David MacGregor

A dramedy. In a run-down neighborhood bar, four people gather on Thanksgiving Eve, the busiest bar night of the year. However, thanks to a hellacious fog blanketing the city, they are the only ones there. Sue, the divorced bar owner, inherited the place from her father and it's her only connection to her past; Mike, the cook with aspirations of being a great chef, is trying to stabilize himself after a traumatic combat experience; Bree, the bartender, is a walking encyclopedia ostracized from their very religious family due to being nonbinary; and Jimmy is an ex-factory worker jettisoned by the corporation to which he had devoted his life once he became expendable. There is an Icelandic word, "huldufólk," which means "hidden people." This is the story of four hidden people who find one another.

Full-length. "Vino Veritas" is a dark comedy about the truth--how some people need it to survive, while others need to avoid it at all costs. On Halloween night, lives and familiar traditions unravel when two couples share a Peruvian wine made from the skins of blue dart tree frogs, and more than one mask is dropped on this eventful evening.

Full-length. “Scrooge Macbeth” takes the meaning of “the show must go on” to a whole new level. Bob, Sylvia, Victor, and Renee are the last four actors standing when a food poisoning outbreak sidelines most of the cast on the opening night of the Hartland Community Theatre’s holiday production, Shakespeare’s classic, "The Winter’s Tale."
But that’s not the only setback: Sylvia has just discovered a boatload of red ink in the theatre group’s ledger. With impending financial ruin, a shortage of cast members, and an expectant audience just outside the doors, can these four amateur thespians concoct some kind of holiday entertainment in time to save their theatre?
Thanks to the ensuing violent collision between everything Christmas and everything Shakespeare, you will never think of Shakespeare or Christmas in quite the same way again.

Full-length. London. December 1888. 221B Baker Street. The notorious and as-yet undiscovered genius Vincent van Gogh presents the master-sleuth Sherlock Holmes with a most unusual case. Aided by his partner Dr. Watson and his paramour Irene Adler, the trio embark on a rousing adventure. Join the world's greatest detective as he dashes forth to solve one of the most audacious crimes of the Victorian era.

Full-length. London. June, 1897. It's the day before Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and her son, the playboy Prince of Wales, arrives at 221B Baker Street pursued by anarchist assassins. Coincidentally, the greatest chef in the world, Auguste Escoffier, also arrives at 221B, his career about to be shattered by blackmail and scandal. Can Holmes, Watson, and Irene Adler save the life of the heir to the British crown and the reputation of the master chef? And can they unmask the criminal genius behind both of these sinister conspiracies? This action-filled tale of royal debauchery, priceless gems, and gourmet food will provide Dr. Watson with the material for Sherlock Holmes's most bizarre and tastiest case.

England and the world are changing. Into the rooms of Sherlock Holmes come Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison--with new inventions that will alter the course of history--only both inventions have gone missing. Can Holmes, Watson, and Irene Adler somehow unravel the latest diabolical scheme of Marie Chartier--evil daughter of the late Professor Moriarty? Can world peace be achieved by the most powerful weapon ever created? And can Sherlock Holmes survive the greatest personal loss of his career?

Full-length. This is a comedy about a happily married man who discovers one day that might be the Antichrist. Should he try to enjoy a small dinner party with his wife, former college roommate, and his roommate’s devoutly religious fiancée? Or will their home-cooked meal usher in the Apocalypse?

Full-length. Henry Boyle is a shy, reclusive Professor of Medieval Studies whose life falls apart when his wife divorces him. At the urging of a colleague who encourages him to “try something different,” Henry begins drinking absinthe and writes a best-selling book which transforms him into a pop-culture celebrity. As he visibly disintegrates in the public eye, his popularity soars as people anticipate a Van Gogh/Hemingway/Cobain explosion. He finds an ally in a castle-hunting waitress who helps him realize that his only chance at salvation is to become a nonentity again, but how is that possible in a celebrity-crazed culture?

Full-length. "Consider the Oyster" is a comedy based on the facts that doctors are now using oyster shells to repair human bone and all oysters are born male and turn female. After shattering his femur during a Super Bowl celebration, our newly engaged protagonist undergoes such a procedure and then gradually realizes that he is turning into a woman. Can true love withstand a little thing like gender change, and what does it really mean to love someone?

Full-length. "Gravity" takes place in the rooms of Isaac Newton at Cambridge University in September, 1693, when Newton went through what subsequent biographers would call a “discomfiture of the mind.” Newton’s tragic past, conflicted sexuality, heretical religious beliefs, and alchemical experimentation had led him to lock himself away in his rooms and to do nothing less than attempt to touch the face of God.
Arrogant, paranoid, and absolutely certain that he had been chosen by God to reveal the eternal unity of all things in the universe, the play takes place in a crucible-like atmosphere where Newton’s most ambitious work would finally come to fruition. Or failure. It features Newton’s friend, the philosopher John Locke, and Newton’s nemesis, Dr. Robert Hooke, a brilliant polymath and devoted ladies’ man, whose jealousy of Newton unhinged him from time to time.
Finally, the play features the mysterious woman with whom Newton became “embroiled.” Based on Newton’s letters and journals, the play reveals a man riding the delicate line between divinity and madness, grappling with the choice between immortality and love, and lays bare the fact that while many people regard Newton as humanity’s first scientist, he was actually our last sorcerer.

