Arianna Rose

[full-length play] Sisters Etta and Claribel Cone, long dead, materialize at the unveiling of the million dollar renovation of their renowned Cone Collection at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Old friend Gertrude Stein and her paramour Alice Toklas pop up uninvited, much to Etta’s dismay. As tensions grow between the four, they resolve to recreate their stories in an effort to uncover the truth. Etta struggles with her feelings for Gertrude and her modern art proclivities, at direct odds with her Victorian mores. Through a series of evocative vignettes, we are transported back to Baltimore, Paris and Italy at the turn of the century. We learn what happened to derail the friendships and suspected affair between Etta and Gertrude, and how Gertrude and Alice came to be. At its heart, THE EQUIVALENT OF SENSATION is about learning the lessons of your life, a tribute to feminism, and defiance in a time when women were expected to be heterosexual homemakers.

[Zoom Reading, The Depot, Connecticut, January 2024]
[Workshop Production, Femuscripts Inc., Miami and Boca Raton, FL September 2023]
[Online Reading, Just Write! Lakeland (FL), February 2023]
[Online Reading, VS Theatre Company, Los Angeles, CA 2022]
[Online Reading, The Playwrights Center, Minneapolis MN 2022]
[Finalist, Alumnae Theatre Fireworks Festival 2023, Toronto Canada]
[Shortlist finalist, Garry Marshall Theatre New Reading Series 2022, Los Angeles CA]
[Online Workshop & Reading, Playwrights Center of Minneapolis, July 2022]
[Reading, Miami-Dade Playwright Development Program, Miami FL March 2022]
[Online Reading, Finstrom Festival of New Works, Zoetic Stage, Miami, June 2021]
[shortlist, Garry Marshall Theatre New Reading Series 2021, Los Angeles CA]
[Top Ten finalist, Charles M. Getchell New Play Contest, SETC, 2021]
[Top Three finalist, Del Shores Foundation 2021 Playwriting Competition]
[semi-finalist, Fulton Theatre, 2020, PA]

90-100 minutes Full-length play, can be played in one act or two acts - optional act break indicated}

A highly theatrical memory play about the real-life Leyendecker siblings, whose artistic ambitions helped shape American illustration in the early 1900s. As J.C.’s fame rises with the iconic Arrow Collar Man, brother Frank struggles with addiction, identity, and the shadow of his brother’s success.
Blending imagination, history, and family tension, The Lesser Leyendecker explores art, ambition, and the fragile bonds that hold a family together.

{Staged Reading, Coconut Grove Theatre Festival, FL, April 2026}
{Online Reading, Playwrights Thriving Reading Series, October 2024}
{Online Play Discussion Group, Athena Project Read & Rant, August 2024}
{Semi-finalist, Dramatists Guild Fellowship Program 2024}
{Finalist, Theatre Lab's Fair Play Initiative 2022}

[full-length, two-act musical] “Family First” is the motto of the real-life Leyendecker siblings Mary, Joe and Frank. The close-knit brothers rise to fame as commercial illustrators in the early 1900s, even as Frank battles addiction issues and conflicting artistic ambitions. Both brothers are gay, and Mary chooses not to marry, devoting her life to her brothers and their business.

All is well until Canadian model Charles Beach insinuates himself into Joe’s heart and art. Charles serves as the inspiration and main model for Joe’s creation The Arrow Collar Man, arguably one of the first media influencers on the nation. Their relationship grows from a professional one to a romantic relationship, creating friction between the siblings.

The timeless issues of art and addiction, siblings and celebrity, imagination and illusion all meet in this highly theatrical memory musical, spanning late 1890s through 1924.

[Full Length play - 85 to 90 minutes]
Spring Break, 1995, on an unnamed island somewhere far from Miranda’s home. Over her mother’s objections, Miranda leaves for this trip with her best friend Emily and other students from her school. That is the last time Miranda is ever seen alive. Through a series of short vignettes that connect past, present, and future, we meet Miranda, her mother Becca, her best friend Emily, Stefan, and his father Dirk and begin to piece together what may have happened to Miranda that fateful night.
Stefan is the last person to have seen her alive, and Miranda confronts him in the interrogation room where he is being held. Evasive and cunning, Stefan slowly reveals his true colors as a pathological liar as a frustrated Becca tries to elicit any answers she can of her daughter’s whereabouts.
A fuller picture of Miranda emerges, showing a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, healing from a broken family dynamic and exploring the boundaries of her sexuality that ultimately spelled out her doom. Dirk tries to protect his son once again from allegations of harming a woman, and Emily is haunted by the fight she and Miranda had on the island, convinced it is her fault that Miranda may be dead.
A play about how humans need to know, and sometimes need to tell, TOUCH THE MOON draws a line between truth and lies and how they intersect. At its heart it is a story of motherly love and determination in the face of the unthinkable.

Workshop Production, Cincinnati Lab Theatre New Works Festival, Cincinnati OH July 2025
Winner, HRC Showcase Theater, Hudson, NY, Staged Reading Series, July 2022.
Winner, Fantasy Theatre Factory New Year, New Works Series 2022, Staged Reading April 2022. Miami FL.
Dean Productions Premiere the Play, podcast reading 2021, Los Angeles CA
Walking Shadow Readers Theatre, Online Reading, Washington D.C., April 2021.
Winner, 3rd place for full length play, Mix It Up Productions 2020 Spring Emerging Playwright Contest
Honorable Mention, Panndora's Box 2020 New Play Festival, Long Beach CA
Finalist, Depot New Play Reading Series 2022, Hampton CT
Finalist, 2020 Swarthmore Players Club New Plays Festival.
Semi-Finalist, 2020 Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival
Semi-Finalist, 2022 New Works Festival, Hippodrome State Theatre, FL

[Full-length comedy, 80 minutes]

SYNOPSIS:
THE RIPPLE EFFECT, a full-length comedy set in 1995 NYC, eavesdrops on Upper West Side apartment dwellers Amy and Jeff, and their middle-aged neighbor Mrs. Ida Teitelbaum. Amy and Jeff attempt unorthodox rituals to get pregnant and take it to term; Ida deals with the aftermath of her husband’s stroke. The fabric of marriage is pulled, torn, and repaired as each character navigates their new normal. Science and spirituality go toe-to-toe when Wiccans enter the picture, in this comical and empathetic story of the ripple effect we create with each decision.

