Snapshot
by Tanya Barfield, Lee Blessing, Michael Bigelow Dixon, Julie Jensen, et al. |
 
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Drama/Comedy
Full-length, 80-100 minutes
11 females, 11 males (4-25 actors possible: 2-15 females, 2-15 males)
$75.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: Each piece in this anthology can be licensed and performed separately.
A photograph captures and documents a single moment in time and space -- a snapshot of history, of a reality bounded by the photo's frame. But what lies outside, beyond, behind the photograph? And what stories, memories, or associations does an image of place inspire? In this multi-writer project from Actors Theatre of Louisville, a diverse assortment of talented playwrights encounter and transform Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, 1969, a compelling image of the monument by renowned photographer Lee Friedlander. Their thought-provoking scenes and monologues range from delightful comedy to utterly serious tragedy, each approaching the photo's themes through a new lens.
To perform the entire collection, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual piece independently, click on its title below:
A Quick Tour of the Monument by Craig Wright Monument by Honour Kane Scene at Mount Rushmore by Quincy Long Tyler Poked Taylor by Lee Blessing Rock Scissors Paper by Deb Margolin Little Pezidents by Michael Bigelow Dixon and Val Smith Defacing Patriotic Property by Tanya Barfield Her First Screen Test by Dan O'Brien Thrift of the Magi by Annie Weisman Night Out by Sunil Kuruvilla Here and Now by Chay Yew The Great Father by Victor Lodato American Klepto by Allison Moore Becoming American by Lynn Nottage History Lesson by David Lindsay-Abaire Bomb Squad by Craig Wright On Lincoln's Head by Julie Jensen
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| "A terrific collection of perspectives -- both directly and indirectly inspired by the photo, ranging from serious to sassy..." |
| --Back Stage |
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Dracula adapted by William McNulty
originally dramatized by John L. Balderston and Hamilton Deane from Bram Stoker's world-famous novel, Dracula |
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Horror
Full-length, 100-110 minutes
7 females, 7 males (12-14 actors possible: 5-7 females, exactly 7 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Professor Van Helsing and his brave comrades must hunt down and destroy the profoundly evil Count Dracula. But the Count is exceedingly resourceful, employing superhuman strength, psychic powers, and shape-changing to confound and frustrate his antagonists. Culminating in a wild and shocking confrontation between the King of Vampires and those who would rid the world of him, this adaptation is an action-packed, blood-soaked retelling of Bram Stoker's classic tale of horror.
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| "The universality and palatability are the play's strength...undeniably entertaining and exhilarating." |
| --Nathan Thatcher, Louisville Eccentric Observer |
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$19.95 per book
NOTE: This book contains 10 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Humana Festival 2011: The Complete Plays brings together all ten scripts from the 2011 Humana Festival of New American Plays, the 35th annual cycle of world premiere productions staged at Actors Theatre of Louisville. This unique compilation features an exceptional array of work by some of the most exciting new voices in the American theatre, from a couple who abandon a hectic existence in modern-day NYC to live in a careful recreation of 1955 (Maple and Vine), to a sister and brother left to fend for themselves with a stuffed frog and a rifle for company (Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them), to an immensely wealthy trophy wife who hijacks her personal assistant's sister-bonding weekend (Elemeno Pea). This unique and diverse compilation of plays is a must-have for anyone searching for challenging, captivating, and bold theater.
To purchase this book of 10 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
BOB by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Chicago, Sudan by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
A Devil at Noon by Anne Washburn
Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them by A. Rey Pamatmat
The Edge of Our Bodies by Adam Rapp
Elemeno Pea by Molly Smith Metzler
The End by Dan Dietz, Jennifer Haley, Allison Moore, A. Rey Pamatmat, and Marco Ramirez
Hygiene by Gregory Hischak
Maple and Vine by Jordan Harrison
Mr. Smitten by Laura Eason
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| "The plays [...] deserve to be celebrated. [That] so many past Humana premieres have gone on to wider audiences and captured major awards is an extraordinary testament to Masterson, his colleagues, and their predecessors, and the reason so many of us keep coming back." |
| --Educational Theatre Association |
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Trepidation Nation
a phobic anthology
by Keith Josef Adkins, Stephen Belber, Hilary Bell, Glen Berger, et al. |
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Drama/Comedy
Full-length, 80-100 minutes
12 females, 11 males (4-23 actors possible)
$75.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: Each piece in this anthology can be licensed and performed separately.
