Ashleigh Ann Gardner

SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
FULL LENGTH: On the last night of operation for their local Joann Fabrics, Lynn sneaks back in with her former employee Barb to raid the store of leftover stock. Her intention is to get in, get out, and get on with her life. But when Barb invites her neighbor Kaye...and when Kaye invites her friend Sage...chaos unfolds. Lynn is left dealing with uninvited guests and the risk of being arrested for destruction of property, breaking and entering, and grand theft. Unexpected friendships form underneath the chaos, and the group must overcome cupcakes, near misses with the police, and a threat from an incoming gun store.
(Comedy. 4w)

SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
FULL LENGTH: Edith Thompson's world turns upside down a week before her postulancy ends and her novitiate life begins. Fourteen-year-old orphan Kasia has vanished from the Chicago cottage orphanage Edith helps manage under Jack Douglas, the priest newly-appointed to oversee the facility. Siân, the orphanage’s seamstress, and Brynn, a stubborn and fiery child hellbent on defying authority, urge Edith to closely monitor Jack, but the result has dire consequences. When Kasia’s horrifying fate is revealed, Edith is faced with a choice: to proceed with her vows to the Church, or to seek answers knowing she may risk her safety, and the safety of others, to do so.
(Drama. 4w, 1m)

SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
FULL LENGTH: After a mysterious supernatural phenomenon occurs in their small New England hometown, estranged fraternal twins, Aiden and Faye, are asked by their aunt to venture home to investigate. But in returning, they are surrounded by reminders of Heather, their long-deceased mother, and the memories of their last months with her. In their search for answers, Aiden and Faye reopen old wounds and must choose whether a broken thing is worth saving, all while the memory of Heather lingers in the shadows of their separate and shared grief. (Drama. 2w, 1m)

SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
FULL LENGTH: A friend group lures a mutual acquaintance to an abandoned house in order to judge him for the crimes he's committed against the community. In a trial inspired by 14th century German vigilante courts, what begins as an orderly proceeding quickly spirals out of control as the defendant turns each council member against one another, using their bickering to his advantage in order to escape. Accusations are hurled, secrets are revealed, and the life of the judged hangs in the balance. By the end of the night, one truth emerges: there is not one villain -- there are many. (Drama. 3W, 3M)

SEEKING DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
FULL LENGTH: Rural Missouri, 1994. Over the past thirty years, Sasha has been stalked by an unnamable entity that moves and appears differently each time it is seen. Despite attempting to evade it, she has been unable to escape its harassment. She sits at a small kitchen table on a Friday night, recording her suicide note in a final effort to convince others that the entity is real. An unsettling hour and a half that examines the roots and effects of trauma, abuse, neglect, and self doubt through the lens of psychological and paranormal horror. Drama. (1W)

FULL LENGTH: Set against the backdrop of a nuclear meltdown-induced apocalypse, Qualia follows Alex, a nurse, who has survived five years in a bunker with only her sentient AI companion, Dominic, for company. As she works tirelessly to give Dominic a living body, and, in turn, a way for them to be together, their solitude is disrupted by the arrival of Seth, a figure from her past. The prospect of rejoining the remnants of society is both enticing and terrifying, and Alex is faced with the decision to fulfill a moral obligation on the outside, or follow her heart, stay with Dominic and push forward toward an uncertain future. (Drama. 1w, 2m)

FULL LENGTH: After descending into an afterlife for outcast female spirits, Kara is called to participate in a horrifying ancient ritual demanding blind submission to a higher power. Deep within the earth, she finds a domineering teacher in Ebba, a spirit who has been denied eternal rest. To escape their fates, they must wrestle with their own prejudices, judgements, and shame to dismantle the system that keeps them in place. A story of new mythology, an examination of shame culture, and an original language. (W-All roles. Full length. Drama.)

