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Noir Comedy
Full-length, 105-120 minutes
5 females, 7 males (9-26 actors possible: 4-9 females, 5-17 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Charlie Nickels has a hard life as a gumshoe in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, and things are only made harder by the murder of a client and the theft of her 300 karat diamond. With the help of his wise-cracking secretary, Ida, Charlie seeks out the many suspects: smarmy bookworm Clive, equestrian beauty Veronica, snooty butler Wilson, sensitive muscle Louie, and mob boss Bugsy Siegel. At the center of the case is femme fatale Mona, a nightclub singer who captures Charlie's affections...and suspicions. Packed with romance, intrigue, and murder, this detective noir is a smart parody that will keep you guessing until the end.
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| "Set in 1947 Hollywood, where life is as cheap as a chalk-stripe suit, Bill Robens' smart, snappy parody of hard-boiled noir comes complete with jaded gumshoe, a dame in distress -- and plenty of moid-ah." |
| --Philip Brandes, Los Angeles Times |
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Comedy
Short, 30-35 minutes
2 females, 2 males, 26 either
(10-30 actors possible: 2-28 females, 2-28 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
What do you get when you combine an after school special, a penguin heist, accent-challenged knights, puppet-show Shakespeare, and a vampire murder mystery? One playwright thinks these could be the ingredients for his magnum opus, but it could be the recipe for the worst play ever written in the history of the world...and possibly the universe. With Stage Directions and Scene Heading as our narrators and flashy Flashback giving backstory, nothing on earth could possibly outdo this hilariously awful night of theater.
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Drama
Full-length, 80-100 minutes
7 females, 5 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
A storm-tossed swirl of a play, Acts of God tracks twelve high-school students through the year following a devastating tornado strike. As the students grieve, assist in the recovery efforts, and tackle the basics of getting on with life, they must also cope with the storm's emotional detritus. Friendships and allegiances shift, beliefs and faith are tested, and the threat of a new storm forces each character to relive the once-in-a-lifetime terror they thought they'd put behind them...
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| "...Ever-flowing, constantly shifting, broadly ambitious examination of the emotional debris left behind by a fictional F-3 tornado..." |
| --Roger McBain, Evansville Courier & Press |
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In Conflict adapted by Douglas C. Wager
based on the book In Conflict: Iraq War Veterans Speak Out on Duty, Loss, and the Fight to Stay Alive by Yvonne Latty |
 
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Docudrama
Full-length, 130-150 minutes
4 females, 6 males (6-17 actors possible: 2-4 females, 4-13 males)
$75.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
Individual stories of mostly college-age Iraq War veterans are presented in their own words, taken from audio transcripts of actual interviews. Already having faced brutal combat conditions in a hostile land, these soldiers have come home to the daunting challenges of returning to civilian life. Their remarkable accounts are as diverse as their backgrounds, representing America in all its complexity and humanity. Honoring the courage and desire of the individuals who serve their country, In Conflict illuminates the traumatic human cost of war, as well as the physical, moral, and spiritual conundrum that each returning veteran of the war now faces.
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| "Whenever a performer takes the stage to deliver a monologue, you feel inescapably invested in what is said. The tight bond between actors and characters here enfolds the audience too. The suggestion -- and it is not necessarily a comfortable one -- is that we're all in this together." |
| --Ben Brantley, The New York Times |
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Comedy
Full-length, 110-120 minutes
3 females, 4 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Illinois schoolteacher Harmony Green has told her fourth grade class that Menard County's most beloved homegrown hero, Abraham Lincoln, was gay. When Honest Abe is "outed" in a reimagined Christmas pageant, controversy and chaos engulf the town. As the trial of the century begins, big-city reporters and Congressional candidates descend, and family skeletons are forced out of the closet. Top hats and beards abound in this hilarious, poignant, and timely look at prejudice past and present.
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| "An...ambitious mashup of burlesque anarchy, elaborate narrative intrigue, serious sociopolitical themes, and campy dance interludes. [...] It shouldn't hold together. Yet somehow this frequently ingenious, hilarious contraption does." |
| --Variety |
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Comedy/Drama
Short, 35-45 minutes
5 females
$40.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
For five girls living in gritty east L.A., growing up takes place in a world where parents refuse to speak ingles, girls in magazines never resemble the girl in the mirror, and boys only want to get some other girl's number. Told through monologues, vignettes, and poetic interludes, Black Butterfly, Jaguar Girl, Pinata Woman and Other Superhero Girls, Like Me gives an honest and compelling voice to the painful, wistful, and amusing experiences of their urban adolescence.
