Matthew Weaver

SHORT HOLIDAY PLAYS FOR YOUTH: An evening of short plays depicting life at the North Pole during the rest of the year. Large cast, can be doubling, some performers may play the same role throughout the evening (ie, Santa, Mrs. Claus, reindeer and elves, etc.)

Plays include:
THE BOOTS
STRANGER ON THE ROOF
SURPLUS CARIBOU
THE ROBOTS ARE MALFUNCTIONING!
THE SLEIGH
DARKEST NIGHT
THE PERILS OF DELIVERING PIZZA TO THE NORTH POLE
THE VISITOR
MRS. CLAUS' BOOK GROUP
THE LIST

TEN-MINUTE: A cat and dog watch their owner from up in heaven.

Written for Playwrights Thriving's Secret Santa 2025 program.

FULL-LENGTH FOR A LARGE (YA?) CAST: A bowlful of Spaghetti Os-esque alphabet-shaped pasta noodles with meatballs find themselves a suspected murder weapon when a world-famous chef winds up facedown in them, dead.
They must go on the run to prove their innocence, aided by a master -of-disguise hamster who has escaped a pre-school classroom, and find the real killer.

TEN-MINUTE: The world is ending. Did Tuna Boy bring tuna fish for lunch today? (Spoiler alert: He did.)

SHORT PLAYS FOR KIDS: A sort of ALL IN THE TIMING (that classic evening of short plays by David Ives) for youth performers. Only instead of a bell, it's elephants. Or a lack thereof .. mostly ... except for when elephants show up ...

Contains eight original short plays: RECIPE FOR AN ELEPHANT, THE INSIDE OF AN ELEPHANT, THE ELEPHANT'S LEGS HAVE SOME THOUGHTS; CLOWN & MIME ARE MISSING AN ELEPHANT; ELEPHANTS, ELEPHANTS, EVERYWHERE; THE ELEPHANT DETECTIVE; NO ROLES FOR ELEPHANTS and ONE OF US IS IMAGINARY.

SHORT PLAYS FOR KIDS: An evening of short plays for kids, all revolving around elephants!

Includes "Waiting for the Elephant," "The Scare-Elephant," "Elephants in the Room," "Sohcan Evol Stnahpele!" "Lost Elephant," "Dessert Fit for an Elephant," "Did You Hear About the Elephants?" and "War & Elephant & Peace & Peanuts."

SHORT PLAYS FOR YOUNG PERFORMERS: In the vein of IF I WERE AN ELEPHANT, WHERE WOULD I HIDE? and ELEPHANTS LOVE NACHOS!!!, SHARKS! ARE GOOD AT SHARING! is an evening of ALL IN THE TIMING-esque short plays for youth performers, only instead of elephants, this time, it's sharks! (It's David Ives for kids!)

Plays are SHARKS! LOVE CHUM!, SHARKS! ARE GOOD AT SHARING!, SHARKS! ARE NOT ALLOWED TO WATCH JAWS!, SHARKS! VERSUS JETS!, SHARKS! ASK THE AUDIENCE FOR A VOLUNTEER!, SHARKS! IN SHARK-INFESTED WATERS!, SHARKS! FIND A BOAT! and SHARKS! VERSUS PIRANHAS!

FULL-LENGTH FOR YOUNG ADULT THEATRE: Frog brothers Ribbit, Croak and Garumph are turned into humans by the witch Rhubarbia at a time when King Whatshisname is desperate to find princes to marry his daughters, Princesses Spork, Igneous and Zamboni.

It's up to their little sister Grenouille (with new friends Oink and Ouiouiouioui) to come to their rescue!

SHORT PLAY: The largest animals on earth gather to discuss the future of the planet.

Portuguese translation of BOYS & GIRLS ON THE BEACH, by Matthew Weaver, translated by Caetano Barsetoli

FULL-LENGTH: Jessie Hardy is a hard-working nurse and single mother. Her commitment to her job is tested when a dangerous patient is checked in to the hospital.

Produced in July 2022 as part of Buck's Rock Camp.

FULL-LENGTH: Jasmine Pine celebrates her anniversary.

FULL-LENGTH: Directed by Joanne Moore Bracht; Masquers Theater in Soap Lake, Wash., Summer of 2016
Eagle Point High School production in Eagle Point, OR, in November 2018.

Reading by Baldwin Wallace BFA Showcase Class of 2021, Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio; July 24, 2020.

Ace Valentine is a classic noir detective like Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. Only she has a cold. When a sexy club singer asks her to investigate the disappearance of his missing wife, Ace is forced to confront old flames and longtime rivals. Before long, she's on the trail of a killer, consuming a large quantity of doughnuts - her medicine of choice - and dodging bullets. And ducking is hard when you have the sniffles.

ONE-WOMAN SHOW: The Goddess Aphrodite descends from Olympus to tell her side of the story. For one night only.

Calls for some audience interaction.

FULL-LENGTH: A-19 is an Awkward Robot. The Toastburn Company lost the instruction manual for Awkward Robots. A-19 is good at awkwarding anyway. A natural. Gifted. But A-19 wants to write an instruction manual so they know how to navigate dating. QTP-13 is a Scintillating Conversation Robot who is sometimes awkward, and wants to help A-19 with their instruction manual.

Reading June 20, 2020 as part of Baldwin Wallace University's BFA Showcase.

FULL-LENGTH: 2016 finalist in the Rover Dramawerks play contest in Plano, Texas.
Directed by Beverly Hasper at Masquers Theater in Soap Lake, Wash., in the summer of 2013.

Bob and Agatha Outhaus are confined to their bed for medical reasons. Agatha is eight months and three weeks pregnant and just about to give birth, and Bob broke both of his legs. Bob is an outdoors newspaper columnist, but hasn't wanted to tell his bosses about his injuries, so he's still been writing his column like he's getting out and about.
Their nurse, Joan, has a thing for bad boys. Bob's ne'er-do-well brother, Simon, arrives to help out and brings his girlfriend, Twinkie, with him. But trouble tends to follow Simon around ... unless it's already on the Outhaus doorstep!

FULL-LENGTH, TWO-HANDER: It's Marshall and Rowdy's eighth date. It has gone very, very well.

FULL-LENGTH: A group of friends gathers for their semi-regular "Guy's Night Out" poker game. All of them are at various stages of life - Teddy and his wife just had a baby. Hank just started dating again. Clint is suspicious of his wife. John is embarking on a new business venture. Pierce is distracted by worry.

They're all starving, because it's The Stooge's night to bring food. Only The Stooge apparently met a girl ...

All characters are male, but are to be played by female performers.

FULL-LENGTH FOR A LARGE CAST: A crowd gathers to watch Jesus Christ's crucifixion.

FULL-LENGTH: Read as part of the WILDSound Festival in Canada in August 2015.

At the annual gathering of the Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony and Lust begin commiserating about the monotony of their routines. Apparently even having sex all the time and eating as much as you could ever want eventually gets really boring.

So Gluttony and Lust swap, and are so reinvigorated and energized that they convince the other deadly sins to follow suit. Meanwhile, the world falls into chaos, with erotic bakeries taking the place of Starbucks on every street corner and a sumo wrestler being named the Sexiest Person Currently Breathing.

