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Comedy
Full-length, 90-120 minutes
8 females, 8 males, 5 either
(13-40 actors possible: 7-20 females, 5-20 males)
$85.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Forget all your dusty misconceptions about the traditions of commedia dell'arte as The Love of Three Oranges, based on a scenario by Carlo Gozzi, provides a wild, raucous slapstick comedy that is completely retooled and revised for today's audiences. Prince Tartaglia's life is filled with misery until an evil witch and her equally evil henchmen curse him to search for three giant oranges. But this quest proves more fruitful than anyone could have imagined as a once-lonely prince discovers love, friendship, and laughter when he encounters wizards, monarchs, and a wild narrator who isn't sure how far removed from the story he really is.
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| "...the cast members appear to be having so much fun on stage that it's hard not to get caught up in their playful spirit." |
| --Lisa Millegan, Modesto Bee (California) |
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Fat Beckett
by Gab Cody in collaboration with Rita Reis |
 
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Comedy
Full-length, 75-90 minutes
2 females
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
In this female homage to Waiting For Godot, two women find themselves trapped in an existential everywhere. Instead of an endless wait for an absent figure, however, Sophie and Kiki embark on an eternal search for their little lost goat, Biquette. The pair is fated to travel always together -- gorging on profiteroles, discussing the merits of a festival of vomiting donkeys, and arguing over whether it is worse to be condemned to stay in one place or to travel your entire life. Utilizing repetition, shadow puppets, slapstick, and mistranslation, Fat Beckett is a clever interrogation of the absurdities of human existence.
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| "Deconstructed and reconstituted by two cheery female comics, the result is a continually renewing riff, comic improv on a Beckettian theme, but with the greater vaudevillian freedom of the Marx Brothers." |
| --Chris Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
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Comedy
Full-length, 110-120 minutes
2 females, 6 males (8-15 actors possible: 2-4 females, 6-11 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Doomed to repeat the traditional life of an Italian harlequin and rejected by the love of his life, Isabella, Truffaldino shirks his old world Commedia Dell'arte upbringing and two-steps across the Atlantic to find a strangely parallel, modern new world of situation comedy, and a new love, Debbie. But the old world discovers it still needs Truffaldino and comes barreling after him, resulting in a hilarious collision of genres and mistaken identities. When Truffaldino realizes that the problems of Venice Beach aren't so very different than those of Venice, Italy, he must decide to which of these worlds he ultimately belongs.
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| "Rib tickling...Say Yes to Funny Play." |
| --San Francisco Chronicle |
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Star-Crossed Lovers
by Sheila Callaghan and Sophocles Papavasilopoulos
conceived by Scott Pafumi |
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Comedy/Drama
Short, 30 minutes
4 females, 7 males, 20 either
(9-50 actors possible: 5-25 females, 4-25 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
The story of Romeo and Juliet told over centuries, across continents, and through genres. Imaginative and musical, Star-Crossed Lovers is a spectacular tour of major theatrical and intellectual movements -- spanning tribal Africa, ancient Greece, commedia dell'arte Italy, Chekhov's Russia, Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1930s America, and existentialist post-modernity.
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Classic Comedy
Full-length, 120-145 minutes
3 females, 6 males, 2 either
(11-13 actors possible: 3-5 females, 6-10 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
This hysterical modern adaptation of Goldoni's classic comedy finds Clarice's dreams of marrying her true love shattered when the man she was originally promised to, Federigo Rasponi, seemingly returns from the dead. Unbeknownst to anyone, Federigo is really his sister, Beatrice, in disguise, determined to settle her brother's debts and find her love, Florindo, who fled after her brother was killed. Beatrice's plans work perfectly at first -- until her sneaky servant Truffaldino also takes Florindo on as his master in a scheme to make extra money.
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| "...beautifully and virtually seamlessly combines the disparate comedy forms with both modern and period vernacular." |
| --Stuart Duncan, News Room New Jersey |
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Commedia dell'Arte
Short, 40-50 minutes
1 female, 4 males (5 actors possible: 1-2 females, 3-4 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Amorio, the reckless brother of Leander, has been banished from town, separated briefly from his love Isabella. Today Amorio has snuck back through the gates and has sworn to marry Isabella, but little does he know that only one thing stands in his way: his brother. Unbeknownst to them both, the two brothers are set to marry the same woman. With only days left before both marriages, Amorio and Leander struggle with an idiotic priest, a slow-thinking servant, and the wretched mother of Isabella, only to find out in the end the greatest coincidence of all...
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Commedia dell'Arte
Short, 40-45 minutes
4 females, 8 males, 4 either
(14-16 actors possible: 4-6 females, 8-10 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Intrigue, role-reversals, and flighty lovers abound in this high-energy modern take on the classic Commedia dell'Arte play. In a world filled with lust, greed, and ever-shifting passions, will one young couple (and their servants) be able to find true love?
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Commedia dell'Arte
Short, 55-60 minutes
6 females, 6 males, 10 either
(16-22 actors possible: 4-17 females, 4-16 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
In this zany, modern-day commedia play, Pantalone's daughter, Maria, and her servant, Eliza, dream of opening a fashion house. Visiting rock star Rey (Elvis) falls in love with Maria, who believes that Silvestro, regardless of his stinky cheese problem, is working up the courage to propose to her. Nothing could be further from the truth, but what does that matter in a world out of time and place? The Magic of Pants parodies fame, modern technology, greed, and high fashion with lots of fun and physical schtick.
