Bethany Dickens Assaf

Bethany Dickens Assaf

Bethany Dickens Assaf is a freelance playwright and dramaturg and a collective member of Whiskey Theatre Factory in Orlando. She is also a teaching artist with Central Florida Community Arts and the co-founder of the Fragmented Theatre Festival. Over 100 of her plays (primarily, shorts) have been produced across the country. In her (clearly plentiful) spare time, she bakes, plays board games, and rocks out....
Bethany Dickens Assaf is a freelance playwright and dramaturg and a collective member of Whiskey Theatre Factory in Orlando. She is also a teaching artist with Central Florida Community Arts and the co-founder of the Fragmented Theatre Festival. Over 100 of her plays (primarily, shorts) have been produced across the country. In her (clearly plentiful) spare time, she bakes, plays board games, and rocks out.

Bethany is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.

Plays

  • Murder on the Millennium Engine
    (FULL-LENGTH): The world-famous Millennium Engine departs with nine passengers aboard, including Lenora, a girl with a secret past that she's desperate to escape. But when her plans are foiled by ghosts, murder, and the machinations of the Risky Business gang, Lenora must rely on her detective skills to escape the train alive in this steampunk murder-mystery.
  • don't leave me
    (40-45 MINUTE ONE-ACT): In 2006, above a small town in rural Indiana, there's a weird frequency coming from the sky. Is it aliens? Ghosts? Something supernatural? A group of high-schoolers eager to get out of their town - or maybe, even, their planet - are about to find out.
  • Anomaly
    (10 minute) Lydia wakes up after a bender to realize she's having an alien encounter with an entity who's never heard of a species where the majority of creatures are 'straight.' Lydia soon realizes she's found what she was always looking for. Is she reading to leave the predominantly heterosexual Earth? Should she feel bad for wanting to?
  • Bridge to Reality, Come in Reality
    10 MINUTE - Delia and Bekah have been running a public-access, call in Star Trek fan show for-literally-ever (yes, it's the 1990s). But something is off with Bekah lately and it's ruining the vibe. Can Delia deal with her so-called friend, save the show, and give their faithful audience the quality TNG content they need for their Friday night?
  • Slaymaker
    FULL LENGTH: Jay and Meghan both agree: ‘Slaymaker’ is the badassest surname for anyone ever - especially a Magic the Gathering champion (or a champion in the making). But if Meghan is divorcing Jay and writing whiny feminist articles about being a ‘girl player,’ than is she really entitled to keep using it? Legalities aside, the two decide to resolve their differences through a Magic tournament. If she wins,...
    FULL LENGTH: Jay and Meghan both agree: ‘Slaymaker’ is the badassest surname for anyone ever - especially a Magic the Gathering champion (or a champion in the making). But if Meghan is divorcing Jay and writing whiny feminist articles about being a ‘girl player,’ than is she really entitled to keep using it? Legalities aside, the two decide to resolve their differences through a Magic tournament. If she wins, Meghan gets to keep ‘Slaymaker.’ But if Jay beats her...will anything ever change?
  • American Love
    TEN MINUTE: Danny, a high school student in 1984, is struggling to find the perfect words to ask his crush, Lisa to prom. His cynical best friend Tara is skeptical that English-speaking people even have enough words to talk about ‘love,’ with all of its many forms and functions. To illustrate her point, Tara takes the audience on a decades-long journey through Danny’s personal and familial history, ending in a...
    TEN MINUTE: Danny, a high school student in 1984, is struggling to find the perfect words to ask his crush, Lisa to prom. His cynical best friend Tara is skeptical that English-speaking people even have enough words to talk about ‘love,’ with all of its many forms and functions. To illustrate her point, Tara takes the audience on a decades-long journey through Danny’s personal and familial history, ending in a realization that the love she and Danny have been looking for is different - and closer - than they expected.
  • Angel
    TEN MINUTE: Tom is struggling to complete his newest play, but he’s having trouble with the main female character - for years, he’s used Angel as his muse, but times have changed, and she’s locked in a closet. Still, she calls him, a representative symbol of the mythic ‘ideal woman’ across time. Tom eventually releases her, but to a new role: the object of his anger that she is no longer an acceptable...
    TEN MINUTE: Tom is struggling to complete his newest play, but he’s having trouble with the main female character - for years, he’s used Angel as his muse, but times have changed, and she’s locked in a closet. Still, she calls him, a representative symbol of the mythic ‘ideal woman’ across time. Tom eventually releases her, but to a new role: the object of his anger that she is no longer an acceptable representation of the female voice.
  • Bird Girl and the Hammer
