Joseph Sexton

One Act Play - 30 pages - A group of actors arrives for what they think is a rehearsal, only to be pulled into a strange, controlled game run by an enigmatic director. As roles are assigned, identities blur, and the stakes escalate—from petty competition to life-and-death consequences—the actors are forced to confront their own value, ambition, and sense of reality. When one of them is abruptly “written out,” the remaining players must decide whether to keep playing or break the system—if that’s even possible.

FULL LENGTH - 120 pages - MULCH is a comic, character-driven play about a dysfunctional family, a basement call center, and the best-selling blender in America. When Armaan, a lonely customer service rep, starts making prank calls to pass the time, his life collides with Craig, a college dropout, and Craig’s chaotic parents, Margo and Richard. What begins as a simple complaint about a faulty plug spirals into a world of fractured families, absurd business logic, dance clubs, and unexpected bonds. Structured in segments that can be performed in any order, the play transforms the ordinary into the surreal, blending humor and pathos into a sharp portrait of love, work, and reinvention.

full length - 89 pages - Act 1 - Erin and Ted have set out on the road in their converted van in an attempt to attract notice and become social media influencers. Ted quickly becomes disillusioned with van life and searches for other amusements. All the while, his mother keeps checking in. Away from the campsite, out in the woods, he finds drugs, alcohol, sex and gambling, and befriends a man known as the Stranger. The Stranger keeps feeding Ted whatever he wants and all the while running up Ted’s tab. When the debt grows to a point where the Stranger knows he can manipulate him, he calls it in. When Ted can't pay, the Stranger demands that Ted either work in the tent (Brothel) or recruit someone (Erin). Ted promises to settle with the Stranger and later that evening, the Stranger comes around Ted's campsite to collect. Things happen and Ted ends up killing both the Stranger and Erin. - Act 2 - Ted runs home to his mother with the intention of ending it all. He arrives only to find that the Stranger is somehow not dead and has rented his room. Ted's father passes and Ted's ex girl-friend Karen (played by the same actor as Erin but in a wig) shows up to re-kindle their lost romance only to discover an undeniable attraction to the Stranger. As fate would have it, it is both the Stranger's and Karen's birthday. Mother decides to throw them a birthday party while Ted prepares to end it all. Once Ted has prepared his mother for life without him, they start the birthday party and as they finish the birthday song Ted ends it all and the Stranger assumes Ted's position as Ted's mother's son.

Full length - 88 pages- Raising Jane Goode is a darkly comic exploration of denial and family dysfunction, centered on Karl Goode, a controlling insurance agent who believes his wife has literally transformed into a houseplant. As Karl clings to faith and rigid order, his daughter Jane struggles with self-destruction and a lack of purpose, while her clown husband JoeyG provides comic distraction but little stability. With family therapist Tobes—Karl’s longtime confidant and secret lover—caught in the middle, the Goode family spirals into absurd rituals and uncomfortable truths, revealing how repression, control, and illusion hold them together even as they tear them apart.

Full length - *Storytime and Other Tales of Love and Deception* is an evening of interconnected plays that explore how people use stories to survive love, loss, and betrayal. From a sharp-tongued aunt entertaining her nieces with a children’s tale that turns unsettling, to a charming thief whose search for connection spirals out of control, to a man trapped by his own flawless memory as a relationship fractures, the characters wrestle with competing versions of truth. The cycle culminates in a hospital waiting room, where siblings confront the emotional cost of devotion as they await their mother’s fate. At its core, the play asks: do the stories we tell protect us from reality—or quietly determine who we become?

10 minute - On a subway platform after a party, a playful argument about “the list” of celebrity crushes spirals into a comedic showdown about jealousy, aging, and commitment. Just as things heat up, Margot and Graham reconnect—turning the argument into a shared baseball fantasy and knocking their marriage out of the park.

