Shelley Chester

2018 WINNER - THE NEIL SIMON FESTIVAL NEW PLAY AWARD
2018 FINALIST – THEATRE VICTORIA
2018 FINALIST - VINTAGE THEATRE FESTIVAL
2018 FINALIST – MCLAREN MEMORIAL COMEDY PLAYWRIGHT COMPETITION
2018 SEMI-FINALIST AACT NewPlayFest 2020
2018 RUNNER-UP – ROBERT J. PICKERING AWARD
2022 Production with JOYCE DEWITT at Hunderton Hills, NJ
2022 Production Maverick Players - Midland, Texas
2023 Produced at Mirrorbox Theatre in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2025 Produced at Grand Island Little Theatre, Grand Island, Nebraska
*****
Ah, retirement! The time we all look forward to - until it all goes to hell in a handcart. A four-day bender starting with the retirement party, followed by an alcoholic blackout, sends Ruth Baker, a non-drinker, on a hysterical yet agonizing, truly humiliating journey to reveal what happened during those four horrible days. When the doorbell rings, catastrophes call! Uproarious antics, strange purchases, and devastating revelations are uncovered. Ruth must face the truth with a massive hangover and the aid of her best friends, Marge and Maya.

WINNER - 2022 - ROBERT J. PICKERING / J.R. COLBECK AWARD FOR PLAYWRITING EXCELLENCE
SEMI-FINALIST - 2020 WOMEN ARE FUNNY

Who wouldn’t want to retire and live a life of leisure? Strong-willed, Managing Editor of one of the last remaining newspapers Liv Torgensen, that’s who! Happily married to John, Liv has begun working incessantly to make the paper a success. John, however, retired two years ago and is tired of trying to remember what his wife looks like. Their long-planned Bora Bora second honeymoon breaks the marriage back when work calls and John has to go with his sister instead of Liv. The ultimatum is given. Retire or divorce. Liv refuses to retire and won’t sign the divorce papers. Their daughters are enlisted to be their spies and confidants in the ensuing debacle. John has found Belinda; Liv would do anything including trying a new look, begging, compromising, and a host of dating disasters, to win John back. Anything - except retire. Who will win the divorce wars?

Homeless, the unseen; the working poor living in plain sight. Maddy’s family, comprised of five women of all ages from all walks of life and all manner of homelessness, have banded together to survive the streets. They work hard but cannot afford a home or the trappings of even a meager life without living together under an overpass. They survive and thrive as underpassers. These strong women embrace their lives as having a roof over their heads, tents to sleep in, jobs to go to, and food on their table. Enter Cherry. Cherry, a bright, smart, naïve fifteen year-old-girl, has been attacked and thrown away on the same day one of Maddy’s family has been viciously murdered. The family is torn between helping Cherry, forcing her out, and getting revenge for the loss of their beloved Shaniqua. Cherry brings a fresh inventiveness to living as an underpasser. Brutal truths and horrors are exposed threatening to shred the thin cord that binds this family together. These women live a hard life, but heroism is found in a form we're not accustomed to seeing; in a place where we're not accustomed to seeing it. Love, character, and strong faith undergird Maddy’s family as they rise above poverty and life on the streets.

2018 FINALIST – NEW WORKS OF MERIT

LIFE AIN’T FAIR
Twins Justin and Jamie Meeks, 14, had it all. Great parents, a wonderful school and lots of friends until it everything was suddenly and tragically ripped away from them. Separated and living in foster care, their lives spiraled into depression, bullying and abuse. Thanks to a caring Social Worker, Karen Jones, the twins have found a new home with their great aunt Bessie – an uneducated mountain woman they never met. Dirt poor and living off the land, Bessie must teach the children a new way of life totally unplugged, without modern conveniences and the need to hunt in order to survive. The never married Bessie must traverse the ups and downs of teaching children to overcome their deep scars and painful loss. LIFE AIN’T FAIR is a journey of pain, discovery, and love in the mountains of Tennessee.

Madge, Helene, Eileen, and Cora, four very successful Hollywood stars, return to the theatre that gave them their start only to discover it has been boarded up. It’s a race against time to prevent the historic 110-year-old Harvey Lawrence Theatre from becoming yet another condo. Fainting, gunshots, begging, handcuffs, protests, reporters, dancing, singing, and hope ensue. With Abbott Development holding the deed, and Cora’s son the winning bidder to tear down The Harvey, who will be victorious in Saving the Past?

