T. Cat Ford

T. Cat Ford

T. Cat Ford’s POW’R IN THE BLOOD opened Barter Theatre’s 75th Anniversary season. In 2016 HOW TO BE AN AMERICAN was presented in The York Theatre Company’s New2NY Series, Bill Castellino directing. Other plays include: THE CHAOS TRADE, an insider’s view of the financial meltdown; MERMEN, a space coast fantasy; VICTORIA & HENRY, Women’s Rights and Free Love in the 19th century and A SIMPLE GIFT, an a...
T. Cat Ford’s POW’R IN THE BLOOD opened Barter Theatre’s 75th Anniversary season. In 2016 HOW TO BE AN AMERICAN was presented in The York Theatre Company’s New2NY Series, Bill Castellino directing. Other plays include: THE CHAOS TRADE, an insider’s view of the financial meltdown; MERMEN, a space coast fantasy; VICTORIA & HENRY, Women’s Rights and Free Love in the 19th century and A SIMPLE GIFT, an a cappella musical set in a Shaker community, which received TRU’s 2014 Big Kahuna Award. Recently Queens Theatre In The Park featured her one-act play, Poolside, as a part of their New American Voices Play Reading Series and VICTORIA & HENRY was the subject of Athena Project’s September 2020 “Read and Rant.” In 2016 she founded THE COFFEE COUNTY MEMORY PROJECT: The Integration Years (1966-1972), an oral history project focusing on federally mandated school integration. Her newest play, MIXING IT UP!!!!!, is based on this material. She is a member of The Playwrights Circle and Honor Roll!

Plays

  • Out Of Order by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, period, zoom
    OUT OF ORDER is a ten minute play based on an oral history from the collection of the Coffee County Memory Project: The integration years (1966-1972). The incident detailed in this play, took place in a department store in a small town in Southern Georgia in 1967.
  • CHILDREN ASKING WHY by T. Cat Ford
    Cast: 
    6–8
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    Genre: adaptation, docudrama/historic + 5 more
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    Keyword: American race relations and racism, History + 1 more
    Genre: adaptation, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, radio drama, young audiences
    Keyword: American race relations and racism, History, Segregation
    This radio play is based on oral history interviews about life in the segregated South. We asked our participants to tell us when they first realized their world was segregated. In most instances when confronted with segregation a child’s first response would be to ask a simple question, “Why?”
    This radio play consists of three of these stories. I have devised it to include our original audio as...
    This radio play is based on oral history interviews about life in the segregated South. We asked our participants to tell us when they first realized their world was segregated. In most instances when confronted with segregation a child’s first response would be to ask a simple question, “Why?”
    This radio play consists of three of these stories. I have devised it to include our original audio as narration. Those lines are in bold. If the producer would rather have an actor re-record the original audio, that is also an option. The play begins and ends with a chorus of voices from our audio collection. A Dropbox link to the first vocal chorus can be found on page one of the script. A link to that audio can also be found on this page.
  • MIXING IT UP!!!! by T. Cat Ford
    Cast: 
    12–20
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: american race relations, History + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political, young audiences
    Keyword: american race relations, History, civil rights, play with music, high school, university, Segregation, integration
    With a blast from the past we return to the 1960s. The world is changing as the Federal Government orders school integration. Schools close and reopen. Students lose and make new friends. Based on true accounts of school integration, we watch as a school and its students transform and grow.*

    *The Coffee County Memory Project, Coffee County, Georgia, gathered the stories that provide the basis of...
    With a blast from the past we return to the 1960s. The world is changing as the Federal Government orders school integration. Schools close and reopen. Students lose and make new friends. Based on true accounts of school integration, we watch as a school and its students transform and grow.*

    *The Coffee County Memory Project, Coffee County, Georgia, gathered the stories that provide the basis of this play. The original incorporated audio is also from the Coffee County Memory Project.