Note: This is the full-length, 3-character version of this play. Other versions exist: 10-minute (2 characters), 20 minute (2 characters), and 50 minutes (three characters), also on this NPX page.

Online Reading, The Depot Winter Reading Series, Hampton CT March 2026
Finalist, Waterworks Live Arts Festival 2025, VA
Workshop Production, SCDW @ The Rivoli Theatre, S. Fallsburg NY July 2024 (earlier draft than current version)
Winner, Midnight Sun Theatre Annual Serial Bowl Competition, Anchorage AK May 2024 (50-minute version)
Readers Theatre, Spirit Arts Festival, Milwaukee WI May 2024

[full-length 90 minute musical in two acts]

Set in 1909 London against the backdrop of the Suffragette Movement, THE LOST GIRL is about integrating our past into our present and deciding who we want to be moving forward. For whatever reason, no story about Peter Pan has ever focused fully on Wendy and what became of her after the adventures in Neverland. The stories of women, fictional or not, have often been swept aside. But what might it have been like to have fantastical adventures as a young girl, and how might that affect someone as an adult?
In our story, Wendy, shaken by the untimely death of her husband, first tells her daughter Jane the Neverland stories as escapism, pure fiction. But each sibling begins to experience strange and vivid memories, forcing the question - could it all be real?
John, the eldest, is against all talk of it, going so far as to seek full custody of Jane when he thinks Wendy is losing her mind. Michael, the youngest, tries to keep the family together, but is unsure what to do with his memories of flying. Tootles, the adopted Lost Boy, has always harbored a secret love for Wendy. It’s everyone against John, until he, too, finally remembers their childhood adventures. With it, the pain of remembering that Wendy always left him behind. He and Wendy must figure out how to salvage their adult relationship, amidst everything that came before.
The show plays with the contrast between the harsh realities for women in the Edwardian age and the freedom Wendy felt with Peter Pan. Neverland is only present on stage through characters’ memory, and the audience is never quite sure - until the end - if any of it truly happened. By the time Peter does come back, he is no longer the salve she wanted him to be; he isn’t able to fix anything. It is largely through the influence of the suffragettes that Wendy is able to decide what kind of a woman she will be.
With a lush, orchestral score that utilizes harmony both adventurous and accessible, THE LOST GIRL examines how loss colors our lives and galvanizes us to change. Ultimately, it’s is about reclaiming the right to have adventures at any age.

Winner, 2021 Florida Festival of New Musicals
Winner, 2019 Viterbo New Works Festival
Winner, 2015 Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival
Winner, 2015 Players Club Staged Reading, Steinhardt School of Music, NYU
2013 Collaborative Development Program Workshop, Frederick Loewe Theatre, NYC
2024 Finalist (top 5) for Circle in the Square Theatre School Residency, NYC
2023 Semi-Finalist for Northwestern U American Music Theatre Project
2023 Finalist (top 3) for Florida State University New Musicals Initiative
2022 Finalist (top 20 out of 480 submissions) NAMT, NYC
2022 Finalist (top six) for Syracuse University New Works New Voices Initiative
2020 Finalist, Imagen New Works @ MSU
2012 Finalist, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat

[Full-length musical with optional two acts. 12 women, + optional additional ensemble]

(To listen to the demos: link on this page, under "Music Samples" in the column on the right.)

A COLLECTIBLE SENSATION is a musical adaptation of the full-length play THE EQUIVALENT OF SENSATION, also by Arianna Rose.
SYNOPSIS:
At the unveiling of the million-dollar renovation of their renowned Cone Collection at the Baltimore Museum of Modern Art, long dead sisters Etta and Claribel Cone suddenly materialize. "Family friend" Gertrude Stein and her paramour Alice Toklas (equally dead) also pop up, uninvited (much to Etta’s dismay). Their mission: to settle once and for all how the “Friendship” between Etta and Gertrude fell apart. Their younger selves appear to help them sort it all out. The surrounding artwork miraculously comes to life, with each woman represented by a painting with special significance for them. Etta struggles with her feelings for Gertrude and her modern proclivities, at direct odds with her Victorian mores. Through a series of evocative vignettes, we are transported back to Baltimore, Paris and Italy at the turn of the century to learn what derailed the relationship (and suspected affair) and how Gertrude and Alice came to be a couple. The musical is non-linear, moving between present time in the Cone Wing, past memories with the younger selves of the four women, with artwork that also represents the women that comes alive to comment on and move the story forward. Fantasy sequences are created when past and present merge. At its heart, A COLLECTIBLE SENSATION is about learning valuable, timeless lessons of love, and covert and overt feminism in a time when women were expected to be heterosexual homemakers.

Featuring a cast of twelve women of any race and ethnicity, the score is written for a modern rhythm section (pop/rock) with strings for a more chamber-like, period feel.

2025 finalist, Musical Theatre West New Works Festival, Long Beach CA
2025 partial reading, Nautilus Music Theatre, ROUGH CUTS
2025 workshop & readings, University of Minnesota/Duluth Theatre Department
2024 finalist for the Edward Kleban Libretto Award
2024 finalist for Musical Theatre West New Works Reading Festival, Long Beach CA
2024 finalist for TRU/Streaming Musicals reading series NYC
2025 semi-finalist, Circle in the Square Theatre School Musical Theatre Residency, NYC
2023 Semi-finalist, Eugene O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference
2023 Semi-finalist, Normal Avenue NAPSeries, NYC

[30-minute play]

Is a second chance a lifeline when it doesn't feel like your life anymore? A heart transplant patient with strange cravings and desires seems a stranger to her fiancé and herself. Her donor was a teenage boy who had barely even begun. A story about the struggle for self-acceptance and moving forward with the hand we're dealt.