We all have instinctive fears -- but what if a fear becomes inexplicable, illogical, and just plain weird? Then you're dealing with a phobia, one of those most extreme and fascinating of terrors. Actors Theatre of Louisville asked 16 frighteningly creative playwrights to find inspiration in real phobias, and the resulting collection of pieces might prove that not only is fear humankind's oldest emotion, but it's also one of our silliest, most serious, and stage-worthy.
To perform the entire collection, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual piece independently, click on its title below:
The Gallows Monologue from Sidney Ryan's 'Gunpowder and Blood' by Glen Berger
The Message by Hilary Bell
Down to Sleep by Victoria Stewart
Cobra Neck by Keith Josef Adkins
Seal Skin by Erik Ehn
I Am Not Alone by Richard Dresser
The Joys of Childhood by Kirsten Greenidge
Octophobia by James Still
Hold This by Sheila Callaghan
Naked Lunch by Michael Hollinger
Normal by Cusi Cram
Euxious by Bridget Carpenter
I'm Here for You by Warren Leight
Safe by Gina Gionfriddo
Phobophobia by Julie Marie Myatt
Yes by Stephen Belber
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Comedy
Short, 12-17 minutes
2 females, 4 males
$40.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: This play is part of an anthology called Great Short Comedies: Volume 2.
Four successful young businessmen gather for their weekly staff meeting. Times are changing, and the issue of girls is on the table. Two persuasive young businesswomen arrive to negotiate the ultimate deal: the boys may start liking them, but only on the girls' terms.
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$19.95 per book
NOTE: This book contains 11 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Humana Festival 2010: The Complete Plays brings together all eleven scripts from the 2010 Humana Festival of New American Plays, the 34th annual cycle of world premiere productions staged at Actors Theatre of Louisville. This unique compilation features an exceptional array of work by some of the most exciting new voices in the American theatre, from the dreams of an inept Vaudeville sister act (The Cherry Sisters Revisited), to an immigration drama about a New Mexico border community (Ground), to a playwright trapped inside his own play (An Examination of the Whole Playwright/Actor Relationship Presented As Some Kind of Cop Show Parody). This unique compilation is a must-have for any theater aficionado's bookshelf.
To purchase this book of 11 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
The Cherry Sisters Revisited by Michael Friedman and Dan O'Brien
An Examination of the Whole Playwright/Actor Relationship Presented As Some Kind of Cop Show Parody by Greg Kotis
Fissures (lost and found) by Steve Epp, Cory Hinkle, Dominic Orlando, Dominique Serrand, Deborah Stein, and Victoria Stewart
Ground by Lisa Dillman
Heist! by Deborah Stein
Let Bygones Be by Gamal Abdel Chasten
Lobster Boy by Dan Dietz
The Method Gun by Kirk Lynn
Phoenix by Scott Organ
Post Wave Spectacular by Diana Grisanti
Sirens by Deborah Zoe Laufer
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| "The Humana Festival of New American Plays, now in its 34th year, has been called the crossroads of American theater... But whatever you call it, Humana is a great annual bazaar, camp meeting, reunion and, just as it says, theatrical festival -- because it's also a lot of fun." |
| --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
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$19.95 per book
NOTE: This book contains 10 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Humana Festival 2009: The Complete Plays brings together all ten scripts from the 2009 Humana Festival of New American Plays, the 33rd annual cycle of world premiere productions staged at Actors Theatre of Louisville. The seven full-length plays and three ten-minute plays represent an exceptional array of work by some of the most exciting new voices in American theater, from a mother-daughter comedy with a lethal twist (On The Porch One Crisp Spring Morning), to a family drama about a bullying patriarch on the verge of unveiling his biography (Absalom), to a gripping drama about three strangers confined to a hotel room (The Hard Weather Boating Party). This unique compilation is a must-have for any theater aficionado's bookshelf.
