Scott Sickles

Scott Sickles

SCOTT C. SICKLES is an LGBT playwright of Asian decent. He won the 2016 Dayton Playhouse FutureFest for Shepherd's Bush (since retitled Nonsense and Beauty), his biographical play about E.M. Forster, and the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Full-Length Script for his drama Composure. He has received three consecutive Writers Guild of America Awards for the daytime serial General...
SCOTT C. SICKLES is an LGBT playwright of Asian decent. He won the 2016 Dayton Playhouse FutureFest for Shepherd's Bush (since retitled Nonsense and Beauty), his biographical play about E.M. Forster, and the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Full-Length Script for his drama Composure. He has received three consecutive Writers Guild of America Awards for the daytime serial General Hospital, as well as multiple Emmy nominations for that series and One Life to Live. His plays have been performed in New York City, his native Pittsburgh, across the United States, as well as internationally in Canada, Australia, the UK, Singapore, and Lebanon.

His acclaimed comedy Intellectuals is included in Smith & Kraus’ New Playwrights: Best Plays of 2007. He received the 1999 Beverly Hills Theater Guild/Julie Harris Playwriting Award for Lightning from Heaven, a biographical piece about Boris Pasternak, his muse Olga Ivinskaya, and the creation of Doctor Zhivago. His intense romantic drama Moonlight & Love Songs was the inaugural production of GayFestNYC 2013, benefiting students of the Harvey Milk High School.

Sickles was named Outstanding Playwright of the 1996 Pittsburgh New Works Festival for his one-act drama The Harmonic Convergence. Published short plays include murmurs (Samuel French Festival Plays #21), and Beautiful Noises (S&K's 2009: Best 10-Minute Plays...).

He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the New Play Exchange.

Plays

  • The Bedroom Summit by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    2–3
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: coming of age, gay + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: coming of age, gay, gay teen, homophobia, bullying, sexual content
    [TEN-MINUTE DRAMA]
    Boyd has been on the run from bully Justin all day, so when he finds Justin waiting for him in his bedroom... But Justin's not there to hurt Boyd. He has something quite different in mind.

    The Bedroom Summit tackles internal and societal homophobia as the nature of the boys’ violent relationship stems from an attraction that one wishes to consummate and the other is...
    [TEN-MINUTE DRAMA]
    Boyd has been on the run from bully Justin all day, so when he finds Justin waiting for him in his bedroom... But Justin's not there to hurt Boyd. He has something quite different in mind.

    The Bedroom Summit tackles internal and societal homophobia as the nature of the boys’ violent relationship stems from an attraction that one wishes to consummate and the other is desperate to escape.

    Note: This play is thematically about anti-gay bullying and internalized homophobia among teenage boys. Only the boys appear on stage. There is an off-stage female voice with only two lines that can be delivered by someone backstage or as a sound effect. This play also features strong sexual content. NO nudity.
  • Marianas Trench by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    8
    ·
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Immigrants, refugees + 7 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, political, science fiction
    Keyword: Immigrants, refugees, religious extremism, Growing Up Gay, definitions of masculinity, pen pals, homophobia, Islamophobia, Asian American
    [WORK IN PROGRESS • FULL-LENGTH • SCIENCE FICTION]
    2F/6M (3M roles are East Asian/Korean)
    Teddy Passanante and Anzor Khasanov are eleven-year-old pen pals. Teddy is an unathletic, half-Asian nerd living in a liberal U.S. made up of what used to be Blue States. Anzor is the child of Muslim refugees trapped in a militant right-wing Christian theocracy that used to be the Red States. The boys know...
    [WORK IN PROGRESS • FULL-LENGTH • SCIENCE FICTION]
    2F/6M (3M roles are East Asian/Korean)
    Teddy Passanante and Anzor Khasanov are eleven-year-old pen pals. Teddy is an unathletic, half-Asian nerd living in a liberal U.S. made up of what used to be Blue States. Anzor is the child of Muslim refugees trapped in a militant right-wing Christian theocracy that used to be the Red States. The boys know their correspondence is mandated and monitored by Anzor’s government. This is a love story.
  • Outpost by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, political, satire, science fiction, tragedy
    [TEN-MINUTE SCIENCE FICTION]
    At the edge of the Milky Way, Dale has just been brought out of statis to discover the outpost is abandoned and an mysterious organism has almost finished consuming the galaxy. Things are not looking up.
  • Nonsense and Beauty (formerly titled "Shepherd's Bush") by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: biography, drama
    ·
    Keyword: gay romance, History + 5 more
    Genre: biography, drama
    Keyword: gay romance, History, English, 1930s, 1960s, Forster, Ackerley
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    In 1930, E.M. Forster met and fell in love with Bob Buckingham, a policeman 23 years his junior. Before long, fear of discovery forced Bob to court and marry May, a young nurse. The ensuring love triangle, turbulent and unique, evolved until Forster’s death nearly forty years later.