Finalist, 2026 Broken Arts Entertainment Audio Series

[45- minute absurdist dark comedy about food addictions for 6 to 14 actors with doubling/tripling]

Casey has been struggling with food addictions and body dysmorphia her entire life. While writing down her umpteenth resolution to lose weight, a wild journey commences that has Casey in direct communication with the ‘forbidden foods’, put on trial for crimes committed, and conflicting well-being solutions thrown at her. At odds with her former and future selves, she wonders if she’ll ever forge a path to wellness. An absurdist comedy about the pain we hold ourselves in by comparing our insides to other people’s outsides.

Reading, TOAST Readers Theater Festival, Twilight Theater Company, Portland OR July 2026

[15-minute musical, satire]

When a theme park bans a fast food restaurant, revenge is on the menu. "Clown" goes toe to toe with "Rodent" in this hilarious mini musical (2 lengths available, 10 minutes or 15 minutes. ) This page is for the 15-minute version. The music is the same for both versions.

Production, Microtheater Miami 2018
Production, TheatreLab @ FAU, Overnight Theatre Project 2018

[30 minute play] When a disoriented teen/young adult stumbles into the U Drop Inn, they’re distraught to find out their earthly life is over. Their mother visits in her dream state. The bartender’s pain at her past life comes home to roost in a surprising manner. The road to redemption reveals itself if everyone can come to a place of forgiveness in this family drama.

Production: Witwerks Theatre Company, Brighton UK 2024
Production: Midnight Sun Theatre, "Serial Bowl 2024", Anchorage, AK (3 character, 15 min version)
Reading: Bunbury Players One-Act Plays Reading Festival March 2023, Hudson Falls NY
Production: University of Central Missouri Theatre Department, One-Act Play Festival, February 2023
Production: Crafton Hills College New Works Festival 2022, Yucaipa, CA (20 minute version)

[one-act play: approximately 20 minutes]

Two romantic partners, recently deceased, reconnect at the Akashic Hall of Records in heaven. Questioning their tumultuous lifetime together, they consult the records to view their past lives and what answers may lie there for them both. Their journey takes them to Renaissance Italy and late 1700s Ireland.

Production, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant MI 2024
Online Reading, Tigers Heart Players, Zoom Readers Theatre, NYC, 2024
Production, Pineapple Playhouse One-Act Festival, Ft. Pierce FL 2024
Reading, Tipjar Theatre/Readers Theatre, Celtic Calling, Charleston WV, 2024 - specialized version with only Celtic past life

[1-hour children's musical]

A young girl finds life on the Rockaway peninsula a daily challenge. Between babysitting for her younger siblings, navigating childhood, and dealing with the neighborhood gang, she barely has time to figure out who she is. One day, everything changes. A circus passes by, leaving a worker behind; a ghostly girl emerges from the sea foam; and adolescence and childhood crushes take precedence in this coming of age story. Themes of tolerance, friendship, and home prevail in this children’s/family musical. A cast of 11-12, with additional optional characters, JOSIE has roles for a variety of ethnicities and ages. The music has a bouncy, catchy feel to it, reminiscent of the time period (1979) the musical takes place in.

Workshop, MAD Performing Arts, North Miami FL, 2019
Workshop, Rockaway Artists Alliance, 2014

[15-minute play]

When Susan’s estranged boyfriend shows up suddenly and unexpectedly in her apartment, they are forced to confront why their relationship fell apart. More than one shocking revelation occurs as they struggle with how to accept what has happened and move forward. A play about the bonds of love, and how apologies and forgiveness are the only way to pick up the pieces and start anew.

Note: An mp3 and lead sheet for the music to the short ditty in the play, “Mulch Your Troubles Away”, is available from the author, but feel free to alter the key, or make up an original tune on your own.

[20-minute musical]
Book by Donna Morin
Lyrics by Arianna Rose
Music by Aden Kent Ramsey

Synopsis:
A divorced Italian woman, with a temper as big as her heart, still has the hots for her ex. Convinced he still loves her, she sends him a fake wedding invitation to make him jealous. When he rsvps ”Yes”, she has to quickly manufacture a real wedding and a willing groom. Her manic efforts are hampered by her controlling mother who never met a pill or a drink she didn’t like. Misinformation and misunderstandings create hilarious mayhem in this madcap farce.

Song Breakdown:

1. Everythin’ The Same Like Before (Gina, Mona)
As Mona struggles to zip Gina into her wedding dress, she berates Gina on all of her choices for her wedding and her groom. Gina defends herself and her actions in this upbeat, manic I Want Song.

2. Neigh for Me, Nellie (Floyd, Gina, Mona)
Gina’s rent-a-groom, a Brooklyn wanna-be cowboy, explains how his emotional support horse Nellie has helped him overcome his fear of heights and fear of life. While it serves as Floyd’s I want song, it also lays the groundwork for Floyd and Gina to find actual commonality in their situations and desire to give and receive love.

3. Boogie On (Tony, Gina)
Ex-husband Tony shows up to give the bride a good luck kiss and perhaps a bit more. Gina reminds him of their first wedding dance and all that was good between them. A love song in classic disco style.

4. Ain’t Gonna Be (Tony, Gina, Floyd, Mona)
All four characters come to grips with the fact that there is not going to be a wedding between anyone today and the plot lines intersect and spectacularly implode.

5. Neigh for Me Nellie reprise (Gina, Floyd, Tony, Mona)
A short reprise with a new lyric that establishes that Gina and Floyd are going to ride off into the sunset together on Nellie.

[15 - 20 minute play]

A widow, contemplating diving back into the dating pool, is confronted by her younger selves. Together they must sort out past romantic complications and mistakes before there can be any moving forward. Will they sink or swim?

