Barbara and Carlton Molette

In 1966, Clarence appears at his rural Virginia home, tells Ada he passed away, and he opposes his WWII buddy’s plan for a hero’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery. He wants to be buried in the church cemetery plot they purchased decades ago. They have two adult children. Bill supports his parents’ plan, but Thelma favors the Arlington burial, arguing local authorities are bound to discover Clarence was White, placing Ada’s job, pension, and dignity in jeopardy. Ada is a public school teacher, and “interracial marriage” is illegal in Virginia. Rev. Martin, their minister, assures Ada her wishes will be honored, but returns the next day to say local authorities discovered Clarence is White, and his burial in a Black cemetery is prohibited. Official documents do not clarify the matter. After Bill and Rev. Martin devise a plan that permits Clarence to rest in peace, Clarence appears to say his final farewell to Ada. She asks, “Are you a White man who passed for Black, or a Black man who passed for White?” Clarence’s response is as honest, sincere, and complete as he can provide. One interior, 100 minutes, 2 women, 3 men.

After miscellaneous White doctors fail to cure Magnolia’s malady, her aspiring politician father fears she has one of those illnesses only Colored people get. So, Chauncey White tells his minions to find a Negro doctor. His new housekeeper, Begonia Black, seizes the chance to punish her husband for his miscellaneous misdeeds. She claims he’s a Doctor of Black Medicine who only uses his wondrous healing power if he is beaten first. To avoid a beating at the hands of Chauncey’s minions, B.S. “admits,” he’s a doctor, and his skill as a con artist sustains the hoax. Leroy, Magnolia’s true love, tells B.S. that Magnolia’s malady is a subterfuge to avoid the marriage her father arranged with a wealthy man who promised to finance Chauncey’s political campaign. B.S. helps the couple elope; but they decide to return and seek Chauncey’s approval. When various deceptions are revealed, B.S. concocts a story that not only persuades Chauncey to approve Magnolia’s marriage to Leroy, but to make Leroy his campaign manager as well. The play concludes as B.S. extemporizes a campaign song and everybody sings along.

The action occurs at a time and place when Black people might summarize their plight by saying: "If you light, you alright. If you brown, stick around. If you black, get back." At the same time and nevertheless, many profess: "Black is Beautiful!" and "It's Nation time!" The play might take place "back in the day," chronologically, far away-- maybe 1969? But some people say these foibles remain pervasive today. And it's okay to pursue that point of view. A unit set suggests a parlor and a bit of exterior at Chauncey White's semi-palatial, "Gone With Wind Modern" home.

Othello’s infant son is heir to his fortune; but Desdemona’s uncle connives to seize it for himself. An African griot tells the story: Othello goes off to war, leaving Desdemona at a convent where gives birth to their son. After Othello’s victory, she leaves their son and joins her husband. Othello’s family learns of the couple’s tragic demise, and travels to Venice to claim their entitlement and fulfill their obligation to raise Othello’s son. Having failed to seize Othello’s fortune by deception, Desdemona’s uncle implements a more horrendous plan. One infant at the convent has a blanket bearing Desdemona’s family’s crest. Desdemona’s uncle pays to have that infant murdered. Then, he incites a drunken mob to attack the men he hired. Once they are dead, who can say he is responsible?

Unit set, 110 minutes, 11 characters (6 men, 5 women– with doubling, 4 women, 4 men). Readily adaptable to thrust or arena stages and theatres with no fly system. Continuous action is essential, and time-consuming shifts of scenery or properties are unnecessary with a setting that eschews realistic depiction of locales.

Amanda Overton, arbiter of Overton, Georgia’s social hierarchy, has never met her only niece. When Justine pays a visit, Amanda discovers she’s Black. Amanda’s sister left Georgia to attend Radcliffe. She eloped with a Harvard man who had an embassy job waiting in Paris when he graduated. Justine, born and raised in Paris, now a freahman at Radcliffe, arranges to visit her Aunt Amanda who enthusiastically organizes an event to introduce her legacy to local “society.” Justine arrives, Amanda discovers she’s Black, and Justine discovers her mother never told Amanda that the Harvard man she married is African. Events unfold, festering wounds and long-kept secrets are revealed, priorities are re-arranged, and what legacy really means is reconsidered.

One interior, 120 minutes,4 women, 1 man.

A self-centered, high-powered executive becomes Sarah Harris in 1833 Connecticut, and unleashes a firestorm of bigotry by enrolling in the previously all-white Prudence Crandall Academy. As opposition grows more widespread and violent, Prudence gains support from influential abolitionists, closes the school, and reopens as an academy for “young ladies and little misses of color.” A neighbor, former supporter, and perennial candidate for Governor sponsors a law designed to close the school. The law is enacted. Prudence is arrested and jailed. She and her students remain resolute through three trials and miscellaneous acts of terrorism. Finally, an attack that nearly destroys the building with students asleep inside forces the school to close. Sarah returns to the present, now willing to nurture the community that nurtured her.

Can be performed on Zoom, or in classrooms and similar spaces. While dialogue indicates which character an actor is portraying, a unique article of clothing donned in view of the audience enhances a character’s identity. 40 minutes,3 actors (2 women, 1 man), play all characters.

