Philip Vassallo

DeMille and Toto are lovers in for a bumpy ride in this farcical curtain raiser as they cite the AFI’s top ten movie quotes as the situation dictates. (2 minutes)

Two 13-year-old eighth graders commit suicide because their parents forbid them from seeing each other. The action unfolds in reverse to the moment they first meet in order to offer a glimpse into the intensity of discovery and anxiety of passion that accompanies experience for adolescents emerging from childhood yet still dependent on parental and school authorities. (25 minutes)

When a young woman is not ready for her double date, she explains to her girlfriend that she is writing a letter to the editor of a local newspaper. Her letter contains six notes left by a mysterious guest of a motel where she works as a chambermaid. His notes include apocalyptic passages from six major religions. After she says that she is writing the letter at the stranger’s request, her girlfriend attacks her common sense before slowly unraveling in doubt and longing to believe in something as much as her friend does. (10 minutes)

“A Case-by-Case Basis” offers an extraordinary evening of theater: four short plays spotlighting front-page issues such as teen suicide, homelessness, law enforcement, justice, language, race relations, immigration and parenting. These penetrating two-character studies, all previously produced Off-Off-Broadway, touch a nerve, hold suspense, and resolve unexpectedly. “Ask Me” (20 minutes) tells the story of two middle schoolers whose love is doomed when their parents disapprove of their relationship. By inverting the plot and staging a punk band to contribute to the narrative, Vassallo sheds unexpected light on the inexplicable intensity of youthful passion. In “How You Get to Main Street” (30 minutes), a lawyer stands up to his suburban town by defending a homeless man’s right to wander the streets of his community. He loses the hard-earned respect he had gained from his neighbors, and what he hoped to gain, an ideal kind of justice, is equally shattered by his client, who burglarizes his home. “The Community Service” (25 minutes) bends identities to examine cultural perspectives and focus on communication barriers between two people, a resolute candy store owner who recently lost her husband in a race riot, and an unemployed, radical community member estranged from his family. “The Spelling Bee” (35 minutes) thrusts onstage two young men, one black and the other white, each victimized in different ways by the same crime, each living on opposite ends of the same Bronx avenue that separates residents by their race, class, and culture. The New York Times said of this play, “Mr. Vassallo has taken an interesting approach. … There is some refreshingly honest talk from both characters—no political correctness here.” (120 minutes)

This experimental play bends identities to examine cultural perspectives and communication barriers between two races. A Black man, appearing drunk, threateningly enters a Chinese woman’s candy store before business hours. While his behavior seems menacing, the woman stands fast against him. She and her husband, now deceased, left behind in China an unwanted child, a decision the woman regrets. And the man, once a police officer, pulled the trigger that inadvertently killed woman’s husband a year ago. They are actually meeting to make sense of the last year: the man down on his luck, out of a job, and estranges from his family, and the woman, apparently stuck in a candy store she has no desire to own and operate. (20 minutes)

A homeless ex-boxer on the verge of death holds the fate of the man who shot him in his hands as he contemplates his last chance to make meaning of his harsh life. In his dying moments, he sees his life passing before him and recognizes that his assailant is the same person who did not give him a promised break twenty years earlier. Revenge or forgiveness? (25 minutes)

The lives of six teenagers, all close friends who call themselves the Scheme Team, unfold in 10 scenes set on the core theme of 10 federal holidays. The action takes place at the end of their junior year and beginning of their senior year in high school.

ACT ONE: Scene One: “Resolution” (New Year’s Day) – Sunday, January 4, shopping mall. Scene Two: “Tolerance” (Martin Luther King’s Birthday) – Friday, January 16, high school English class. Scene Three: “Leadership” (George Washington’s Birthday) – Monday, February 16, hospital. Scene Four: “Remembrance” (Memorial Day) – Tuesday, May 26, high school English class. Scene Five: “Freedom” (Independence Day) – Saturday, July 4, town park. ACT TWO: Scene One: “Work” (Labor Day) – Wednesday, September 9, pharmacy.
Scene Two: “Discovery” (Columbus Day) – Monday, October 12, museum. Scene Three: “Honor” (Veterans Day) – Thursday, November 11, high school auditorium. Scene Four: “Gratitude” (Thanksgiving Day) – Wednesday, November 25, high school soccer field. Scene Five: “Birth” (Christmas Day) – Friday, December 25, den of one of the girls’ house. (90 minutes)

This alternately comic and tragic duet features a a teenage brother and sister at the wake of their father, a renowned linguist but negligent parent. In trying to assess their father’s professional achievement, brother and sister, masters of language in their own right, show they have inherited their father’s gift of communication—and realize they share his sense of isolation. (10 minutes)