Note: a 10-minute version also exists, on this NPX page, as well as a four-character version that eliminates the character of the sex worker and changes the location, entitled UP THE DOWN ELEVATOR. (also located on this NPX page)
[Production, ACT Studio Theatre Designer Shorts 4 Play Festival, Stuart FL, May 2026]
[Production, StageQ/CapitalQ One-Acts Festival, Madison WI 2025]
[Production, Dorset Players One-Act Festival, Dorset VT 2024]
[College Production, Senior Thesis Show, Hamilton College, Clinton NY 2023]
[Production, Fight Like a Girl 4, Kings Arms Theatre, Manchester England 2023]
[Production, Kibo Productions Reboot Festival, London England, 2023]
[Production, Jersey Voices 2023 One-Act Festival, Chatham Players, 2023, Chatham NJ]
[Production, Theatre Three 24th Annual One-Act Festival, 2023, Port Jefferson NY]
[Semi-finalist, Alumnae Theatre New Ideas Festival 2023, Toronto Canada]

A widow, contemplating diving back into the dating pool, is confronted by her younger selves. Together they must sort out past romantic complications and mistakes before there can be any moving forward. Will they sink or swim?

WINNER, Midnight Sun Theatre's SERIAL BOWL COMPETITION, Anchorage AK MAY 2024

Will pregnancy elude them again? Science and superstition go toe-to-toe in this heartwarming comedy about fertility and marriage.

This 50-minute comedy is an expansion of my ten-minute play THE RIPPLE EFFECT, and was commissioned for Midnight Sun Theatre's Serial Bowl 2024 for the third and final round workshop.

[20-minute comedy]

This is an expanded version of the ten-minute play THE RIPPLE EFFECT, created for the "Serial Bowl Series" in Alaska.

Will pregnancy elude them again? Amy tries to get Jeff on board with some unorthodox fertilization rituals.
They discover their parenting styles are very different.

[30-minute play] In July 1911, Virginia McMath was born to Lela McMath in Independence, Missouri. Her kidnapping by her father was stymied by the helpful actions of many Missourians and Texas who reunited mother and daughter. Little Virginia grew up to become the beloved movie star Ginger Rogers. Inspired by real-life events.

Style of the play/props/stage directions
The presentational style of this play is modelled after plays such as Peter and The Starcatchers, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and Nicholas Nickleby. The actors work together using their bodies, immersive audience techniques, and a few simple props to create the various events, places, and objects. In particular, wooden dowels of different lengths and sizes – easily purchased at home improvement stores – are used to represent many objects.

Some stage direction suggestions are included – but director and actors are encouraged to find other places within the story, or other ways to use movement, etc. to create that feeling of ensemble story telling and involve the audience.

Think of this as if the Beatles had created a live stage play rather than their movies. That same sense of whimsy, sense of humor, poking gentle fun at themselves, etc.

Note: two of the recommendations refer to an earlier 10-minute long draft.

[30 minute play]

When a recent high school graduate disappears on an island during spring break, her mother leaves no stone unturned in finding out what happened to her, interrogating the teenage boy who was the last person to see her alive.

Note: a full-length version of this story, with the same title, expanded to five characters, is also located on this NPX page.

Western Michigan University, Class Project Production, Kalamazoo MI 2025
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, TX 2025
Hamilton College Senior Thesis Production, Clinton NY 2024
Camel City Playhouse One-Act Festival, Winston-Salem NC 2024
William Inge Theater Festival Playlab reading 2022
Windsor UK Fringe Festival (20-minute version) 2020
Know Theatre Artists & Playwrights Festival, Binghamton NY 2019 (20-minute version: under the former title A BIG OCEAN)
Finalist, 2020 Kenneth Branagh Award for Drama Writing (1 of 3 finalists out of 236 submissions - 18 min version)
Shortlist, 2020 One-Act Play Competition, Carnon Downs Drama Group, UK
Finalist, 2020 Steyning Festival, Theatre Trails, England
Finalist, 2019 Ink Festival UK (shortlisted in top 20 out of 750 submissions)

[20-minute musical] Romance and adventure are not just for the young! Two mature women, forever friends with divergent personalities, find themselves at a crossroads. Will they forge a new path forward?

[5-minute play] A search for the candy dispenser Pez at a flea market far from home yields unexpected treasures for two young college women.

Staged Reading, Stage Left Theater, Queer Voices Festival, Spokane WA 2026
Production, Open Hydrant Theatre Company, Urban Waves Play Festival, Bronx NY 2021
Reading, Unidentified Stages Theatre Company, South Orange NJ 2020

[10-minute period drama, 5 characters]

As young Romanians Gittel and Rubin explore their feelings for each other, Gittel’s father arrives with news that threatens everyone’s future. Based on the true story of my great-grandmother and her eventual journey to America.

[10-minute play] A disoriented Hermia awakens from a fitful sleep in the Athenian wood, distraught that her secret fiance Lysander seems to have completely disappeared. She is joined by childhood friend Helena, who is hard on the heels of the inconstant Demetrius. As the two young women search for their missing mates, they stumble across a very unexpected visitor from a neighboring Greek island, who opens their eyes to what a constant heart really is.

Short Play Festival, Il Cantiere Theatre, Rome, Italy June 2026 (translated into Italian)
MiniMansion Productions, "She's, Theys, and Plays" Festival NYC 2024
Third Citizen Theatre Co., Salem Mass, 2020-2021 Online "Digitial Dionysia" Play Festival
Walking Shadow Readers Theatre One Act Festival, Washington DC May 2021
Broward College "TAKE TEN" Short Play Festival, April 2021
Violet Surprise Theatre LAVENDER MENACES Play Festival, online, April 26-27, 2021, Chicago IL
Clocktower Players AMAZE Play Competition: winner, 2nd Runner Up, production sometime in 2021
Open Space Arts Waonderlust Play Festival MD: production August 2022
Gemco Players Community Theatre Take Ten Festival, Victoria Australia May 2022 (earlier draft entitled The Cleitagora Test)

[3-minute play] Comprised of anagrams of the word HEROES, and only those words, a man and a woman navigate the minefield of sexual attraction.

[10-minute drama]

A young Amish couple are finishing up their Rumspringa - the rite of passage for teens to decide whether they want to return to their community and be baptized into the church, or stay in the "English" world for good and be shunned.

Background about Rumspringa:
Rumspringa (literally: “running around”) is the period of time in an Amish teenagers’ life, starting at age 16, when the restrictions of Amish life are lifted and they can partake of “English” ways. Rumspringa, which is optional, can last from a few months to several years, at which point they have to decide whether they are going to be baptized and join the church.