    2 acts; 120 minutes
  • The Interior by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: adventure, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: wilderness, man verus nature
    Genre: adventure, drama, horror
    Keyword: wilderness, man verus nature
    [ONE-ACT SOLO PLAY/HORROR]
    Skylar Chapin does not to well outside of big cities. Stranded in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest after a plane crash and possessing next to no survival skills, Skylar tries to make it back to civilization... only to discover an even greater danger.

    This is a solo play that can be performed by an actor of any gender or race within a wide range of ages.
  • Badger and Frame by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, children + 8 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: LGBTQ, children, memory, grief, friendship, boys, growing up, sexuality, coming of age, emotional abuse
    During the summer of 1978, Bobby "Badger" McCandless and Ephraim "Frame" Siebert were best friends. Today, after Bobby's funeral, Ephraim meets his childhood bestie's widow Mary Kate. As she reminisces over her life with Bobby, Ephraim relives his friendship with "Badger": their summer of exploration and adventure from its humble beginnings to its abrupt end.
  • Composure by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 5
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, Shakespeare + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: LGBTQ, Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, college, divorce, acquaintance rape, trauma survivors
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    When Fletcher Driscoll returned to his hometown to direct Romeo and Juliet, he never expected to end up in his own star-crossed romance with Jeff, a recently out divorcé with a complicated past. Nor was he prepared to confront Tommy, his high school best friend who broke his heart... repeatedly and on purpose.

    A powerful drama about the resonance of loss, Composure is...
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    When Fletcher Driscoll returned to his hometown to direct Romeo and Juliet, he never expected to end up in his own star-crossed romance with Jeff, a recently out divorcé with a complicated past. Nor was he prepared to confront Tommy, his high school best friend who broke his heart... repeatedly and on purpose.

    A powerful drama about the resonance of loss, Composure is for everyone who has ever loved the wrong person and worries that it's too late to find the right one.


    two acts; 1 hour, 45 minutes (+ intermission)
  • Tactile Creatures by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, fantasy
    ·
    Keyword: ghosts, Touching + 2 more
    Genre: drama, fantasy
    Keyword: ghosts, Touching, contact, loneliness
    Recovering from a breakup, Aubrey moves into a studio apartment only to discover that the residence is occupied... by a ghost. A romance about loneliness in the aftermath of love, both requited and not, and the importance of contact.

