Arlene Hutton

In a time about two days from now, Nessa, traveling from LAX to JFK, finds herself diverted to Dallas. Trapped in a room with Val, a lawyer, Nessa just wants to leave on the next plane out. But this is Texas, and Nessa is pregnant and Val is on the phone with legislators who are pulling the strings. With new laws in place Nessa will not be allowed to leave the state until she after she gives birth, even though both women know the fetus is deceased and Nessa’s life is in danger. Can Val be persuaded to go against her convictions, putting her own job and future career on the line in order to help Nessa escape? A political thriller.

In the basement quick-change room of a Broadway theatre in the mid 1980s, the chorus girls are at war with their dressers. Will the new dresser, with her own sad past and uncertain future, be able to navigate this minefield? ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS is a funny, nostalgic behind-the-scenes look at a pivotal period in the history of Broadway. With a cast of twelve and a dog, this is ensemble work in the spirit of Balm in Gilead and Hot L Baltimore.

Five years. Seven Nazi labor camps. Over 350 hidden letters. Sala kept her secret for over fifty years, but everything changes when she reveals the cache to her grown daughter and granddaughters.
What is to be done with these letters? If Sala risked her life to hold onto them as a young woman imprisoned in a work camp, are they merely the emotionally rich relics of her past life? Or are they worthy and important historical documents that demand to be shared with the public? Three generations of women must work together to sift through the past and come to terms with the true gravity of Sala’s letters.

May and Raleigh meet in 1940 on an eastbound train carries the bodies of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nathanael West. Unable to enlist because of a medical condition, he wants to be a writer; she wants to be a missionary and they discover they are from neighboring towns in Kentucky. In this boy-meets-girl romance, nominated for Best Play 2000 by the New York Drama League, two young people navigate through the tough times of a country at war discovering what they have to give up to get what they really want. Published by Dramatists Play Service

May and Raleigh meet in 1940 on an eastbound train carries the bodies of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nathanael West. Unable to enlist because of a medical condition, he wants to be a writer; she wants to be a missionary and they discover they are from neighboring towns in Kentucky. In this boy-meets-girl romance, nominated for Best Play 2000 by the New York Drama League, two young people navigate through the tough times of a country at war discovering what they have to give up to get what they really want. Published by Dramatists Play Service

When WW II victory overseas brings unexpected consequences at home, a young Kentucky couple is forced to face hidden truths and find uncommon solutions to the challenges of a new post-war America. The second play in THE NIBROC TRILOGY. Published by Dramatists Play Service.

Ten years into their marriage, May and Raleigh live in an island community off the gulf coast of Florida. Their dream house shrinks as relatives descend, further testing the couple’s love in this romantic, humorous, and insightful glimpse of life in the 1950s. The third play in THE NIBROC TRILOGY. Published by Dramatists Play Service.

Set against the bleak and windy Yorkshire moors, three sisters struggle to find creative prosperity while navigating the harsh realities of male society. Faced with limited opportunities for educated women, Charlotte, Emily and Anne live in the rich worlds of their imaginations, until they are forced to face the truth that nothing is certain, and their destinies are best served when held firmly in their own hands.
Inspired by Anton Chekhov’s classic, "The Three Sisters Brontë" is an adaptation that explores the parallels in the lives of the Brontës and the Prozorovs.

Teen sex, lies and gossip, power, secrets, manipulation, mascara, the need to scream, and what teens really want to say. When the president of student council throws a party and photos get posted online, a group of friends get caught up in a series of events that forces them to question what really happened.
Structured as a scripted Harold (a full-length improv form) KISSED THE GIRLS AND MADE THEM CRY is a non-linear series of scenes creating a no-holds-barred play that examines teen sexuality as well as Objectification, harassment, assault, date rape, shaming and date rape.

Short plays by Arlene Hutton: STUDIO PORTRAIT, HOUSEPLAY, AT THE TONE, FRIENDS FOR LIFE, THE PRICE YOU PAY and I DREAM BEFORE I TAKE THE STAND.

A defense lawyer cross-examines a woman during her testimony in a sexual assault case -- and in doing so, horribly distorts her perfectly innocent walk in the park. Published by Playscripts.com
"A feminist classic." --The List (Edinburgh)
"...a riveting piece of theatre. The writing is pithy and fierce." --New Jersey Independent
"...David Mamet overtones, but far more sympathy for the female victim enduring a nightmare quizzing than Mamet ever musters." --New York Newsday
"Provocative…" --Off-Off-Broadway Review

A high school student deals with the death of her biology class lab partner through a religious ritual about which she knows nothing. Family, friends and social media collide and connect in Susie's living room as she learns to mourn (and to sit) while she honors the memory of her friend and his culture.
Commissioned by EdTA and workshopped at the 2019 International Thespian Festival. Licensing now available through DPS; print version available in 2022.

When the world they have known for most of their lives stops suddenly and without warning, figures in paintings are left alone to try to figure out what is going on, experiencing time, loss and mortality in their own unique way. In the midst of uncertainty and darkness, with routines upended, they start to question their very being, threatening established relationships. Do we exist if there is no one to look at us? Will the world be different after all this is over?