Retired couple, Kristen and Craig, spend twenty-four-seven making the exact same memories. Smothered by too much of a good thing, Kristen longs for the butterflies she felt as a newlywed. Driven by a desire to discover a new life without Craig, they separate. Kristen wants to explore new interests including photography and Roger, a handsome single church friend and Psychologist, offers to teach her. As the session unfolds, a red-hot flame ignites between Kristen and Roger. Stacy, Kristen’s best friend harbors a secret yearning for Roger. Craig must find his own music in order to save their marriage. Four people burning with desire like a fire tornado seeking happiness. Can white-hot passion be quenched and if so, at what cost?

Mitch Robbins a four-time Teacher of the Year award winner and Gwen, his successful author wife are celebrating their 42nd anniversary. Mitch is looking forward to a new career as a School Superintendent. During their anniversary dinner, the doorbell rings and their lives are changed forever. District Attorney Jordan James has Mitch Robbins arrested for unspeakable acts on a child. The tragedy begins as Mitch's life is laid before him in court. There are no winners when it comes to children. The court of public opinion assumes you are guilty even if you are not. Mitch and Gwen try to hold on to each other and their marriage as Mitch's life unfolds. Their daughter, Zoe, is tasked with defending her father against the allegations. Trial of the Year: Child vs Teacher takes you on a pain-filled journey of truth and lies.

Two people from different backgrounds, traveling in opposite directions end up at the same place. Through a chance meeting in a secluded park, retired widow, Maxine Stafford, 67, meets the very successful 55-year-old writer, Ryan Allen Squire. The two develop a very unlikely friendship that changes both of their lives. Like an onion, their pasts are peeled back to reveal they are not living the storybook lives they thought they were. Maxine works tirelessly to find the right person to date and potentially marry Ryan. Their daily meetings at the park strengthen and uncover deep-seated fears, anxieties and needs that neither of them realized they had.

68-year-old Maxine and her younger, blind husband Ryan are newlyweds relishing their married life when Maxine’s grandson, Gabe, is thrust upon them. Gabe is a troubled teen addicted to speed and rapidly spiraling downhill. Maxine’s son, Stan and his wife tried to deal with Gabe, but a brush with the law landed them in court. Stan convinced the judge to let Gabe fly out and live with Maxine and Ryan in the hopes that a new environment would straighten Gabe out. Lori, Maxine’s daughter, warns them Gabe is very dangerous. She gives the 411 on the drugs and their effects as well as her fear of him. Gabe brings anger, resentment, attitude and extreme danger along with his illegal drugs. Ryan’s concern is for his family’s safety while Maxine refuses to accept the danger Gabe brings into her home. Maxine’s fight to save Gabe and her marriage is at the center of one very long day.

Ryan Squire is great looking, highly successful, middle aged author enjoying his new-found celebrity and new life with his beloved Maxine, his older wife. A family bar-b-que with Maxine’s daughter and her new friend, Leslie, exposes a shameless crush and opens deep painful wounds. Adding to the strain is an obsessed stalker who is determined to have Ryan as her own. Life, Love and Obsession takes you on a captivating journey of suspense, intrigue and danger.

Estranged great-grandmother Kate returns to Denver after a 10-year absence. Her great-grandkids, Aubry and Jake, help Kate move in when a blizzard traps the reluctant teens preventing them from leaving. Kate uses this unexpected opportunity to get to know and help Aubry and Jake with big dramas in their lives. After Jake has a bad accident, Kate’s daughter, Nancy, braves the mountains of snow to rescue her grandkids from her mother’s seeming lack of concern. Nancy brings a bag full of bitterness and anger and unloads on Kate! The ensuing fight escalates into the dark reasons why Kate moved after her husband died under mysterious circumstances. Kate must reconcile past actions and beliefs with a hidden truth to help rebuild her fragmented family and start the much-needed healing.

Two weeks into retirement, Elmer, the five-thumbed handyman wannabe, is systematically destroying the home his wife Dot has so meticulously cultivated. Remnants of his hilarious attempts at ‘upgrades’ fill every room. Finishing anything is not in Elmer’s repertoire. Mix in his newly acquired, overactive libido and the marriage test is on! Dot is contemplating the ’D’ word or, at the very least, the need for bail money! Her best friend, Lois, stops by, and a night of drunken hubby comparison begins. Honey, I’m Home Forever! is a night of laughter in a Scotch bottle.