Eventually the Virtues get involved, as all the changes threaten to bring about the apocalypse.

Set entirely in a Chinese buffet restaurant.

FULL-LENGTH: Leo and his roommate order Chinese takeout.

Performed as a Zoom reading by the September Theatre Project, September 2020.

(formerly SPECIAL CHOW MEIN)

FULL-LENGTH YOUNG ADULT PLAY FOR ZOOM: Former ace kid detective Shamrock Shake Jones, best friend Charlie Winkston and brother Dunk are knee-deep in homework and caring for their flour babies for class when someone leaves an actual baby on Sham's doorstep, with a note and her old detective agency fee.

Sham, Charlie and Dunk, and you, the audience (as a character named Milton), must figure out the identity of the mother who left the baby and the identity of the father.

Written in response to a request for a high school play entirely on Zoom, for 20-plus performers, with a Choose Your Own adventure element.

YA FULL-LENGTH COMEDY: Timmy Hilsop is on the run from every girl in his school and the tri-county area, all of whom want to kiss him to win a prize established by his rock star older brother, Van. But does Timmy even want to be kissed?

Selected for the 2018 Plays-In-Development program at The Sauk in Jonesville, Michigan in June 2018, directed by Trinity Bird.

FULL-LENGTH: Sisters Finn and Vesta go on a road trip across the country after Vesta turns up on Finn's door
with a mysterious urn.

YOUTH PLAY FOR A LARGE CLASS OF STUDENTS: A year in the life of a wheatfield.

EVENING OF PLAYS: 40ish family and friends write on the theme: What Matthew Weaver means to me.

BY: Lisa Weaver, William Weaver, Steven Weaver
&
Evan Baughfman, Trinity Bird, Tristen Canfield, Hal Corley, Gail Cory-Betz, Monica Cross, Doug DeVita, Coral Dickinson, Carol Ellis, Franky Gonzalez, Justin Guidroz, Emily Hageman, Jean Hardie, S.E. Hilsen, Pam Kingsley, Greg Lam, Steven G. Martin, Giselle Muise, Scott Mullen, Jennifer O’Grady, Brady Peters, Daniel Prillaman, Larry Rinkel, Vicki Rothrock, Scott Sickles, Amee Smith, Elisabeth Giffin Speckman, Rachel Luann Strayer, Philip Middleton Williams

From Matthew:
So, I turned 40 this year. On September 19.

As a way to mark the occasion, I asked family, friends, fellow playwrights and strangers to write a few words for a project called 40ish Short Plays about Matthew Weaver. The theme: What Matthew Weaver means to me.

Thank you all so much for contributing!

FULL-LENGTH: An evening of very short plays, 1-3 minutes each, all in alphabetical order.

Each play only uses dialogue that begins with a corresponding letter. The "A" play only uses words that begin with the letter A, the "B" play only uses words that begin with the letter "B," and so on.

Includes "Quite" and "Want."

A finalist for the Playwrights Series new play development program at Cutting Ball Theatre in San Francisco, CA, in the summer of 2018.
Used as a prompt in Emma Goldman-Sherman's Write Now workshop in the 29th Street Playwrights Collective in New York City.

Maximum of 86 individual parts. Obviously, doubling is allowed.

FULL-LENGTH, WORK IN PROGRESS: An evening of short plays depicting various animals in the Bible.

Collection includes "The Gospel According to the Snake," "The Ark," "Spots," The Great Fish & Jonah," "Flies at the Nativity" and "4 Horses of the Apocalypse."

More animals may/will be added as inspiration sparks.

FULL-LENGTH: A collection of tales of first kisses, innocence and loss of innocence.

Compiles THE BOY ON THE BEACH, TWO BOYS ON THE BEACH, THREE BOYS ON THE BEACH (the playwright requests that you include both versions), THREE GIRLS ON THE BEACH, FOUR BOYS ON THE BEACH, FIVE BOYS ON THE BEACH, SIX BOYS ON THE BEACH, NINE BOYS ON THE BEACH, TEN BOYS ON THE BEACH and TWO YOUNG MEN ON THE BEACH.

(NINE BOYS and TWO YOUNG MEN make their debut here.)

FULL-LENGTH: An evening of short plays devoted to first kisses.

Includes "New Mistakes," "True Love's Kiss," "Asterisk Kisses" and "Variations on a First Kiss."

In "The Kissing Scene," Quinn discovers Dominick's secret.
In "Shrug," a boy and girl wonder what all the fuss is about.
In "The Cereals Aisle," a man and woman share a passionate moment in the middle of a grocery store.
In "Spin the Bottle,"a group of senior citizens play a favorite childhood game.
In "Seven Minutes in Heaven," Jordan tries to give Charlie his first kiss.

FULL-LENGTH: Intended to be an evening of short plays, mostly monologues, depicting the life and times of Jesus Christ at various ages - three weeks, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, newly crucified at 33, today and infinity.

Includes the short plays "Jesus at 3 Weeks" and "Jesus at 10."

TEN-MINUTE-PLUS:On his nineteenth birthday on the 19th, a young man asks to kiss the girl of his dreams. She says no. A Reality Girl appears and offers him an interesting alternative.

ONE-ACT: Dung Beetle-Man finds himself captured by a longtime enemy.

Directed by Adam Sharp, starring Abby Constable and Court Saunders, in the Spokane Civic Theatre's Playwrights Forum Festival in June 2023, Spokane, Wash.

ONE-ACT: Young Alec, the sheriff's son, spends Christmas Eve with the notorious bank robbers Bonnie and Bonnie. Selected for the Long Form March 16-18, 2018 at Stage Left Theater in Spokane, Wash. Directed by Jennie Oliver and Andrea Tate.

TEN-MINUTE PLUS: Two performers demonstrate many different kinds of kisses.

TEN-MINUTE-PLUS: Performed by Fearless Productions, Kicking and Screaming Festival in Rahway, N.J., February 2016

Logan asks Jessica to be his first kiss.

A playwright observes the activities going on around them on a particular day in Spokane, Wash.

Theater verite.

Published by Cascadia Rising Review, June 2018.

A finalist for the Dionysian magazine, issue 002, February 2017.

ONE-ACT: A veteran bee scout desperately searches for food for the rest of the hive. Her knees cheer her on.

All-female cast.

SHORT PLAY: Trickster, in need of a favor, approaches Elephant.

10- to 15-MINUTE: Three guys find themselves in the feminine care aisle, having to pick out a product for the important ladies in their lives.

Key dialogue written by Emily Wagnitz.

Originally performed June 2012 by Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane, Wash., directed by Will Gilman. Also performed on Spokane community radio the same year.

YA ONE-ACT: Selected for Gallery Players Black Box New Play Festival June 2017, in Brooklyn, NY.

Kent Rowan and brother Bobby are at the food court of their local mall, getting dinner after buying shoes for Bobby.

Cheryl Jarvis, the girl Kent likes, is at another table with friends Brandy and Madison. Her overbearing boyfriend, Keith, crashes the party to check in on his girlfriend.

Love and hate, betrayal and woe all play out among the teen scene at a local mall on a Friday night.

ONE-ACT: Jonah (yes, that Jonah, the one from the Bible) and the great fish are friends.

