Recommended by Scott Sickles

  • Scott Sickles: GWEN HAS A DATE (a 10 minute comedy)

    Hilarious take on dating for the elderly, especially widows and widowers, in the information age — and finding love the second time around. The play has four great roles for actors in their 60s and up (3 of those for women!). My favorite thing is how savvy Gwen and her date are about the practical applications if available technology. There's great humor and you're rooting for everyone the whole way. Perfect for any evening of shorts about romance or for older actors.

    Hilarious take on dating for the elderly, especially widows and widowers, in the information age — and finding love the second time around. The play has four great roles for actors in their 60s and up (3 of those for women!). My favorite thing is how savvy Gwen and her date are about the practical applications if available technology. There's great humor and you're rooting for everyone the whole way. Perfect for any evening of shorts about romance or for older actors.

  • Scott Sickles: That Kind of Boy [a 1-minute play]

    A surprising and surprisingly lovely ditty about expectation: what we expect from others and what men expect from boys. Try not to smile by the end. It's impossible not to.

    A surprising and surprisingly lovely ditty about expectation: what we expect from others and what men expect from boys. Try not to smile by the end. It's impossible not to.

  • Scott Sickles: The Woman and the Spoon (a monologue)

    Matthew Weaver vs The Almighty!
    It's a pretty even match, I must say.

    A woman lays down a gauntlet with God, giving Him the (for lack of any better expression) "Come to Jesus" moment He so desperately needs. To this woman, faith is not blind. Actions were taken, promises were made – not inferred by her but made by God through Christ – and it's high time those promises were kept. Her spoon is part pointer, part ruler, and part gavel. She will be heard and she will be answered. Until then, we have a standoff. And it's fabulous.

    Matthew Weaver vs The Almighty!
    It's a pretty even match, I must say.

    A woman lays down a gauntlet with God, giving Him the (for lack of any better expression) "Come to Jesus" moment He so desperately needs. To this woman, faith is not blind. Actions were taken, promises were made – not inferred by her but made by God through Christ – and it's high time those promises were kept. Her spoon is part pointer, part ruler, and part gavel. She will be heard and she will be answered. Until then, we have a standoff. And it's fabulous.

  • Scott Sickles: The Cliffs of Paris

    A glorious piece for mature actors! No matter how well you know someone, sometimes the non-verbal cues and the subtle verbal hints aren't good enough. You have to resort to double (almost single) entendres peppered with good old fashioned kvetching just so you both remember who you are! But who you were, where you've been, and what you've done, even after a very long time, are still only the foundations for everything that's to... well... come. A joy!

    A glorious piece for mature actors! No matter how well you know someone, sometimes the non-verbal cues and the subtle verbal hints aren't good enough. You have to resort to double (almost single) entendres peppered with good old fashioned kvetching just so you both remember who you are! But who you were, where you've been, and what you've done, even after a very long time, are still only the foundations for everything that's to... well... come. A joy!

  • Scott Sickles: CRIS: A KID MONOLOGUE

    As ever, Asher Wyndham creates an honest, accurate, and complex portrait of a unique yet universal child. The are some days when we're just not in the mood to touch people and be touched by them. But for kids, adults use circumstances to dictate their children's physical boundaries, and sometimes it's too much to ask. I want to cheer Cris on for setting those boundaries like a rational, intelligent, yet still emotional young person who is doing their best not to let the situation get the best of or get away from them. There's a lovely lesson here.

    As ever, Asher Wyndham creates an honest, accurate, and complex portrait of a unique yet universal child. The are some days when we're just not in the mood to touch people and be touched by them. But for kids, adults use circumstances to dictate their children's physical boundaries, and sometimes it's too much to ask. I want to cheer Cris on for setting those boundaries like a rational, intelligent, yet still emotional young person who is doing their best not to let the situation get the best of or get away from them. There's a lovely lesson here.

  • Scott Sickles: A Tale of Two Ornaments - Part of the "Have Yourself a Twisty Little Christmas" Anthology

    DELIGHTFUL!!!
    I don't want to say too much because I want you to be as joyfully surprised as I was! Suffice it to say, Haas has drawn three beautifully delineated characters and put them in a classic monster movie/disaster film trope wrapped up in a Christmas confection! The stakes are high, the monster is both fierce and adorable, the ornaments are lovely and loveable. A perfect holiday play!