ONE ACT: In GHOST, a strange coincidence of fate brings neurotic postal courier Lyle to the apartment of Petra - an emotionally unavailable woman who ghosted him after their spontaneous tryst at a wedding. Lyle stays to demand an apology from Petra, using every avenue available to him, including a male model named Sebastian. Soon, the tables turn, dignity is lost, and Lyle and Petra find themselves wondering if two impossibly flawed people might actually be good together. (Designed to be performed as a double bill with FUNERAL PARTY.) (One act. Comedy. 1w, 2m.)

ONE ACT: FUNERAL PARTY, a drama about regret and revelations, finds Gwen and Trip sneaking into a crematorium to mourn the death of their best friend, Clay. Clay’s sudden suicide has Trip reeling with guilt but has left Gwen detached and distracted. They turn to a list they’ve compiled to keep them on track: drinks, Vietnamese food, dancing, coffee. When Gwen becomes reluctant to proceed with the evening’s planned events, a dark secret about her relationship with Clay is brought to light. (Designed to be performed as a double bill with GHOST.) (Drama. One act. 1f, 2m.)

SHORT: Two men at an undisclosed facility in Texas discuss the ethics of keeping things in cages. Accepted and included in the 2018 #theatreactionimmigration Protest Plays Project. (10 minute. Drama. 2m)

SHORT: A wife who has hired a private investigator accuses her husband of infidelity. She has the photos to prove it. But his reasons are possibly justified. (Drama. Ten-minute. 1m , 1w)

SHORT: Political upheaval threatens the existence of a vast majority of the nation’s population, not to mention the citizens of other countries. A daughter attempts to have a conversation with her mother about recent atrocities she has witnessed and been victim to. (Drama. Ten-minute. 2w)

SHORT: After another alcohol-fueled romp in St. Louis, Ray is locked up for a drunk-and-disorderly and is again bailed out by Leo, his best friend. As Ray sits in Leo’s unheated car on the freeway, he considers the destruction he’s repeatedly caused and if he’s worth the trouble. (Drama. Ten-minute. 2m.)

SHORT: A woman engaging in an affair weighs the consequences of her actions, examining the reasons for her infidelity and her feelings toward both her partner and her lover.

SHORT: A couple has a conversation about the privilege of perpetrators of harassment and sexual assault over coffee. (Drama. 1w, 1m.) (Written as part of 365 plays/365 days project.)

SHORT: A couple tries to convince their drunk friend to go home. (10 minute. Comedy. 1w, 2m.)

SHORT/MONOLOGUE: A man attending the funeral of his murdered teenage sister tries to understand the sense behind western funeral practices while also coming to grips with her death. (Drama. Ten-minute monologue play, 1w voice, 1m identifying or trans.)

SHORT: Coworkers awkwardly flirt and then awkwardly set up their first date. (10-minute. Comedy. 2 gender neutral.)

SHORT: Two barely-friends find out that their friendship isn’t as solid as they thought it was. (Comedy. Ten-minute. 2w, though both roles can be played by gender-neutral or trans/non-binary performers.)

SHORT: KAREN and HANNAH argue over whether or not HANNAH should go over to Jerry’s house after he states that he and HANNAH will “Netflix and chill”, a concept HANNAH takes very literally. KAREN attempts, to no avail, to convince HANNAH of Jerry’s intentions. (Comedy. Ten-minute. 2f.)

A satire and celebration of the 20-somethings of today, 20-NOTHING features twenty vignette scenes that snapshot the lives of millennials. The scenes featured in this excerpt examine public embarrassment, body shaming, self-image, relationships, marriage, death, spirituality, depression, and mental illness.

Written in collaboration with Michael Knight, Keith Charles Traver, Krista Delong, Dorothy Christopher, and Debra Christopher, 20-NOTHING premiered at the 2014 Orlando International Fringe Festival. "Even though I have little patience for YOLO, Pinterest, or passive-aggressive Facebook posts IRL, I found a lot more in this show that I identified with than I expected to. And judging by the hysterical response provoked from the opening performance audience, I won't be the only older person to enjoy it. If this show is any indication, maybe there's something more to these 20-somethings than they've been given credit for, at least as far as sketh comedy is concerned." - Seth Kubersky, The Orlando Weekly