Performed as part of Burien Actors Theatre Playwrights Festival, Burien, WA, May 2019, directed by Rachel Rene. First-place winner, one-act category.

Performed as part of Spokane Civic Theatre Playwrights Forum Festival; Spokane, WA; June 2019, directed by Matthew Harget. Received Adjudicator's Award.

ONE-ACT: Produced as part of Spokane Civic Theatre's Playwrights Forum Festival in summer of 2014, directed by Will Gilman.

A psychic comes up to Peter Hopewell and tells him when and where to meet the love of his life ... and what she'll be wearing.

TEN-MINUTE/ONE-ACT: A man sits at a table, his beating heart in a shoebox.

Published by Cascadia Rising Review magazine, June 2019.

ONE-ACT: Two young couples bravely venture into a house of mirrors, led by our host, Rae Bradbury.

They might not like what they find.

ONE-ACT: Ace reporter Lulu Lamb is on the scene in search of more information about the notorious Kissing Bandit. She finds three women hoping the masked vigilante appears ...

ONE-ACT: The playwright Matthew Weaver gets his first kiss.

Written Nov. 19, 2020, as part of a personal challenge to write 30 10-page plays during the month of November 2020.

ONE-ACT: Charlie Donner wrote a controversial story for school, and now he's in trouble with his favorite teacher, Miss Anchovy.

ONE-ACT: Xavier and Petunia find romance at a party. But Petunia has a hereditary heart diagnosis ...

ONE-ACT: Zillah Slaughter brings her soulmate home to see the place she grew up.

Inspired by an Aug. 20, 2020 Tweet by Eve Rock, also known as _om_eye_goodness: "I really want to fuck someone on the pulpit in my old church someday."

Contains scenes of intimacy. An intimacy coordinator is advised.

10-MINUTE-PLUS: Six frisky seniors play a favorite childhood game. Part of the "First Kisses" evening of short plays.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

ONE-ACT: Ziggy has stopped talking to JJ. JJ is determined to address the situation

STRANGE HOLIDAY ONE-ACT FOR YOUTH: Santa's sleigh ran into some turbulence on Christmas Eve.

ONE-ACT: In prehistoric times, a Gatherer and a Hunter invent the kiss.

Written Aug. 31, 2019, as the final play written as part of a month-long personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play (at least) every day in August 2019.

An intimacy coordinator is recommended.

ONE-ACT: Ms. Conrad's high school English class is reading that classic, epic novel THE WHALE AND THE TUBA. Ms. Conrad is the world's foremost expert on THE WHALE AND THE TUBA.

Then the author of THE WHALE AND THE TUBA walks into the classroom.

Originally written as a short story for my senior year Creative Writing class at Rogers High School in March 1999. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to try to turn it into a play.

YA-ONE-ACT: Owen tags along on older brother Cooper's hot date at the movies with Ava. But then Owen runs out of popcorn ...

Produced May 2019 as part of Iowa State University One-Act Play Festival, directed by Levi Miller.

Produced April 2019 as part of Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center One-Act Play Festival in Midland, PA, directed by Korey Grecek and Sophia Rose Englesberg*

*This is a special production because Korey and Sophia were in the world premiere of the play, and enjoyed it so much they asked to direct it.

Selected for the Pittsburgh New Works Festival in Carnegie, PA, produced by Thoreau NM - a Production Company, in September 2017.

Shortlisted for the International Talent Club Balkan Regional Playwrights Childrens Drama category in July 2017.

TEN-MINUTE RADIO PLAY: After a long day at work, Ruben is attacked by mimes.

Three crows witness something ominous on Halloween.

Written and produced as part of Spokane Public Radio and Spokane Playwrights Laboratory's Radio Play Co-Lab. Directed by Juan Mas, starring Deborah Marlowe, Aubrey Shimek Davis and Jaz Vega.

https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/show/radio-play-co-lab/2023-10-31/th…

15-MINUTES: Two bookish students visit a nude beach. A radio play.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: Ten people gather on a rooftop for a New Year's Eve party in the middle of intense cold.

TEN-MINUTE-PLUS: Cindy teaches Uriah how to be affectionate in public.

TEN-MINUTE: The four horses of the apocalypse wonder if today will be the day.

Selected for Mystic Vision Players's Kicking & Swearing Festival in Rahway, NJ, in January-February 2020.

Performed as part of Playwrights Playground, Stage Left Theatre, Spokane, WA, August 2020. Directed by Rebecca Cook.

Published in the Vassar Review in May 2020, literary arts journal at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

In effort to find some honey, several bears in the woods use an ingenious way to attract some bees.

Written for the Playwrights Thriving 2025 program, Playwright's Delight!

TEN-MINUTE: Isabelle is furious with Michael for cheating on her - in her dream.

TEN-MINUTE: In the year 9936, a new play by Matthew Weaver has been discovered.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

Featured in November 2018 on the NYC Playwrights podcast.

TEN-MINUTE: A Terrifying Monster is in Abby and Ksenia's room. The sisters need to try to ignore it.

Performed as part of Mildred's Umbrella Theater's Museum of Dysfunction play festival, July 2017, Houston, Texas.

Performed as part of Dramatic Acting track for Summer School for Performing Arts in Westford, MA, July 2017.

Performed as part of Harper College's InZone Program, "Stars of the Stage," in Palatine, Ill., in June 2018.

Selected for Open Space Arts' 2018 Summer Playwrights Festival in Reisterstown, Maryland, in August 2018.

Selected for Abiding Harvest Shorts Play Festival in Broken Arrow, OK, October 2017.

TEN-MINUTE: On the eve of their high school graduation, Farley and Glenn are playing video games. Glenn's big sister Naomi has other ideas ...

TEN-MINUTE: X and Valentina are about to have their first kiss ... online ... via Zoom.

Produced July 25, 2020 as part of the Spokane Theater Arts Council's Virtual Festival. Directed by Devante Lamar Smith and starring Alissa Garcia and Aaron Deonte Thorne.

Performed as part of a student director showcase for Hamilton College in Clinton, NY in November 2020

TEN-MINUTE: Myrna and Noah survey the damage of a Godzilla-ish attack.

For this play, I combined two ideas. One was a prompt from 31 Plays in 31 Days: "Write a play where each character says no more than three words at a time."

Also, as according to Vulture, the reclusive author Thomas Pynchon (V., GRAVITY'S RAINBOW, THE CRYING OF LOT 49, MASON & DIXON) reportedly was working on a novel, never published, "about an insurance adjuster flown in to Japan to assess the damage done by Godzilla."

(http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/thomas-pynchon-bleeding-edge.html)

Put the two ideas together and what do you have?

THE AFTERMATH.

TEN-MINUTE: Macauley has a request for the Goddess of Love.

TEN-MINUTE: Three actresses get on set to read their latest script.

TEN-MINUTE-ISH: Two young lovers can't quite make a connection on a river bank, until the goddess Aphrodite appears and offers assistance.

Written Aug. 9, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write 31 ten-page plays in 31 days in August 2019.

Play calls for nudity. Please perform to the safety and comfort of performers.

TEN-MINUTE: Young Matthew lost his way in the dark woods. The Woman appears, wearing a red cloak, offering knowledge of the way home.