    TEN MINUTE: As an hellish squid monster wreaks havoc on their city, the superhero known as The Hammer tries to recruit the only hero strong enough to save the world: Bird Girl. But unfortunately, Bird Girl’s signature powers, including flight, aren’t functioning. Convinced this is because of their recent breakup, the Hammer begins a desperate attempt to cheer the hero up, only to find that making someone happy...
    TEN MINUTE: As an hellish squid monster wreaks havoc on their city, the superhero known as The Hammer tries to recruit the only hero strong enough to save the world: Bird Girl. But unfortunately, Bird Girl’s signature powers, including flight, aren’t functioning. Convinced this is because of their recent breakup, the Hammer begins a desperate attempt to cheer the hero up, only to find that making someone happy - truly happy - isn’t as simple as she’d always assumed.
  • The Chevelle
    FIVE MINUTE: Maria is throwing a dinner party when Connor lets it slip that the two are a couple, despite a sizable age difference. As the two argue over what to even call their relationship, they both begin to recognize their time together might be ending.
  • Dark, Dark, Dark
    FULL LENGTH: Nancy and Gena are two middle-aged women who run a semi-famous true crime podcast named 'Dead Meats.' When Nancy's former student, Harri, returns home from college with a terrible - and, possibly, true - crime story, the three women are pulled into a dark narrative of their own.
  • Eighty-One
    TEN MINUTE: Susan is trying to pull up a video of her kids singing 'Happy Birthday' for her father's eighty-first birthday, but it's difficult given they are speaking through a window due to the COVID-19 quarantine. Louis, her father, doesn't make things easier: he's resentful Susan left him at the nursing home and now wants her to break him out.
  • Gendered Language
    FULL LENGTH: Dr. Maia Ritter has just achieved a milestone: the first female chair of the history department at her university. But is that really what she wants to be remembered for? The answer is, ‘not really’; in spite of pressure from feminist groups - like the one her mentee, Portia, helms - Maia wants to make significant strides in graduate student placement and research. Maia’s plans are upended, however...
    FULL LENGTH: Dr. Maia Ritter has just achieved a milestone: the first female chair of the history department at her university. But is that really what she wants to be remembered for? The answer is, ‘not really’; in spite of pressure from feminist groups - like the one her mentee, Portia, helms - Maia wants to make significant strides in graduate student placement and research. Maia’s plans are upended, however, with Portia makes a harassment and bullying claim against the department’s brightest star: Dr. Leopold Brewer.
  • Girl
    TEN MINUTE: When Lenora, a competitive swimmer, finds she is being disqualified from a competition because her testosterone levels are unusually high for a woman. This announcement imperils her aspirations as a swimmer and challenges her relationships with friends and family. It also leads Lenora down an introspective look through her life and experiences as a ‘girl.’
  • I Hate Your Cat
    FIVE MINUTE: Taylor is breaking up with Jodi...for a really unexpected reason.
  • Inevitable
    10 MINUTE: A data scientist maps out a network to predict the complex twists and turns of one of life's most unfathomable mysteries: love. Either way, this is going to end badly.
  • Just for Context
    10 MINUTE: Elena is struggling to write a new play, but advice from long-dead writers, belligerent readers, and competing expectations from herself and her parents (i.e.: context) are stifling her creativity. When her best efforts fail, she is forced to confront why she became a writer in the first place.
  • Leviathan
    FULL LENGTH: Greer has taken her girlfriend Heather, on a ‘relaxing’ trip to a midwestern lakeside cabin, with the intent of helping Heather relax and get off alcohol before they begin fertilization treatments, but the tensions build when it becomes obvious to Greer that sobering up Heather - a fully in-denial alcoholic - won’t be an easy task. Making things awkward is the sudden arrival of Dillon, Greer’s...
    FULL LENGTH: Greer has taken her girlfriend Heather, on a ‘relaxing’ trip to a midwestern lakeside cabin, with the intent of helping Heather relax and get off alcohol before they begin fertilization treatments, but the tensions build when it becomes obvious to Greer that sobering up Heather - a fully in-denial alcoholic - won’t be an easy task. Making things awkward is the sudden arrival of Dillon, Greer’s cousin, and a bisexual conservative Christian, who has some addictions of his own. Soon, Heather and Dillon’s personal demons - and the way they play off one another - are threatening to undermine their relationships and plans for the future.
  • Over and Out
    10 MINUTE: Shelley is escaping from her co-quarantined family when she spots an old walkie-talkie. She talks into it, only to find her neighbor and former best friend, Miles, on the other line. The two initially banter about old memories but the reality begins to seep in - especially when Miles renews his unwanted declarations of love for his childhood friend.
