A frolicking, comedic and enlightening 45-minute, 5-actor version of Alice in Wonderland that can be produced outdoor or indoors…or filmed virtually. Think Monty Python meets the Marx Brothers. Commissioned by Serenbe Playhouse in Spring 2020 but not produced during Covid times.

A righteous rabbi tries to honor her scheming father without betraying her core beliefs.

Samantha Marcus is a progressive rabbi who wants to live a good and decent life. She and her three sisters – a successful developer, a struggling tennis pro and an emerging spiritualist – have all been out of touch for years. Following the death of their father, a hard-drinking, hard-driving union activist, they are impelled to come together to examine their shared legacy and divide his estate.

Divided Among Themselves is a dramatic comedy that explores the differing views in America toward money, charity, and self-reliance – while examining the relationship a grown child has to a deceased parent. The expected run time is 90 minutes.

SHORT PLAY: When an unopened six-pack of Schaefer Beer washes up on a post-apocalyptic shore, a Middle-Aged Man reaches out for help from an Old Man, who tries to plant a chestnut tree, and a Young Girl, who tries to rescue horseshoe crabs, in a Jewish parable about saving the environment.

Iowa 1962. Men work. Women take care of the home. And young Mary Jo Brickner is about to get married to John Sybil. It's a typical year in Swisher until Ritva Puotila storms into town and creates the BPW, a secret order of women designed to empower Mary to become the first female valedictorian of the high school....and a whole lot more. A fractured fairy tale where The Music Man meets Our Town meets Gloria Steinem meets the three witches of Macbeth.

SUMMARY
When Mary loses her bra during a romantic tryst, the B.P.W. springs into action. Posing as Mary's mother, father and boyfriend, the members of the B.P.W. -- who consist of a widow, divorcee and “spinster” -- use the bra to gain access to Mary's subconscious. They have different ideas about how a young woman should live, and they are desperate to share their views before, as they see it, the next generation is lost forever. Ultimately, it is Mary who must decide her fate as she comes to realize there is no guarantee of a happy ending, only the chance to control her own narrative.
A combination satire and fractured fairy tale (Our Town meets The Music Man meets Gloria Steinem meets the three witches of Macbeth), Burning Powerful Women depicts a clash between old-fashioned and modern living -- at a time when this clash was at its cusp, reflecting the changing status of women in America, and one adolescent’s attempt to take control over her life. Breaking the boundaries of time and space, Burning Powerful Women takes a stylized look at a very real emotion: the desire to find one's own voice.
Burning Powerful Women is a 70-minute play with seven characters that is to be played by four actresses ranging in age from 17-60. The three older actresses along with being a divorcee, widow and “spinster” also portray/channel Mary's mother, father and fiancee. The play requires a simple set, and the movement between various settings can be suggested by the blocking

DRAMATIC PREMISE: Questioning leadership leads to full-throated independence.
NOTES
This play was initially developed in a workshop with Margaret Baldwin and Diane Moroff where the play was devised from an exercise involving a poorly scanned newspaper, haiku poetry, and stream of consciousness writing exercise. This play was also developed as part of the Process Theatre (GA) Plays in Process Series. It also received a reading at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference (Alaska), and through No Shame Productions (Athens, GA). Also contributing: Lily Yancey Miller, the Fern Theatre, Nichole Palmietto and especially Open Minds Theatre. The play is meant to be developed as a collaborative piece with the script serving as the launch, not the end point. The portrayal of characters is meant to be done as authentically as possible, and, if produced, the play allows for flexible and innovative staging.

COMPENDIUM OF SHORT PLAYS: Seven short plays that take a contemporary look at parenting, for better and worse, usually for the better. These scripts lend themselves to both readings and productions.

The Shorts: (# of required actors)
Soccer Moms (2F)
The Talk (2M)
A CVS XMAS (3 adults)
Winners Never Quit (2M)
My Native Language* (3 adults)
Father-Son Outing: The Trip to Northlake Mall (2M)
The Yanks Are Coming (3 adults)
(* written by Barbara Kimmel)

COLLECTION OF SHORT PLAYS -- Hank Kimmel’s Shorts: Political Correctness features a compendium of short plays and monologues that takes an earnest, affectionate and satirical look at Political Correctness.

Each piece is self-contained, meaning it can all be performed separately or together…or some combination thereof….and in any particular order.


The Categories:

1) INTRODUCTION
a. Welcome to Our Holiday Show
2) WORKLACE
a. Proper Business Etiquette
b. Class Dismissed
3) COMMUNITY
a. Last Seat on the Train
b. The Name Game
4) RELIGION
a. The Day Santa Ignored Us
b. The Day Our 5th Grade Teacher Taught Us About Religious Tolerance
5) ROMANCE – lost and found
a. Sugar Daddy
b. Fairy Tale Ending
c. Politically Incorrect Dating
d. J Date
6) FINALE
a. The Dilemma of a Standing Ovation

Compendium of short plays: Hank Kimmel’s Shorts: Sports features a compendium of short plays and monologues that takes a comic, incisive look at Sports.