TEN-MINUTEISH: Four women argue with toasters.

Selected for University of St. Thomas' Ampersand 2.0 Festival April 2017 in Houston, Texas.

TEN-MINUTE: Noah's three sons - Japheth, Shem and Ham - have to usher in the animals two by two on the boat their father recently built. A 10-minute comedy, selected for performance on the Onstage-Offstage podcast by George Sapio in October 2017. http://www.gsapio.com/podcasts/itunes/171001WEAVER.mp3

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

GRATITUDE/APOLOGIES TO AUTHOR AMY HEMPEL FOR THE TITLE!

TEN-MINUTE: Four animals find themselves in the afterlife.

Written Jan. 12, 2024 and selected for the Exit 7 Players Theater 48-Hour Play Festival in Ludlow, Massachusetts.

TEN-MINUTE: Arthur and Viola find themselves under an awning in the middle of a storm.

A 10-minute play.

Winner, Robert Barnard Audience Award-Friday for reading at the Arts Resources for the Tri-State (ARTS) New Works Festival in Huntington, WV, December 2016.

Selected for Curious Arrow Theatre's Lucid Short Play Festival in September 2017 in Grand Rapids, MI.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

TEN-MINUTE: Twin brothers Freddy and Teddy stand on a street corner. They have a porn star's phone number.

Written Aug. 24, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play each day in August 2019.

For this play, I used a prompt from my fellow playwright Scott Mullen (NINJAS, THE PEEK, 172 PUSH-UPS) - three elements drawn at random - a street corner, a porn star's phone number and sibling rivalry.

I think my imagination went to the most logical place possible.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: Two convenience store clerks are working late when a bear wanders into their store.

TEN-MINUTE: Cadence is ... planting bulbs in flower pots, apparently? When an old friend from school, Diana, suddenly appears and tells her they should have hung out more often or gotten coffee together.

Written in an hour on Jan. 26, 2019, for the Nugget Fringe Festival in Grass Valley, CA.

The prompt we received was "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

It was kind of a melancholy prompt on kind of a melancholy day, so I just started typing and this is what came out.

TEN-MINUTE: Skylar delivers on a promise as Joe Biden is elected president of the United States.

Written Nov. 5, 2020, as a personal challenge to write a 10-page play a day in November 2020.

Inspired by a Nov. 4, 2020, tweet by Marissa Monticolo on Twitter: "Half-jokingly told a guy I was going to stand outside his apartment, yell his name, and then make out with him when Biden wins.
Bitch, I keep my word, and also it's been over a year so this is no longer a joke keep counting those votes."

https://twitter.com/MMonticolo/status/1324162489349632000

TEN-MINUTE: Longtime best friends Quentin and Xavier run into Rachel, the girl they both loved once upon a time.

TEN-MINUTE: Two Sasquatch meet in the woods.

TEN-MINUTE: Three young ballet dancers are surprised when their classmate shows up with a new friend.

Written Aug. 22, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play every day in August 2019.

Selected for the Bigfoot by Moonlight Play Festival at Spartan Theatre at Spokane Falls Community College in Spokane, WA, in October 2019.

TEN-MINUTE-ISH: Sasha and Aurora spot Bigfoot on the Staten Island Ferry.

Written Aug. 30, 2019, as part of a month-long personal challenge to write 31 plays in 31 days in August 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: Joseph and Mary come home to find their teenaged son, Jesus, alone with Mary Magdalene.

TEN-MINUTE-ISH: Penelope tries to rescue Bernadette from a life of marital monotony.

Written March 16, 2020 for the Quarantine Bake-Off project.

TEN-MINUTE: Con artist sisters Blackbird and Raven run through the woods late at night, having successfully absconded with cash from Blackbird's unwitting would-be-husband. They have a train to catch, if Sheriff Bickleton doesn't stop them.

This play was written in an hour for the Nugget Fringe Festival in Grass Valley, CA on Jan. 20, 2019.

We were given the prompt "Blackbirds singing in the dead of night." Now, I WAS tempted to write about a trio of penguins (perhaps the SAME penguins from CONTINENTS APART?) singing in the middle of the night, but I didn't want to repeat, I'd already written about animals and I knew Scott Mullen had written a play for the prompt about eagles, so I figured I had better write about some people. I came up with two con artist sisters running through the woods, having successfully stolen bags' worth of money from the older sister's unsuspecting would-be husband. They're dashing to catch a train ... and then the sheriff shows up and wonders where they're off to in such a hurry, the night before the elder sister's wedding. I used the prompt for the title: BLACKBIRDS SINGING IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT.

TEN-MINUTE: Librarian Ulma finds Ricky in kind of an awkward situation - his hand caught in the bookdrop.

Originally written for the Heartland Theatre Company's annual 10-minute play festival, which was themed "The Library."

TEN-MINUTE: Three mysterious women happen upon a boy on a beach.

Produced as part of Pyro Playfest by the Paris Junior College Department of Drama in Paris, TX, in April 2019.

Selected for a reading for the West Side Show Room's Rockford New Play Festival in Rockford, Illinois, August 2018.

Listed in Smith & Kraus Best Ten-Minute Plays 2019; second place Circle of Excellence winner.

TEN-MINUTE: A young boy gets a message from the future.

TEN-MINUTE: Calpurnia, final wife to Julius Caesar, delivers his papers to Mark Antony following Caesar's assassination.
Written for the 365 Women a Year project.

TEN-MINUTE: Enoch and Judith discuss troublesome neighbors in Nazareth, circa 32 A.D.

Selected for Nylon Fusion Theatre's Can You HEAR Me? Festival in NYC in June 2018.

TEN-MINUTE: Irna Phillips is the mother of the daytime soap opera, having created PAINTED DREAMS, WOMAN IN WHITE, THE GUIDING LIGHT, AS THE WORLD TURNS and ANOTHER WORLD.

Gloria Monty revolutionized the soap in the late 1970s by creating the adventures of Luke and Laura on GENERAL HOSPITAL.

This play, written as part of the 365 Women a Year playwrighting project, imagines a conversation between the two women - renowned for their creativity and ferocity - as they reflect on soap operas today.

TEN-MINUTE: Steffi is helping Michael cross a milestone.

Written Aug. 27, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play every day in the month of August 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: Penguin Rangiora informs her friends Gerritsz and Mercator Cooper of a dream she had the night before.

Included in Lawrence Harbison's Best Ten-Minute Plays 2020 anthology.

This play was written in an hour for the Nugget Fringe Festival in Grass Valley, CA on Jan. 19, 2019.

The prompt we were given was "Last night I dreamed of bears."

Now, with an hour, you don't have a lot of time to waste figuring out what you're going to write about. So I asked myself, "WHO dreamed of bears?" Then I asked "Who is the least likely to dream of bears?" And I thought of penguins, since polar bears are only at the North Pole and penguins are only at the South Pole. So I came up with CONTINENTS APART, in which Rangiora the penguin admits to her friends Gerritsz and Mercator Cooper (the penguins are all named after South Pole explorers) that she dreamt of a giant beast the night before, and they all wonder what the dream could mean (special challenge to myself: The penguins have no reason to know they're called polar bears, so they never actually use the word "bear").