The River unfolds in the decaying home of Jim, a grief-stricken man haunted by the ghosts of his past and the literal echoes of water running through his walls. His teenage daughter Alice, who died years ago, appears as if still alive—eager for a picnic, innocent and oblivious to her own death. As the house fills with the presence of two ancient river spirits, Samuel and Charlotte Smith, the boundary between life and death dissolves. The river, both real and metaphorical, rises to reclaim what it lost. In the end, Jim’s guilt and denial drown him, leaving him forever trapped with the memory of his daughter—an eternal echo in the house by the river.

Positive Reinforcement follows Elliot, an openhearted, conflict-averse man whose relationship ends when Amy leaves him, frustrated by his constant presence and lack of direction. In the aftermath, Elliot seeks companionship and stability by adopting a dog, believing loyalty and routine will fill the emotional gap Amy leaves behind.

He enrolls in an obedience class led by Gretchen, a verbose and unstable dog trainer whose philosophy of control, reward, and affection blurs the line between care and dominance. As time passes, Elliot’s relationships repeat the same patterns: he offers devotion, availability, and compliance in exchange for approval and belonging.

When the dog begins to speak, the play turns surreal, revealing an unsettling power reversal in which Elliot gradually assumes the role of the obedient one. Through humor and absurdity, the dog exposes how Elliot has been trained by love itself—conditioned to accept submission as comfort and structure as intimacy.

Positive Reinforcement is a darkly comic examination of loneliness, emotional dependency, and the ways people willingly trade autonomy for reassurance, asking whether obedience is ever mistaken for love.

In Out of Time, Felicia Hicks takes a wrong turn and finds herself in a liminal afterlife — a blank, timeless room where a faceless being waits to begin existence. Naming him “Angelo,” she inadvertently becomes his mother, raising him in a world suspended between life and death. As Angelo grows restless, yearning to enter the living world, Felicia clings to their artificial eternity, desperate to preserve connection. When he finally escapes, the play folds into another reality where a famous singer encounters a stranger who believes she was his mother in another life. Blending comedy, metaphysics, and emotional poignancy, Out of Time explores identity, memory, and the human struggle to let go.

A former politician prepares for a comeback speech with the help of a longtime colleague, leading to a potential new chapter in their lives.

The play follows Stan, a former politician preparing for a commencement speech, as he reconnects with Delores, a longtime colleague. Stan is nervous and reflective, haunted by his past scandal that led to jail, while Delores helps him with his appearance and speech. They talk about their shared history, his regrets, and unspoken feelings between them.

Stan doubts his relevance, feeling disconnected from his past, but Delores encourages him to embrace the moment. As they discuss their scars—both physical and emotional—Stan decides to go through with the speech, partly to reconnect with Delores. The play ends with him facing a new beginning, both professionally and personally, with the possibility of something more between them.

Short - Mozart leads his old cohort into a final battle with their nemesis, the Roosters, and the gang must grapple with the relationship between free will and destiny.

Janice made a heartfelt promise to her sister that she would give her beloved cat a proper burial when the time came. Well, that time is now! However, there's a little hiccup – the cemetery groundskeeper is not on board with pet burials. This leads to an unexpected contest between Janice and the groundskeeper, which will ultimately shape the course of the play. If Janice wins, she gets to honor her promise and for the first time ever, she feels a sense of accomplishment and is on her way to further success and fulfillment. But if the groundskeeper wins, Janice won't be able to bury her cat, and her frustrations might just spill over. It's a contest that could change the rest of Janice’s life!

When Jenna encounters a mugger, she chooses to respond with understanding and compassion, seeking to build trust and connect with the person behind the actions, hoping to address their needs and fears in a meaningful way.

In the late 1970s, Truman Capote invites Andy Warhol to a secluded writer’s cabin for a supposed creative retreat. As the night unfolds, their witty, philosophical sparring about art, fame, and authorship takes a sinister turn when Truman reveals a dangerous obsession with true crime—and a possible plan to commit one himself. Trapped together and unsure what is real or performative, Andy must navigate Truman’s charm, menace, and manipulation as the boundary between art, ego, and violence collapses.