  • HOW TO BE AN AMERICAN, A Political Cabaret by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, musical + 2 more
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    Keyword: American politics, cabaret + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, musical, period, political
    Keyword: American politics, cabaret, Tammany Hall, audience engagement, early 20th century, History
    The year is 1905. One week before the next election. New York City. Tammany Hall politician George Washington Plunkitt has gathered a group of new immigrants for the purpose of educating them on the subtleties of the American political system. Using songs from the early 20th century American songbook, he delivers a real-life lesson on honest graft, dishonest graft and the American way that's as relevant...
    The year is 1905. One week before the next election. New York City. Tammany Hall politician George Washington Plunkitt has gathered a group of new immigrants for the purpose of educating them on the subtleties of the American political system. Using songs from the early 20th century American songbook, he delivers a real-life lesson on honest graft, dishonest graft and the American way that's as relevant now as it was over 100 years ago.
  • LINKS by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, political
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    Keyword: southern, Georgia + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, political
    Keyword: southern, Georgia, marriage problems, golf, love
    LINKS is a triptych. This three-act play is set in and around the seemingly serene Oakland Georgia Golf and Country Club. The first two acts, “Poolside” and “Tee for Two” occur simultaneously but are played separately. The women are at the golf club’s pool battling the anxiety of modern life with a good dose of American optimism and new house plans while their husbands, on the ninth hole of the course, give us...
    LINKS is a triptych. This three-act play is set in and around the seemingly serene Oakland Georgia Golf and Country Club. The first two acts, “Poolside” and “Tee for Two” occur simultaneously but are played separately. The women are at the golf club’s pool battling the anxiety of modern life with a good dose of American optimism and new house plans while their husbands, on the ninth hole of the course, give us their perspectives on marriage, alligators and cheating. Act III, “Over Meat”, takes place the evening of the same day. Both couples are at home having dinner. “Over Meat” is structured in such a way that we see both couples at home at the same time. The two scenes progress simultaneously, form a counterpoint and, hopefully, a third reality. “Poolside” and “Tee for Two” can be performed as stand alone one-acts.
  • ROAR LIONS! ROAR!! by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    14
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: football, southern + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, period, political
    Keyword: football, southern, abortion, Greek mythology, multi-ethnic
    ROAR LIONS! ROAR!! is set on a southern University campus in the 1970’s against a background of football frenzy and an equally frenzied University theatre production of THE BACCHAE. These seemingly opposite worlds collide when Wilcox, a freshman football player is enrolled in a voice and speech class taught by a graduate teaching assistant getting her MFA in acting. Cheerleaders become maenads and violence...
    ROAR LIONS! ROAR!! is set on a southern University campus in the 1970’s against a background of football frenzy and an equally frenzied University theatre production of THE BACCHAE. These seemingly opposite worlds collide when Wilcox, a freshman football player is enrolled in a voice and speech class taught by a graduate teaching assistant getting her MFA in acting. Cheerleaders become maenads and violence reigns. In the struggle for success, nothing is sacred except perhaps ambition.
  • searchers.me by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, farce
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    Keyword: computer dating, Relationships + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, farce
    Keyword: computer dating, Relationships, baby boomers, dating
    At mid-life Maggie, Cheryl and Lou, find themselves alone. They each embark on a search for that perfect soul mate via the internet – Lou through gay on-line bulletin boards; Maggie and Cheryl through internet dating services. We meet their dates, share their dreams and eventually, share their delusions. In a world where looking for that special someone has all the grace of flipping through a Sears &...
    At mid-life Maggie, Cheryl and Lou, find themselves alone. They each embark on a search for that perfect soul mate via the internet – Lou through gay on-line bulletin boards; Maggie and Cheryl through internet dating services. We meet their dates, share their dreams and eventually, share their delusions. In a world where looking for that special someone has all the grace of flipping through a Sears & Roebuck catalogue – is true love still possible?
  • MERMEN by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: southern gothic, epilepsy + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, fable/folktale
    Keyword: southern gothic, epilepsy, florida, NASA, child abuse, magical realism, trailer park
    Rudolph, a pre-teen, has dreams of becoming the first Merman in an underwater show at a Florida roadside attraction. His father, a severely disabled former college professor, has dreams of rewriting his one book. They live in a RV park at the edge of a canal in Cape Canaveral, not far from NASA. The sky is pierced with rockets; the sea is filled with the unknown. Together they totter between the two,...