[4-minute play]A college junior has something important to tell her craft-loving mother.

Production, Stage Left Theater, Empower Festival, Spokane WA March 2026
Student Showcase Production, Irvine Junior Community College, Irvine CA, May 2025
Production, CenterStage Theatre Works Short Play Festival, Allen TX June 2022
Production, Millersville State University, PA Spring 2022
Production, Hope Springs Eternal Online Series, Break A Leg Productions, NYC, 2021
Online Production, Bangkok Community Theatre, Thailand, Spring 2021
Online Production, Pumphouse Players, GA, Nov 2020
Winner, Studio 1 Theatre Company, online "Wayne's War" play competition, October 2020
Online Production, Elizabethtown High School, Kentucky, 2020
Fantasy Theatre Factory, Short & Sweet online play festival, May 2020
Center Stage Israel, 5-minute online Play Festival, May 2020

[10-minute drama]
A homework session for two theatre students puts their lives in danger when a college protest over the war in Gaza turns ugly.

[10-minute comedy]
Fun with food? An overweight woman struggles to eat healthy and not succumb to the call of the snack siren. Her cupboard has other plans.

Note: A 4-character version (the characters Cookie and Ice Cream are combined into "COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM" ) and a 6-character version (addition of the character BIRTHDAY CAKE) also exist. A 5-character school-friendly version for elementary and middle school is also available. Please contact author for script perusal for any of these versions.

[5-minute comedy] Newborn fraternal twins get acquainted with each other and how it all works.

University class production, Millersville University, PA 2022
Online Production, Theatre Arts Productions TAPSHORTS, Palm Beach FL 2021
Online Production, BCT Shorts 2021, Bangkok Community Theatre, Thailand, 2021
Winner, Online Production (3 minute version), Studio 1 "Wayne's War" play competition, October 2020
Finalist, Pint-Sized Plays UK, 2019.
Production, VCT New Play Festival, Orlando FL 2019.
Production, Fast & Furious Festival, Stage Left Theatre, Spokane WA January 2020 (1-minute version)
Online Production, Short & Sweet: Comic Shorts, Fantasy Theatre Factory, Miami FL May 2020

[10-minute play]

Family by Numbers follows Mother and Father as they meet, have a courtship, and expand their family to five. Each time a new son enters, the numbers change and the family dynamics shift. When a tragedy occurs, everyone is affected in different ways and the family must reassess their numbers and their connection to one another.

Published in 2021 Smith & Kraus' BEST TEN-MINUTE PLAYS OF 2021 and THEATRE ODYSSEY Ten-Minute Play Festival: Volume Four, 2022

1st Prize Winner, BEST PLAY, Theatre Odyssey 10-minute play Festival
International Thespian Festival 2023 (representing Oregon)
JUDGES CHOICE AWARD, Town & Gown Theatre D'Jour Short Play Festival 2023, Stillwater, OK
AUDIENCE FAVORITE AWARD, S. Baldwin New Play Festival
THIRD PLACE AWARD, Tree City Playhouse 2020 Ten-Minute Play Competition, Sylvania, OH
Shortlist, 2021 Short & Sweet Festivals DUBAI and SYDNEY
Honorable Mention, New Plays of Merit 2019 Playwriting Award
Finalist shortlist (1 of 15 finalists) for Cork Arts Theatre 10x10 Play Festival, Ireland, 2025

Selected for:
Staged Reading, Stage Left Theatre "Hindsight Short Play Festival", August 2026
Production, Theatre Club One-Acts Festival, University of North Carolina @Greensboro, Fall 2025
Production, Actors Theatre Playhouse, W. Chesterfield, NH June 2025
Production, Mad Lab Theatre Mad Lab Roulette 25, Columbus OH May 2025
Production, Iowa State University Dept. of Music & Theatre, Ames Iowa December 2024
Production, Liberty Bell High School Short Play Festival, Winthrop WA Oct-Nov 2024
Production, Boulder High School Short Play Festival, Boulder CO September 2024
Readers Theatre, One-Act Showcase, Village Players of Hatboro PA, June 2024
Production, Cannon Theatre 10-minute Play Festival, Devens, MA, June 2024
Production, Zone 2 West Provincial Drama Festival, Westbrook, AB Canada, April 2024
Production, Niles North High School Festival of One-Act Plays, Skokie IL April 2024
Workshops, SafeSpace Association, Toledo City Workshops, Cebu, Philippines Spring 2024
Production, University of Alberta, Canada, November 2023
Production, Stillwater Short Play Festival, Stillwater OK, July 2023
Production, (representing Oregon) International Thespian Festival 2023, Bloomington IN
Class Project, Royal Scots Theatre, McKay High School, Salem OR Spring 2023
Production, Bergen County Academies One-Act Play Festival, Hackensack NJ June 2023
Online virtual production, Jakespeare Theatre Co Summer Shorts Festival 2021
Production, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, MI 2021 (socially distanced)
• Production, Trinity Christian College, Palo Heights, IL 2020 (Socially distanced)
Production, Tree City Playhouse New Plays Festival, Sylvania OH
•Production, Western Connecticut State University One-Act Play Festival
Online Production, Grays Harbor College 10-minute Play Festival, Aberdeen, WA
• Production, Lowell Arts, Playbytes by Playwrights: Lost or Found, Lowell, MI
• Staged Reading, Topanga Actors Company 10-minute Play Festival, Los Angeles CA
• Staged Reading, Magnolia Arts Center 10-minute Play Contest, Greenville NC
• Production, Artists’ Exchange One-Act Play Festival, Cranston RI
• Production, Gulfport Community Players, New Play Festival, Gulfport FL
• Staged Reading, S. Baldwin Comm. Theatre New Play Festival, Gulf Shores, AL
• Production, Theatre Odyssey 10-minute Play Festival, Sarasota FL
• Production, Bismarck State College Theatre New Play Festival, Bismarck, ND
• Production, Theatre Three Annual Festival of One Act Plays, Port Jefferson, NY
• Reading, STAGES IN THE SUN FESTIVAL, South Florida Theatre League
• Reading, Legacy Play Reading Festival 2022, Stony Creek, CT

[5-minute comedy]

Three contestants vie for the winning title in the "Funniest Words" competition.
Note: This is the adult version. a G-rated version exists for children to perform. Contact the playwright for a copy of that script.

