Ken Green

Superpowers don't necessarily equal super logic. A 10-minute comedy about good versus evil and perception versus reality.

The F and L at 1330 takes place in the year 2010 in Chicago, in one of the many areas of the city that is going drastic change in the form of gentrification. As old established businesses go down, new condos and upscale businesses take their place. One of the last places left in a near North Side neighborhood is Fernando and Lalo's, an unassuming bar located at 1330 Dayton Ave. It is run by CARLA and BERNARDO, the son and daughter of Fernando (by different mothers) and the niece and nephew of Lalo. They are assisted by CARLA's daughter, ELENA.
With the sounds of redevelopment providing a constant backdrop, CARLA contemplates leaving the bar business and the constant headache it creates in trying to compete with the trendier options aimed at the new residents. Meanwhile, BERNARDO still revels in the idea of being a business owner and is anxious to try new ways of bringing in nw customers. And despite her career path, ELENA is just as eager to keep the bar in the family, seeing it as a tradition and a family legacy.
As outside forces - local government, hungry developers and indifferent new residents - push in from the outside and threaten the future of the bar, CARLA makes the decision to sell the F&L while the time is right. This much to the dismay of BERNARDO, who refuses to go along with her decision. Their fight uncovers several secrets that threatens to change all of their relationships to the bar and each other.

An audio drama about the life of Frederick Douglass, centering on the hours before his iconic speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" delivered on July 5, 1852. As Douglass struggles to collect his thoughts and complete the speech, he is confronted with the incidents and people who have shaped his wounded but hopeful view of America. Music composed and arranged by Eve Wolf. Commissioned by the Ensemble for the Romantic Centurty.

"In The Back/On The Floor" examines the issue of minimum wage work through the eyes of workers at a chain retail store. Though paid the least, these workers are asked to bear the heaviest burden for the good of profit. They are often seen as easily replaceable parts, but also expected to believe they are members of a "family." When one worker with ambition sees his dreams of advancement within the organization stunted, the situation raises the forbidden word - "union."

It's 1955 and Ruth Traveler is a contestant on the nation's No. 1 game show, "Do It For The Money." The first black contestant. On ANY game show. They want her to make history. She just wants an Amana double-door frost-free refrigerator/freezer. She doesn't want to be history, she just wants to "be." A play about how being black in white spaces is a 24/7 job.

Who cares about gifts? All that's really important is that we have each other this holiday season.

But, c'mon, fair is fair.

"16 Inches" deals with the issue of changing neighborhoods and gentrification through the eyes of members of a 16-inch softball team in Chicago. The game, unique to Chicago, provides the spark that ignites a debate about who owns a neighborhood, a city, and what happens when things change. It also tries to examine this through humor, drinking and a lot of profanity (which, while not unique to Chicago, is pretty well represented).

At an art museum, small talk between a visitor and a guard leads to a big discussion of human interaction, what "being polite" means and what food goes best with Picasso.

After a lengthy absence, COLE, an African American GOP political consultant living in DC, returns home to visit family in Chicago with his wife, VICTORIA (Vic), white, daughter of a long-time political family. His somewhat aloof brother DAMON is one of several family members at the home for a holiday weekend cookout. COLE reveals the primary reason for his visit, but other surprises are in store.

Zeus, the original "zaddy", discovers the consequences of his celestial actions from Europa. A painting only tells half the story.

A mother and son touch on a pivotal moment in their lives with a discovery made while cleaning out the attic.

Sometimes you don't WANT to be part of the crowd. A short play about fitting in, the zeitgeist, the benefits of the pandemic, and "Hamilton."

FULL LENGTH - DAWN and ALYSSA are both Freshman college students who are in a long distance relationship with one another. DAWN is at the University of Washington in Seattle. ALYSSA is at NYU. They talk to each other via video chat. They talk about the things that a young couple a bit uncertain in their feelings might talk about long distance.

They don’t know that within a week the entire world will turn upside down.

Written collaboratively by Nate Beyer, Caitlin Cieri, Katie Doyle, Ken Green, Scott Kremer, Donald Loftus, Colleen Porter, and Irene L. Pynn via a 3 hour, 10 minute google doc session and performed via Zoom five hours after the beginning of writing. Proposed and overseen by Greg Lam

A one-man play examining a period of time in the life of Charles Lenox, an African American man living in Watertown, Mass. in the 1800s. At the age of 37, he enlisted in the Union army to fight in the Civil War. The play looks at his decision to put his life on the line for slavery, the opposition to the idea of black men participating in the war, and what difference, if any his sacrifice made then and today.

A seemingly innocuous object becomes a point of contention between two coworkers at a big city office in a fight over what's racist and - maybe more importantly - who gets to declare it so. Can someone be TOO "woke"?

After a new ad campaign is unveiled, two account execs debate whether the ad contains elements that could be considered "racist." The opinion of another, lower ranking member of the firm is sought (much to dismay on one of the execs) and while the junior member toes the company line, he later reveals he might have ulterior motives for his compliancy.

On a Chicago subway train, two people confront each other over who is the better "salesman."

After reluctantly taking a DNA test, a man finds himself meeting with a new "relative" discovered through the test who is decidedly more excited than he is about this "family reunion." This 10-minute play looks at the issue of privacy, technology and what it means to be "family."

Part of the 2020 Boston One Minute Play Festival. In light of recent events, a couple finally goes through on their vow... well, almost.