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Comedy
Short, 35-40 minutes
10 females, 3 males, 1 either (9-14 actors possible: 6-11 females, 3-4 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
After being home-schooled all his life, Ariel Carvell (who is not, he insists, named after the mermaid) is excited for his first day of "normal" high school. Unfortunately, his confusing name betrays him again, as Ariel finds himself mistakenly enrolled as the only boy in an all-girls school. To make matters worse, his eccentric, 37-year-old Aunt Lydia decides to enroll as well! Things look bad until Ariel sees the girl of his dreams across the hall and realizes that, with a little luck, life for the only boy in an all-girls school might not be that bad...
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Serio-comedy for young audiences
Short, 10-15 minutes
1 female, 2 males, 1 either (4-6 actors possible: 1-4 females, 2-5 males)
$30.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: This play is part of an anthology called Great Short Plays: Volume 9.
Chester sets out to paint the world purple when he realizes it's the only color his blind grandfather can see.
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Drama
Full-length, 75-90 minutes
3 females, 4 males, 4 either
(10-20 actors possible: 3-10 females, 4-10 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
This exuberant, poetic new work featuring a live jazz band follows Katrina, a young girl from New Orleans forced to face the powerful hurricane that shares her name. Separated from her beloved father during the storm, Katrina must journey to safety with only ghosts, sweet N'awlins music, and her own bravery as companions. Despite enormous obstacles, Katrina is determined to reclaim her name and recover the magic and fire that lie within the city and herself. With musicians serving as both bystanders to catastrophe and heralds of hope, Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back celebrates survival, surrender and the indomitable spirit of one of America's most historical cities.
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Comedy
Full-length, 75-85 minutes
2 males (2-13 actors possible: 0-5 females, 0-8 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Joel, a neurotic, down-on-his-heels actor/playwright, is opening his new adaptation of an obscure Euripides comedy in a smelly former sausage factory in Brooklyn. Unknown to him, there's a big-time Hollywood casting director in the house, as well as his crazy mother (who's also his agent) and his crazy aunt (who's really his mother). When one of the actors takes sleeping pills and passes out mid-performance, and the leading lady quits, Joel's relatives leap over the footlights to rescue the show. Realities collide, and his family's wild stories out-Greek the script, in a horrifically hilarious night of truth-telling. Just two actors can play all of the outlandish characters in this stripped-down, high-octane farce.
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| "Rollicking! Delicious! Half the fun is seeing if you can keep up...!" |
| --The New York Times |
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Action comedy for young audiences
Short, 10-15 minutes
2 females, 5 either (6-7 actors possible: 2-7 females, 0-5 males)
$30.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: This play is part of an anthology called Great Short Comedies: Volume 6.
Young video-gamer Lupe rides the F train by herself every day. She may be a game master, but in real life, she's never done anything extraordinary. That is, until the infamous F Train Monster chooses Lupe as his nemesis in battle -- and she's got to use all her skills to survive.
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Drama
Full-length, 100 minutes
10 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Shortly after a hellish experience on a hilltop in the Quang Tri Province of Vietnam, Lieutenant William Bonney shot seven Vietnamese villagers in cold blood. Called to answer for the brutal atrocities against these civilians, Bonney and his men give their testimonies of the incidents leading up to the lieutenant's court-martial. Juxtaposing the brutal conditions in Vietnam with the trial, this gripping play examines the primal brotherhood of war and the punishing emptiness of those who return from it.
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| "...the play celebrates the capacity of the human spirit to care deeply... Pielmeier evokes the hope that American males can evolve beyond the emotional level that makes a hero of that hollow shell, Rambo." |
| --Centre Daily Times (University Park, PA) |
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California Scenarios
a collection of short plays about the history of Latinos in California
by Luis Alfaro, Rick Coca, Joann Farias, Anne Garcia-Romero, et al. |
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Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 90-110 minutes
6 females, 3 males, 6 either
(8-20 actors possible: 4-10 females, 4-10 males)
$75.00 per performance; $9.99 per book
NOTE: This book contains 6 plays. Each piece in this anthology can be licensed and performed separately.
Rich in history, fantasy, triumph, and longing, this collection of short plays captures aspects of Latinos in California, from a group of women waiting in the night to be swept away by their bandit-boyfriend (Desert Longing or Las Aventureras by Anne Garcia-Romero), to a young monk who finds introspection in the form of a skeleton (The Seven Visions of Encarnacion by Octavio Solis). Inspired by Isamu Noguchi's sculpture garden "California Scenario," each play reveals a complex view of the California landscape as it has never been seen before.