[10-minute musical] When a theme park bans a fast food restaurant, revenge is on the menu. "Clown" goes toe to toe with "Rodent" in this hilarious mini musical (2 lengths available, 10 minutes or 15 minutes. ) This page is for the 10-minute version. The music is the same for both versions - only the script is different (shortened) for the ten minute version.

[10-minute drama for two actors, gender neutral]

A long-term married couple. When a health emergency lands one of them in the hospital, both partners must confront the realities of the situation and what lies ahead. A story about the moments we wish we could take back.

[staged reading] Village Players of Hatboro One-Acts Showcase, Hatboro PA, June 2025
Winner, Audience Favorite Drama Award, 4th Street Theatre, Chesterton IN 2024
[Production, 10-Minute Play Festival, 4th Street Theatre, Chesterton IN, August -September 2024]
[Production, Short Play Festival 2024, Appalachian State University, Boone NC]
[Production, Miami One-Acts Festival 2023, Hialeah FL]
[Online Reading, Barrow Group NYC First Friday Series, Nov 2022]

[10-minute musical] Cuba, late 1800s. A frustrated painter of pet portraits concocts a scheme with his long-suffering wife. Assuming that “dead artists sell,” he stages his own funeral and commands his wife to sell his paintings. Will some unexpected visitors consign him to the doghouse or fast track him to fame?

[10-minute play] Three prisoners of the state are marching to their demise when they are accosted by a woman who has made the colorful masks they wear. Each character comes to terms with the masks they wear literally and figuratively.

Tempest Productions Zoom Reading Series, PA 2023
Production, Memoriam Development Nightshade Horror Play Festival, Elgin IL October 2022
Reading, Drunken Owl Theatre Company, Seattle WA, October 2019

[10-minute dark comedy]

IT'S ELEMENTAL is licensed by Tiny Scripted. Please contact them to read a perusal script and licensing information https://www.tinyscripted.com/on-stage

Neree, goddess of water, Hutch, God of Air, Gedi, God of Fire, and GAIA, Goddess of Earth gather to determine the earth’s fate. Everyone must confront their passions and prejudices as they get ready to vote. Suitable for children to perform.

[10-minute play for two middle-aged women]

On April 20, 1933, while attending a formal White House dinner with her spouse, Amelia Earhart convinced First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the other dinner guests to take a quick flight from D.C. to Maryland in-between courses. It is believed both Amelia and Eleanor briefly piloted the plane. JOY RIDE joins our heroines post-death, when they re-enact the events of that evening and take it to a place neither could have predicted.

Production, Upstage Napa Valley Playfest, Helena CA October 2024
Production, Short & Sweet Festival, Dubai UAE, February 2024
Production, Empire Theatre Company Incubator Series, March-April 2022, Grand Forks ND
Production, Curtain Call Playhouse, South Florida April 2022
Digital Production, Rainy Day Artistic Collective, Halfway Historical Festival, Seattle WA March 2022
Online reading, New City Players, December 2021

[10-minute play]
LUNCH MONEY is exclusively licensed for production by Tiny Scripted LLC. Please contact them for a perusal script and licensing information: https://www.tinyscripted.com/on-stage

The Tuffs give a British newcomer a tough time at Hemingway Elementary School. An unlikely ally rises to the occasion in this anti-bullying comedy.

Winner of the 2nd Place Award, Lumen Playwriting Competition 2024, Farmers Alley Theatre/Kalamazoo College

[5-minute dystopian drama] Two friends try to make sense of a disappearing act.

[10-minute play]
Reading, Savage Wonder "Savage Circus Vaudeville of the Absurd", The Parlor, Beacon NY March 2026
Top Ten Finalist, Savage Wonder Theatre Company Annual 10-Minute Play Competition

A rocking chair leads a brigade of seating that has seen better days. Will they get chosen for a renewed life, or consigned to the rubbish bin?

[10-minute comedy with adult themes]

Talk about your dirty laundry! When an enterprising senior citizen and a sexually frustrated housewife collide at Launderland, more than the clothing gets agitated.

Fusion Theatre Company, "The Seven: When Nobody's Watching", Albuquerque NM June 2025 (production)
Tigers Heart Players, Online Reading, Bronx NY, July 2024
Veterans Repertory Theatre 2023 Staged Reading Series Death Before Dress Rehearsal, upstate NY
Veterans Repertory Theatre 2022 Ten Minute Play Competition, 3rd Prize (no production)
Theatre Odyssey 10-Minute Play Festival 2021, online reading podcast
Theatre Lab @Fau, online reading, An Afternoon of Short Plays/New Works Festival, 2021

[10-minute play] Talk about your dirty laundry! When an enterprising senior citizen and a sexually frustrated housewife collide at Launderland, more than the clothing gets agitated.

NOTE: Susan Middaugh's lovely recommendation was for an earlier draft. This play has been heavily revised since then and takes place at a laundromat rather than a therapist's office.

[5-minute movement play for 3 actors]

A troubled soul is filled with questions. Will they get the answers they seek?

[8 - 10 minute drama for two teens/young adults]

A boy. A girl. A port. The courtship and marriage of two Irish teenagers revolves around a bench and lamppost till the sea calls it debt. A period drama set in Cork, Ireland, in the 1800s.

Note: SLOW OUR SHIP is a deeper dive into the romance of Siobhan and Sean, two characters also in my one-act play JONNA/JACK. JONNA/JACK is also located on this NPX page.

[Production, Stagemad Theatre Co., 6 for 2026 Short Play Festival, Coastguard Centre, Tramore, IRELAND, November 2026]
[Production, Porthole Players B.O.A.T.S. 10-minute Play Festival, Newport OR, May 2025]
[Reading: KDC Theatre Full Stack, Festival of New Writing, London England, June 2024]

[10-minute comedy]
A widow, contemplating dating again, is confronted by her younger selves. Together they must sort out past romantic complications and mistakes before there can be any moving forward. Will she leave the wilderness?