Full-length. Sitting by herself in a coffee shop on a cold night, a lonely librarian waits for a blind date who isn't coming. She is spotted by the pastor of the church she used to attend, who soon discovers that Mary, for the first time in her life, had a date with another woman, and that Mary no longer comes to church because she is no longer religious. For a number of reasons, Pastor Tom feels he is at least partially responsible for these huge changes in Mary's life, and he wants to stop her from going down the path she is on. Already upset over being stood up, Mary agrees to talk to Tom for one hour. In that hour, he will try to convince her that pursuing a homosexual lifestyle will not make her happy and that she needs to find a new path. In return, Mary insists that during that same hour, Pastor Tom has to consider the possibility that God does not exist. They go to her house, a bottle of bourbon is opened, the debate begins, and it soon becomes clear that neither of them is exactly who they seem to be.

Ten-minute play. Three co-workers unmask and deal with a fellow employee
who has been stealing other people's food from the company lunchroom.

An innovative consultant offers an "out of the box" (yet traditional) solution to a corporation's labor woes.

NOTE:
The title is borrowed from Jonathan Swift's satirical essay, "A Modest Proposal," in which he suggested eating children as a way
to ease the famine crisis in Ireland. Similarly, this play isintended as satire.

An innovative school board offers an "out of the box" solution to the epidemic of school shootings.

NOTE:
The title is borrowed from Jonathan Swift's satirical essay, "A Modest Proposal," in which he suggested eating children as a way
to ease the famine crisis in Ireland. Similarly, this play is intended as satire.

Two State Senators come up with an innovative, "out of the box" solution to addressing unwanted pregnancies in a state that
has outlawed abortion.

NOTE:
The title is borrowed from Jonathan Swift's satirical essay, "A Modest Proposal," in which he suggested eating children as a way
to ease the famine crisis in Ireland. Similarly, this play is intended as satire.

Ten-minute play. It's New Year's Eve at the Parkview Retirement Home, where the New Year
is celebrated...at noon.

Ten-minute play. A man comes to the realization that there isn't a single thing in the world that he really cares about, and his wife is able to explain this phenomenon to him as they enjoy delicious cups of coffee.

Ten-minute play. The best husband in the world gives his wife the ultimate birthday
present.

Ten-minute play. A recently engaged couple visit a counsellor in hopes of resolving
the one problem in their relationship.

Ten-minute play. An epic battle for the future of humanity takes place in a
brewpub between a woman who values knowing things and man who
does not.

Five-minute play. A chance encounter with a plate of blue cheese changes Aaron's life forever.

Ten-minute play. Thanks to a kind deed that he once performed, Judas Iscariot is
allowed out of hell for one day every thousand years...and today
is that day.

Ten-minute play. At a Fourth of July family gathering, brother and sister
Paul and Tara stumble upon the truth regarding the
internecine warfare between human beings thanks to the way
their Aunt Dorothy eats from a bowl of assorted nuts.

Ten-minute play. Three friends gather to memorialize a recently deceased
friend, who died in somewhat peculiar circumstances.

Ten-minute play. On a precarious ledge high above San Francisco Bay, a befuddled young man tries to understand what has happened to his life, then is joined by two passersby similarly confused about their lives.

Ten-minute play. A woman finishes packing up her belongings as she prepares to move
out of the home she has shared with her husband for twelve years
and to move into an apartment with her younger boyfriend.

Ten-minute play. A plumber making an emergency call at three in the morning
gets into a dispute with his client over the true nature of heroism.

Ten-minute play. A lifelong factory rat decides to spend his last hour not
on the line, but in the bar across the street.

Ten-minute play. An agent and manager scheme to keep their pop star client at
the top of the entertainment food chain, but will need his
full cooperation.

Ten-minute play. A mother and daughter plan their annual Black Friday shopping
excursion in a diner at four in the morning while being served by
a waitress who is beyond tired.

Ten-minute play. Two friends have eighteen separate conversations in ten-minutes, discussing a variety of unusual topics.

Ten-minute play. The best wife in the world prepares to give her husband the
greatest birthday present ever.

Two women at a bus stop discuss the fate of a fiance arriving on the next bus.

Ten-minute play. On his first day of work, a new cashier in a dollar store discovers the dark side of his job.

Ten-minute play. A man and a woman meet in a bar and get to know one another extremely well, extremely quickly.

Ten-minute play. A gay woman and a working-class man
find themselves in the same hospital waiting room while
their respective partners give birth elsewhere in the
hospital.

One-minute play. To the consternation of his father, a young man receives a credit card application in the mail.

Ten-minute play. Two lonely co-workers are perfect for one another...if they can only change one thing about themselves.

Two dogs meet at a park and exchange views on freedom and personal responsibility.

Two people who have been corresponding on an on-line dating website meet in person for the first time.

A woman waits at a bus stop for her unfaithful partner and chats with a stranger about her plans...

Three co-workers conspire to a stop a thief who has been stealing food from the company lunchroom.

A perfectly average man begins to suspect that he might be the Antichrist and he prepares to go out with his wife.