This is a story of misplaced affection, professional conflicts, identity crises, and personal longing. A renowned psychologist treats a teenage girl for narcolepsy and sleep apnea while studying the girls remarkable ability of recall. Meanwhile, the doctor confronts challenges brought on by the girl’s mother and evades personal problems in dealing with her own estranged teenage daughter. These divergent situation culminate in the characters establishing unusual relationships and unexpected alliances. (45 minutes)

A hospital patient on her death bed, a convict on death row, and an Iraqi captive speak to the audience. They are unaware of each other’s presence and of their blood relationship to each other. Through their monologues, we see the limitations of language, the richness of emotional energy on the face of death, and the nature of blood relationships. (10 minutes)

Whether it’s love or business, breaking up is hard to do, yet the language is the same. (3 minutes)

A tourist in a remote cafe is at the end of his obsessive solo European vacation when he realizes just how estranged he is from his self-made world. (6 minutes)

Two diametrically opposed women in the waiting room of a doctor’s office turn from bitter enemies to old friends in a matter of minutes. (7 minutes)

An aging, bigoted moving man returns from vacation to work with gripes against the world. He meets his new work partner, a deaf man of uncertain ethnic origin who is young enough to be his son. The little respect the older man shows for the younger one leads to his precarious destiny. (15 minutes)

When a lawyer, Frank, decides to stand up to his suburban town by defending a homeless man’s right to wander the streets of his community, he realizes that he will lose the hard-earned respect he has gained from his neighbors. What he hoped to gain, at least, was justice for the homeless man, Da-oo. The first thing Da-oo does when he wins his case is burglarize Frank’s home. The play begins with an outraged, knife-wielding Frank stalking an indifferent Da-oo. Frank immediately recovers his stolen property. Then why doesn’t he take his belongings and leave Da-oo alone in his sleeping hole behind the shopping mall? Things that Da-oo says trigger Frank’s imagination as the scene flashes back to courtroom scenes that ultimately prove Da-oo’s brute force is feeble in contrast to Frank’s “lawyer words.” (30 minutes)

Issues of art, pop culture, creating, travel, theology, betrayal, loyalty, loneliness, and friendship collide in this 12-sketch, 30-role production of 6 comedies and 6 dramas. Actors looking for diverse tour de force challenges can each play up to 6 roles, or the production can include up to 30 actors with any number in between. Each scene change requires no more than 1 minute preparation time.

NOTE: These 12 plays can be staged individually, partially, or collectively, and in any order that the production company deems appropriate.

(Running Time: 120 minutes)

ACT ONE (48 minutes)

1. The American Film Institute’s Top Ten Movie Quotes (In No Particular Order) – Lovers in a car cite the AFI’s top ten movie quotes as the situation dictates. (2 minutes, comedy)

2. The Legacy Poems – A renowned poet finds himself defending his work and his worldview as he meets a new editor and the publisher he thought he knew about his latest manuscript. (17 minutes, drama)

3. Take Me to the Darkest Light – A blind man confronts an anxious young working woman on a train platform, willing to pay her for light. (3 minutes, drama)

4. The Head’s Up – A tourist in a European cafe is on a long distance call with his wife in the USA as he endlessly awaits service and encounters the futility of visiting 27 European Union countries in an 80-day whirlwind tour. (6 minutes, drama)

5. Waiting – Two desperate people, a woman about to give birth and a man at a supermarket checkout counter, can use the same language. (3 minutes, comedy)

6. The Meaning of the Blues – Emily Dickinson, Duke Ellington, and Frida Kahlo meet for a walk through the Hermitage, Rijksmuseum, Louvre, Apostolic Palace, Prado, National Gallery, and Metropolitan Museum of Art as they share their art, philosophy, and affection. (12 minutes, drama)

ACT TWO (52 minutes)

7. The Five Stages of Grief – Whether it’s a couple breaking up their relationship or a boss terminating an employee, the five stages of grief will surely surface. (3 minutes, comedy)

8. Who, What, Where, When, Why, How – An artist silently sketches a grieving jogger near Ground Zero as he recalls his feelings of September 11, 2001, precisely seven years before. (6 minutes, drama)

9. This Is Your Life – A female and her subconscious age from 6 to 66 as the history American sitcoms unfold. (16 minutes, comedy)

10. Hooked Up – Two strangers in the waiting room of a doctor’s office become bitter enemies until they realize they were high school friends 11 years earlier. (7 minutes, comedy)

11. What If I Said – A veteran now employed by Homeland Security grapples with guilt, anger, and despair as his conscience alternately warns and mocks him about impeding security threats. (10 minutes, drama)

12. Writer’s Blockhead – The creative right brain and analytical left brain of a writer spar, frustrating her as she tries to complete a story. (5 minutes, comedy)

