Laura Ekstrand

It's getting close to midnight, and Bert's estranged wife, Tessa, pops up at the lakeside house they once shared. As they slip back into their once comfortable friendship, they consider whether it's finally time to get a divorce. But what they really need is a resolution to their story, which will necessitate both of them coming to terms with their own secrets, fears and history.

Chip suddenly decides to quit his law firm, the job that has been keeping his household
with Lynn and their daughter afloat for years. He feels it’s time for him to explore a
future in which he has the luxury of being fulfilled by his work. Lynn has just revived her
business as an interior designer after a long hiatus during which she was the primary
caregiver, and is knocked off balance by Chip’s sudden and unilateral decision.
Shelly, a barista, connects with Chip as she navigates her deteriorating relationship with
Eduardo, a restaurant manager. While Ed would like Shelly to sideline her artistic
aspirations, Shelly increasingly feels that she needs someone who supports her
photography career. The roles of work and money intertwine with emotional demands in
the characters’ relationships as they discover what it takes for a partnership to survive
when its rules shift and evolve.

A Certain Age uses direct address and audience interaction to bring to life the odd, confusing and sometimes hilarious experience of turning from young to old as a woman today. The four actors in the play search for a way to understand the changes happening in their bodies, minds and lives by drawing on input from the audience and messages from the media and culture at large. Ultimately, they find that generosity and grace, both for ourselves and each other, provide a way through this period of life.

Dorothy has two days to finish packing up the family home and move to a new condo, so she’s called in her adult children to help with the task. When several unexpected visitors show up as well, the job becomes even more complicated. What they don’t know is that in the course of their visit, she plans to reveal to them something that she’s kept hidden for decades. What she doesn’t know is that nearly everyone in the house has secrets of their own. Ultimately, the family will discover the cost of hiding the truth and the cost of telling it. Together they’ll decide what stays with them and what will be left behind. (co-author, Jason Szamreta)

In this comedic musical play, the residents of a modern American suburb traverse the odd relationships between neighbors. Scenes, monologues and songs delve into the perils of house-hunting, tolerating your neighbors' garish holiday decorations, competitive parenting, and other challenges. If you're not quite strangers and not quite friends, what does being neighbors mean? (Music by Joe Zawila )

The Neighbor Project is an hour-long play developed by collecting interviews from residents of Summit, NJ who immigrated to the United States. The play tells the story, in their own voices, of how people from Italy, Mexico, Romania, Haiti, Korea, Japan and Israel all came to the same community for a variety of reasons within and outside of their control. We learn from them what it feels like to leave one's home to find a new one, and how being a "neighbor" can have a multitude of meanings.

A ten-minute play about work, love and the meaning of life. It's minutes before the turn of the next century, and two security workers wonder whether the world is about to end. Is their job really essential? How should they be spending their precious time on earth? And is there a purpose beyond the confines of their current existence that they should be diving into?

STIRRING UP TROUBLE is a ten-minute comedy that imagines who MACBETH'S witches might be if they were meeting to cast spells today. They gleefully make their potion, but get tripped up by some of the problematic references in the recipe. A spoof for Halloween, or any time stirring up trouble, or modern takes on Shakespeare, is on the menu.

A ten-minute comedy. Sandra and Dwayne are supposed to be saving for their upcoming wedding, but Dwayne keeps spending their money on frivolous things. Sandra wants to know what’s up with that, and furthermore, who’s that strange guy asleep in their bedroom?

In this ten-minute play, two people meet at a farmers market who are resolved to change the way they have relationships. A simple transaction turns into a conversation that nudges them toward a new way forward.

Two lonely people wrestle with the meaning of art and find the personal connection that they both desperately need in this 15-minute play.

Two best friends, seniors in high school who are receiving their college admissions responses, confront the role of race in the process and in their relationship. The play takes a look at how people who care about each other can have one of the most difficult conversations before us today.

Shortly before Christmas, Kris and Holly are on a date they arranged through an online service. Kris has hinted that there are some special circumstances he’s dealing with, and Holly is intrigued. Will they make him more or less attractive to her? And is Holly ready for the huge life change that this relationship would bring?

It’s Christmas Eve, and Katherine awaits a visit from her ex-husband, William. He
comes, offering nostalgia and a bid for forgiveness in the form of a green bean
casserole. Having recently separated from his girlfriend, William is feeling lonely and
wondering whether there’s an opportunity for reconnection of some kind. Katherine is
protective of her hard-won healing and independence, and isn’t looking for the same
thing. But considering the absence of their son and the loneliness that Christmas can
bring, they tiptoe toward a new friendship.

In this one-minute comedy, a yoga student demonstrates the limits of his understanding of what the practice is all about.

In this 30-minute play, three seemingly disparate neighbors in a Brooklyn apartment building find a way to connect, even at a distance, even during a pandemic.

AT 93 is a new adaptation of the poetry of Jan Slepian, who continued to publish her work until her recent passing at 95 years of age. Her latest books of poetry, Jellybeans in Space and The Other Shoe, are shaped into a theatrical experience performed by a cast of three veteran actresses. This is a rare and vivid peek into the colorful life of an elder artist who has a lot to say about the experience of looking back, looking forward, and looking around her.

The second in the series of reflections on the later years adapted from the writing of Jan Slepian, this play takes us through a step-by-step lesson on how to navigate the sometimes tricky journey through an enlightened old age. Like its predecessor Astonishment, the play includes lighthearted ruminations on the difficulty of such ordinary routines as getting in and out of cars, mastering technology, and finding matching socks. Also explored are the heartbreak of losing a spouse and the pleasure of remembering street games and penny candy, among many other topics.

Audiences have been enjoying this clever exploration of aging with humor and grace since 2011. Adapted from a book of essays written by nonagenarian Jan Slepian, this play is performed by three actresses who bring to life the experience of getting older, from the ridiculous to the sublime.