    NOTE: the characters have not been assigned any age, race or gender; those decisions entirely up to the production!
  • I Knew It! by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    ·
    Keyword: rock and roll, marriage + 1 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: rock and roll, marriage, fluid sexuality
    [TEN-MINUTE COMEDY]
    Francesca, wife of a music superstar, discovers a fellow rock-and-roll wife sneaking out of her husband's bedroom. She thinks she knows what's going on. She doesn't.
  • Perfecting the Kiss: a mockumentary for the stage by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, farce + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: backstage, backstage fiasco
    Genre: comedy, farce, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: backstage, backstage fiasco
    [FULL LENGTH COMEDY]
    In this "Noises Off for Off-Off," a stage manager presents a dramatic recreation of her traumatizing previous production during which she was secretly attracted to playwright Harvest Carruthers who in turn became attracted to the sweet, sexy, and tremendously untalented Jonah "Buck" Jackson who himself developed a crush on director Edwina O'Halloran who is...
    [FULL LENGTH COMEDY]
    In this "Noises Off for Off-Off," a stage manager presents a dramatic recreation of her traumatizing previous production during which she was secretly attracted to playwright Harvest Carruthers who in turn became attracted to the sweet, sexy, and tremendously untalented Jonah "Buck" Jackson who himself developed a crush on director Edwina O'Halloran who is only doing this very bad gay play to prove that the actor who rejected her romantic overtures, Mike Porter, did so because he's gay thereby enabling her to cope with his rejection. The result is a hilariously catastrophic series of clashing egos and romantic misalliances.

    75 minutes, no intermission
  • Frailty, Thy Name by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama, period + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: gender inequality, patriarchy + 6 more
    Genre: drama, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: gender inequality, patriarchy, justice, morality, Freedom, an original adaptation, Shakespeare, murder
    [WORK IN PROGRESS; FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    FRAILTY, THY NAME examines the Hamlet mythos exclusively from the perspectives of its women, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia. Gertrude is a noble, savvy and honorable queen who, in a moment of deep grief, puts country before family. She and Ophelia — clever, perceptive, and steadfast — unite over their love of Hamlet, until his suspicions of treachery force them to...
    [WORK IN PROGRESS; FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    FRAILTY, THY NAME examines the Hamlet mythos exclusively from the perspectives of its women, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia. Gertrude is a noble, savvy and honorable queen who, in a moment of deep grief, puts country before family. She and Ophelia — clever, perceptive, and steadfast — unite over their love of Hamlet, until his suspicions of treachery force them to confront the patriarchy that has trapped and perhaps even doomed them.
  • The Philosopher's Joke by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: time travel, Fantasy
    Genre: adaptation, drama, fantasy
    Keyword: time travel, Fantasy
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA/FANTASY]
    Based on the short story by Jerome K. Jerome. A young man about to propose marriage to his girlfriend seeks the advice of three older couples, all of whom have been acquainted with one another for over twenty years. There's the sedate Reverend Nathaniel Armitage and his flirtatious wife Alice; brusque entrepreneur Dick Everett who married his wife Nellie for her beauty,...
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA/FANTASY]
    Based on the short story by Jerome K. Jerome. A young man about to propose marriage to his girlfriend seeks the advice of three older couples, all of whom have been acquainted with one another for over twenty years. There's the sedate Reverend Nathaniel Armitage and his flirtatious wife Alice; brusque entrepreneur Dick Everett who married his wife Nellie for her beauty, which has faded completely; and passionate writer Horatio Camelford, who stopped believing in marriage right around the time his wife Jessica finally realized she loved him. The three couples regale the young man with a story about how one night in Germany they were magically transported back to their youths... and given knowledge of their futures. What did they learn from the decisions they made?

    70 minutes (45 pages, plus movement) no intermission
  • Moonlight & Love Songs by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    7–8
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: Movies, LGBTQ + 6 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Movies, LGBTQ, intense, gay, age difference, religion, may december, age of consent
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    When Harry Wallace, a lonely 45 year old architect meets and falls for Jim Bennett, a sexy young college student, he sees his dreams come true until a shocking revelation about Jim causes their seemingly perfect motion picture romance to implode. As the ensuing public outrage leaves Harry a pariah within his community and his family, Jim attempts to repair the damage caused by his...
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    When Harry Wallace, a lonely 45 year old architect meets and falls for Jim Bennett, a sexy young college student, he sees his dreams come true until a shocking revelation about Jim causes their seemingly perfect motion picture romance to implode. As the ensuing public outrage leaves Harry a pariah within his community and his family, Jim attempts to repair the damage caused by his betrayal.

