Recommended by Robert Weibezahl

  • 15 Seconds
    13 Jan. 2023
    Bruce Karp’s beautiful, heartbreaking short play touches on many of the painful, violent, confusing realities we live with today. There are no easy answers, but if communication and love are our last best hopes, 15 SECONDS offers a welcome entry point. Karp’s fierce scenario and well-crafted words will make you cry, but more importantly, they will make you think.
  • 8 Aunt Marys - a 1 minute monologue for a teen girl
    17 Nov. 2022
    Pity the teen whose entire social worth and self-esteem hinge on text communication. An arcane typo from your boyfriend could trigger an emotional tsunami. That’s what happens to Jackie, the alternately sharp and shattered fifteen-year-old who delivers Arianna Rose’s high-octane monologue. In just one minute, Jackie runs the gamut of emotions with hilarity and heart. Though the technology has changed, the hormonal histrionics of teen angst are eternal. A great piece for a young actor who wants to show off her acting chops.
  • Home Truth (Ten Minute)
    17 Oct. 2022
    Death and funerals can bring out the best or worst in families. Sisters, Angela and Laura, display both traits in this subtle and pointed short play. Restrained expression masks a long-buried affection; A true sense of concern lurks beneath the prickly conversation. Every moment rings true. Two great parts for a pair of mature actresses.
  • I CHOOSE YOU
    28 Sep. 2022
    Nick and Lauren are like a million couples: she’s overworked, corralling and chauffeuring the kids, while juggling graduate school, too; he’s frustrated by the changes in their marriage, yet a little less help around the house than he could be. But from the expert pen of Marj O’Neill-Butler, don’t expect the pat outcome. I CHOOSE YOU is an endearing short love story that shakes up all the tropes and keeps hope burning bright. Perfect for Valentine’s Day festivals.
  • THE DATING POOL, a one-act play for 5 women plus optional additional characters
    28 Sep. 2022
    The person we were at 16 or 23 or 49 lives within our present self, pestering us about what we did wrong in our lives or might have done differently. Arianna Rose gleefully plays with this reality in this very clever and frequently hilarious short play: a dream-dialogue between a woman of 61, hesitant to dive back into the murky waters of the dating pool (in the dream logic guise of an actual pool), and her younger incarnations, both callow and jaded. A pitch-perfect script for a range of female actors/voices. Read it. Relate to it. Produce it.
  • Goodbye, Bobby
    4 Aug. 2022
    Why we write; what we write; who we write? This charming two-hander is a puzzle box dialogue between a writer and his character that explores the act of creation, what is real and what is imagined, and how it can be impossible to shed the impulse to write, no matter how hard one may try. Every writer will relate to this on-the-money scenario, which Williams brings to life with humor and head-scratching moments of familiarity.
  • Home-Style Cooking at the Gateway Cafe
    4 Aug. 2022
    Head on over to the Gateway Cafe for some good grub and a reality check. Williams repeatedly undermines audience expectations in this witty and thoughtful look at "America" today. As he targets the duplicity – triplicity? – of our elected officials, he reminds us that we mustn’t judge folks by our preconceived perceptions of what they should be. This large-cast short is a perfect fit for festivals in both red states and blue.
  • Easy Come, Easy Go
    1 Aug. 2022
    In just a few minutes, Bruce Karp takes us on a roller coaster of emotions – grief, resignation, hope, joy, disappointment, and then, in the end, acceptance (with another dash of hope for good measure). This brother and sister’s shared experience will speak to anyone who has sorted through the detritus of a life as well as anyone who has placed their hopes on the shaky good fortune of chance. A lighthearted comedy that provokes full-hearted thought: a rare thing indeed!
  • LEAVING A HOLE - 5-minute monologue
    30 Jul. 2022
    This is an extraordinarily powerful monologue—immediate and visceral. Rose digs deeply into the stark truths of pain and grief—both that which can be relieved and that which will never completely go away. With a daring and expert use of the second person, Rose gives Thea a voice that speaks directly to the audience while addressing herself. I cannot not imagine there is an actor out there who would NOT want to perform this piece. Heartbreaking and haunting.
  • I LOVE A PARADE, a 10-minute dystopian political drama
    19 Jul. 2022
    This is a stunning work (in both senses of the word). Rose mixes dystopian tropes and historical realities from past fascist eras with Brechtian assuredness. A grave warning in our disturbing times that will leave audiences troubled, thinking, and galvanized. Produce this play!

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