Note: SUKKAH HOP is a reworked version of THE DATING POOL (10-minute version) and UP THE DOWN ELEVATOR, featuring a Jewish theme and location. Both of those plays are also located on this NPX page.

[10-minute play] The various forms of music containment (L.P., Cassette, 8-track, CD, and Mp3) anxiously vie for the highly coveted “Current” display case at the Smithsonian Museum music exhibit.

Production, Cannon Theatre 10-minute Play Festival, Devens MA, June 2024
Production, Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop 10-Minute Play Festival, S. Fallsburg NY, September 2023
Production, Studio Players 10-Minute Play Festival, Lexington KY July 2023
Production, Theatre Three One Act Play Festival, NY, 2022
Educational Production, Studio 1, Burlington NC, 2021
Production, Seaside Players Theatre, Sea Short Play Festival 2019
Reading, Coral Gables Players, FL, 2019
Reading, Players Club Follies, Sarasota, FL 2019
Reading, Drunken Owl Theatre Company, Seattle, WA 2019

(10-minute absurdist comedy)

An overweight woman’s cry for help summons the Angel of Well-Being, The Food Demon, and a shiny new stranger into her kitchen. Will she cancel her membership in the Clean Plate Club?

(Note: THE CLEAN PLATE CLUB is a scene that has been excerpted from the one-act comedy by the same author, DON'T PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD, to exist on its own as a ten-minute play)

[10-minute version. A longer version (20+ minutes) also exists, with optional additional characters. ]

Production, 2024 Seoul Players Annual 10 Minute Play Festival November 2024
Staged Reading, Rockford New Words 2024, Rockford IL, February 2024
Reading, Theatre Southwest Readers Theatre, Houston TX, February 2024

A widow, contemplating diving back into the dating pool, is confronted by her younger selves. Together they must sort out past romantic complications and mistakes before there can be any moving forward. Will they sink or swim?

[8-10 minute absurdist comedy] A lovelorn therapist is meeting a date on the ferry. When they show up, they only speak in mondegreens, as does their spurned partner who is stalking them. An absurdist physical comedy.

Mondegreen definition (from Wikipedia):
A mondegreen (/ˈmɒndɪˌɡriːn/) is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes words that sound similar and make some kind of sense.

[ten-minute comedy] Will pregnancy elude them again? A couple in their 30s, healing from a prior miscarriage, are on opposite sides of the fence with some unorthodox fertilization rituals.

Production, 10-Minute Play Festival Petaluma, Petaluma CA September 2026
Production, Gather by the Ghostlight Theatre Company, Off Broad Street Short Play Festival, Augusta GA April 2025
Production, Sock & Buskin Theatre Company, Beginnings Showcase Festival, Bellefonte PA July 2024
Production, Midnight Sun Theatre, Serial Bowl Episodes 1, 2, 3: Anchorage AK Dec 2023, March & May 2024
Production, Livonia Community Theatre, "Little Love Stories", Livonia MI February 2024
Production, The Actors Studio of Newportbury MA Celebration of Shorts, October 2022
Facebook Live production, Tiny_Theatre, Sassy Summer Shorts, August 2022, FL
Production, Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop 10-minute play Festival, May 2021, NY
Production, Short Attention Span Theatre Festival, Pensacola Little Theatre, FL 2021 (online)
Production, Aux Dog Theatre Nob Hill “Comic Shorts Festival 2020”, Albuquerque NM
Production, One-Act Weekend 2020, Carrollwood Players Theatre, Tampa FL
Production, Tomo Suru Players ABOUT LOVE Festival 2019, Vancouver BC, CANADA
Staged Reading, Write About Now: Valentine’s Special 2020, London ENGLAND
Reading, TheatreLab 2020 New Works Festival, Boca Raton, FL

[10-minute play] It’s all ho-ho-ho till someone gets hurt! If every day is Christmas, how do you make it special? A teen rebels against her mother’s “Santa’s World” decorating scheme as they both struggle with a life change.

Production: 2019 Merry Little Holiday Shorts, OnStage Atlanta, Atlanta GA
Production: 2020 Thank You 10! Ten-Minute Play Festival, Anacortes Community Players, Anacortes, WA
Educational Production: 2021 Stage 1 Theatre, 12@1 one-day Play Festival, Burlington NC

[10-minute comedy] A widow, reluctant to sign up for a dating service, is confronted by her younger selves. Together they must sort out past romantic complications and mistakes. Will they move up or down?

Note: this is a reworked and shortened version of the one-act play THE DATING POOL. The fifth character of the sex worker has been eliminated, and the location is now an elevator heading to a dating service.

Production, M.T. Pockets Theater Company 10-minute Play Festival, August-September 2025
Production, Port Washington Play Troupe 10-minute Play Festival, May 2025
Production, Strongbox Theater Short Play Festival, March 2025
Production, Vidalia Theatre Short Play Festival, January 2025

[10-minute play] A Ferry. A sloshing water bottle. A theft. For two women from differing generations, a short trip turns strangers into something else entirely.

Production, SCDW Ten-Minute Play Festival, Rivoli Theatre, S. Fallsburg NY 2024
Reading, Read-a-Play Night at New Vision Congregational UCC, Yulee FL, 2024
Production, Summer Short Cuts VIII, Open Eye Theatre, Margaretville NY 2023
Podcast & Interview, Open Eye Theatre, Margaretville NY, on WIOX 91.3FM in the Catskills 2023
Podcast & Interview, Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, Lights Up Series 3, October 3 2022
Online Reading, The Barrow Group First Fridays, NYC April 2022
Production, Valley Players, Ladies Briefs Play Festival, September 2021, Napa CA
Online Reading, Scriptwriters & Co. Scratch Night, Bath UK March 2021
Production, Sundog Theatre "Scenes from the Staten Island Ferry" New Play Festival, 2020

[1-minute play] Two lovers struggle with their illicit affair.

