David Blakely

The year is 1859, inside a trading post in Indian Territory. John Coheia, a freed Seminole slave, has come for supplies. Trader Christian Wells negotiate with him. But there is a tension between the white trader and his black customer. When another customer enters, a Seminole woman and her slave, Wheeler, the trading gets more tense. Christian’s wife, Johanna, appears to be naïve to the complicated trading practices between races. She also seems attracted to John.
If tempers manage to stay in check inside the trading post, all bets are off once everyone is outside. There is a party that night. And everyone attends, including the Watson Brothers – a pair of wild men who make their living as trappers. They tend to take what they want. And they get nasty when they are drunk. The stakes get higher, and there’s a real question if everyone will make it through the night alive.

Using the historical character, John Coheia, as a jumping off point, this play explores the tension and savagery of racism.

Running Time: approx. 90 minutes

The year is 1859, inside a trading post in Indian Territory. John Coheia, a freed Seminole slave, has come for supplies. Trader Christian Wells negotiate with him. But there is a tension between the white trader and his black customer. When another customer enters, a Seminole woman and her slave, Wheeler, the trading gets more tense. Christian’s wife, Johanna, appears to be naïve to the complicated trading practices between races. She also seems attracted to John.
What keeps tempers in check? Is it the spirit of cooperation? Or the power of commerce? Or will everything spin out of control?
Using the historical character, John Coheia, as a jumping off point, this play explores the tension of racism.

Running time: 55 Minutes.

New father, Carl Oz, has a problem: someone has taken the "Little Lime Dude," or LLD, he put up in his yard. The LLD is a plastic statue that warns motorists that children are at play in the neighborhood. His neighbor, Leo, lets him know that he is not alone. There is a rash of disappearances. Along with neighborhood hottie, Simi Tinman, and the not too bright Bernie Corvino, they start a Neighborhood Watch to solve the problem. As the disappearances escalate, Carl becomes obsessed and leads the Neighborhood Watch to militancy. Carl is determined to keep his family safe from the "jackals" that have invaded the beautiful neighborhood of Emerald Gardens in which they live. Safe no matter what.

playing time: 2 Hours.

Enemy of the People is a play that tells the story of a man following his conscience and doing what he feels is morally right, despite the negative impact on his reputation and his family's security.
Adapted from the Ibsen play, this Enemy is set in the fictitious town of Cushing, OK, where millions of barrels of oil are pumped through each day and where tens of millions of oil are stored. The play takes place the weekend before the 2016 election and reflects some of the restlessness of the rural red states. The month before a significant earthquake hit a town 40 miles north of Cushing. If one hits Cushing, the damage could be catastrophic. The editor of the paper, Daniel, wants to write an editorial urging citizens to action, but his brother, the town sheriff, prevents him. When Daniel decides to press his point, bad things happen.
Told in under two hours, with 7 characters, this adaptation is fast paced, comedic, and a reflection of contemporary times.

Denny had been told his whole life that his grandmother died of kidney failure. But an off-hand conversation with a barber suggests differently – his grandmother may have killed herself. As he investigates his grandmother’s death, it becomes more and more apparent that she was one of the many victims of the Reign of Terror perpetrated on the Osage Nation back in the 1920s. In seeking the truth about his grandmother, he discovers much about his own family, his native culture, and himself. THE DEATHS OF SYBIL BOLTON is a journey out of the darkness of lies and prejudice and a national tragedy and into the light of truth, forgiveness, and healing. Length: approximately 90 minutes.
Adapted from the book by Dennis McAuliffe, Jr.
An one-act version of this play, called FOUR WAYS TO DIE, is also offered by the playwright.

Denny had been told his whole life that his grandmother died of kidney failure. But an off-hand conversation with a barber suggests differently – his grandmother may have killed herself. As he investigates his grandmother’s death, it becomes more and more apparent that she was one of the many victims of the Reign of Terror perpetrated on the Osage Nation back in the 1920s. In seeking the truth about his grandmother, he discovers much about his own family, his native culture, and himself. FOUR WAYS TO DIE is a journey out of the darkness of lies and prejudice and a national tragedy and into the light of truth, forgiveness, and healing. Length: approximately 60 minutes.
Based on the book, THE DEATHS OF SYBIL BOLTON, by Dennis McAuliffe, Jr.
An expanded version of this play, called THE DEATHS OF SYBIL BOLTON, is also offered by the playwright.

Nothing is what it appears. On the evening of the vernal equinox of 1947, Sim Joyner sits in his hospital room at Duke University facing death, a death put on him by a witch doctor. He is convinced that he is going to die and in his desperation turns to magic for a cure. “Vitus, The Miracle Man,” materializes and offers him a way out: a ritual that will rid Sim of the hex. But something goes wrong. Instead of lifting the curse, they manage to bring the dead witch doctor into the room. Magic tricks, séances, and ghosts from the past collide and force the characters to come to grips with what it means to believe and to deceive.

Based on a true story.

Running Time: approx. 90 minutes.

The Light Fantastic brings us to the West End Taproom -- a place to go, not to get drunk, but to share in the company of others. At the beginning there is the bartender and two barflies (one a 69-year-old Elvis impersonator), each with their sorrows, each with their dreams some big, some small, mostly broken and unfulfilled, each with nowhere else to go. They are having a celebration of sorts. It seems that one of the regulars has stopped showing up and has left instructions to give him a wake whether he’s dead or not. Then three strangers, and a priest, walk into the bar and the rest of the evening could be one big joke. Or not.

Co-written with Anna Hudson. An embedded piece. Envisioned originally for a gallery. Objects are on display for patrons to look at. Each character is tied to a particular object. When someone engages the object, the character speaks to that person.
Designed for actors to simply be in the space. This can be done as a "play" where the audience watches. Or it can be done one on one, with actors simply talking to an individual.
Note: All testimonials are free standing. Can be done alone or with others. The script is designed to accommodate various places and cast numbers. The script can be as short or as long as you want it to be.
It is important that each character is associated with an object. When an audience member picks up an object to examine, the character will speak. Otherwise, the character remains in the space in a relatively passive or isolated mode.
It is possible to have this work as a sort of communion. After two rounds of testimonials there could be a communal meal where performers and audience sit down together.
This piece was created from interviews with over two dozen homeless people. Transcribed and then shaped (slightly) for performance.
NOTE: The video shows two of the testimonials tied together by an original song. This 10 minute selection is called THE RIVER HOPE.

This adaptation of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN, begins with Victor, discovered on the Arctic ice by Capt. Walton. Victor is on a quest – he seeks a large man, a creature. His purpose is revenge. Victor seeks revenge for the death and destruction the creature has inflicted on Victor’s life. The Walton, too, is on a quest – to find the fabled north east passage. Victor warns Walton about the path they both tread, a path which has led Victor to pain and despair. As Victor relates his story to the captain – a story of creation and abandonment, of death and rage – we discover that Victor, in his pursuit of noble ideas, has created for himself and those around him a world gone horribly wrong.