Before going to bed, a woman understandably complains to her drunk husband about all that he has lost: his manners, physique, sex drive, and consciousness. When he wakes up in the middle of the night a completely changed man, just the man she once fell in love with, she realizes that some things cannot—and should not—change. (25 minutes)

A seasoned, discontented, and defensive poet expecting a contract meeting with his publisher encounters an unexpected revelation about the value of his work and life when he runs into a young editorial assistant. (17 minutes)

Mary, 18, and Joe, 26, are strangers who find themselves in the dilapidated Aurora Borealis Hotel as they discover their identities, connection to each other, and place in the world. (12 minutes)

May Day concerns the relationship of two women who meet 20 years after an event on May Day that changed their lives. Annie went on to become a famous trial attorney, legal scholar, and candidate for state Attorney General; Jenny was incarcerated for a federal offense and is now a single mother barely holding down a clerical job for the Legal Aid Society. They are forever connected by their friendship with two other women who tragically died when they all attended the same college and after the four formed "The Force," the fastest high school relay team in the country. (90 minutes)

What would Emily Dickinson, Duke Ellington, and Frida Kahlo talk about if they walked through the Hermitage, Rijksmuseum, Louvre, Apostolic Palace, Prado, National Gallery, and Metropolitan Museum of Art? (12 minutes)

An unusual high school senior in a small town seeks a reference librarian's advice on what she believes to be a mind-body problem.

Susan is the young, dynamic executive director of Challenged Citizens Cooperative, an agency serving developmentally disabled people. Her mentally retarded brother, Nick, is one of the residents in her agency and the reason Susan became so active in the human services field. They both face problems that challenge and ultimately affirm their values and courage. A disgruntled employee has discovered Susan and her lover, Bobby, a real estate developer, bilking the city of a million-dollar buildings renovation contract. Nick is incapable of expressing his love to Pamela, one of the residents in his house. He escapes social interaction by wandering through the woods with a metal detector in search of nickels and dimes. The common flaw of sister and brother is a greed that distorts their perspective of life and pushes them apart from each other. Haruko, the residence manager, tries to help Nick deal with his emotions and confronts her boss, Susan, about shirking her responsibility as Nick’s guardian. Susan learns about the simple power of honestly facing responsibility, and Nick works through relationships with a black roommate, a woman he has a crush on, and his sister, who has drifted away from him. What makes the characters different is how they confront problems, enduring despite their inability to completely overcome them. (120 minutes)

A teenage couple, inspired by "Catcher in the Rye", meet in Central Park on a summer morning to share their views on life. (10 minutes)

Fifteen months after a woman’s only child, a college student, was killed in the World Trade Center, she lapses into one of her many bouts with depression, living vicariously through her image of her daughter’s life. A girl, who cannot be seen or heard by the woman, exists to the audience as the daughter’s spirit, trying unsuccessfully to reach her mother. Feelings of maternal guilt and youthful anxiety surface, but the girl struggles to release her mother so that they can both move on with their lives–one in the flesh and one in spirit. (20 minutes)

A diligent, ambitious young Chief Operating Officer of a social services agency struggles in a twelve-year relationship with her significant other, an artist on the cusp of success, mainly because of their obsessive work ethic. Here life turns upside down when a stab wound victim shows up at her office one night with an unusual request, which takes her the darkest edges of the city in search of an apparently insignificant truth she is nevertheless hellbent on discovering.

Two people engage in a rapid-fire, circuitous conversation of unanswered questions leading to a, well, questionable conclusion. (6 minutes)

Questions Asked of Dying Dreams is the umbrella title for four related one-acts: "What Do You Charge for a Cure?" (35 minutes), about a director of a clinical program for developmentally disabled individuals who confronts her professional and personal doubts as she deals with one of her clients and a new intake; "How Silent Do I Sound?" (15 minutes), about a bigoted, aging moving man who unexpectedly meets his new coworker and his own destiny; "Do I Bleed in the Dark" (25 minutes), about a homeless ex-boxer who has a final chance to make something meaningful of his life in his dying moments; and "Isn't This the Way You Wanted Me?" (25 minutes), about an embittered, frustrated wife who reassesses her marriage and life in light of her husband's remarkable transformation."Questions Asked of Dying Dreams adds up to a rousing maiden voyage for new playwright Vassallo and a challenging and enjoyable evening of theater. ... Cynical, sarcastic, funny, or angry, all four playlets are insightful and engaging--no mean feat--and each takes a hard look at life, their characters always questioning its meaning." -- Bob Coyne, Asbury Park Press. (120 minutes)

A young college student shows up for a job interview as a housesitter for a wealthy penthouse owner. Repeated miscommunications and false assumptions create a growing tension between the women leading to a mutual, if fragile, understanding. (20 minutes)

The two speakers are neither here nor there but everywhere, our contemplative conscience that accompanies all our experiences as we stride toward desires, steer clear of fears, and escape from inevitable realities. They are not contrasting characters but complementary ones, completing each other’s thoughts always with certainty but sometimes with profound sadness or satisfaction or strength. They represent the conscious choices we make, knowing full well we may regret them yet resigning ourselves to our human fate of exercising our free will. (10 minutes)

Two young men, one black and one white, have been victimized by the same crime. Each tells his story while the other grudgingly plays supporting roles to embellish the narrative. The black man assails everyone he sees in the white world: neighborhood greasers, sociology professors, and sleazy businessmen. At the core of the white man’s tale are reverse discrimination, black-on-white crime, and an impotent justice system. Their tirades culminate in an explosive confrontation.