Each piece is self-contained, meaning it can all be performed separately or together…or some combination thereof….and in any particular order.


The Categories:

1) BASEBALL
a. One Day at the Little League Field
b. Winners Never Quit
2) SOCCER
a. Soccer Moms
3) TENNIS
a. The Day I Was Supposed to Play Tennis With Samuel Beckett
4) FOOTBALL
a. Redemption of a Football Widow
b. Confessions of a Hit Man – excerpt from a 60-minute one-act
c. Unbillable Hours – excerpt from a 90-minute one act

COMPENDIUM OF SHORT PLAYS: "LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE 2020" presents a compendium of short comedic plays about love – finding, losing and celebrating it. Stylistically, it is loosely based on the television show “Love, American Style,” but with an updated, personalized twist.

THE SECTIONS / PLAYS
1) FINDING LOVE
o How It Began – 1F
o An Answer to Their Prayers – 1F, 1M
o Politically Incorrect Dating – 1F, 1M
o Fairy Tale Ending – 1M
2) SETTLING INTO MARRIAGE
o My Native Language – 2F, 1M
o Halloween Headaches – 1F, 1M
o The Redemption of a Football Widow – 1F, 1M
3) MOVING ON
o CVS Christmas – 1F, 1M, plus Voice
o The End of Summer – 1F, 1M
4) CELEBRATION
o The Most Romantic Day of My Life (and I almost missed it) – 1M

ONE ACT -- ADAPTATION: When the town’s richest woman comes into the bakery to make a special order for matza, the Baker tries to ready his co-workers for class warfare.

DRAMATIC PREMISE
Class envy is overtaken by class unity.

SYNOPSIS
It is three weeks before Passover, and word has gotten out: Mrs. Weinstock, the richest woman in town, is about to come into the bakery to place a large order for matza.

Most of the workers are excited. To please the richest woman in town would mean many things, but most of all it would mean getting a big tip, which is no small thing at a time when most people are poor.

There is a concern. Mrs. Weinstock is known for being tightfisted, and even if everyone does a good job, there is no guarantee that she will be uplifted by the Passover spirit. The Baker tries to convince his co-workers to expect less even as his own version of class differences takes an unexpected twist.

Matza for the Rich is a one-act play based on the short story of the same name by Avraham Reisen (from The Heart-Stirring Sermon and Other Stories; Edited and translated from Yiddish by Curt Leviant; Published by Overlook Press; Permission granted). It is a story about how perceptions about the rich…leading to scorn, envy and longing …both reinforce and distort the way and manner of those less “privileged.” It is also about how the employees of a Jewish bakery, desperate for a big tip, overcome their initial bickering and form an allegiance none of them expected.

Though the play takes place in a 19th Century Russian bakery, the issue of economic disparity is meant to speak to a contemporary audience.

SHORT LEGAL COMEDY: Ready to break up with her lawyer boyfriend when he takes on an unpopular cause,
Morgan still considers Brian’s appeal.

DRAMATIC PREMISE
Relentless advocacy can rescue a lost cause

COLLECTION OF SHORT HOLIDAY PLAYS: Holiday Dis-Enchantment: A Winter Holiday Jewish Christmas Comedy Show includes two short plays, a vignette and two short monologues that are tied together by the discomfort (and joy) a Jew feels at Christmas time.

Sometimes this discomfort is gnawing. Sometimes it is unknown. Sometimes it brings absolute joy. In Holiday Dis-Enchantment: A Winter Holiday Jewish Christmas Show this discomfort is always tinged with humor.

In The Day Santa Ignored Us, a Jewish Mother decides to confront a dismissive department store Santa – much to the chagrin of her 15-year-old son. Yes, Santa ignores them, but not for the reason they thought as the Mother overcomes her pre-conceived prejudice.

In The Day Our Teacher Taught Us About Religious Tolerance, a 5th Grade teacher, addressing her class, takes a stand against political correctness, and by the end of her lecture/monologue, she learns whether her students have taken her message to heart.

In Holiday Angst, a Jewish Man and a Jewish Woman try to overcome their holiday angst amid a cart-wheeling Santa and their own disturbed holiday images.

In Welcome to Our Holiday Show, the school principal addresses an assembly of parents, trying to convince them there's nothing offensive about the upcoming holiday show.