To purchase this book of 10 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
3:59am: a drag race for two actors by Marco Ramirez
Absalom by Zoe Kazan
Ameriville by UNIVERSES
Brink! by Lydia Diamond, Kristoffer Diaz, Greg Kotis, Deborah Zoe Laufer, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, and Deborah Stein
The Hard Weather Boating Party by Naomi Wallace
On The Porch One Crisp Spring Morning by Alex Dremann
Roanoke by Michael Lew
Slasher by Allison Moore
Under Construction by Charles L. Mee
Wild Blessings: A Celebration of Wendell Berry adapted by Marc Masterson and Adrien-Alice Hansel
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| "Signs of vitality, flashes of brilliance, displays of theatrical invention... The Humana Festival remains a must-attend event for theater professionals across the country." |
| --Time |
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Comedy
Short, 15-25 minutes
1 female, 2 males
$40.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Last year, the largest cash prize in Bake Off history was awarded to a man; this year, one female contestant will make sure that the male entrants get their just desserts...
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| "Sheri Wilner has concocted an original and laugh-out-loud satire on gender roles... Bake Off is barbed, witty, thoughtful, giggle and snort inducing and most of all compact; it accomplishes everything in 20 minutes tops." |
| --Bruce Weber, The New York Times |
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 80-90 minutes
2 females
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
One winter night a woman bakes a pie as a girl tries to finish her college essay. As the deadline looms, unexamined issues of the girl's adoption from Russia, the rupture of her parents divorce, and the fear of leaving home break through the surface as the mother cajoles, deflects, and maneuvers around her own feelings of sadness and loss. Unfolding in real time, Memory House is about a young and an older woman who are forced to grapple with the past as they face an uncertain future. A funny and moving story about the complexity of living in the world today.
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| "A captivating emotional ballet that is also a moving demonstration of the strenuous work that goes into good mothering." |
| --The New York Times |
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$19.95 per book
NOTE: This book contains 11 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Humana Festival 2008: The Complete Plays brings together all eleven scripts from the 2008 Humana Festival of New American Plays, the 32nd annual cycle of world premiere productions staged at Actors Theatre of Louisville. The seven full-length plays and four ten-minute plays represent an exceptional array of work by some of the most exciting new voices in American theater -- from a scathing comedy about a blind date gone awry (Becky Shaw); to a documentary drama about the evangelical phenomenon in Colorado Springs (This Beautiful City); to a suburban street being undermined by zombies from a video game (Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom). Humana Festival 2008: The Complete Plays features a diverse selection of theatrical works that challenge and captivate audiences through movement, song, and bold explorations of what it means to be human.
To purchase this book of 11 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
All Hail Hurricane Gordo by Carly Mensch
Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo
Dead Right by Elaine Jarvik
Game On by Zakiyyah Alexander, Rolin Jones, Jon Spurney, Alice Tuan, Daryl Watson, Marisa Wegrzyn, and Ken Weitzman
Great Falls by Lee Blessing
In Paris You Will Find Many Baguettes but Only One True Love by Michael Lew
Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom by Jennifer Haley
One Short Sleepe by Naomi Wallace
the break/s by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
This Beautiful City by Steven Cosson, Michael Friedman, and Jim Lewis
Tongue, Tied by M. Thomas Cooper
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| "Humana is the most invigorating theatre weekend of the year." |
| --Denver Post |
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Comedy
Short, 15-20 minutes
2 females
$45.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
When a housewife comes to the end of her rope with her abusive husband, she doesn't expect him to spontaneously combust. Now she has a pile of ashes on the floor, and a life to reclaim.