  • Parlor Games
    FULL LENGTH: Violet - 'Vee' - is in desperate need of money, as usual (she's one of those 'destitute rich' you've heard so much about from Edith Wharton novels). Without funds, she'll be forced to curtail her wild parties, social engagements, outstanding collection of men's suits, and expensive pursuit of sordid love affairs. In dire straights and strait-laced into a...
    FULL LENGTH: Violet - 'Vee' - is in desperate need of money, as usual (she's one of those 'destitute rich' you've heard so much about from Edith Wharton novels). Without funds, she'll be forced to curtail her wild parties, social engagements, outstanding collection of men's suits, and expensive pursuit of sordid love affairs. In dire straights and strait-laced into a corset, she travels to her Aunt Beryl's rural estate to secure some ready cash. On the way she meets Alice, a potential Great Love, but how can she hope to impress this young woman in her impoverished state and with all these needy relatives around, looking for a handout? A romp in the style of Oscar Wilde (except less subtle with the queer themes).
  • Remains
    60 MINUTE: Sasha and Alex are meeting for their umpteenth 'first date' following the death of their husband, to see if they can find a way for their relationship to work with just the two of them. But as the date quickly becomes a disaster, Alex begins to fear that Sasha has mentally moved on. A desperate series of dates forces both Sasha and Alex to comes to terms with their grief and the reality...
    60 MINUTE: Sasha and Alex are meeting for their umpteenth 'first date' following the death of their husband, to see if they can find a way for their relationship to work with just the two of them. But as the date quickly becomes a disaster, Alex begins to fear that Sasha has mentally moved on. A desperate series of dates forces both Sasha and Alex to comes to terms with their grief and the reality that things must change for them to move forward.
  • Sword Art Real Life
    90 MINUTES: A female cosplayer and a woman dealing with early onset menopause unite to battle some jerks on a metro train. The heroics are awesome, but moving on from the trauma-inducing men in their daily lives proves more difficult. Can Megs and Casey make enough mental and emotional space to fall in love? Or - in true anime fashion - is LOVE what will actually end up saving them both?
  • The White Millennium
    5 MINUTE: Rob and Anna are cleaning out their house after their divorce when Anna finds an unexpected - and unopened - memento of their past.
  • What's in the Basement, Honey?
    (!0 Minute) It's the 1950s and Doris and Gene have the most charming, picture-perfect marriage: a beautiful house, all the latest appliances, and an ancient Lovecraftian monster living in the basement! Ladies, this is why you should always put the sharpest new knives on that wedding registry...
  • Woman on a Ladder
    10 MINUTE: After a string of failed relationships have left her a single parent on Christmas, Jess is determined to hang her own lights but quickly realizes this will be more difficult - even treacherous - than she first thought. Making things even more awkward are the amazing lights and shy advances of her neighbor, Dan, who wants to help but also doesn’t want to get in the way of Jess’ quest for empowerment....
    10 MINUTE: After a string of failed relationships have left her a single parent on Christmas, Jess is determined to hang her own lights but quickly realizes this will be more difficult - even treacherous - than she first thought. Making things even more awkward are the amazing lights and shy advances of her neighbor, Dan, who wants to help but also doesn’t want to get in the way of Jess’ quest for empowerment. When the two of them find themselves stuck on their respective ladders, the two find some camaraderie and comfort in the face of gusting winds and damaged hopes.
  • Monologues: 2021-2022
    Collected monologues from my longer works: Evie & Loren, Remains, Slaymaker, Parlor Games, and Gendered Language.

    Age/Gender is not meant to be proscriptive; they are just there for informational purposes. Most of these monologues can be performed by people of any age or gender.
  • 10:42-10:49
    How well can two people really get to know each other in just eight minutes a day? Judah is Aine's best friend's brother who still lives in a podunk town - the last place Aine's abusive husband would think to look. He also sleeps late and works late, while Aine is an early riser, which turns out to be the least of their differences. Through a relationship told in 8-minute-ish segments, 10:42-10:...
    How well can two people really get to know each other in just eight minutes a day? Judah is Aine's best friend's brother who still lives in a podunk town - the last place Aine's abusive husband would think to look. He also sleeps late and works late, while Aine is an early riser, which turns out to be the least of their differences. Through a relationship told in 8-minute-ish segments, 10:42-10:49 explores the toxic gender cycles humans get into when we don't have time to truly see someone.