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Short Plays

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The Game

In a game they have played since childhood, Agnes and Beatrice take turns trading stories of romance and heartbreak. This time, Beatrice has a special purpose in mind, and there is very little time for her to accomplish that purpose. A tender comedy.

Judy Rollings as Beatrice and Judy LeBeau

as Agnes, Summer Shorts, 2023

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Puzzles and Borderlines

 

Confused and alone the midst of a pandemic, an astronaut meets Peter at the gate. He's just a doorkeeper but he's been there a long time, so he has a lot of wisdom and helps her see through a different lens.

Bil Mosley as Peter and Lidia Lei Koebel as Jane. Summer Shorts, 2022

A Game of Croquet

Alice is in Wonderland, but there's a pandemic, so no more than two people can be onstage at once. If Alice stays Alice, the Sycophant is going to have to play all the other parts, sometimes simultaneously. It gets pretty ridiculous when he or she has to play the Queen, the King, and the Executioner all at once, not to mention the Flamingo and the Hedgehog. But this is not just a crazy pandemic-ready children's play. It's also hilarious political satire. 

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Apples from the Same Tree

 

Great-Gramma Bessie was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. Tisha doesn’t want to deal with it. Jennifer says she must. And Gramma Evie is sorting Bessie's things into boxes. Relics of the 50s, some of the bewildering things are pretty shocking, including the hash pipe. 

Patti Moran as Jennifer, Dolores D'Amore Goldsmith as Evie, and Zoey Rich as Tisha

Summer Shorts, 2022

Evolution Fast Track

 

From Eve, to Pandora, to Hillary's use of a private email server, it seems that women are blamed for flipping everything. If time isn't linear, could we--maybe?--change that?

The Source

The shit hits the fan when A & R rep Sal Danzer prepares to cancel a contract with jazz pianist Cecil Thomas.

Holly

When Piñon Outdoor downsizes, middle manager Holly finds herself juggling a pretentious GPS, a Native American park ranger, and a man on a horse in remote Hovenweep National Monument. A one-act. 

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Jitterbug

A life-long New Yorker reminisces about a time when things were different, when a Jewish girl and an Irish boy couldn't ... well, they just couldn't.

Cesar Garcia as Ben and Andrea Morales de Castellano as Holly

Pandora Festival of New Works

Sarah Houghtelin, Carol Gibson, and Susan Sindelar

Summer Shorts, 2019

Tatum Grell as Young Dalia and David Machbitz as

Michael, Summer Shorts, 2018

Curve Ball (a work in progress)

As Dean and Alan, two self-acknowleged geeks, enjoy the world series and mansplain curvature of space, Brigid throws them a curveball.

The Face in the Mirror

Brandy and Jane have spent the day selling their mother’s belongings. Now that the estate-sale hyenas have left, the sisters explore divergent attitudes about “that face in the mirror.” 

Bridge Day

A young woman is hoping to find a bike pump. Frank is beleaguered by the mass of stuff in his garage. Gwendolyn is overwhelmed by life itself. Yet, in the midst of ordinary days, life has a way of surprising us all.

Kate Hawkes at Jane and Gail Mangham as Brandy

Female Playwrights ONSTAGE Festival, 2011

Mark Gluckman as Frank

Festival of New Summer Shorts

Elkhorn Slough

When Claire’s car breaks down on Highway 1, near Elkhorn Slough, Kelly confronts her sister about their last episode together there. But the attack by the goose was not the most dramatic thing that ever happened there, says Claire. It was that time with Seamus. In the version The Marsh, it is a mother and daughter who share these quite unexpected experiences.

All the Glory

The Angel Bob is fed up. Not only is his earthly charge particularly difficult, but none of his assignments are noteworthy. Gabriel gets to announce a virgin birth for Heaven’s sake! Still, when Bob enters God’s office to complain, he learns that the Almighty has a surprise for him.

Please Knock if Amritsar Not Required

Three women are on a road trip. Wendy has spent the day exploring the town’s thrift stores. Charlotte is at her laptop. Eva has just come in from exercising. Soon, the three will go out to dinner. Wendy, however, has returned with her prized purchase—a child’s pillow with pull-out characters, an object Charlotte finds odd, to say the least. Thus begins a conversation about attraction, sex, and morality that will keep you, if not the writing on the pillow, in stitches.

The Hike

When Kelly finally gets to go on the hike Dad always promised to share with her, Dad isn’t there. Or is he?

Lunch at McDonald's

Something cosmic must have drawn these two vegetarians into the McDonald’s restaurant lost in the Arizona desert. As Mars explores the alien menu, her son becomes more and more agitated. Nonetheless, there is something charming about this never-grown-up flower child, and we cannot help but enjoy watching her antics as she discovers love in the unlikeliest of places. 

In A Corner

How does a mother deal with the loss of a child? As seemingly fragile Amanda Jones emerges from a courtroom, she is confronted by a cacophony of reporters' voices, but the brash reporter who interviews her ultimately finds himself to be the weaker of the two.

Drum Beat (a work in progress)

Whether it's Reagan, the Dubya, or Trump in the White House, things look pretty damn bleak. A history.

A one-act in three scenes.

A Few Good Lines

Mary and Peter are writing a screenplay. All Peter does is stir the tanks when what the @$#%&? Suddenly, the only words coming out of their mouths are lines from old movies. The thing about life is, it gets weird. Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night! 

Ryan's Birthday Toast

Paul and Chuck are waiting at a bar to offer Ryan feedback on the toast he's composing for the President's birthday celebration. Ryan arrives, speech in hand, but freaks as he reads his tortured praise, and his true feelings pour out in a relentless diatribe.

Amici Recast

Inspiration comes from a surprising source as a playwright writes and revises her newest work.

Al Benneian as Paolo, Judith Eisenberg as Sam,

and Jason Isaak as Howard

Herberger Theatre's Kax Studio Lunchtime Theatre

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St. Agnes in Agony

Agnes is married to God, but in the midst of the Diocletian Persecutions, for different reasons, neither her father nor the governor's son can respect her commitment. Christa is preparing to testify about sexual abuse. Shifting between ancient Rome and 21st Century America, this one-act dramatically connects contemporary and 4th Century Roman abuse, particularly as it relates to women. 

Read Actor and Director Gail Mangham's response to the first public reading of St. Agnes in Agony. See "Fine Words from a Friend, posted October 13, 2018.

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