    DELIGHTFUL!!!
    I don't want to say too much because I want you to be as joyfully surprised as I was! Suffice it to say, Haas has drawn three beautifully delineated characters and put them in a classic monster movie/disaster film trope wrapped up in a Christmas confection! The stakes are high, the monster is both fierce and adorable, the ornaments are lovely and loveable. A perfect holiday play!

  • Scott Sickles: COLLECTIVE GROUPINGS OF ANIMALS

    I feel called out. In more ways than one. I feel as though these two characters each represent aspects of myself, not just any aspects but "areas of concern," and that the off-stage character in 14B is my true avatar in this Carnesian universe, which is disconcerting as I now see myself as an off-stage character being called out by on-stage characters representing some of my more aggressive personality flaws.

    Yet, I enjoyed the play immensely even while it was indicting me, though I'm not sure I understood it, which, given the genre, is probably preferable. I had fun!

    I feel called out. In more ways than one. I feel as though these two characters each represent aspects of myself, not just any aspects but "areas of concern," and that the off-stage character in 14B is my true avatar in this Carnesian universe, which is disconcerting as I now see myself as an off-stage character being called out by on-stage characters representing some of my more aggressive personality flaws.

    Yet, I enjoyed the play immensely even while it was indicting me, though I'm not sure I understood it, which, given the genre, is probably preferable. I had fun!

  • Scott Sickles: 10 Reasons Why Hamlet is Totally Gay

    Relentlessly clever, funny, surprising and deep, it challenges ones preconceptions about Hamlet, racial and sexual identity, and even the human condition all in a very short period of time! A mini-masterpiece!

    Relentlessly clever, funny, surprising and deep, it challenges ones preconceptions about Hamlet, racial and sexual identity, and even the human condition all in a very short period of time! A mini-masterpiece!

  • Scott Sickles: Three Cheerleaders Cheering for the Worst Team in the History of High School Sports

    A portrayal of the high school caste system that's as traumatizing as it is concise, the play actually depicts the entitlement, oppressiveness, and inherent hypocrisy of "mean girl" culture with the Jennifers' casual abuse and victimization of their friend and co-cheerleader, Peter.

    A male cheerleader is a great archetype for this piece as boy cheerleaders are usually good looking and must be athletic and very physically strong while fulfilling a traditionally "female" job. Yet here he is defenseless against the verbal onslaught. Peter's sweet introversion engenders a sweet, elegant sympathy...

    A portrayal of the high school caste system that's as traumatizing as it is concise, the play actually depicts the entitlement, oppressiveness, and inherent hypocrisy of "mean girl" culture with the Jennifers' casual abuse and victimization of their friend and co-cheerleader, Peter.

    A male cheerleader is a great archetype for this piece as boy cheerleaders are usually good looking and must be athletic and very physically strong while fulfilling a traditionally "female" job. Yet here he is defenseless against the verbal onslaught. Peter's sweet introversion engenders a sweet, elegant sympathy. The play is a great study in social contrast.

  • Scott Sickles: Hunter, Hunted, and Those Who Watch

    If poetry were a scalpel and bullying – not just the action but the entire anthropological ecosystem: predator, prey, onlookers, environment, all of it – were a living, breathing organism, then this play would be its vivisection.

    Through rapid-fire expressionism, Hageman manifests an all-too-real and all-too-familiar hellscape, allowing us intimate access to each child's sense of terror and powerlessness and how they combat it. But this is no after school special where the bully reveals his loneliness and everyone reaches an understandimg. This is one day of battle in an long cyclical war...

    If poetry were a scalpel and bullying – not just the action but the entire anthropological ecosystem: predator, prey, onlookers, environment, all of it – were a living, breathing organism, then this play would be its vivisection.

    Through rapid-fire expressionism, Hageman manifests an all-too-real and all-too-familiar hellscape, allowing us intimate access to each child's sense of terror and powerlessness and how they combat it. But this is no after school special where the bully reveals his loneliness and everyone reaches an understandimg. This is one day of battle in an long cyclical war.

    I didn't breathe for 18 pages.