[10-minute play] Three besties gather for their high school reunion. Reminiscing reveals resentments, and a secret is revealed that forever changes their history and how they move forward.

[4-minute monologue] Frankie waits for the Memorial Day fireworks to begin while contemplating a very recent loss.

[3-minute monologue]

Jackie, 30s+, makes some discoveries about the origin of her knee disability. Present day. A monologue about healing throughout lives.

(written for the 2022 Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive)

Jackie, 15, agonizes over a mysterious text she received from her boyfriend David.

Susan, 35, has been visited by the ghost of her ex-boyfriend. She is recounting an incident that caused their breakup.

Published in Applause Books' "The Best Women's Monolgoues from New Plays 2019" edited by Lawrence Harbison.

Published in Smith & Kraus "The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2023" edited by Debbie Lamedman

[2-minute monologue] Emily has been on spring break on an island with her best friend, Miranda. Miranda has gone missing. The last person Miranda was seen with was a local boy that Emily was pushing her to go out on a date with. Emily is wracked with guilt and fear.

[Publication, Purple Light Productions TYPE CAST printed Anthology August 2025]
[Talking Horse Productions Monologue Contest 3, September/October 2022]
[Empty Salon Radio Anthology, Empty Room Theatre, online, May/June 2022]

Thea, 50s, struggles with the loss of her nephew and a tooth.

Meredith, 50+, is riding the ferry, slowly tipping a water bottle back and forth and counting, as she shares her story about her son and husband.

Published in Smith & Kraus "The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2024" edited by Debbie Lamedman

[2-minute monologue] Miranda, 18, is a bit tipsy. She has met Stefan in the bar on the island where she is vacationing for spring break. She yearns for someone to see the real her and is hoping Stefan will be that person.

[3-minute monologue] Melanie, a tween, is arguing with her older sister Anna and recounting her first experience with spin-the-bottle.

Production, Stage Left Theater Company, Empower Festival, Spokane WA 2026
Writers Block Radio Hour, Glasgow Scotland, May 2020
Theatre Lab Online Original Monologue Festival, April 2020

[Five minute monologue]

Jack, 60's - 70's, is in a wheelchair. It's the early 70s, and he's dealing with a disabling muscular disease. An inveterate traveler, he learns a new way of seeing the world.

3 minute monologue for male, 40s+, drama
Published in Smith & Kraus "The Best Men's Stage Monologues 2023", edited by Debbie Lamedman

DIRK, 40s, is father to troubled teen Stefan, who has been accused of murdering Miranda, a visitor to their island. Dirk breaks the fourth wall and speaks to the audience. He is alone.

This monologue is from the play TOUCH THE MOON.
Synopsis:
Spring Break, 1994, on an island. A teen-aged girl goes missing. Through a series of connected vignettes spanning time, we meet Miranda, her mother Becca, her best friend Emily, Stefan, and his father Dirk. Becca confronts Stefan, the last person to have seen Miranda. Stefan slowly reveals his true colors as a pathological liar to a frustrated Becca. Miranda emerges as a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, healing from a broken family dynamic and exploring the boundaries of her sexuality. Dirk tries to protect his son, and Emily is convinced it’s her fault that Miranda may be dead.

[3-minute monologue] Benjy, a teenager from Brooklyn, tells his friend Joey what happened to him last summer when he toured with a carnival and trained as a ventriloquist.

[2-minute monologue] Oldest Son recounts the tragic circumstances of his hike in Olympia National Park.

From the play FAMILY BY NUMBERS.
Published in the Applause Books "Best Men's Monologues from New Plays 2020" edited by Lawrence Harbison

Published in the Smith & Kraus "The Best Men's Stage Monologues 2023" edited by Debbie Lamedman

Dramatic Context: Stefan is currently being held in the local jail, on suspicion of harming Miranda, a teen visitor to his island. Miranda was last seen in Stefan’s company. Miranda’s mother has been grilling him about what happened to her daughter and what he knows. In this moment, Stefan breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience.

STEFAN male, somewhere between 17-21, student on the island. Charismatic and troubled. Should seem like a boy rather than a man.
(pronounced Steh-FAHN)
Synopsis:
Spring Break, 1994, on an island. A teen-aged girl goes missing. Through a series of connected vignettes spanning time, we meet Miranda, her mother Becca, her best friend Emily, Stefan, and his father Dirk. Becca confronts Stefan, the last person to have seen Miranda. Stefan slowly reveals his true colors as a pathological liar to a frustrated Becca. Miranda emerges as a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, healing from a broken family dynamic and exploring the boundaries of her sexuality. Dirk tries to protect his son, and Emily is convinced it’s her fault that Miranda may be dead.

Jeff, 30s, is having a hard time putting together a baby apparatus for his infant daughter, and a harder time finding his footing as a dad.

HE RIPPLE EFFECT, a full-length comedy set in 1995 NYC, eavesdrops on Upper West Side apartment dwellers Amy and Jeff, and their middle-aged neighbor Mrs. Ida Teitelbaum. Amy and Jeff attempt unorthodox rituals to get pregnant and take it to term; Ida deals with the aftermath of her husband’s stroke. The fabric of marriage is pulled, torn, and repaired as each character navigates their new normal. Science and spirituality go toe-to-toe when Wiccans enter the picture, in this comical and empathetic story of the ripple effect we create with each decision.

In this monologue, Amy is six months pregnant and taking a short break from her husband who has been experiencing a sympathetic pregnancy. She confronts her fears about being a mother.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT, a full-length comedy set in 1995 NYC, eavesdrops on Upper West Side apartment dwellers Amy and Jeff, and their middle-aged neighbor Mrs. Ida Teitelbaum. Amy and Jeff attempt unorthodox rituals to get pregnant and take it to term; Ida deals with the aftermath of her husband’s stroke. The fabric of marriage is pulled, torn, and repaired as each character navigates their new normal. Science and spirituality go toe-to-toe when Wiccans enter the picture, in this comical and empathetic story of the ripple effect we create with each decision. In this monologue, Amy is six months pregnant and taking a break from her husband who has been experiencing a sympathetic pregnancy.