In the play, they are a brother and sister waiting outside a courthouse with their new stepbrother.
They do not speak to each other. Nevertheless, they have opinions...
THE STUFF OF TRAGEDY (horror comedy ghost story)
1M/1F/2A
An annual otherworldly confrontation finally takes a turn towards truth, as long-dead ghosts discover the truth about their demises.
SUGARPLUM (horror)
3M/3F; 20-25 minutes
Rayanne wakes up in a hospital where she's told the apocalyptic nightmare she's been living was actually a hallucination. Soon, the line between her realities begins to blur.
As mentioned above, this was truncated and adapted into Danced in their Heads.
TACTILE CREATURES (romance/ghost story)
3 actors/any gender combination; 15-20 minutes
Recovering from a breakup, Aubrey moves into a studio apartment only to discover that the residence is occupied... by a ghost. A romance about loneliness in the aftermath of love, both requited and not, and the importance of contact.
NOTE: the characters have not been assigned any age, race or gender; those decisions entirely up to the production!
TAINT (scat noir / parody)
3F/5M (somebody, please do this play with drag queens!); 30-40 minutes
This play is disgusting. Hopefully, it's funny.
Inspired by a fake news story. Digestive pandemonium breaks out in a strip club after the pole dancers and patrons have tossed back some tainted shrimp and end up with explosive diarrhea.
THALASSA (drama)
1M/1F; 15 minutes
On the shore of the Mediterranean, a young woman spots a man about to take a one-way walk into the deep blue sea. Can she save him? Can they save each other?
This play is also part of the trilogy Demon Bitch Goddess.
“THREE MONTHS! TOPS!” (comedy)
3F/2M; 15 minutes
Spinster Mamie has finally find the man of her dreams in sweet Grover. But when Mamie announces their engagement to her family, no one takes it seriously. Once they realize that Mamie is indeed serious, fretful Mama lays down the law: Mamie can't marry Grover... for a very good and unique reason...
UNCOMPLICATED BEREAVEMENT (drama)
2M/1F; 20 minutes
Sarah is approaching 50, alone and lonely, and she just lost her father whom she had been taking care of for the last several years. As the funeral procession waits for her outside the church, she meets a handsome stranger dealing with loss of his own. Despite the circumstances, will their connection light a spark?
THE UNJUST SOUND OF UNSEEN WAVES (fantasy)
1M/1A (or 2A); 25-20 minutes
The Minotaur receives his first visitor in a long, long... long time. This visitor has a purpose but neither of them knows what it is. Yet.
VACANCIES (drama)
2M/1F; 20 minutes
A flood has forced Carol and Graham to seek refuge at a motel. Their marriage already strained, Carol also blames Graham for a tragic act of negligence. When she's away from him, Graham is befriended by another guest who makes an unsettling yet alluring claim.
WE’LL TAKE A CUP OF KINDNESS YET (holiday-themed drama)
2F/2M; 20 minutes
Central Park, New Year's Eve. A carriage driver bearing the weight of a great tragedy tries to reach out to his passengers, but connection only comes from an unlikely place.
Adapted from the short story "Misery" by Anton Chekhov
WINTER HARBOR (period drama)
3M/1F; 30 minutes
One February day in 1935, Clinton "Buster" Dalzell – assistant lighthouse keeper at Egg Rock Light – kissed his pregnant wife Elizabeth goodbye, left to run an errand... and disappeared. Unable to join in the search, Elizabeth must stay strong for her young sons as she hopes for her husband’s safe return.
WINTER ON THE CUSP OF SAGITTARIUS (drama)
1F/1M; 15 minutes
Cady is having her baby, outside on her family's balcony, right now, before the meteor shower happens. She has her reasons.
Content Warning: This play deals with the consequences of an acquaintance rape.