    90 minutes, no intermission

    “Sickles nails the complexities in this relationship in such a powerful way... There is something for everyone in the audience to draw from; whether you are gay or straight, it
    is very relatable.”
    ~ Gregory G. Allen, Huffington Post

    “Playwright Scott C. Sickles creates an intriguing, surprisingly believable study of human behavior...just about any audience member will find something with which to
    connect.”
    ~ Ronni Reich, Back Stage

    “Sickles takes a potentially controversial topic and crafts a beautiful story of a doomed romance. Like the old movies it references, Casablanca chief among them, Moonlight & Love Songs shows that love often demands sacrifice to become
    transcendent.”
    ~ Byrne Harrison, Stagebuzz.com
  • Lightning From Heaven by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    9–13
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: freedom of expression, Soviet Union + 5 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, political
    Keyword: freedom of expression, Soviet Union, intense, interrogation, censorship, Writer, History
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    Before the classic film and the celebrated novel Doctor Zhivago, there were poet Boris Pasternak, his muse Olga Ivinskaya, and the Soviet government’s attempt to silence their story. After Pasternak’s death in 1960 Olga, his lover of fourteen years, was arrested by the KGB. LIGHTNING FROM HEAVEN chronicles Olga's subsequent interrogation and trial, while depicting her and...
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    Before the classic film and the celebrated novel Doctor Zhivago, there were poet Boris Pasternak, his muse Olga Ivinskaya, and the Soviet government’s attempt to silence their story. After Pasternak’s death in 1960 Olga, his lover of fourteen years, was arrested by the KGB. LIGHTNING FROM HEAVEN chronicles Olga's subsequent interrogation and trial, while depicting her and Pasternak's struggle to complete and publish Doctor Zhivago despite determined Soviet efforts to stop them.

    2 acts; 2h15m

    "torrid... as sizzling as the love affair between Zhivago and Lara. ... The play is full of high drama, deep characterization, and constant tension. It is a scathing look inside the nightmarish world of Soviet oppression. ~Bruce Chadwick, History News Network

    "It is a smart, deeply literate play, driven by the conflict between individual artistic integrity and the collectivist state. Perhaps most touching are the scenes deliberately echoing Zhivago in which Pasternak and Ivinskaya find beauty in the increasingly drab, dehumanized Soviet world about them. ... Highly recommended for fans of historical drama or Zhivago in any of its incarnations."
    ~ Joe Bendel. J.B. Spins blog
  • Intellectuals by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    7–12
    ·
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: gay, Lesbian + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: gay, Lesbian, screwball
    [FULL LENGTH COMEDY]
    Psychologist Margot Welles is taking a "sabbatical" from her marriage to explore her "untapped feminine potential" by giving lesbianism a whirl. Hoping to make Margot jealous, her husband Phillip, a philosophy professor, starts dating the lovely Antonia... a much older woman. Margot and Philip both employ their best friend Brighton, a romantically disadvantaged...
    [FULL LENGTH COMEDY]
    Psychologist Margot Welles is taking a "sabbatical" from her marriage to explore her "untapped feminine potential" by giving lesbianism a whirl. Hoping to make Margot jealous, her husband Phillip, a philosophy professor, starts dating the lovely Antonia... a much older woman. Margot and Philip both employ their best friend Brighton, a romantically disadvantaged film professor, to keep one another posted... but Brighton's "gay best friend" duties are waylaid when his former student Nick begins to court him out of the blue. Mayhem ensues.