“Vassallo orchestrates an intricate duel of wits between two embittered men struggling to validate their own bigotry.” – Steven Boone, Show Business.

“Mr. Vassallo has taken an interesting approach. … There is some refreshingly honest talk from both characters—no political correctness here.” – Neil Genzlinger, New York Times.

"The strength of Vassallo’s 1995 playlet is that he balances griefs. Nothing … is black-and-white. Intolerance, the playwright observes, can sometimes grow from understandable resentments—but the problem with rational gripes is that they don't often lead to attempts at reconciliation. – David Finkle, Theater Mania.

“A bitter sampling of bigotry and racial epithets … Most blatantly challenging and angry …hints at social conventions, political correctness in universities, and the genesis of bigotry among the average folks on the street… offers some poignant moments of heated exchange.” – Kessa De Santis, Electronic Link.

“A highly theatrical exploration of ongoing racial grudges in the Bronx.” – Mark Dundas Wood, Backstage.

(40 minutes)

A young woman confronted by a blind man and a beggar on a subway platform experiences fear in a different light. (3 minutes)

In these compelling monologues, individuals face questions, crises, and quagmires on issues of relationships, disabilities, politics, dystopias, social scene, privacy, art. The monologues are flexible in race, sex, and age. (60 minutes)

"First in the Flesh": A young woman recounts an unusual experience with an older man who has been stalking her.

"It's Time to Go": A senior citizen faces displacement because their widowed mother, in her late-90s, is at the end of her life.

"Just Saying": A person has an unusal experience with animals in their bedroom.

"Like Real Life": A person returns home from a 35-mile walk remembering the remarkable sights they have seen.

"My Name Is Edgar": A blind man wearing sunglasses and holding a walking cane plays a game to assert a philosophy about the seeing world.

"Not for Nothing, But": A young woman reviews her socially isolated life.

"The Pickup": A young woman dining alone in a restaurant encounters an unwelcomed person trying to get her attention.

"Sworn to Silence": Your friend reacts to a story you have just told them about a horrific brutality you suffered at the hands of a barbaric regime.

"What He Didn't Take": A woman who has been financially victimized by her fleeing significant other reacts to her fate.

"What He/She Left": A person considers their significant other’s unexpected but reasonable desertion and farewell note.

"What Would You Do?": A person holding a coin worth $12 million faces an ethical dilemma.

"You Owe Me Your Life": A radio broadcaster signs off their program with an admonishment to the audience.

An imagining of a life-changing moment in the life of Frederick Kittle, a black teenager from Pittsburgh, who will become the great playwright August Wilson. Frederick has been spending his days in the library since he dropped out of high school unbeknownst to his mother. A librarian engages him to transcend his bitterness about an uncaring world and to reach for his greatest self. (10 minutes)

The history of a woman from age 6 to 66 unfolds as played by two characters, one who lives an idealized life through watching sitcoms and the other who deals with life as it really is. (16 minutes)

Two couples, one in their sixties and one in their twenties, camp at a site distracted by each other's presence. As the older couple face their past and the younger their future, they find a moment of mutual peace in their present. (10 minutes)

Whose urgency is greater, a woman about to give birth in a delivery room or an impatient man waiting to check out his groceries in a supermarket? (3 minutes)

As a high school boy prepares for his student council campaign speech, he struggles with two daunting tasks: overcoming the popularity of his more self-assured opponent, and living up to the success of his father’s career. As he suffers the relentless teasing of his younger sister and listens to the wise counsel of one of his classmates, he learns an important lesson about keeping things real. (30 minutes)

A director of a clinical program for developmentally disabled individuals confronts her personal and professional doubts as she counsels a problematic client and interviews a brain-injured man ill-suited for her program. (35 minutes)

A veteran working in national security is torn between his commitment to his country and the limitations his job puts on him in fulfilling his obligations. (10 minutes)

A jogger converges on an artist a few blocks from Ground Zero tries to find closure in the terrorist incident that changed his life seven years after the September 11, 2001. (6 minutes)

A writer is conflicted by how to write a love scene: her right brain calling for no holds barred and her left brain demanding restraint. (5 minutes)