TEN-MINUTE: Count Orsino finds the lovely Elizabeth reading on a park bench and enthralls her.

Selected for Little Fish Theatre's fundraiser in San Pedro, CA, in October 2018.

Inspired by this T-shirt: https://www.vacancyprojects.com/product/winona

TEN-MINUTE: Kateri Tekakwitha, who would go on to become the first Native American Catholic saint, receives visitors as she enters her final moments.

Written for the 365 Women A Year Playwriting Project in 2018.

TEN-MINUTE: Roller, Tunneler and Dweller have an important discussion during the quinquennial dung beetle family reunion.

TEN-MINUTE: Newlyweds Elliott and Nan are enjoying the last evening of their honeymoon when Elliott, a chef, decides to make Nan's lunch for the next day back at work. What Nan reveals astonishes him.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

HOLIDAY TEN-MINUTE: Three elves participate in polar solidarity as part of a worldwide elfin strike.

*Written for The Playwrights Thriving 2023 Secret Santa Title Exchange.*

TEN-MINUTE: Written in an hour Jan. 21, 2018, for the Nugget Fringe Festival Three-Hour Plays in Grass Valley, CA.

Judith is quietly crying on a park bench when Claudette and her boyfriend pass through.

The prompt we were given was the quote by Rumi, "The hurt we embrace becomes joy. Call it to your arms where it can change."

TEN-MINUTE: Veronica in a dark room.

TEN-MINUTE: Jim and Mary attend their first Groundhog Day without Chunk.

This was my first run at the Playwrights Thriving Playwright's Delight! title "Erstwhile" in 2026.

TEN-MINUTE: Mom Matilda and daughters Zuzu and Lydia brush their teeth before bedtime.

Written Aug. 16, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in the month of August 2019.

Performed as part of Theatre Arts for Everyone's Women and One Acts, York, PA; March 2022

TEN-MINUTE: Boy meets girl. Girl is in a painting.

TEN-MINUTE: Five boys are on a beach. A mysterious girl appears.

In a series of related plays, following THE BOY ON THE BEACH, TWO BOYS ON THE BEACH, THREE BOYS ON THE BEACH (LGBTQ version of TWO BOYS), THREE GIRLS ON THE BEACH, FOUR BOYS ON THE BEACH (work in progress) and TEN BOYS ON THE BEACH.

TEN-MINUTE: Yes, you read the title right. Three common houseflies are present at the site of the birth of the Baby Jesus.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

Reading by City Theatre in Coral Gables, FL; July 2018.

TEN-MINUTE: Gina accuses Donnie of being inappropriate.

Semifinalist in NYC Playwrights' Women in the Age of Trump project.

TEN-MINUTE: College students Christel and Naomi take a break from studying for finals and go to the beach. They meet a group of mysterious boys.

Part of a series of plays, alongside THE BOY ON THE BEACH, TWO BOYS ON THE BEACH and THREE BOYS ON THE BEACH, THREE GIRLS ON THE BEACH, FIVE BOYS ON THE BEACH, SIX BOYS ON THE BEACH and TEN BOYS ON THE BEACH.

Produced as part of Memoriam Development's Nightshade horror anthology, April 2021.

TEN-MINUTE: Claire and Snake are flying to Alaska. Snake hates flying.

TEN-MINUTE: The story of Adam and Eve, as seen by the Tree of Knowledge.

Written Nov. 15, 2020, as part of a personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in the month of November 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Dawn Notts and Cecil Clucks have arrived at a very secluded makeout point. What's that sound outside the car? Could it be ... clucking?

Written Aug. 15, 2019, as part of a personal challenge to myself to write 31 ten-minute plays in 31 days in August 2019.

I've also been following @TheRealAuGHOST on Twitter, and enjoying artists' answers to different prompts each day for the month, ghostly spins on words such as LOCK, CAT, STONE, HOLY and SINK. Aug. 10 was CHICKEN. This is several days late, but I woke up this morning inspired: What if the monster outside the car was ... a ghost chicken?!

TEN-MINUTES: Gigi gets a disturbing package in the mail.

TEN-MINUTE: Gobbler survived another Thanksgiving. What will he do with the time he has left?

Written November 27, 2020, as part of a personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in November 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Gobbler, the world's first turkey playwright, and Phil reflect on Groundhog Day Eve.

TEN-MINUTE: Henry makes Alyce a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich the morning after.

MONOLOGUE: A performer is trapped in a monologue written by Matthew Weaver, playwright of such works as A NEW PLAY BY MATTHEW WEAVER and ANOTHER PLAY BY MATTHEW WEAVER.

Produced as part of Masterpiece Monologues, Stage Left Theatre, Spokane, WA, October 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Two performers try to meditate.

TEN-MINUTE: Written in an hour and performed for the Nugget Fringe Festival in Grass Valley, California, Jan. 27, 2018. The prompt was: "Yes time travel is possible. Will explain later." - Jose Conseco

V. travels back in time for a favorite meal.

(TEN-MINUTE HORROR)
Ah! 'Tis spring, and three woodland nymphs' fancies turn to luring passing travelers to their deaths.
But there is a monster in the woods, which means there are no passing travelers. What is a nymph to do?

TEN-MINUTE-ISH: Emily meets ex-lover Lawrence, only to find he is participating in a world record hug.

TEN-MINUTE: Everyone loves a camp fire. Except for maybe the marshmallows.

Contact [email protected]

Performed as part of Arts Resources for the Tri-State (ARTS) New Works Festival in Huntington, WV, in December 2016.

Produced by the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, in May 2018.

Performed as part of Harper College's Inzone Program, "Stars of the Stage," in Palatine, Ill., in June 2018.

TEN-MINUTE: Liz and Ardy have stolen a lizard from the zoo, but things aren't entirely going to plan.

Written April 26, 2019, as part of the LeftOvers 24-hour festival at Stage Left Theatre in Spokane, WA. Directed by Kim Roberts and starred Michelle Bakken and Rebecca Bolster. The prop I had to incorporate into the play was a toy lizard.

I had 12 hours to write the play and they had 12 hours to prepare it for production. They did a fantastic job!

TEN-MINUTE: Sammy, the brother of the groom, catches the bride in a compromising position.

TEN-MINUTE: A tale of two windows.

Written Aug. 26, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play every day in the month of August 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: Spider dreams she is on a boat with Jessica Alba, star of the Batman movie trilogy directed by
Christopher Nolan, in the middle of an ocean made of Cream of Wheat.

Written Aug. 29, 2019, as part of a month-long personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play each day in August 2019.

Wrote this one after a conversation with a friend who mentioned she had dreamed of Cream of Wheat, one of my favorite breakfasts. I tried for as much dream logic as possible.

TEN-MINUTE: Milton is up too late, eating cheese.

Written Aug. 8, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in August 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: A daughter is asked to eat her toast.

Selected for Memoriam Development's Nightshade in September-October 2022.

TEN-MINUTE: Young actor Dominick is anxious about his kissing scene the next day with co-star Quinn.

Part of the "First Kisses" evening of plays.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

TEN-MINUTE: Two sisters, Rose and Leigh, discuss whether they're living their best Kristen Bell (star of VERONICA MARS, FROZEN and THE GOOD PLACE, among others) lives.

