Aly Kantor

[90 Minutes, comedic drama - 2F, 1 any] Again and again, best friends Jac and Amelia find themselves meeting in bathrooms, while real world tragedies and paradigm shifts assert themselves on the world outside. Vulnerability, humor, and uncensored honesty reign as they are forced to grapple with the question "Has anyone ever been safe? Are we?" 'Occupied' is a critical examination of the millennial generation's relationship to safety, told through the lens of female friendship, from 9-11 to today.

[100 Minutes, farce, 4M, 5F] A nautical, radical, turn-of-the-century adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata set in a struggling whaling village during the doldrums period of the American suffrage movement. A silly and scintillating sex farce for a dynamic ensemble of nine actors, including strong roles for women and seniors.

[90 minutes, comedic drama - 2F, college-aged performers] Julissa is the second-chair violist in her state college’s orchestral music program. Giselle is the third chair cellist. When Julissa makes the spontaneous and risky decision to switch instruments mid-year, it upsets the carefully curated status quo that Giselle has always depended upon. That seemingly small inconvenience sets people-pleasing Wunderkind cellist on a quest to retain her hard-earned seat at any cost.

[90 Minutes, comedic drama - 4F, 1M] Autumn, 1920. The residents of the Mary Todd Hotel for Professional Women have been through a lot. The war has recently ended, the country is still recovering from a devastating pandemic, and they’re about to vote for the first time in a national election. Still, every Tuesday, they make time to convene in the sixth-floor parlor for a single purpose—to speak to the dead.

[2 Hours, adaptation, 6M, 4F, 1 any] In the ruins of a Gold Coast mansion, queer Midwesterner Nick Carraway revisits his once-gilded Jazz-age memories and confronts the ghosts of his past. A new, haunted adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

[60 minutes, comedic drama, 5F] "An agnostic paladin, an asexual druid, a perfectionist-turned-fighter, and an oversexed bard don’t walk into a bar."

The first year of sobriety is tough—but anything's easier with a sword. In this confessional-style, direct-address monologue play, five young women grapple with relationships, trauma, divinity, and the elusive nature of unicorns.

Originally devised for virtual performance. If performing live music is a barrier to production, an alternate piece exists for the character 'Haley.' Reach out if you are interested in an alternate arrangement!*

[100 Minutes, comedic drama, 5F] In just two short weeks, Dungeon Master Sylvie will be one year sober. In the meantime, she has to wrangle the rag-tag team of dysfunctional support characters she's gathered for her weekly, post-AA, addicts-only DnD campaign. The party is missing a healer, however, and the ringer Sylvie's brought in to fill the slot seems more eager to cause damage than to repair it. As Sylvie begins losing her grip on the adventure, the rest of her life follows suit. Can you really run a game when it’s clear you don’t trust the rules?

[90 Minutes, adaptation/ play with music, 3M, 3F] A new adaptation of Euripides' Medea for an ensemble of six, with music and movement, set outside of time.

[One-Act, Competition Length, Historical Drama for Teens, 6F] In the year 1945, every single day, rain or shine, six girls sit outside for their fresh air therapy, discussing everything from boys to popular movie stars. Mostly, however, they discuss what they'll do when they finally get well and leave the TB sanatorium where they are passing their teenage years. When one girl's health takes an unexpected turn, they must face the reality of their condition and how much control they really have over the future.

[75 Minutes, drama, 2F] What if Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood met at an in-patient eating disorder clinic? SHE GOT BETTER is a contemporary fairytale epilogue about women who dare to take up space in their own stories.

[40 minutes, fairy tale, 3F] Emily runs a second-hand store (and Airbnb) out of an old church parsonage on an island with an aging population, where nothing ever changes... until an odd new guest arrives and begins asking questions about the local folklore.

A queer fairytale for three actors.

[30 minutes, dystopian comedy, 2F] FJ, the black sheep, genderqueer grandchild, has trekked from Texas to Kansas to serve as the live-in aide for their curmudgeonly grandmother, Audrey, following a recent fall. Audrey has more reason than ever to be grumpy: the world is changing, and her injury is keeping her from her garden. Stuck inside, the bickering duo have almost no choice but to connect, and soon learn that they have more in common than DNA. A long overdue heart-to-heart reveals that it may not be too late to save a relationship, and while we can’t count on the bees, we can count on ourselves to reach out - even (and especially) when it’s the hardest.

[20 minutes, comedic tragedy, 2F] xX_Sav_on_IceXx is lonely. Skullfucker69 is REALLY lonely. This intricate ritual might be their first, last, and only chance to be with another woman.

A dark romantic comedy and/or tragedy about finding love on the dark web.

[20 minutes, tragedy, 2F] Wiley has made the long trip home to attend her mother's funeral, but home isn't how she left it. A play about impermanence, obsolescence, and sisterhood in the age of climate change.