In Beat the House: A Hanukah Midrash, a 15-year-old girl, along with her 12-year-old brother, must decide about whether to let an off-centered relative join them for what will be more than an innocuous family tradition.

Mrs. Palsgraf’s Dream Team is about a Young Lawyer whose worst nightmare becomes his greatest chance at success.

It is the Fall of 1924, and Mrs. Helen Palsgraf, an elderly cleaning lady, has just been bopped on the head by a penny scale while waiting for a train. Mrs. Palsgraf wants to sue the railroad, but no lawyer in town will talk to her – until pushes her way into the storefront office of the Young Lawyer.

Based on a famous 1928 law case (Palsgraf v. The Long Island Railroad Company), Mrs. Palsgraf’s Dream Team is a one-act play that, in one sense, traces the development of the law as it applies to torts and personal injury – and it is also a comedy about two people, outcasts, who will become footnotes to history but essential to each other’s life.

Even though every lawyer in the United States should be familiar with the name Palsgraf, little is known about the real Mrs. Palsgraf. This play presents a fantastical account of what may have transpired behind the scenes, as it showcases one man’s journey to reluctant hero.

When Jerome comes back home after serving in World War II, he must decide if he’s going to pretend to be the war hero he’s not in order to keep alive his grandmother who lost so many in WW1.

A woman threatens to kill herself during the 1991 Super Bowl, and her husband, a life-long New York Giants fan, is caught between divided loyalties.

When a Jewish Mother decides to confront a dismissive department store Santa, her son is mortified until he learns why Santa ignores them and makes Mom embrace Christmas in an unexpected way.

When two strangers meet in the back pew of a synagogue, they must decide if it's destiny -- or the pretzels that are making them thirsty.
An Answer to Their Prayers is an accidental love story about two strangers who sit alone in the back pew of a synagogue during Yom Kippur. Uncertain about whether to push forward or hold back, this young man and young woman forge an unspoken bond that is in desperate need of articulation. Finally, when one of them speaks, they both realize their lives many be heading in a direction neither of them expected, and they both begin to wonder if they have found their spiritual home.

10-MINUTE PLAY: About to be confronted by a name he should know, Chuck struggles to refresh his memory – as the rest of the party-goers offer no help.

The world is not like it was, and those left try to make sense of it. Oh, and there’s going to be a mother-child reunion, presumably. And a couple of references to Schaefer, the one beer to have when you’re having more than one.

DRAMATIC PREMISE
Breaking the rules leads to an un-imagined connection.

Please note that this play was developed in a workshop “How To Break The Rules of Playwriting,” led by Tearrance Chisholm and sponsored by Working Title Playwrights. Every single line (except for the characters’ names) is meant to be read – and felt…even if only peripherally. Thank you for reading even this far.

ONE ACT COMEDY (60 minutes) -- When an aging CEO gets locked in an undersized motel room with his protégé, they must decide how much to keep their distance as the walls close in - in a cautionary corporate comedy.

10-MINUTE COMEDY: On the holiest day of the year, Oliver struggles to find his place to sit in the sanctuary as others hold their ground with varying degrees of justification.

10-MINUTE COMEDY: Overmatched but undaunted, an underachieving high school Senior tries to defy the odds when interviewed by a jaded college admissions officer, who ends up questioning both the student and herself.

DRAMATIC PREMISE
Someone undeterred brings forth something unexpected.

SHORT MONOLOGUE: During a Passover seder by Zoom, a 50-year-old woman tries to restore a family connection to her 103-year old grandmother, who survived the Spanish Flu but not Covid.

10-MINUTE PLAY: A Son is called into action when his 88-year-old Father disappears in the middle of the night. When the Son finally tracks down his Father in a remote, marshy area, he discovers all is not what it seems to be. The Father, who has been mentally strong but physically frail, is strangely robust and calm. The Son is eager to bring his Father home, but the Father resists. As they negotiate over the value of the Father’s life, the Son realizes it might take more than divine intervention to bail him out.

Father-Son Campout is a two-character, 10-minute play. It is a modern depiction of the “binding” story from the Book of Genesis, where Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his son.

This play is meant to be performed with simple staging and a simple set. It takes place in the present. The circumstances are very real to the characters involved.

10-MINUTE SPOOF/COMED: George Bailey is ready to end it all but is stupefied by the inaction of his Guardian Angel, who wonders if the world might actually be better off without George in this 10-minute fable about life, death and sub-prime lending.


CHARACTERS
George – 38
Clarence – old

(Please note: Though this is a spoof of the 1946 film “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the actors are urged to use their own voices, rather than doing an impersonation of the characters from the movie. Though this is a satire, the intent of the play is meant to be earnest.)

10-MINUTE DRAMA: A Man goes to the theater to see a revival of Our Town with Spalding Gray and he gets caught in the middle of the action. A lot has changed in Our Town over the years, but does the message remain to the same?