To purchase this book of 6 plays, click "Order this play" above. To perform an individual play, click on its title below:
Desert Longing or Las Aventureras by Anne Garcia-Romero
The Gardens of Aztlan by Luis Alfaro
The Hanging of Josefa by Rick Coca
Odysseus Cruz by Jose Cruz Gonzalez
The Seven Visions of Encarnacion by Octavio Solis
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back by Joann Farias
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| "The collected work of five talented Hispanic playwrights is picking up where John Steinbeck's tales of outsider anguish and California woe left off...where Steinbeck's words painted dire portraits of migrants and immigrants leaden with social criticism, these playwrights display a common optimism for the next generation. Without waxing sentimental, each playlet ends with renewed vigor and promise of better days." |
| --Denise Martin, Orange County Register |
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| Sand by Trista Baldwin |
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Drama
Full-length, 80-90 minutes
1 female, 2 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
In a Middle Eastern desert, three American soldiers guard a seemingly abandoned gas station. Trapped in a confusing, monotonous and sometimes terrifying occupation, they confront powers foreign and domestic, secular and divine, real and imagined. As past blurs with present and reality dissolves, boundaries between friends and enemies break down with horrific results. A complex, semi-expressionistic take on the consequences of modern war.
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| "Stunning, hallucinatory... the play suggests how the line between enemies, and even identity itself, shifts as easily as the sands for anyone in the surreal state of combat." |
| --Caryn James, The New York Times |
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Farce
Full-length, 150 minutes
5 females, 9 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Laura Chandler believes that her husband Victor is having an affair with another woman, and tricks him into meeting her at a local "love" motel in order to catch him in the act. In doing so, she involves a huge range of characters, including a Tom Jones wannabe of questionable sexuality, a lascivious doctor, the owner of the Pussycat Motel, a very jealous Spanish nobleman and his wife, and a drunken porter named Potts, who happens to be Victor Chandler's doppelganger.
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| "A fresh adaptation ... Uproarious. [Leaming has a] talent for precise, beautifully controlled comedy." |
| --Lawson Taitte, The Dallas Morning News |
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Drama/Comedy
Full-length, 75-90 minutes
3 females, 3 males (6-18 actors possible: 3-8 females, 3-10 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
A mismatched romance on a Brooklyn subway, an unexpected date, a couple struggling to have a baby, an artist re-discovering his passion: these stories and more are artfully woven together to create a tapestry of humor, love, sorrow, and romance. Through a series of short scenes, Heart of the City is a valentine to the joys and challenges of contemporary life that will take you on a dazzling ride through the trials and triumphs of the heart.
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| "Buoyed by its palpably benign worldview. Unlike many social mosaics, it does not, for once, amount to a blunt condemnation of urban existence. How refreshing." |
| --Andy Webster, The New York Times |
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Comedy
Full-length, 70-90 minutes
6 females, 6 males, 12 either
(12-100 actors possible: 6-50 females, 6-50 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
What if Ebenezer Scrooge lived in New Mexico today? In this folklore-infused New Mexican adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic story, Scrooge is visited in the hospital by the great Native American folk hero Coyote, who sends him off to rediscover his humble Christmas Past in a Mexican village. Scrooge must reconcile this past -- and his choice to forsake his love and immigrate to America -- with his present and future happiness. This large-cast holiday comedy features three original songs by Diego Flores.
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| "...A hilarious, family-friendly, politically correct holiday confection that packs an emotional punch. This year, skip the Nutcracker and spend an evening with Coyote instead!" |
| --Angela Bickford, Sonoma County Reader |
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Comedy
Full-length, 100-110 minutes
3 females, 3 males (6-21 actors possible: 3-16 females, 3-16 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Billy's life was pushed to the brink of insanity when his father disappeared and his mother slipped into a catatonic state after a failed suicide attempt. His older sister, Meg, has enough on her hands with a job at Wal-Mart to pay off medical bills and a Latin lover who is determined to teach Billy how to be a man. Billy's only friends are a home schooled lesbian evangelist named Chastity whom he desperately lusts after and a large, magical talking capybara, the world's largest rodent. Together, they must find a way to revive Billy's mother and save Billy's world.
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| "Zolidis' delightfully twisted and often bleak black comedy marks the local debut of a most promising playwright...raucously funny and truly fearless." |
| --Entertainment Today |
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Drama
Full-length, 85-100 minutes
2 females, 6 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Racism and hidden prejudices surface when seven college students lock themselves in the president's office to protest tuition hikes. As outside pressures mount, they must confront feelings which tear apart the personal relationships within the group, and threaten the success of their action.
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| "Fiercely engrossing ... a fascinating evening ... glued me to my seat." |
| --Clive Barnes, New York Post |
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Drama
Short, 30-40 minutes
6 females, 4 males (10 actors possible: 2-8 females, 2-8 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
While reviewing "the principle of equilibrium" for their upcoming chemistry exam, a group of friends discuss the racist actions of a teacher at the school. Confronted with a recent example of his favoritism towards white students, they debate whether they should respond in some way to the racism they perceive, or just continue studying. The unexpected appearance of a fellow student further complicates matters as he forces them to admit the true feelings under their good intentions. Witty, genuine, and thought-provoking, this play explores the forces that maintain the status quo in both chemical and human reactions.
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