    Rudolph, a pre-teen, has dreams of becoming the first Merman in an underwater show at a Florida roadside attraction. His father, a severely disabled former college professor, has dreams of rewriting his one book. They live in a RV park at the edge of a canal in Cape Canaveral, not far from NASA. The sky is pierced with rockets; the sea is filled with the unknown. Together they totter between the two, desperate to discover a reality they can share and the answer to the question – what happened the night Rudolph’s mother died?
  • VICTORIA & HENRY by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
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    Keyword: Presidential Election, feminist + 5 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, period
    Keyword: Presidential Election, feminist, American politics, History, 19th century, Victoria Woodhull, free love
    In 1871 Victoria Woodhull met Henry Ward Beecher. Beecher, the most famous preacher of his day, was also rumored to “preach to 20 of his mistresses every Sunday.” Woodhull, a fiery speaker with a following of her own, devout spiritualist and free love advocate was preparing for her next move – a run for the Presidency of the United States, on a platform that included a women’s right to vote, work and love...
    In 1871 Victoria Woodhull met Henry Ward Beecher. Beecher, the most famous preacher of his day, was also rumored to “preach to 20 of his mistresses every Sunday.” Woodhull, a fiery speaker with a following of her own, devout spiritualist and free love advocate was preparing for her next move – a run for the Presidency of the United States, on a platform that included a women’s right to vote, work and love freely. With specific knowledge of Beecher’s indiscretions she appealed to him, or rather threatened to blackmail him, to gain his support for her candidacy. He refused. Woodhull, prompted by the “voices” she considered to be her spiritual guides, exposed his hypocrisy. Her imprisonment and his ensuing trial changed the course of their lives and the course of history.
  • THE CHAOS TRADE - An American Comedy of Investment Errors by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    11
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    Genre: adventure, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: banking, financial crisis + 5 more
    Genre: adventure, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama
    Keyword: banking, financial crisis, trading, stock market, investment banking, 2008 financial crisis, business
    In the spirit of the New York Times best sellers Too Big to Fail and The Big Short, this docu-play offers an insider’s look at the high-stakes game of trading. Written by a former employee of a famously failed investment bank, the show traces the bank’s final days through the eyes of traders on the floor. The play opens on the trading floor as the crisis begins to unfold. News coverage of the unfolding crash...
    In the spirit of the New York Times best sellers Too Big to Fail and The Big Short, this docu-play offers an insider’s look at the high-stakes game of trading. Written by a former employee of a famously failed investment bank, the show traces the bank’s final days through the eyes of traders on the floor. The play opens on the trading floor as the crisis begins to unfold. News coverage of the unfolding crash bombards the bank’s employees and the audience. With livelihoods on the line and billions of dollars at risk, the drama is tense and the gallows humor is unrelenting. This fast-paced and surprisingly comic play hurtles the audience through the dissolution of a once-venerable banking institution.
  • POW'R IN THE BLOOD by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: southern, mother and daughter + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, faith-based
    Keyword: southern, mother and daughter, religious differences, religious right, Georgia
    Going home isn’t easy. When Heather comes home to Georgia to visit her mother in the hospital, reconnecting with her Southern roots is not as easy as it once was. As mother and daughter struggle to understand one another we see there is indeed ‘wonder working pow’r in the blood.’ This is a funny and touching story about family and forgiveness.
  • A SIMPLE GIFT by T. Cat Ford
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    11
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    Genre: adventure, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: 19th century, a cappella + 5 more
    Genre: adventure, docudrama/historic, experimental, faith-based, musical, period
    Keyword: 19th century, a cappella, Shakers, American history, religion, spiritualism, angels
    A SIMPLE GIFT is an a cappella musical set in a Shaker community in the late 1830's​, when​ the Shaker movement was at ​its​ height.​ With over 6,000 members, their farms were prosperous​;​ and ​after a charismatic revival, ​their spirituality ​included​ visions, ​speaking in tongues, and ​elaborate rituals​.​ Into this setting a vagrant​ ​Appalachian girl appears. She is running from an abusive...
    A SIMPLE GIFT is an a cappella musical set in a Shaker community in the late 1830's​, when​ the Shaker movement was at ​its​ height.​ With over 6,000 members, their farms were prosperous​;​ and ​after a charismatic revival, ​their spirituality ​included​ visions, ​speaking in tongues, and ​elaborate rituals​.​ Into this setting a vagrant​ ​Appalachian girl appears. She is running from an abusive fundamentalist preacher father and toward what she sees as her salvation, the devil. Having never experienced a safe environment, she questions everything. Where is she? Is this heaven on earth​--​as the Shakers literally believe​--​or hell?