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 Sanctuary: Playwrights Theatre |
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By Title |
By Length |
>>full-length plays<<
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Off-Off-Broadway: Planned production by Sanctuary: Playwrights Theatre (New York, NY) |
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cast |
6 (2 F, 4M) |
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set |
Unit set |
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length |
1.5 hrs. |
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about |
Lee Krebs, professor of philosophy, specializes in the works of George Berkeley. When a bright but socially awkward young student proposes a simulation project that brings the philosopher back to life, Lee's ghosts are brought to life with it. A New Theory of Vision asks the question - if life is a dream, are we responsible for its impact? And how are we to do good? |
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Off-Off-Broadway: Commissioned 2004 by Praxis Theatre Project |
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cast |
12 (6 F, 6M) |
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set |
Multi-media stage |
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length |
2 hrs. |
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about |
An "art rock" sci-fi thriller set 125 years hence, it's a wild ride of a play where immortality, Italian poetry, terror, and the emergent intelligence of networks interfold DNA-like into the noir classic D.O.A. Complex and multi-layered, the play's flexible casting options mean you can perform it with a cast as small as 8 or large as 22. Likewise, you can make it a tour de force of technical theatre, or perform it simply on a bare platform with human-generated effects. |
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Off-Off-Broadway: Sept 2000 by NY Play Development Staged Readings: Apr. 1998 78th Street Theatre Lab (NYC); Sept 1999 Dramatists Guild (NYC), Dec 1999 FatChance productions (NYC), July 2000 Abingdon Theatre Co (NYC) Published: The Best Stage Scenes 1997 |
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cast |
3; (1 F, 2 M) |
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set |
Unit set (Subway tunnel). |
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length |
1hr. 45 mins |
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about |
A time-jumping comedy about architecture, sexuality, the priesthood and right livelihood. In a collapsed subway tunnel we find Alex—a busted-down architect, and Wall—a gay tunnel-worker who prefers the dark. Which will get them first... falling concrete blocks... oxygen gone... gas... or their shared past? |
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Staged Reading April 1999 at 78th St. Theatre Lab (NYC) Published: The Best Stage Scenes 1997 |
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cast |
10; (3 F, 7 M) |
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set |
Commedia Dell’Arte stage |
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length |
2 hrs. 20 minutes |
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about |
The compromises of art -- and the art of compromise. Italy, 1937. For 500 years, kings and tyrants came and went but life’s unchanged in tiny Volpe Nero. Alessandro and his father, of Italy's last Commedia Dell’Arte troupe, scrape a meager existence from tradition's crumbs, That's all about to change. As Mussolini and Hitler forge their tragic alliance, two fugitives from a Fascist prison camp arrive seeking refuge — with Blackshirts and a vengeful clown in hot pursuit. Father and son clash: do what’s safe, or do what’s right? note: the Buffoon Piece is available both in straight drama format and as a play with music—13 original songs. |
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about |
A woman is never what you think. Eve of Crimes is three one-act plays—Memory Motel, Freefalling and The Last Days of Paradise—that form a 100-minute “evening” of theatre. Each play studies a central, female character, who must make a criminal decision to solve a problem. Each of the three plays is also available for production separately. |
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Off-Off-Broadway: Nov 1992, Mosaic Productions (NYC) |
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cast |
8; (4 F, 4 M) |
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set |
Environmental ("bomb shelter") |
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length |
2hrs. 25 mins. |
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about |
Iraq: February, 1991. High-tech weaponry from eight nations hammers Baghdad’s smokestacks and high-rises to dust. In one nameless shelter huddle eight cold, tired, angry Iraqis. To keep their sanity, they propose a storytelling contest. The result: Eight war stories, full of war's sadness, horror, and sometimes even laughter. Flowers of War is a "Fantasia on American Themes" — you won't get the characters you see to resemble the Iraqis you have been conditioned to expect! |
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Regional: Summer 1997 by Extra Virgin PC
(Dallas TX) Published: The Best Stage Scenes 1996 |
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cast |
7; (1 F, 4 M, 2 M/F) |
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set |
Realistic diner |
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length |
2 hrs. |
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about |
As humanity rockets toward Millennium, strange red-garbed men known only as Cardinals complete plans for universal domination by capturing Socrates, Greek philosopher and David Chagall, Bronx diner owner. Can our intrepid men free themselves from the clutches of the mother of all conspiracies... and save the cosmos? HEMLOCK is a black, black, black comic fantasy that skewers end of millennium paranoia, western philosophy, conspiracy theories, time travel, and Catholicism. Gretchen Swen (Producing Artistic Director of Dallas’ own Extra Virgin PC) says: “Hemlock... brings together the death of Socrates and the Inquisition via a Greek diner in present-day [Bronx], NY. This truly original work is an uproariously-funny, trans-historical nightmare that marries Vaudevillian farce with Orwellian-style musings on rationality, institutionalized religion, and the failure of humanity to live up to the precepts of Christianity and Western enlightenment culture... a frenzied, thought-provoking ride...” Jimmy Fowler at the Dallas Observer gave Hemlock
one of his
“Jimmy” awards, saying: |
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cast |
6; (3 F, 3 M), optional chorus |
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set |