A 365 Women a Year project

Performed in a Valley Center High School evening of short plays in Valley Center, Kansas, in the fall of 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Neal and Jackie look at each other.

Play calls for nudity. Please play to the safety and comfort of your performers.

TEN-MINUTE: Two exes are suddenly reunited in the middle of the woods, near a roaring fire, with plenty of marshmallows.

Contact [email protected]

Selected for the Heartland Theatre Company for production in the summer of 2020, COVID-19 willing.

TEN-MINUTE OR SO: The Goddess Aphrodite speaks to a bumbling playwright.

Read by Caravan Theatre in England in July 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Workers at a typesetting company experience a moment of temptation.

Author's note: This was written after reading "Letter Perfect," a history of the origins of the alphabet, by David Sacks, and learning the origins of the expression "Mind your Ps and Qs," referring to keeping the letters straight when using movable type.

Selected for Mystic Vision Players's Kicking & Swearing Festival in Linden, NJ, in January-February 2020

TEN-MINUTE: Old Clown and Elephant find themselves on an intersection in the middle of nowhere.

Written for the Playwrights Thriving 2024 Secret Santa Title Swap.

TEN-MINUTE: A mom helps her son get ready for the big school dance.

Written in Spokane, Wash., the evening of June 11, 2021, for the 24-Hour Theatre Project at The Sauk Theatre in Jonesville, Michigan.

Directed by Josh Lightner, starring Meaghan Bryant and Noah Honeywell.

The theme was "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves."

TEN-MINUTE: Roo's roommates Zoey and Sophia join her for scheming in the woods.

TEN-MINUTE: Bears Umberto and Gustav see Goldilocks breaking into their neighbors' home.

Performed as part of the East/West Playfest in Westford, Connecticut and Mitford, Connecticut in July 2019.

Selected for the Stillwater Short Play Festival in Stillwater, OK, in March 2020. Received Audience Favorite Award.

TEN-MINUTE: It's Cody's 18th birthday. Desiree, Oona and Iola offer him a present.

TEN-MINUTE: Nine young men come upon a goddess on a beach.

Part of the BOYS AND GIRLS ON THE BEACH evening of short plays.

Script calls for nudity, an intimacy coordinator is strongly advised.

TEN-MINUTE: God and the Devil text each other.

TEN-MINUTE: Malcolm asks Rae to marry him.

Written November 11, 2020, as part of a personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in November 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Lifelong friends Seabone and Ogden are high schoolers recovering from recent appendectomies. Bad things happen when they're bored. Zelda Zwieback is tasked with keeping them occupied and from popping their stitches.

Written and performed as part of Stage Left Theater's 24-hour play festival, Left Overs, in Spokane, Wash. As part of the festival, writers were required to use a particular prop; in this instance, a ceramic kitten.

Directed by Jessica Rempel. Starred Ezra Way as Seabone, Jacob Carruthers as Ogden and Joni Elizabeth as Zelda. Edited to add: I have to say, total credit for Zelda's history as a thumb wrestler came from Joni. When I asked the performers their comfort zones, and if they had any special abilities, Joni - independent of anything - proceeded to tell me how she had been a champion thumb wrestler in school, so good her thumb had its own name: Hank. It was a gift.

Izzy asks Morris to the dance. For four high school/YA performers.

YA- TEN-MINUTE: Madison, Emma and Aria are eating spicy hot things in rapidly increasing degrees of hotness.

Then Aria pulls out the ghost peppers.

Selected for Playwrights' Playground Festival, Stage Left Theatre, Spokane, WA, October 2018.

TEN-MINUTE: A young man wrestles an angel and devil.

Written Nov. 8, 2020, as part of a personal challenge to write a 10-page play per day in November 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Four survivors of the great war gather for a final act before dawn.

Originally written in response to a prompt for the New Wave Theatre Collective.

TEN-MINUTE: Puppets Bernie and Earl visit their friend Prehistoric Bird.

YA Holiday TEN-MINUTE: Teens Ivy and Hoagie have been tasked with hanging up holiday decorations for the notorious neighborhood Christmas party.

Written Aug. 20, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play each day for the month of August 2019.

Performed as part of Curiosity Theatre's No Room at the Airbnb: Modern Holiday Tales" in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in December 2019.

Performed as part of Dover Little Theatre's Winter Holiday One-Act Festival in Dover, N.J. in December 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: Before they move to Rhode Island, Jillian and Nolan spend one last weekend at Quail Rock. Selected for Northwest Ten Festival in Eugene, Oregon, in March 2018.

TEN-MINUTE: A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog ... but why?

TEN-MINUTE: This particular zoo has a particularly strict rule. Rules were made to be broken.

Written the evening of April 12, 2024 for the Sauk Theatre's 24-Hour Play Project in Jonesville,
Michigan.
Cast members were Henry Beier, Abby Brownlee, Ruth Brownlee, Everly Cousino, Alessa
Howard and Silas Hutchinson.
Directed by Andy Anderson
The theme was "Happy Holidays." I received "Valentine's Day" as the holiday to write about.

TEN-MINUTE: Killroy can't sleep. Dakota's got this.

TEN-MINUTE: Newly married in secret, Romeo and Juliet have a new problem.

Just like William Shakespeare always intended.

TEN-MINUTE: Elise has an unusual request for Santa Claus on behalf of her older brother, Grayson.

TEN-MINUTE, LARGE YOUTH CAST: Various plant-eating dinosaurs in the Cretaceous Period compete for food.

Written in reply to a request for a 10-minute play for 20 student performers with roles of equal sizes.

The title comes from playwright Scott Mullen. I loved his suggestion.

TEN-MINUTE OR SO: Zephyr and Zoey are actors performing a steamy love scene.

TEN-MINUTE: After their 50th wedding anniversary, Sebastian and Chloe find out the truth about how they met.
Selected for the Spokane Civic Theatre Playwrights Forum Festival in June 2018.

TEN-MINUTE: It's Ian's eighteenth birthday. He and Portia can't seem to stop kissing about it.

TEN-MINUTE: Ramona and Dolores are both trying to get the perfect selfie together.

Written in an hour for the Nugget Fringe Festival in Grass Valley, CA; January 26, 2019.

The prompt we received was "Authenticity."

I had NO idea what I was going to write about, but the prompt e-mail included the word "Selkies," referring to the Celtic mythology about seals coming ashore, shedding their pelts and dancing on the sand.

My brain READ "Selkie," but started thinking about "selfies," I think. I was also thinking about the concept that people are living their "best lives" on social media, which tapped into the authenticity prompt.

And my brother (my hero) Steven is an entomologist, so that's where THAT came from.

TEN-MINUTE: Jordan McMint wants to be Charlie Donner's first kiss during a game at a party. Charlie's saving his first kiss for Caitlin. Unstoppable force meets immovable object in a closet. Part of the "First Kisses" evening of short plays.

Selected for the Red Eye 10s International Play Festival, produced on the same day in Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Colorado, three sites in California, Florida, Ireland and Japan Sept. 30, 2017. Dates for Texas and Germany TBD!

TEN-MINUTE: Waldo and Elaine are getting romantical, when they realize they're not alone.

TEN-MINUTE-ISH: Three women drink in a bar after a long, long, long day.