    2 acts; 120-130 minutes

    "...you know the playwright has potential. ... Mr. Sickles’s zingy dialogue sparkled..."
    ~Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

    "Romantic screwball comedy is alive and well... Intellectuals is a refreshing reminder of how fun good theatre can be... several surprising twists and turns...
    ~ Michael Criscuolo, nytheatre.com

    "Some people are just too smart for their own good. That’s bad for them, but it’s great for the audience of Intellectuals. ... Sickles’s dialog is witty and crisp, and the jokes zipped by, one on top of the next. ... a lot of fun indeed."
    ~ Byrne Harrison, oobr.com

    Available in Smith & Kraus's NEW PLAYWRIGHTS: BEST PLAYS OF 2007, edited by Lawrence Harbison.
  • From the Top by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: comedy of manners, gay + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: comedy of manners, gay, theater people, unrequited love, breakup, young love
    [FULL LENGTH COMEDY OF MANNERS]
    A contemporary comedy of manners about the things we keep from the people we love.

    FROM THE TOP examines (roughly) the same half-hour from three different characters’ perspectives as they prepare to leave for a special event.
    In Act One, young actor Edmund arrives with his new boyfriend Paddy. He’s seeking an audience with his mentor and dear friend...
    [FULL LENGTH COMEDY OF MANNERS]
    A contemporary comedy of manners about the things we keep from the people we love.

    FROM THE TOP examines (roughly) the same half-hour from three different characters’ perspectives as they prepare to leave for a special event.
    In Act One, young actor Edmund arrives with his new boyfriend Paddy. He’s seeking an audience with his mentor and dear friend Brandon, a highly regarded theater director. His attempts to have a private moment with his friend are blocked by Irene and Calvin, an actress/playwright couple who appear to be running interference. Edmund eventually has the heart-to-heart he’s been longing for, but what’s wrong with Brandon?
    In Act Two, moments before Edmund and Paddy’s arrival, Irene tries to break up with bewildered Calvin. They discreetly negotiate the chaos going on around and in between them, ultimately confronting the fate of their relationship.
    In Act Three, Brandon lets Irene and Calvin in and informs them that he’s invited Edmund to join them. He dismisses their concerns at first, but after Edmund’s arrival, Brandon must navigate his own mounting heartbreak.


    90 minutes, 3 short acts, no intermission.

    " From the Top deserves a long life, though hopefully it will be ensconced on the New York stages for a long time to come, an ideal destination for audiences seeking a witty and intelligent modern comedy of manners."
    ~ Matthew Murray, Talking' Broadway
  • Hairdresser on Fire by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    6–10
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: psychological abuse, manipulation + 1 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: psychological abuse, manipulation, gay men
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    Lawrence is on the rebound. His best pals -- ex-lover Niles and devout virgin Briony -- can only provide so much comfort. Then in walks Allan, a handsome attorney who whisks him away from his problems... and soon begins to separate Lawrence little by little from the people and things he cares about. Allan's plan to control Lawrence starts to backfire when Lawrence reveals himself...
    [FULL LENGTH DRAMA]
    Lawrence is on the rebound. His best pals -- ex-lover Niles and devout virgin Briony -- can only provide so much comfort. Then in walks Allan, a handsome attorney who whisks him away from his problems... and soon begins to separate Lawrence little by little from the people and things he cares about. Allan's plan to control Lawrence starts to backfire when Lawrence reveals himself to be a stronger person than the heartbroken sad sack he was the night they met. But is Lawrence strong enough?

    90 minutes, no intermission

    "Hairdresser on Fire ... unfolds with the ease of an episode of "Seinfeld" but ends 90 minutes later the way "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" would if written by Larry Gelbart instead of Edward Albee. ... a lively engaging piece about the downward spiral of relationships that begin with a power imbalance. It's also about the particular courage it takes to assert one's self in the face of the possible loss of love."
    ~ Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  • Demon Bitch Goddess by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    8–10
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: old age, wedding + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: old age, wedding, dysfunctional family, Sisters, widow
    [EVENING OF ONE-ACT PLAYS]
    Life’s major milestones happen unexpectedly out of order in these three tales of love, lust and loss.

    Demon: Medusa
    Mavis and Thor are two senior citizens out on a first date. Thor is a perfect gentlemen, but that may not be what Mavis wants...