beach, moveable grass huts and palm trees |
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length |
2 hrs. |
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about |
On a small uncharted Caribbean island hides a Utopian society with grass huts and computers, piercing rituals and antibiotics and... well... funny ideas about marriage, life and death. One afternoon Dystopia pays a visit—a strange American washes ashore. Was his coming accident? Or was he sent for a sinister purpose? |
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cast |
5; (2F, 3M) |
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set |
None |
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length |
70 minutes |
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about |
Vito, il capo di tutti capi, is missing—and possibly dead. His Family, hot to settle issues his Will, hires Sam Gamgee, hard-boiled gumshoe, to track him. Simultaneously a satire of The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Lord of the Rings, 1940s film noir, 1950s television comedy, and perhaps a dozen other Pop Culture signifiers, The Big Clog is a hilarious car crash of a radio comedy, combined with a real mystery story that will have your audiences riveted to the stage even as they're rolling in the aisles. |
>>one-act & 10-minute plays<<
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cast |
3; 3F |
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set |
Unit set or bare stage. |
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length |
10 minutes |
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about |
A collection agent, just trying to do her job collecting on a bad debt, goes through increasingly mad cycles that affect, through time displacement, all parts of her life, crashing headlong to a final point of meeting. |
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cast |
10, 5F 5M (most roles can be doubled!) |
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set |
Unit set or bare stage. |
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length |
15 minutes |
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about |
A rollicking one-act verse comedy with song tells an age-old fable for the New Age. In a land ruled by a corrupt, capricious king, a traveling poet/janitor gains through the magical powers of wine the wisdom to become the one judge that can being a new age of enlightenment and peace. |
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cast |
5, 2F 3M |
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set |
Bare stage with Noh-style trimmings. |
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length |
15 minutes |
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about |
A comedy/drama with three songs that borrows its style Japanese Noh and Kyogen. The ghost of a soldier killed in battle returns to his village to make final peace with his mother. But will he be drawn to avenge his death with the rich landowner who started the war in the first place? |
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cast |
5, 3F 2M |
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set |
Bare stage |
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length |
10 minutes |
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about |
Somewhere in time and space, four people await a fate they can only dread, for crimes they're not sure they committed. The couple argues about who's to blame. The young man seeks the answer. And the old woman knows what it is—and it's something nobody suspects! |
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cast |
5, 2F 3M |
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set |
Bar (can be done ‘site-specifically’ in a real bar) |
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length |
25 minutes |
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about |
Bartender Maureen Bacon finds out her ex-boyfriend—mob boss Bob McMahan—wants to seize custody of their daughter Barbara. In a hail of bullets, Maureen stages a final, desperate fight to free Barbara from McMahan’s clutches forever. |
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cast |
6, 3F 3M |
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set |
Bare stage |
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length |
10 minutes |
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about |
The horrible spectre of War throws its long shadow across the land. And, this time, the fate of the world is in the hands of our shadow-puppet hero Karaghioz and his trusty-though-nervous friend Hagavid, all for the hand of a beautiful—and of course rich—princess. |
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cast |
4, 2F 2M |
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set |
Unit set (basement) |
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length |
40 minutes |
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about |
A strange woman is incarcerated at The Tombs... a dank, dismal, medieval New York jail and a reluctant Public Defender gradually digs to discover the truth about the “Apart” and the heart of their mystery... “what son of a bitch killed your dream?” |
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Published: The Best Stage Scenes 1999 |
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cast |
5, 1F 4M |
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set |
Unit set (church confessional, parking lot, motel room) |
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length |
40 minutes |
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about |
Tabitha only wanted to be someone—anyone. Then one late night chance meeting changed her forever. Now she’s locked a priest in a confessional until he’ll help prevent her becoming what she can’t avoid. |
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Off-Off-Broadway: August 2001 Luminous Group (NYC); October 2002 Shock Troupe (NYC). Regional production: July 2000 Main Street Arts (Nyack NY) College production: May 2001 St. Andrew’s College (Aurora ON) Published: The Best Stage Scenes 1999 |
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cast |
2, 1F 1M |
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set |
Single (Men’s room door) |
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length |
10 minutes |
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about |
“I don’t know! This lady just started banging on the door to the men’s room... don’t ask me why!” Two strangers—one spurned, the other widowed— fight, flirt, and finally find each kindness in each other while standing at the door of a restaurant Men’s room. |