When news anchor Josie Jenkins chronicles unrest at Historically Black Pemberton State University, her romance with Pemberton’s Vice President collides with her career. The newly-appointed president exposes a history of fiscal malfeasance, and various factions demand his removal. He appears on Josie’s newscast to unveil a transparently inadequate plan to ease financial pain, defuse unrest, and eradicate disfavor in the halls of state government. As miscellaneous others promote self-serving agendas and foment calamity, President Dickman’s indulgences further undermine his rehabilitation strategy. Despite the surrounding turmoil, Josie’s relationship with Pemberton’s Vice President blossoms.

Unit set,90 minutes, 4 men, 2 women.

Prudence Crandall unleashes a firestorm of bigotry by permitting Sarah Harris to enroll in her previously all-White Academy in 1833 Connecticut. As opposition grows more widespread, and violent, Prudence gains support from influential abolitionists, closes the school and reopens as an academy for “young ladies and little misses of color.” A neighbor, former supporter, and perennial candidate for Governor sponsors a law designed to close the school. The law is enacted. Prudence is arrested and jailed. She and her students remain resolute through three trials and miscellaneous acts of terrorism. Finally, an attack that nearly destroys the building with students asleep inside forces the school to close. Prudence goes to the Midwest and continues to heed her calling. Many of her students continue to seek education, and some achieve extraordinary success in later life.

Unit set, 110 minutes, 4 women, 2 men, (most play several characters).

Well-to-do Black women play bridge, discuss aspirations and express relief they are protected from the rioting and looting until one of them is gang-raped by men assigned to maintain law and order.

“...searing insights into a Black middle class so encumbered by meaningless White middle class values that its bridge-playing members have lost all sense of identification with their race. In essence, the play proves the absurdity of attempting to gratify pseudo-bourgeois tastes while society suffers from a prolonged racial nervous breakdown.” – Black Writers of America.

“…a witty, sad, and powerful play that may well remain alive long after the immediate issues it raises have been settled”– The New Yorker. “

In this carefully crafted play, the authors... skillfully contrast the title character’s life before and after the incident.”– Variety.

“...impertinently written and drolly played”– The New York Times.

Unit set, 60 minutes, 5 women, 4 men. Contact Dramatists Play Service for amateur production.

A marketing team will be fired unless they devise new occasions to sell greeting cards. But, what if an occasion is repugnant to a team member? How do workers at large for-profit corporations, law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, and others align their moral compass with the need to be considered a “team player?”

1 woman, 2 men.

Charlie’s current wife and his first wife disagree about his funeral arrangements. Each believes she knows everything there is to know about Charlie. When a stranger arrives, both discover they don’t.

2 women, 1 man.

GRANDPA is at his granddaughter Monica’s primary school to pick her up. Normally, her mother (GRANDPA’s daughter) picks her up, but today, she has an important business meeting in the far suburbs on the other side of the city. GRANDPA arrives early so he can take Monica to dinner at a restaurant, but things do not go as he assumed they would.

1 woman, 1 man

The Global Union of Nations will eradicate racial discord by “relocating” Black people to the Lunar Colony. The G.U.N.’s sophisticated artificial intelligence determines who goes and who stays. The Racial Identity Determiner orders one twin sister to go and the other to stay. They file an appeal. The one ordered to go wants to stay; and the one ordered to stay wants to go. Will the officer hearing their appeal dare to say the R.I.D. made an error?

2 women, 1 either gender.

A couple, married over forty years, want their forty-five-year-old car restored. But, after it’s refurbished, they want it taken apart and reassembled inside their home. The auto shop guarantees customer satisfaction. But what kind of satisfaction does this couple expect?

2 men, 1 woman.

A couple, married over forty years, want their forty-five-year-old car restored. But, after it’s refurbished, they want it taken apart and reassembled inside their home. The auto shop guarantees customer satisfaction. But what kind of satisfaction does this couple expect?

The owners and staff at a café in Memphis prepare supper for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the eve of the historic march to support sanitation workers.

3 women, 1 man.

His boss is going to fire him if he’s late to work again. He has to buy a watch. The sign says “Used Watches for Sale.” Why does the proprietor refuse to sell him a watch?

All 3 characters either gender.

Aspiring to follow in his legendary father’s footsteps, a young politician finds the secret to his father’s phenomenal success. If he uses it, success is guaranteed. But, what if there are unforseen consequences?

1 man, 2 either gender.

Aspiring to follow in his legendary father’s footsteps, a young politician finds the secret to his father’s phenomenal success. If he uses it, success is guaranteed. But, what if there are unforseen consequences?

1 man, 2 either gender.

A novice entrepreneur displays merchandise near an event commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. A man objects to the wording on a tee-shirt. A police officer interrupts.

2 men, 1 either gender.

A couple, married for over twenty years, experiences "micro-aggression" at a supermarket check-out counter.

A newspaper reporter interviews the 1916 Employee of the Year at World Wide Widget Works, but the reporter does not get the story he expected.

2 men.

The second coming meets reality TV. Each contestant’s last name is King. Fame and fortune await the first three Kings to present their gift in Bethlehem. And the race begins! But first, the TSA inspects their luggage.

2 men, 2 either gender.