In 1875, ten years after the assassination of her husband, Mary Todd Lincoln’s increasingly bizarre public behavior rankles her sole surviving son Robert. In Chicago, he orchestrates an insanity hearing in which Mary is not permitted to speak. Pronounced insane by a “Sea of Men,” Mrs. Lincoln receives a court- ordered commitment to Bellevue Place, a posh, private sanitarium in Illinois’ Fox River Valley. There, Mary hoards trunks of her possessions and vials of poison. She relies on the friendship of cherished friend Lizzie Keckley, a former slave and White House dressmaker, and enlists the aid of Rosalie, a maid at Bellevue Place, to fill prescriptions for laudanum and camphor. Mary wages a great battle with John Wilkes Booth, Secretary of War Stanton, and other ghosts of the past, while endlessly mourning the death of her husband and sons. Communing with the spirit world through the sham medium Madame Marvalosa and budding conjure lady Zuzu, Mary is determined to end her suffering—and her life.

Semi-finalist, Playwrights First, 2015
Semi-finalist, Vittum Prize

You think your family’s crazy? Mine uncle boinks Mom with a hulking dad-bod. And sexts me. Oh woe, vile video!

Laughter ensues when taming shrews! But what of the troublesome tropes Shakespeare mansplained? Alpha Petruchio is determined to keep his good lady wife Kate dicknotized and submissive. His servant Grumio, who moonlights as a sales rep for Fantasia Tickle Toys, cheers him on. Kate is a former ferocious shrew who caught feelings for Petruchio. She’s very nearly tamed, well on her way to a new identity as a sweet and docile housewife. It’s time to renounce shrewish ways—until O’Felia from the block seizes the moment. Who the hell wants to be tamed? What’s up with this gaslighting? It’s more than a disruption of the intestinal humors….

When Her Madge QEII makes her first historic Instagram post, Puck arrives to poof fairy dust for her protection. Who IS this vile vulgarian of a Trollboy? One is not amused.

Like love, empathy, and compassion, violence begins at home. When Mary Claire visits her parents after a lengthy absence, she lugs her ever- present Sack of Grievances. Attempted murder, stuffed emotions, and toxic chili roil to the surface when Mary Claire’s abusive father threatens her daughter, Knife.

Long, long ago, when the world is fresh and new, Brother Sun and Sister Moon live on land. They are different as, well, as day and night. Gadabout Sun shines a dazzling personality over endless friends. Contemplative Moon finds inspiration within. The two struggle with their differences and try to find their places in the world.

Inspired by traditional tales of Nigeria and Senegal, including “How the Sun and Moon Came to Be” and “How the Sun and Moon Came to Live in the Sky”

The cast is easily expandable with walk-on roles, especially in the flood scene, and can include audience participation.

Kennedy Center Finalist, David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award
National Theatre for Young Audiences Playwriting Award

Published by YouthPLAYS; Read an excerpt: http://www.youthplays.com/play_details.php?play_id=350

When miserly Squint desecrates his widow Augusta’s corpse, her vengeful spirit exacts a hellish revenge. Tap, tap, tap.

Synopsis: Embracing her boldness, young Lady Mary visits her mysterious lover’s home while he is away. There, she discovers a deadly secret.

Loosely based retelling on Joseph Jacobs’ variation of “Mr. Fox.” Jacobs collected “Mr. Fox” in 1890; however, the tale certainly predates his collection. In fact, in Much Ado About Nothing, (circa 1598 or 1599) Benedick quotes: “Like the old tale, my lord: 'it is not so, nor 'twas not so, but, indeed, God forbid it should be so.’”

After dieting and exercising herself into a frenzy, Roma’s ready to rock her new bod. She squeezes into a too-too-tight top and launches a rescue attempt.

It's brains against brawn when clever Little Rabbit outwits ravenous Coyote.

Recovering in the hospital from the death of her firstborn, Chiara is unable to access her emotions until nurse Venus reveals her own loss.

In this play performed without dialogue, a bullying Manspreader refuses to close his legs and make space for the women on a subway--until they unite to thwart him. Intersectional sisterhood!

Ralphie can’t get the hang of wooing his ladylove beneath her balcony. Good thing Romeo and Cyrano show up.

When grieving Fiona kicks out her cheating lover, she seeks proverbial wisdom at the pub.

When a police officer detains and torments Makayla for “Grieving While Black,” Makayla is unable to contain her eruption of loss.

A monologue. Seven years after a brutish fisherman stole her sealskin and forced her to become his wife on land, a selkie discovers the precious coat. Before she returns to her long-lost seal husband and daughters, the selkie exacts revenge long years in the making.

A non-binary person hides from a bully in their high school library. In the safe space Ms. Vitali the librarian provides, they explore their intense resonance with a beloved children’s book author.

This piece will be published in Smith & Kraus WE/US: Monologues for Gender Minority Characters Anthology.

A female monologue. Hobbled with a back injury and trapped in a hulking MRI machine, a claustrophobic Boomer launches a ferocious flight of ancestral fancy set to the theme song she plays in her head.

Synopsis: Suffering malaise and writer’s block during yon dread Plague, Shakespeare is visited by the Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, who helps him breathe life into a new work.

"‘Course I’m terrified. Scared shitless. But I got a job to do." An essential worker experiences her own food insecurity while ensuring hungry kids eat lunch at home and at school.

After dieting and exercising herself into a frenzy for the Christmas Eve bash, Roma’s ready to rock her new bod. She squeezes into a too-too-tight sweater in a fitting room. And can’t escape its deadly clutches.

Following the murderous rampage of the Capitol Insurrection, Sylvia uses a dating app to hook and reel in a rampaging traitor.

When lonely Paddy captures a mermaid and steals her little red cap so she loses all memories of the sea, she truly becomes a fish out of water.

A young woman prepares to leave home for the day to go to work and then meet a friend for cocktails. She arms herself against potential rapists, as Mama, a rape survivor, taught her to do.

Widow and former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln is desperate to reach across the spirit realm and commune with her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, ten years after his assassination. She falls prey to the scamming Madame Marvalosa, until a séance yields unexpected results.