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Humana Festival 2006: The Complete Plays
30th Anniversary Edition
by Liz Duffy Adams, Adam Bock, Eric Coble, Dan Dietz, et al.
Edited by Adrien-Alice Hansel and Julie Felise Dubiner
Foreword by Marc Masterson |
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$19.95 per book
NOTE: This book contains 10 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Humana 2006: The Complete Plays collects all ten plays produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville during the 30th anniversary season of the Humana Festival of New American Plays. The seven full-length plays and three ten-minute plays in this anthology encompass many of the most eclectic and exciting new voices in theater today -- from a technology-reliant man learning to listen to a planet on the verge of apocalypse (Natural Selection); to a left-leaning American citizen's doomed chance to give the President an earful (Listeners); to a group of Depression-era men who put on a fundraiser, and in the process find themselves transformed by more than just the ladies' costumes they don (Act A Lady). Alternately painful, subversive, hysterically funny, and poignant, these plays ask you to engage with characters and worlds you think you know, and then look again with new eyes.
To purchase this book of 10 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
Three Guys and a Brenda by Adam Bock
Natural Selection by Eric Coble
Low by Rha Goddess
Act A Lady by Jordan Harrison
Sovereignty by Rolin Jones
Listeners by Jane Martin
Hotel Cassiopeia by Charles L. Mee
The Scene by Theresa Rebeck
Six Years by Sharr White
Neon Mirage by Liz Duffy Adams, Dan Dietz, Rick Hip-Flores, Julie Jensen, Lisa Kron, Tracey Scott Wilson, and Chay Yew
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| "If you have any doubt that regional theatre in America is vital and thriving, then you missed this year's Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Kentucky." |
| --Newsweek |
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Comedy
Full-length, 90-120 minutes
4 females, 5 males (9-11 actors possible: 4-6 females, 5-7 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
A man moves to write the great American novel. A woman moves to Alaska to start a new life. Babies, wild dogs, komodo dragons, and hula dancers abound in this play about finding your tribe in a world gone haywire.
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Comedy
Short, 10-15 minutes
2 females, 2 males, 2 either (6 actors possible: 2-4 females, 2-4 males)
$40.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: This play is part of an anthology called Great Short Comedies: Volume 3.
Everyone wants to be in "The Spot," a television endorsement for a prominent political candidate. But with clueless directors, a ruthless campaign advisor, and an actress with too much heart, it's hard to tell who is telling the truth, who is playing the game, and who is dominating the polls.
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$19.95 per book
NOTE: This book contains 10 plays. To perform any of the plays, each must be licensed separately.
Humana Festival 2007: The Complete Plays is a collection of all ten scripts from the 31st Humana Festival of New American Plays, an annual cycle of world premiere productions staged at Actors Theatre of Louisville. The seven full-length plays and three ten-minute plays in this anthology encompass many of the most exciting and distinct new voices in theater today -- from the true story of a teenager's near-fatal internet attraction (dark play or stories for boys); to a comedy about football and the end of the world (The As If Body Loop); to examining the idiosyncrasies of the bachelor/ette party (Batch). Humana Festival 2007: The Complete Plays will appeal to all lovers of dramatic literature, including any students, teachers, professors, library patrons, and theatre producers in search of engaging new work.
This collection also includes a unique panel discussion about the international collaborative performance of 365 Days/365 Plays by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks.