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Awards: Finalist, 2003 Heideman Award, Actor's Theatre of Louisville Regional production: Jan 2002 Heartlande Theatre Co (Ann Arbor MI); May 2002 Sauk Theatre (Jonesville MI) Published: The Best Stage Scenes 2000 |
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| cast | 2, 1F 1M | |
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set |
Single (Dining room of suburban home) |
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length |
10 minutes |
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about |
A hilarious short piece shows a married couple’s argument about a possible infidelity, as it zooms between a 10,000 foot view and right in your face. BackStage called Scene Analysis "a shining moment." |
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Off-Off-Broadway: April 2002 Emergence Theatre Co (NYC) |
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cast |
4; (1F, 3M) |
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set |
Single set |
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length |
40 minutes | |
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about |
Harry Stevens has a good life. He loves his job teaching mentally-retarded kids. His marriage is stable. He’s got a good home. But... A routine check-up turns dire. God shows up. Won’t leave. Best friend Bernard starts praying in the living room. Won’t leave either. |
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cast |
3; (2F, 1M) |
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set |
Courtroom (or bare stage) |
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length |
10 minutes |
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about |
She is a warrior, trained in the art of killing. But today she's on trial for showing compassion to the enemy. The judge stands over her sternly. What will be her fate? |
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cast |
3; (2F, 1M) |
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set |
Single set |
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length |
10 minutes |
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about |
She awakens in a strange world surrounded by dictionary pages blowing in the wind. She has but one word to say it to express all meaning. What word does she pick? |
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>>short scenes and monologues<<
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Off-Off-Broadway: Mar 1998, Grove St. Playhouse (NYC); May 2002 Trilogy Theatre (NYC); May 2002 Streetlight Productions (NYC); Aug-Sept 2002, Shooting Star Theatre (NYC)
Regional: Jan 2002, Heartlande
Theatre Co (Ann Arbor MI); May 2002 & May 2003, Sauk
Theatre (Jonesville MI) |
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cast |
3; (1F, 2M) |
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set |
None |
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length |
75 minutes |
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about |
Twinges is an evening of twenty short plays, each with a peculiar comic bite. [For a taste, see below:] Elias Stimac of BackStage calls Twinges "comical
success... laugh inducing, eye opening, or thought provoking--and sometimes
all three at once." Arlene McKanick of Off-Off-Broadway Review says Twinges is
"worth seeing!" A few words from actors who have worked with this material “Audience” was a fitting end to the evening, and the audience really seemed to enjoy to breaking of the fourth wall — Nathan Fleming Director KIMEP English Language Theater, Almaty, Kazakhstan “I used the 'Fun City' monologue at an audition at Park Square Theater (a prestigious theater company in downtown St. Paul, MN) for the play Born Yesterday, and I got a part!” — Barb Keith, actress “I recently read 'Donnyworld.' I thought it was one of the funniest things I have ever read.” — Luke Leek, performer “Thank you so much for the copy of Twinges , it is a very fun play.” — Samantha Wilson, actress “The scene [Atlantis, The Lost Continent] from Twinges is great. It would be an honor to perform it as part of my audition.” — Jonathan Kapner, actor “[Fun City] is quite possibly the funniest monologue known to man.” — Audrey Leigh Francis, actress [I want to read this Twinges thing, whatever the hell it is!] |
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Talking Cure (2F 3M) |
An angry shock-jock gets comeuppance from an unexpected source. |
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Pompeii (1F) |
"You bump into this guy, a local. He’s really... stoned. Try to talk to him. He doesn’t answer. He crouches. And covers his face. Like this." |
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| L'Audience (3M) |
Two inept French art thieves (need I say more?) try to steal The Audience, the world's largest oil. |
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| Nixon (2M) |
"I was just worried about... about... The energy, man. The cracker energy. You know, like imbuing itself. Into our very fibers, or our, like, beings." |
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| Fun City (1F) |
A desperate prostitute is finally driven to (gasp!) acting. |
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| Audience with the Godfather (2M) |
The godfather discourses on plumbing. |
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| The Ittle Bittle Spat (1F 1M) |
Hey, honey? Whatcha got in the bag on the car floor? |
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| Atlantis, The Lost Continent (1M) |
Canned lunch meat — a Mystery of the Ages! |
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| The Phlegm Expert (2M) |
Excuse me, whatever are we talking about again? |
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| Sinatragate (1M) |
"I’m confused... I used to be unconfused. Certainty isn’t something of which I can be certain. Certainty is for certain people. But not me." |
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| Bea and Dee (1F 1M) |
Sex therapy, by the book? No... Sex Therapy (buy the book). |
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| Recursive Playhouse (1F 1M) |
What's this I hear about a play in a play on a play under a play? |
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Interview with Norman, Aphrodite's Husband (2M) |
A totally like wow peek into the love and lipstick of the Gods. |
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| You're Somebody (1F 2M) |
Not every actor's nightmare. |
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| O'Toole of Scotland Yard (2M) |
"Devilishly clever... notice that strange tattoo, Davis... a serpent and a head of red-leaf lettuce... the mark of a Hindu fakir, of the Rumaggadan sect... a cult of fanatics who sought inner peace through tying knots!" |
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