| James Venhaus is a playwright, actor, director and educator. His plays include award winning one-acts The Temple of Dionysus, 10-minute plays, The First Christmas, Santa's Little Helper, Amy's Last Shift, and Kringle-phobia, full length plays The Happy Couple and Weird Sisters, and plays for young audiences Romeo and Juliet at Verona High and The Top Hand of Lone Tree Ranch. His work has been performed off-off Broadway at 13th Street Repertory Company, and in theatres across the country including Ground Zero Theater Company, Audacity Productions, and Junior Players (Dallas), SUNY Brockport (New York), Killing My Lobster (San Francisco) and Loyola University (New Orleans). Mr. Venhaus holds a B.F.A. in Theatre from Southwestern University and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Austin College. He lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and daughters. |
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Comedy
Short, 30-40 minutes
7 females, 7 males, 4 either (8-18 actors possible: 4-11 females, 4-12 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Mistaken identities and romance run rampant at Camp Messina, where campers hope to have their secret crushes realized in time for the big dance. Clark likes Holly, but he's too shy to admit his feelings. Meanwhile, Ben and Bea hate each other, but their friends think they're meant to be together. Add a duo determined to cause trouble and an inept security guard, and this modern retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing guarantees camp will never be the same.
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Comedy
Short, 20-40 minutes
4 females, 8 males, 5 either
(10-25 actors possible: 3-15 females, 2-10 males)
$40.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Romeo and Juliet at Verona High updates Shakespeare's tragedy to a modern-day high school. Romeo is the captain of the football team and Juliet is the president of the Chess Club. Can the rival teams resolve their brutal differences? Who will triumph at the grudge chess match? At the end of the play, the audience votes on which ending they would like to see: the comic or the tragic version.
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Comedy
Short, 25-35 minutes
1 female, 4 males (5-30 actors possible: 1-27 females, 3-29 males)
$35.00 per performance; $5.99 per book
Special 33% book discount!
The Temple of Dionysus is a comedy about religion, faith, ancient rituals, and partying your butt off. To return to earth, Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility, must convince one man to follow him. Steve has lost it all: his job, his wife, his house, and his faith in the world. Together, they plan a full-blown publicity blitz promoting Dionysus' religion of drinking, sex, and pleasure. Using a top-notch marketing firm and a slew of celebrity and corporate sponsorships, The Temple of Dionysus becomes a pop culture phenomenon. But can Steve live with the world he has created?
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| "The play proves a real gag-fest, and never makes the mistake of taking itself seriously." |
| --Tom Sime, The Dallas Morning News |
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Weird Sisters by James Venhaus
inspired by William Shakespeare's Macbeth |
 
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 60-80 minutes
5 females, 7 males (12-15 actors possible: 5-7 females, 7-8 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Three social outcasts decide to stoke the ambitions of the star football player, Mac, and his über-popular girlfriend to see how far they will go to make sure Mac is made captain of the football team. Events unfold just as these students are assigned to read Macbeth and they soon become aware that their lives have an eerie resemblance to the classic play. But, for the three weird sisters, is it too late to stop the events they have set in motion, or will their plan take on a life of its own and result in tragedy?
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