TEN-MINUTE: Five performers talk about their favorite books written by Beverly Cleary, author of the Ramona Quimby series. Written for the 365 Women a Year Project.

TEN-MINUTEISH: Urchin, Rylie and Zilpha wait for Mike to get home from a long day at work.

TEN-MINUTE: Two skeletons have escaped for the day and found their way to an all-you-can eat pizza buffet.

TEN-MINUTE: A young couple pauses in the middle of nowhere for a romantic interlude.

CONTENT WARNING: Play includes sexual simulation. An intimacy coordinator is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

TEN-MINUTE: Designed for online/Zoom/HopIn performances.

A loyal deputy chases an escaped killer out of a falling airplane on a dark and stormy night.

Written Aug. 28, 2020, for Play in About a Day, a 24-hour-play festival, produced Aug. 29 by Honestly Speaking, Inc. Directed by K'lah Morgan, starring Monica Catherine and Giselle Muise.

TEN-MINUTE: Bobby and Angel have been dating a while. Bobby's waiting. Angel's getting impatient.

Written November 24, 2020, as part of a personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in November 2020.

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual content, implied sexual assault

TEN-MINUTE: Ava just wants to sit in her favorite spot in her favorite coffeeshop and read her favorite book.
She certainly doesn't want to fall in love with Matthew Weaver, whoever the hell he is.

TEN-MINUTE: Sam has never sent an X-rated picture before. Best friend Hayden volunteers to be the first recipient.

Written Nov. 3, 2020, as part of a personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day for the month of November 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Four boys visit the village prostitute.

TEN-MINUTE: Two giraffes are brought on board Noah's Ark, two by two.

This play was inspired by a Tweet by @earthdistance on Twitter, listing the Top Ten Bible characters: Number two was "Unnamed female giraffe (Ark)"

https://twitter.com/earthdistance/status/1019498153018580992

TEN-MINUTE-PLUS: On the eve of a big occasion, Josh asks the most important people in his life for their blessing.

Written for the 24-Hour Theatre Project, Sept. 15, 2023, for the Sauk Theatre in Jonesville,
Michigan.
Directed by Andy Anderson.
Performers were Josh Lightner, Alessa Howard, Kaylee McCoy, Aimie Smith and Kiralyn
Brakel Nelson.
Theme was "Life is like the seasons, always changing." I was given the Summer Into Fall slot

TEN-MINUTE: Pierce visits his older brother in college during a party.

Written Aug. 6, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in August 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: Two contractors discuss their progress with the homeowner.

TEN-MINUTE: George and Martha spend a quiet evening at home.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

TEN-MINUTE: Ten boys are sent to war on the beach.

A sibling to THE BOY ON THE BEACH, TWO BOYS ON THE BEACH, THREE BOYS ON THE BEACH, THREE GIRLS ON THE BEACH (work in progress), FOUR BOYS ON THE BEACH and FIVE BOYS ON THE BEACH.

TEN-PLUS-MINUTE: LGBTQ+ version of TWO BOYS ON THE BEACH, in which the character of Wrigley is a young woman.

Written upon a suggestion from a playwright whose words and work I greatly admire.

TEN-MINUTE: A boy stumbles upon an erotic encounter on the beach.

Part of the BOY ON THE BEACH series, with THE BOY ON THE BEACH, TWO BOYS ON THE BEACH/THREE BOYS ON THE BEACH, FOUR BOYS ON THE BEACH, FIVE BOYS ON THE BEACH and TEN BOYS ON THE BEACH.

TEN-MINUTE: Fred and Varna's kids have decided they're going to spend Christmas skiing in Vail.

Whoopee!

TEN-MINUTE: Two bookworms check out each other's current meal of choice.

TEN-MINUTE: Rockford and Almira, two mice, come upon a mousetrap.

A Shakespearean mouse play. Because ... well, why not?

Performed as part of Tree City Playhouse 2019 Festival of New Plays in Sylvania, OH, in May 2019.

TEN-MINUTE-ISH: The Adventurers see what all they can see from their new old, abandoned treehouse.

Written Aug. 1, 2019, as part of a personal challenge to myself to write 31 ten-page (at least!) plays each day for 31 days in the month of August 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: Performed by Liberty Lake Community Theatre as part of New Works Festival, March 2017, in Liberty Lake, Wash..
Performed by Mad Lab Theatre as part of Theatre Roulette festival, May 2016, in Columbus, Ohio.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

Wicked witch Prunetoria has cast a spell on Princess Honeysuckle. Only true love's kiss will wake her up. But there's a catch ...

It's up to Prince Darling, Prince Dashing and Prince Ruggedly Handsome to ride to Honeysuckle's rescue.

Meanwhile, on the horizon, another princess is making her way to the castle ...

Our Hero orders a toasted marshmallow mocha at a coffee shop.

Selected for production in the Hive Collective's The Ten Show in Provo, Utah in fall of 2019. Directed by Jacom Clarkson.

TEN-MINUTE-PLUS: Two boys play on the beach while their sitter watches them.

Written Aug. 18, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play (at least!) each day for the month of August 2019.

Published by Fleas on the Dog, an online publication, Issue 8, March 5, 2021.
LGBTQ+ version: THREE BOYS ON THE BEACH

TEN-MINUTE: JJ and Arthur argue in the park whilst feeding pigeons.

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Inspired by a January 2018 post on the Official Playwrights of Facebook page where playwright Rand Higbee observed that he had seen many entries in a 10-minute play contest where the most common last or second to last line was "I'm pregnant."

SOME SMART-ALECK PLAYWRIGHT posted at the time that this gave him a killer ending for his play about two grumpy old men arguing in the park (another common theme in theater). All right, it was me. I was the smart aleck.

TEN-MINUTE: Jack and Lucky from "Two Boys/Three Boys on the Beach" return to the beach years later and face the fallout from the events of that play.

Part of the BOYS AND GIRLS ON THE BEACH collection of plays.

CW: Discussions of child sexual abuse

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: "No matter how old you are, if a little kid hands you a toy phone, you answer it."

Selected for Memoriam Development's Nightshade: Opposing Forces, in February 2025.

TEN-MINUTE: Written and performed in 24 hours as part of Stage Left Theater's Left Overs Festival in Spokane, Wash., in March 2015. Directed by Juan Mas, starring Aubrey Shimek Davis and Jordan Lannen.

Avery and Zoey both find Iggy, a stuffed iguana, for the important little girls in their lives, but there's only one. And neither woman is going to let him go.

TEN-MINUTE: Portia and Nathaniel bump into each other by the light of a bonfire.

TEN-MINUTE: Laurie asks Zachary if several rumors about him are true.

Written Aug. 13, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to write 31 ten-minute plays in 31 days in August 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: A stageplay seeks meaning, and to bring meaning to an audience.

Written April 21, 2019 as part of a month-long challenge with playwright Scott Mullen (THE PEEK, NINJAS, 172 PUSH-UPS, SANDBOX, ABSORBENCY) to write a one-minute play each day in April 2019.

The prompt I gave myself was "Untitled Stageplay." Clearly, the concept ran away from me.

TEN-MINUTE: The angel Uriel welcomes two travelers home.

Selected for 2019 New Works Festival, Britches and Hose Theatre Company, Fairfax, VA. January 2019.