    Bitch: Cassiopeia
    Developmentally challenged Angela prepares for her wedding. Her two...
    [EVENING OF ONE-ACT PLAYS]
    Life’s major milestones happen unexpectedly out of order in these three tales of love, lust and loss.

    Demon: Medusa
    Mavis and Thor are two senior citizens out on a first date. Thor is a perfect gentlemen, but that may not be what Mavis wants...

    Bitch: Cassiopeia
    Developmentally challenged Angela prepares for her wedding. Her two sisters want what’s best for her. Unfortunately, they have very different opinions on what that might be.

    Goddess: Thalassa
    On the shore of the Mediterranean, a young woman spots a man about to take a one-way walk into the deep blue sea. Can she save him? Can they save each other?

    3 one-act plays; 90-100 minutes; no intermission
  • Uncomplicated Bereavement by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: funeral, church + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: funeral, church, Sex, caregiving, sacrifice, dealing with loss
    [ONE-ACT COMEDY]
    Sarah – approaching 50, alone and lonely – has just lost the father she'a been taking care of for years. As the funeral procession waits for her outside the church, she meets a handsome stranger dealing with loss of his own. And yet... could there be a spark?
  • Bulletproof Love by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: prison, love + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: prison, love, poetry
    [ONE-ACT DRAMA]
    Ambrose and Ramona were supposed to be married. Instead, she's visiting him in prison with bulletproof glass between them. He is the strong, silent type — very strong, very silent. She has a mouth for rage. Neither can express their love to each other... Lucky you, you get to hear what's in their hearts. And it is boundless.
  • The Most Important Meal of the Day by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: gay, LGBTQ + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: gay, LGBTQ, breakup, Cyberbullying, disgraced reporter, breakfast
    Rupert is a wildly successful corporate sell-out. Linus is a washed-up journalist who has never recovered from his fall from grace. They're having one last breakfast together before parting ways... maybe forever?
  • HEART OF A WOMAN IN A PRESSURE COOKER: a journey in eight notions by Ephrym Justyce by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, experimental + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: avant-garde, send-up + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, experimental, parody/spoof, satire
    Keyword: avant-garde, send-up, narrator
    That actually is the title.

    Sherize just wants to be loved. Or does she? What is her Mama mixing in that bowl? Is Jade her brother or her sister? And who is that naked Man? Anything goes (or does it?) in the send up of really terrible avant-garde theater.

    Note: as the stage directions are part of the comedy, a narrator to read the stage directions is essential (especially as many...
    That actually is the title.

    Sherize just wants to be loved. Or does she? What is her Mama mixing in that bowl? Is Jade her brother or her sister? And who is that naked Man? Anything goes (or does it?) in the send up of really terrible avant-garde theater.