[20 minutes, historical drama, 1M, 2F] Zelde Hartmann is a fledgling poet who has suddenly found herself with uninterrupted time to write for the first time in her life. She dreams of creating a record for the future... and perhaps mastering Iambic Pentameter. The problem? She lives in Germany in 1942, and she is a Jewish girl in hiding, writing from her friend Lara's cellar. When she catches a glimpse of the handsome Marcus from her hiding place below, she must choose what she values more: temporary safety, or her voice.

A Voice From the Prussian Sea is a surprisingly funny feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid set during the Shoah.

[20 minutes, sci-fi drama, 2F] Hadley is approaching the end of a five-year study focused on a new treatment for major depression, and she's come a long way from the person she was when the trial began. When a familiar face from her past enters the exam room, she's forced to grapple with the true costs of living with a mental illness under late capitalism. What does it cost to be altruistic, and what if the price is too high?

[20 minutes, romantic comedy, 1F 1M] It all starts like an uninspired pay-per-view porno, when the agoraphobic Paige boldly propositions the cute handyman repairing her window. It ends a little differently.

[10-15 minutes, historical drama, 2F] Two strangers chat in a New York City automat in 1920s New York - but perhaps they aren’t strangers.

The play tells the story of fine artist Jo Nivison Hopper, wife of Edward Hopper.

[15-20 minutes, romantic sci-fi, 2F] Cricket totaled her meat vessel at a party—but not to worry! Her best friend has an industry hookup and made her a brand new one with all the bells and whistles she could ever want (and a few she’s slightly reluctant about). Now everything can get back to normal…right?

[10-15 minutes, comedy, 2F] Middle school BFFs Mary Rose and Rosemary are having their first sleepover since The Incident at St. Anthony's back in fourth grade. Now that they have some alone time, they can finally discuss important girly sleepover topics, such as human dissection, the musical stylings of Ariana Grande, and, of course, the five wounds of Christ.

[10 minutes, comedic drama, 2F] Bethany and Christine head to a notorious haunted road to hunt for a Documented Local Specter™. Alone in the car, in the darkness, they find something much more haunting.

[10 minutes, comedic horror, 2F] Variations on your girlfriend's resurrection.

[10 minutes, comedy, 1M, 1F, 1 any] Who the HELL only eats 6 pomegranate seeds?! A play about owning your hunger.

[10 minutes, drama, 3F] In the wake of an assault, once-vain Narcissa can't stop studying her reflection. Will self-love be enough to convince her to pursue healing, or will she become one more girl turned into a plant for her protection? 'Narcissa, Narcissa' is a contemporary subversion of the myth of Narcissus and Echo.

[10 minutes, comedic drama, 1M 1F] Many years after their fateful and unfortunate meeting at Aulis, the war hero Achilles and his almost-bride Iphigenia are reunited in the Underworld, where their roles before the war have been reversed, and they discuss what it truly means to be immortal.

[10 minutes, romantic comedy, 1 M/intersex, 1F] A contemporary re-telling of the myth of Iphis and Ianthe, set in a courthouse right before their wedding.

[10 minutes, dark comedy, 2 any] Two friends discuss the nature of hope.

[10 minutes, comedy, 2F] In a world in which nobody is REALLY sure what constitutes a HIPAA violation, two cold, tired, sexually-frustrated women choose to self-diagnose.

This play appears in the Smith & Kraus "The Best Ten-Minute Plays 2023" anthology.

[10 minutes, comedy, 2F, 1M] Red has come back to Granny's house, but she's not so little anymore... and she has an agenda.

A twisted sequel to Little Red Riding Hood.

Nicky has a unique superpower that should make it easy to be a good person. It doesn't.

[10-15 minutes, comedy, 1F 2M] A hopeless romantic is ready to give up on finding “the one,” but fate – and at least one foreign government – have other ideas.

[10-20 minutes, horror, 1F 1M] Taking place on an invasive two-way video platform, a woman is assessed by a non-descript government agent, but as the conversation goes on, just who is in control of who becomes less clear.

[20-30 minutes, climate drama, 2F] Most of humanity has chosen to leave Earth and seek greener pastures, but two young scientists have chosen to stay behind as stewards of the genetic memory of the natural world. When one scientist’s interest in a specimen turns into an obsession, both women begin to understand the weight of the sacrifice they have made to secure a future for the many species the human race has failed.

This piece was written for the 2021 Aphra Behn Festival, as part of Slightly Askew Theatre Company's "Season of Do Overs."

[5 minutes, sci-fi drama, 2F] Aurelia and Katherine are driving to meet Aurelia's mom, but they're both getting mixed signals. A little down-to-earth chat clears things up... or does it?

[1 minute, comedy, 1F 1M] When is pillow talk more than pillow talk? A play about loving your partner through their many transformations. Literally.

[1 minute, drama, 2 any] Skye is leaving today. Fern is worried they forgot something important.

[1 minute, comedic drama, 1F, 1M, 1 any] A knight. A princess. A dragon. You know the drill.