10-MINUTE PLAY: It is early in the morning, and Mrs. Kartee is waiting for a service delivery call that she hopes won’t have an effect on the rest of her day – and possibly the rest of her life.

“I am delighted with your play. Your script reminds me of a Jerry Seinfeld production. It basically goes nowhere, accomplishes little, but takes the audience on a grand and laugh-filled voyage.” – Artistic Director

With a southern city paralyzed over the construction of a billion-dollar football stadium, a young attorney, trained to do as he’s told, is tempted to subvert the future, if he can sort of the visions and voices that vie for his allegiance.

10-MINUTE COMEDY: When two obsequious co-workers are told by their overbearing boss to engage in improper public conduct, they must decide if it's worth demeaning their race and religion to save the jobs they worked so hard to get.

ONE ACT: Table for One is a one-act play about how bad service at a good restaurant leads to an unlikely friendship—and how that friendship can grow despite the obstacles of age, religion and race.

Howard Rimsky is a 72-year-old Jewish widower who lives alone. Gabriel Bartlett is a 32-year-old single African-American man who lives with his elderly aunt and ill mother. Howard spends much of the day sitting at his kitchen table doing crossword puzzles; Gabriel sits in his basement making hand-carved tables. When loved ones push them out the door into an unforgiving world, their lives collide and, after initial difficulty, they forge a bond that will unite them against their isolation.

10-minute comedy: At a time where the education system in the United States is coming under fire, the Teacher of the Year in one school wants to make sure no child is left behind – even if that one child feels otherwise.

Class Dismissed is a s 10-minute play that takes a satirical look at our education system and the standards used to measure success.

The play requires two actors – and minimal staging and minimal props.

SHORT LEGAL COMEDY: Synopsis:
During a hellish mediation, Mickey the Mediator tries to help a divorcing couple settle – as their two attorneys promote verbal, financial and emotional warfare.

Dramatic premise: Unremitting entrenchment is overtaken by the relentless quest for harmony

10-MINUTE COMEDY: It's the waning moments of the AFC championship game, and MECO, a life-long Jets fan who watches the game on TV, must decide if the price to win is worth paying.

10-MINUTE PLAY (Drugged-out autobiography) -- On the day of remembrance, a Young Man is ready to stand naked in front of the world. He knows he cannot go forward until he turns back, but his path is both cleared and impeded by a strange Man In Suit, who takes on other guises. At first, the Young Man resists his journey and finds a dead end. Then, as he learns to embrace everything sweet and odd, the Young Man forges ahead.

Part poem, part dream, and part prayer, Turning Point experiments with structure, imagery, and style in order to unmask each character. The play requires two male actors, minimal props and minimal staging.

Turning Point was developed during a meeting of “The Swim Team,” a group of writers who meet periodically in Atlanta to experiment in dramatic form.

Dramatic premise: Breaking a boundary leads to the exploration of a new world.

SHORT SKETCH COMEDY: During rehearsal the director calls for nudity, but the actor is hesitant about stripping down. DRAMATIC PREMISE: Laying bare physically leads to laying bare emotionally.

10-MINUTE FAIRY TALE /VIRTUAL THEATRE-- It’s a Zoom wedding, but the bride RAPUNZEL isn’t sure she wants to let down her hair – as others in her life vie for your love and attention. A 10-minute adaptation of a fairy tale that is meant to be performed virtually.
DRAMATIC PREMISE.
Virtual isolation leads to quixotic independence.

SHORT COMIC MONOLOGUE: On the way from one part of the stage to the other, the SERVICE CHARACTER speaks for the only time in the play.

SHORT COMIC MONOLOGUE: A writer has trouble naming his characters without fear of offending those he loves in a short monologue about the agonies of committing heart and word to page.

Mis-Characterization is a three-minute monologue that requires a male actor and not much else.

Dramatic premise: Unfiltered honesty leads to unexpected emotion.

SHORT MONOLOGUE: Watching his 7-year-old son play baseball, a FATHER tries, with varying degrees of success, to keep his emotions in check as he wonders why this game has become the most important thing in the world at this particular moment.

SHORT COMIC MONOLOGUE: Instructed to talk to his adolescent son about sex, a Father stammers forth, hoping his son will rescue him.

Dramatic premise: Reluctant communication leads to self-imposed exhaustion

10-MINUTE FAIRY TALE / VIRTUAL THEATRE -- When the Big Bad Wolf blows into town ready to spread something bad, Brenda (a pig who lives in a brick house) uses Zoom to urge her brothers to do everything possible to stop the Wolf’s quest for revenge.
Dramatic premise: Pandemic dysfunction is overcome by family unity.