    Note: as the stage directions are part of the comedy, a narrator to read the stage directions is essential (especially as many of them can't be physicalized).
  • Appetizers, or "On an Island Somewhere" by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama, horror + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: activism, American politics + 3 more
    Genre: drama, horror, political, science fiction
    Keyword: activism, American politics, LGBTQ, social issues, gay conversion therapy
    Alice and her husband host a farewell party of wine and hors d'oeuvres celebrating Tamara and her husband moving back to the Mainland after years on the Island. But why are they all there in the first place? When will they all be allowed to leave?
    ----
    An evening of wine hors d'oeuvres celebrating Tamara and her husband finally moving off the Island back to the Mainland. She wants one...
    Alice and her husband host a farewell party of wine and hors d'oeuvres celebrating Tamara and her husband moving back to the Mainland after years on the Island. But why are they all there in the first place? When will they all be allowed to leave?
    ----
    An evening of wine hors d'oeuvres celebrating Tamara and her husband finally moving off the Island back to the Mainland. She wants one last girl talk session with her BFF/hostess Alice, so she sends their hubbies – Calvin and Oliver – off to the man cave for a male bonding session of their own. Soon, they each begin to recall their experiences at Camp, a program where they learned to eradicate their desires for members of the same sex, embrace Christ, and come out with a brand new outlook and an assigned spouse. But will the emotional bonding lead to something beyond friendship. If so, what?
  • Turtles and Bulldogs by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: gay, straight crush + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: gay, straight crush, missed connections
    Collin just ran into the guy he had a crush on in high school...
    thirty-five years later... at the cemetery. They have some catching up to do.
  • The Greater and Lesser Edmunds of the World: a ten-minute play about bastards and birthright by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, melodrama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: illegitimate children, Inheritance + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, melodrama, satire
    Keyword: illegitimate children, Inheritance, prodigal son, ten minute play; ten minute comedy; brothers
    Gideon is meeting his half-brother Augie. They've met only once before, at their father's funeral... a father who kept two families at the same time. Gideon thinks he knows what Augie wants. Gideon is wrong.
  • Fade to White by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: hungary, missing child
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: hungary, missing child
    Seventy-year-old documentary filmmaker Istvan is about to interview his next subject — his school-hood girlfriend Magda, now a retired teacher — about the day one of their classmates vanished in a freak snowstorm. Reflecting on this long-ago tragedy forces Magda to confront who she's become and why.
  • The Fallow Garden by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
    ·
    Keyword: American Gothic, murder + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, horror, melodrama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: American Gothic, murder, revenge, blackmail
    Glynnis and Marie France are digging a hole in Lavinia Fowler's garden.
    They are not planting vegetables.

    In this American Gothic tale of small-town extortion and revenge, these two women discover they are being leveraged by a common enemy. They conspire to turn the tables on their blackmailer, but is silencing her enough to secure their secrets?
  • The Other Half by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: experimental, fantasy
    ·
    Keyword: avant-garde, non-linear + 4 more
    Genre: experimental, fantasy
    Keyword: avant-garde, non-linear, conjoined twins, separation, lost dreams, choices
    A surgeon must separate twin girls conjoined at the chest, sharing one heart. As the surgeon decides which girl will live and which will die, s/he imagines the impact this decision will have on the family and the surviving twin in a flash-forward memory play.
  • Beautiful Noises by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: gay, grief + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: gay, grief, homophobia, afterlife, forgiveness
    A recently deceased gay man encounters his long-lost sister in the afterlife. But instead of offering guidance, she needs his help reaching out to the mother she left behind. However, the animosity between their mother and the man's lover may prevent any communication between the living and the dead.

    This play in included in the anthology Demon Bitch Goddess.
  • "Three Months! Tops!" by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, fantasy + 6 more
    ·
    Keyword: 1940s, family + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, fantasy, farce, holiday, parody/spoof, period, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: 1940s, family, wedding comedy, winter
    [One-Act, 3F/2M] Spinster Mamie has finally find the man of her dreams in sweet Grover. But when Mamie announces their engagement to her family, no one takes it seriously. Once they realize that Mamie is indeed serious, fretful Mama lays down the law: Mamie can't marry Grover... for a very good and unique reason...
  • Orchids and Heat by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: 1930s, murder + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: 1930s, murder, trains, marriage, regret
    1930s. A train is stopped in the desert. The engineer stands in front of the train holding a top hat. It belongs to a man who was murdered, thrown off the train in a brutal fight. The dead man's wife finds him, carrying orchids to lay down for her husband and a revelation about the murder.
  • "THE RODINS ARE HERE!" by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, commedia dell'arte + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: manners, Art and Artists + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, commedia dell'arte, farce, parody/spoof, satire
    Keyword: manners, Art and Artists, send-up, heightened language
    Chicago, circa 1886. Wealthy businessman Potter Palmer and his wife Bertha have surprise guests for dinner, the sculptor Auguste Rodin and his life partner Rose Beuret. Dinner is late, they are famished, but when Rodin is inspired to create art, everything else must wait!
  • O, For a Muse of Fire by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: traumatic brain injury, composer + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: traumatic brain injury, composer, middle age, friendship, exes
    Lane, an award-winning film composer, returns home from the hospital for the first time after a car accident: memory intact but no longer able to compose. Lane's former love and dear friend Vaughn does everything possible to inspire Lane to reconnect with music and their past.