TEN-MINUTE: Victoria decides to find out for herself what all the villagers are whispering about.

TEN-MINUTE: Received Audience Favorite Comedy, Exit 7 Players Theater Short Play Contest in Ludlow, Mass., February 2016.
Performed as part of Mad Lab Theatre's Theatre Roulette Festival in Columbus, Ohio, May 2016.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

Azalea finds out Christopher has never had his first kiss. He proceeds to imagine the many, many ways it could go wrong.

TEN-MINUTE: Warren sits in a bar on Rhona's big day.

TEN-MINUTE: Vonnie browses at her local used bookstore.

"Downton Abbey" meets "Jurassic Park."

A ten-minute comedy. Absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever.

Performed April 2018 as part of Cupcake Lady Productions' Another Taste of Rotten Theatre in Brooklyn, NY.

TEN-MINUTE: Cauliflower corals Collie and Coral have never left the coral reef. Why would they? But a chance encounter with a deep sea diver has them questioning the future.

Originally written for the Saving Endangered Species international playwriting contest in 2015.

My challenge to myself was to write about an invertebrate, and ultimately to try to write the most moving play about cauliflower coral possible.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

Performed as part of Harper College's InZone Program, "Stars of the Stage," in Palatine, Ill., in June 2018.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: Vlogger Violet Mustard-Brimley is about to embark on the Blue Kiss No. 35 Challenge! Buy her merch-merch!

Selected for 2019 Rockford New Play Festival in September 2019, in Rockford, Illinois.

TEN-MINUTE-ISH: Two newlyweds knock on the door of the experienced couple in the hotel, seeking advice.

Written Nov. 12, 2020, as part of a personal challenge to write a 10-page play a day in November 2020.

TEN-MINUTE-ISH: An attractive young couple sleeps on the floor of an airport, with a sign saying "WAKE US FOR FLIGHT 2373."

Married couple Vicky and Lionel come upon them.

TEN-MINUTE: A couple comes to an end.

TEN-MINUTE: Two evil clowns bump into each other while luring small children to their deaths.

Written Aug. 4, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in the month of August 2019.

Produced as part of Memoriam Development's Nightshade horror anthology, December 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Three teenage friends gather for one last picnic before heading off to their future. Some classic picnic pests show up.

Written May 6, 2022 for The 24-Hour Theatre Project, The Sauk Theatre, Jonesville, Michigan.
Performers are Emmalynn Ambrose, Stella McCourry, Ashlynn Moore and Esther Yokell.

Directed by Tim Ambrose.

Theme is "Impossible things are happening every day."

TEN-MINUTE: Sylvie and her daughter Henrietta are on the run. Sylvie brings her daughter back to the woods.

Written Aug. 23, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play each day in August 2019, for a festival using Bigfoot as a prompt.

Selected for Mystic Vision Players's Kicking & Swearing Festival in Rahway, NJ, in January-February 2020

TEN-MINUTE: Three neighbors in the same building are having their usual dinner when they hear sounds of domestic violence coming from the next room.

Written the weekend of Feb. 13,2021, for Places! the virtual play festival produced by Theatre Unmasked, produced Feb. 20, 2021. Directed by Emily Grimany, starring Sonia Bhatia, Olivia Loucks and Meredith Jones.

Willy sits in a car outside his school. His mom gets in the car.

Selected for Smith & Kraus' 2021 Best Ten-Minute Play anthology.

Produced as part of the Town and Gown Theatre's Stillwater Short Play Festival in Stillwater, OK, in May 2019.

Selected for the Spokane Civic Theatre's Playwrights Forum Festival in June 2020.

TEN-MINUTE: Sam and Elisa keep each other company during chemotherapy.

Title prompt by Emily Hageman.

Produced as part of Sauk Shorts, The Sauk Theatre, April 29-May 2, 2021, in Jonesville Michigan,

TEN-MINUTE: Tristan just wants to make copies for his beloved Blue Lavender. Three witches have other ideas.

Originally written as a submission for The Impostors Theatre's Footholds program. The requirement was to incorporate a three-foot stack of red construction paper as a prop.

TEN-MINUTE: Joshua asks Gretchen to sign his heart.

Written Aug. 2, 2019, as part of my personal challenge to myself to write a 10-page play (longhand!) each day in August 2019.

Selected for Sauk Shorts 2020, at the Sauk Theatre in Jonesville, Michigan.

TEN-MINUTE: Wonder Woman responds to a call of distress from a boys' bathroom in a school.

Inspired by Emily Hageman and her Batman plays.

Written Nov. 29, 2020, as part of my personal challenge to write a 10-page play each day in November 2020.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: A beleaguered group of strangers must save humanity by coming up with the five-letter word of the day.

TEN-MINUTE: Wealthy Xanthia and Xander live in the "X" house on a popular children's TV show, Alphabet Train. They're used to not being used very often. X is the 23rd most used letter, after all.
But the Alphabet Train hasn't stopped by their mansion in six weeks, leaving Xanthia and Xander to suspect they've been ex-iled from the rest of the alphabet.

TEN-MINUTE: Vanessa has rules for Cody.

TEN-MINUTE: Zel and an unnamed boy revisit a site of past trauma, sometime after happily ever after.

TEN-MINUTE: A witch wants to switch her lot from forestry to residential, but there's so much paperwork involved!

TEN-MINUTE: A play for Zoom. Four sock monkeys check in during the early days of overthrowing the human species.

TEN-MINUTE, YA: It's 7 a.m. on a school day, and Logan and Barrett have zucchini harvesting duty in the high
school greenhouse.

Written Aug. 10, 2019, during a writing session alongside fellow playwright Tristen Canfield (THE WINDOW, PERSPECTIVE and SLICE OF LIFE - go read her stuff now!) as part of my personal challenge to myself to write 31 plays in 31 days during August 2019.

FIVE-MINUTES OR LESS: Character A is just sitting there, innocently, when Character B appears and offers to sell many exotic flavors of ice cream.

Written April 25, 2019, as part of a month-long challenge with playwright Scott Mullen (THE PEEK, NINJAS, 172 PUSH-UPS, SANDBOX, ABSORBENCY) to write a one-minute play each day in April 2019. The prompt we received was "Out of ice cream," by Kip Stolberg.

SHORT: Nothing much. Holly and Jennifer are just hanging out at the edge of the earth's atmosphere.

Written April 9, 2019, as part of a month-long challenge with playwright Scott Mullen (THE PEEK, NINJAS, 172 PUSH-UPS, SANDBOX, ABSORBENCY) to write a one-minute play each day in April 2019.

SHORT: Ah, spring! When a young frog's fancy turns to thoughts of ...

SHORT: Many performers on stage search for answers. Very experimental.

FIVE-MINUTE PLUS: Three mothers in the woods come upon a crucifixion.

TEN-MINUTE OR LESS: Ivy helps neighbor Houle tie his tie before a big date.

One of 14 (!) short plays read as part of a "Matthew Weaver Special Showcase" July 20-22, 2018 at Ignite! Community Theatre in Spokane Valley, Wash.

ONE-MINUTE: Barney introduces his younger brother and his fiancee to each other at a Christmas party. But they've already met ...