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Comedy
Full-length, 110-120 minutes
4 females, 10 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Careers and love lives alike are on the line when Moliere's theater company bombs their debut performance in Paris. Desperate to impress King Louis XIV, the company stages a spontaneous production of Moliere's farce The Love Doctor. The show is a smash hit, but when Moliere announces his betrothal to the younger sister of his former mistress, Madeliene Bejart, turmoil ensues. The next night, onstage high jinks merge with backstage drama when the troupe performs The Forced Marriage, and Moliere must deal with the demands of the King as he realizes that his fiancee may not be quite what she seems.
(The Love Doctor and The Forced Marriage can also be performed separately.)
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 100-120 minutes
1 female, 2 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Bo'sun Smythe is dead. Trapped in the ice at the North Pole, only three members of the doomed Carcass crew remain: Bane Barrington, buffoonish explorer; Ship's Chaplain Kane, a rector in drag; and Israel, their mute Canadian first mate. Will they make it home alive? First, they'll take a five-minute break, and explore themselves, their roles, and their predicament as the actors Bill, a struggling mime; his wife Helen, erstwhile actress; and Dan, the passive-aggressive puppet-master, i.e. the writer of this play. Weaving commedia dell'arte with theatre verite, The Voyage of the Carcass is a play about dreams, and the aftermath. (A one-act version of this play is also available.)
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| "At whiplash turns bitter and sweet, Voyage of the Carcass expertly navigates the pitfalls of artistic cannibalism: scavenging from your own life to feed your life's work." |
| --Jessica Winter, The Village Voice |
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Pinocchio by Moses Goldberg music by Scott Kasbaum
adapted from the story by Carlo Collodi |
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Musical comedy
Full-length, 70-80 minutes
3 females, 5 males
$8.99 per book
Other prices can be calculated by clicking "More Info"
Enacted by a troupe of Commedia dell'Arte actors and set to a joyful score, Collodi's beloved tale comes to life in the form of Geppeto's wooden creation, mischievous Pinocchio. Navigating the treacherous world, Pinocchio encounters a double-crossing fox and cat, an evil coachman, and a ravenous dogfish. But for every deceitful character, Pinocchio finds compassion and wisdom from those who love him, helping him through his misadventures so that he can learn the value of hard work and family on his way to becoming a real boy.
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Comedy
Short, 37-45 minutes
3 females, 7 males, 2 either
(9-12 actors possible: 2-5 females, 5-9 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
The brazenly-conniving servant Scapin is the most devious and audacious character you'll ever encounter. Two young men, Octave and Leandre, enlist his help to save them after they pledge marriage to women their fathers wouldn't approve of. Improvising his way through treacherous turns and outrageous misbehavior, Scapin manages to help the two men and their brides, even managing to exact a personal revenge in the process. But when Scapin is caught in the middle of a trick and abandoned by his cohorts, will his scheming be enough to get him out of trouble unscathed? (A full-length version of this play is also available.)
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| "...makes the most of Moliere... The material is entertaining, Mooney's adaptation clever, and the production, a pleasure." |
| --Rick Moser, Pioneer Press (Illinois) |
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The Love Doctor
translated and adapted by Nagle Jackson
from the play by Moliere |
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Comedy
Short, 40-50 minutes
2 females, 8 males
$40.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
NOTE: This play is part of a book called Moliere Plays Paris.
When Moliere's theater company bombs their debut performance in Paris, the company stages a spontaneous production of Moliere's farce The Love Doctor to try to please King Louis XIV, who is in attendance. The show is a smash hit, but it's the backstage drama that really takes off when Moliere announces his betrothal to the younger sister of his former mistress, Madeliene Bejart.
(This play can also be performed as part of the full-length play Moliere Plays Paris.)
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Comedy/Drama
Short, 45-55 minutes
1 female, 2 males
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Bo'sun Smythe is dead. Trapped in the ice at the North Pole, only three members of the doomed Carcass crew remain: Bane Barrington, buffoonish explorer; Ship's Chaplain Kane, a rector in drag; and Israel, their mute Canadian first mate. Will they make it home alive? (A full-length version of this play is also available.)
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| "Hilarious and unexpectedly profound... The Voyage of the Carcass is, for all its tragic plot points, resolutely a comedy: a clown show, really. Bane, Kane, and Israel communicate in dizzy non-sequiturs and when they move it's mostly in slapstick manner... The bottom line: you will be greatly entertained by this play, and you will leave with something genuine to think about. Go see it." |
| --Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com |
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Comedy
Full-length, 75-95 minutes
3 females, 7 males, 2 either
(9-12 actors possible: 2-5 females, 5-9 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
The brazenly-conniving servant Scapin is the most devious and audacious character you'll ever encounter. Two young men, Octave and Leandre, enlist his help to save them after they pledge marriage to women their fathers wouldn't approve of. Improvising his way through treacherous turns and outrageous misbehavior, Scapin manages to help the two men and their brides, even managing to exact a personal revenge in the process. But when Scapin is caught in the middle of a trick and abandoned by his cohorts, will his scheming be enough to get him out of trouble unscathed? (A short version of this play is also available.)
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| "Schemings is well-done, unique...excellent entertainment... Mooney's adaptation, combined with actors having genuine fun with their parts, makes for a tremendously humorous show." |
| --Jeffrey P. Brown, Great Lakes Bulletin |
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Comedy
Short, 40-50 minutes
4 females, 10 males
$40.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
NOTE: This play is part of a book called Moliere Plays Paris.
Shortly after their performance of The Love Doctor, Moliere's acting troupe stages a production of his popular farce The Forced Marriage. This tale of a money-minded bride-to-be pleases the audience and King Louis XIV, but fact merges with fiction when Moliere is confronted with the idea that his fiancee, the younger sister of his former mistress, Madeliene Bejart, may not be quite what she seems.
(This play can also be performed as part of the full-length play Moliere Plays Paris.)
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