    Note: casting is gender neutral, there is a song that should be sung to piano music
  • Virgins by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    ·
    Keyword: nervous bride, Sisters + 5 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: nervous bride, Sisters, sexuality, sexual experience, virginity, love, first time
    It's sweet Bonnie's wedding day and she's got last minute cold feet, so her sexy sister Savannah has been called in to find out why. Bonnie and Savannah reveal their secret anxieties about love, men, and the nature of experience.
  • Winter Harbor by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: biography, drama
    ·
    Keyword: 1930s, disappearance + 3 more
    Genre: biography, drama
    Keyword: 1930s, disappearance, Vigil, lighthouse, based on a true story
    UPDATED DRAFT! One February day in 1935, Clinton "Buster" Dalzell – assistant lighthouse keeper at Egg Rock Light – kissed his pregnant wife Elizabeth goodbye, left to run an errand... and disappeared. Unable to join in the search, Elizabeth must stay strong for her young sons as she hopes for her husband’s safe return.
  • Hand on Heart by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    2–3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: suicide bomber, terrorism + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, political
    Keyword: suicide bomber, terrorism, idenity, Heritage
    In the aftermath of a failed suicide bombing, exhausted ER worker Marcella tries to save the unconscious bomber while her friend Davey keeps her calm. In these extraordinary circumstances, the two friends discover things about one another they would have never otherwise supposed. 8-10 minutes. Comedy/Light Drama
  • Somewhere South of Bethlehem by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: christianity, hell + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, faith-based, fantasy
    Keyword: christianity, hell, afterlife, devil, evangelism, Lucretia Borgia
    1M/2F; 25 minutes
    Disgraced Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson is in hell... literally and figuratively. Her current torment is being forced to rehearse a Nativity play (with loads of puppets!) with Lucrezia Borgia and the Devil. Revelations and confessions ensue.
  • Escalator to the Gallows by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: Valentine's Day, attempted suicide + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: Valentine's Day, attempted suicide, breakup
    A MONOLOGUE. The stylish and beautiful FEDORA has come home to find her bookish boyfriend, ERLAND, ready to hang himself. What choice does she have at that moment BUT to break up with him? And it wouldn't be fair NOT to give him a long, detailed explanation as to why, now would it? [This monologue requires two actors but only FEDORA speaks.] Roughly 2 minutes.
  • Consolation by Scott Sickles
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: Valentine's Day, unrequited love + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: Valentine's Day, unrequited love, attempted suicide
    A two-minute monologue in which Melanie, who has just been rescued from a suicide attempt, declares that today "was, like, the second worst Valentine's Day ever." A darkly comic lament about romantic inequality. (Can actually be performed by actor of any gender.)
  • Persephone by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy
    ·
    Keyword: adoption, heightened language + 1 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: adoption, heightened language, oddball
    Helena gave up her daughter Persephone at birth. Today, they meet for the first time. It's going really well. Or at least it was...
  • Sugarplum by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: horror
    ·
    Keyword: Schizophrenia, psychological + 2 more
    Genre: horror
    Keyword: Schizophrenia, psychological, apocalypse, mental hospital
    [One-Act] 3M/3F; 20-25 minutes
    Rayanne wakes up in a hospital where she's told the apocalyptic nightmare she's been living was actually a hallucination. Soon, the line between her realities begins to blur.
  • Vacancies by Scott Sickles
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: supernatural, broken marriage + 2 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: supernatural, broken marriage, flood, motel
    A flood has forced Carol and Graham to seek refuge at a motel. Their marriage already strained, Carol also blames Graham for a tragic act of negligence. When she's away from him, Graham is befriended by another guest who makes an unsettling yet alluring claim.