To purchase this book of 10 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
The As If Body Loop by Ken Weitzman
Batch: An American Bachelor/ette Party by Alice Tuan, Whit MacLaughlin, and New Paradise Laboratories
Clarisse and Larmon by Deb Margolin
dark play or stories for boys by Carlos Murillo
I am not Batman. by Marco Ramirez
Mr. and Mrs. by Julie Marie Myatt
The Open Road Anthology by Constance Congdon, Kia Corthron, Michael John Garces, Rolin Jones, A. Rey Pamatmat, Kathryn Walat, and GrooveLily
Strike-Slip by Naomi Iizuka
The Unseen by Craig Wright
When Something Wonderful Ends by Sherry Kramer
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| "Recognized internationally as America's major new-play festival." |
| --Playbill |
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Comedy
Full-length, 90-100 minutes
3 females, 3 males, 1 either
(6-11 actors possible: 3-5 females, 3-6 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Moll, a girl who invents things, wins the science fair with a machine for hearing sounds that can't be heard. But when a shapeshifting Mercenary steals the invention (and her heart), she must embark on a quest to save noise as we know it. Accompanied by the last boy-virgin in the eleventh grade, Moll crosses chasms and rafts rivers into a world where sound is always more than what meets the ear. A quirky fable of innocence and experience, featuring live sound effects, mutinous onomatopoeia, and a host of woodsy temptations.
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| "Stuffed with whizbang sight and sonic gags, sci-fi tropes, fanciful language and self-referential pokes at its own loopiness, Kid-Simple is the work of a fertile, rambunctious imagination...Harrison is an exhilarating wordsmith." |
| --Misha Berson, Seattle Times |
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| Act A Lady by Jordan Harrison and Michael Friedman |
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Comedy
Full-length, 90-100 minutes
3 females, 3 males
$100.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
When the men of a small Prohibition-era town decide to put on a play dressed in "fancy-type, women-type clothes," the whole community is affected: gender lines blur, eyebrows raise, identities explode, and life and art are forever entangled. A thoughtful and exuberant Midwestern fable about the woman in every man, the man in every woman and the power of theatre to uncover both. Accompanied by accordion.
(This play is also available in the collection Humana Festival 2006: The Complete Plays.)
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| "The [2006 Humana] Festival's most uproarious comedy, a farce of outlandish proportions, takes on and celebrates the art of theater itself...Part Waiting for Guffman and part Dangerous Liaisons, Act a Lady's dizzying gender-bending explores the theater, the fallibility of stereotypes and the joys of accordion music with a deft wisdom..." |
| --Tony Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer |
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Drama
Full-length, 80-85 minutes
3 males (3 actors possible: 0-3 females, 0-3 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Imprisoned by a totalitarian regime and mercilessly tortured for unknown crimes, Wallace and Valdez live without hope of escape or release. When an enigmatic new prisoner arrives and begins communicating in code, both men develop new relationships to each other, their captors, and themselves. A darkly humorous examination of faith in an uncertain world.
(This play is also available in the collection Humana Festival 2007: The Complete Plays.)
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| "Sheer genius...The Unseen is what's right about modern theater." |
| --Sherry Deatrick, Louisville Eccentric Observer |
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 70-80 minutes
3 females, 3 males (5-17 actors possible: 3-6 females, 2-11 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Lucy is on a cross-country mission, looking for the love of her life. Her journey takes her across the American landscape, through hilarious and eccentric relationships in which time and emotion pass in a warped instant. When her quest becomes intertwined with that of a quirky female serial killer (an astrophysicist gone bad), the landscape changes once again, as they cross state lines and faultlines, exploring the geography of the human heart.
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Drama
Full-length, 75-80 minutes
2 females, 4 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
The longing, isolation, desire and fear of the classic Jacobean tragedy The Changeling are transported to the Great Plains of the Midwest in this haunting tale. At the center of the story is Laura, whose need to leave her small, rural home and controlling husband is ignited when she falls in love with a man who offers her escape and a future. But in this place where history and its ghosts populate the landscape, Laura's hunger for a new beginning sets off a violent chain of events that leads her not out of town, but to a profound (and terrifying) understanding of her true nature.
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| "In Tallgrass Gothic, her lyric and strangely engrossing play...Marnich has sharply drawn some characters who may give the denizens of Wisteria Lane a run for their scandals... But the play is most exciting because of Marnich's promise as a writer. She has found a poetic, natural cadence for characters, and this heightened language is part of what makes Eugene O'Neill and August Wilson enduring figures." |
| --Rohan Preston, Minneapolis Star Tribune |
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