NOTE: This is not an excerpt from a longer work. The idea for the title is a play on Truman Capotes published excerpts from his unfinished and lost novel Answered Prayers. Any similarity to actual events is unintentional and to be honest, rather unlikely.

10 minute short - Ted can't escape his mother's phone calls

10 minute Short - Jerry takes it in stride when Helen tells him that she has been seeing someone else.

Oliver Socket is a real speed demon who fantasizes that he is a race car driver. As a result, he is currently serving a minimum of 20 years for a reckless driving incident that killed two children. Today is his first attempt at parole. He sits center stage in an ill-fitting shirt and tie and tells his story. - video link in supporting materials

Four space aliens sent to Earth to make contact and guide humanity to the next level, arrive and adopt the form of the locally predominant species. Unfortunately, due to a miscalculation, they find themselves as cattle in a rancher’s herd sporting a distinctive blue coloring. The rancher, believing this to be some sort of hoax, fails to see the significance of their arrival and sends them off with the other cattle, cutting their mission short.

Anna lives in a top floor apartment which she shares with her father. She is 35. He is 60. Her mother died 25 years ago in the triangle shirtwaist fire. Tata (Polish for Poppa) is getting too old to work and he has labored in NYC for 30 years after immigrating with his wife from Poland. Anna is their only child. Anna sits just inside the apartment window when she sees a man sketching her and the surrounding buildings from the bridge.

short comedy - COVID RESTRICTION BURNOUT (CRB) - Peter shares his therapy with 2 women at an outdoor cafe.

WINNER - Audience Choice Award - 2022 Chain One Acts Festival - Every Other Weekend follows Ellen, an almost-40 adjunct professor who, after an unplanned pregnancy with her on-again, off-again lover Rick, decides to have an abortion despite living 300 miles from the nearest clinic. With her best friend Melissa as driver and confidante, the road trip becomes a crucible of honesty, humor, and doubt as Ellen wrestles with her choices, Melissa reflects on motherhood, and Rick unexpectedly intrudes, pleading for a future that Ellen refuses. Set entirely in a car and a gas station stop along the highway, the play is an intimate, dialogue-driven exploration of friendship, autonomy, and the weight of life’s turning points.

FINALIST - Secret Theater Winter One Act Festival 2020 - A middle-aged man with an intellectual disability copes with his mother’s death through superhero fantasies, while his aunt struggles to protect him from a system that questions her care.

Synopsis: The play follows Tommy, a middle-aged man with an intellectual disability, as he struggles to adjust after the death of his mother, Janice. Though gone, his mother continues to appear to him in visions, offering guidance, comfort, and the illusion of stability. Now living with his Aunt Esther, Tommy paints superheroes and clings to his childlike imagination, where he can still be “a super man” under his mother’s watchful eye.

Esther battles with the bureaucracy of social services, represented by caseworker Tristan, who questions whether Tommy is better off in her care or in a group home. While Esther insists on keeping her promise to Janice to protect and love Tommy, Tristan doubts his progress, interpreting his art and behavior as coping mechanisms rather than signs of healing.

Caught between memory, imagination, and reality, Tommy alternates between moments of joy, confusion, and violent frustration. The play closes with Esther gently grounding him, offering companionship and small joys like ice cream, as Tommy accepts that his mother is now a star watching over him. Super Man is a poignant exploration of grief, caregiving, and the fragile resilience of a man determined to find strength in love and imagination.

A man with a perfect memory retreats into isolation after losing the woman he loved, replaying their relationship so obsessively that memory itself begins to fracture. As past conversations blur with fantasy, he struggles to determine whether he is preserving love or inventing it. The play explores obsession, loneliness, and the terrifying possibility that memory cannot be trusted—even when it feels absolute.

short play, one act - In a hospital waiting room, three siblings—John, Stephanie, and Maryanne—wait as their mother nears death, confronting old resentments and unspoken fears. Their arguments and memories expose the fragile bonds that hold them together even as grief threatens to tear them apart. When their mother’s spirit finally speaks, she offers peace, acceptance, and the reminder that love endures beyond loss.

Monologue