RICK PARK

RICK PARK

Rick Park is a playwright and actor based in Cambridge, MA. www.RickParkPlays.com

Plays

  • Oh, Say Can You (TH)C?
    Three 50-ish friends in South Boston try edibles for the first time.
  • Sometimes, In Our Own Story, We Are the Victim, Sometimes the Martyr, Sometimes the Villain
    A woman recounts what she remembers about events that lead to her current residence at a hospital on a posh tropical isle. What she thinks is true and what bubbles to the surface lead to a startling, world-shattering self-realization.
  • Border Lines (Feels Like I’m Going to Lose My Mind)
    Vincent Van Gogh reminiscences about how a childhood encounter at the beach changed everything.
  • Knock Down, Drag Out
    Developers want to tear down Antoine's, Boston's only drag bar, in order to build some high-rise condos. Zonna, who has been performing at the club for 2/3 of her life, has other ideas. After being visited by the ghost of her drag mother Crystal Crawford, Zonna bands her drag queen sisters Ivanka (the club's 70 year old bartender and former chanteuse), Mx (a gender fluid college kid) and Sharia...
    Developers want to tear down Antoine's, Boston's only drag bar, in order to build some high-rise condos. Zonna, who has been performing at the club for 2/3 of her life, has other ideas. After being visited by the ghost of her drag mother Crystal Crawford, Zonna bands her drag queen sisters Ivanka (the club's 70 year old bartender and former chanteuse), Mx (a gender fluid college kid) and Sharia Law ( a hardscrabble queen who has fought for everything she's got) and stages a "drag in", where they will live in the club to protest its demolition, while fending off their neighbor, Mrs. Chao, an 80 year old Chinese woman who is on a permanent neighborhood watch, as well as the gentrification of the neighborhood they all love.
  • Scene 8
    Mace wants nothing more to be a actor. Or, more specifically, an actor on Broadway. While auditioning for what she is sure will be her big break (for a play she is sure will transfer from Boston to Broadway), her monologue is interrupted by her twin brother Dixon, who comes looking for change for the vending machine. Stopped by the unseen director and asked to read for a role himself, Dixon stays as Mace is...
    Mace wants nothing more to be a actor. Or, more specifically, an actor on Broadway. While auditioning for what she is sure will be her big break (for a play she is sure will transfer from Boston to Broadway), her monologue is interrupted by her twin brother Dixon, who comes looking for change for the vending machine. Stopped by the unseen director and asked to read for a role himself, Dixon stays as Mace is dismissed. Back at home, Mace complains to her best friend and room mate Seb, an aspiring costume designer she met in school. When Dixon arrives, Mace is ready to go after him, until he tells her that they have both been cast. Everything is great--until the first read thru, when Mace and Dixon get to scene 8 and discover that the married couple they are portraying have a full-blown, fully-nude love scene. When neither sibling will back down and give up their role, it's war, with Seb positioned squarely in the middle. After a night fueled by tequila and mind games, family secrets are spilled until things reach a climax from which no one will recover.
  • Gay Guy, Fat Girl
    Stewart and Josie were friends in high school, where he was the gay guy and she was the fat girl. They made a pledge that if neither were married by the time they were 40, they would marry each other. Fast forward to today, when a chance meeting brings the two friends back together. Sharing tales of their crappy love lives, Stewart and Josie grow closer and closer until--could it be?--they fall in love, much to...
    Stewart and Josie were friends in high school, where he was the gay guy and she was the fat girl. They made a pledge that if neither were married by the time they were 40, they would marry each other. Fast forward to today, when a chance meeting brings the two friends back together. Sharing tales of their crappy love lives, Stewart and Josie grow closer and closer until--could it be?--they fall in love, much to the dismay of Stweart's best friend Maxie, a "drag illusionist" best known for his caustic wit and love of making up dirty lyrics to show tunes, and to Lux, Josie's friend and roommate, a stage manager by trade who works part time at Josie's "maternity concierge" business, A Womb With a View. Can the former fat girl and current gay guy buck the odds and live happily ever after? Maybe the ghost of Marie Osmond can help!
  • The Warmth of the Sun
    Baby is a vibrant 20-something who loves nothing more than driving around Southern California in her vintage station wagon, listening to the Beach Boys, picking up cute guys at rest areas, having sex and then killing them. Austin is a cute-but-nerdy 20-something whose always been afraid of everything--baseball, swimming, women--until he realizes the power he can have by drugging the women he desires and...
    Baby is a vibrant 20-something who loves nothing more than driving around Southern California in her vintage station wagon, listening to the Beach Boys, picking up cute guys at rest areas, having sex and then killing them. Austin is a cute-but-nerdy 20-something whose always been afraid of everything--baseball, swimming, women--until he realizes the power he can have by drugging the women he desires and watching them die before his eyes. What happens when one serial killer picks up another serial killer and they start to fall for each other? Will love trump killer instinct? And what about the dead guy Baby has hidden on the back floor of her car--who just happens to not be dead?

    The Warmth of the Sun uses projections, music, color and sound to create a world described by one critic as "Tarantino-esque"
  • Sunset for Days
    Something is happening to the Earth. It's rotation is slowing down, so now nights last for 30 hours, sometimes more. The animals felt it first, the cats, the raccoons, then the humans. None of them know when to sleep. Satelites aren't working right, cell phone reception is spotty and the tides have gone awry and flooded all the coastal areas. Travis is almost 16. His dad left a few months back and his...
    Something is happening to the Earth. It's rotation is slowing down, so now nights last for 30 hours, sometimes more. The animals felt it first, the cats, the raccoons, then the humans. None of them know when to sleep. Satelites aren't working right, cell phone reception is spotty and the tides have gone awry and flooded all the coastal areas. Travis is almost 16. His dad left a few months back and his sister, KC, had to come home from her first year in college to take care of him after their mother stopped sleeping altogether and now stays up all night baking elaborate cakes and garbage bags full of cookies. Travis splits his free time between his girlfriend Marissa, and his older buddy, Merv, who manages the Chuck E. Cheese knock off in their town and who is always on the look out for "pervs". As Travis tries to manage in this ever changing world, KC is left to clean up her mom's messes. When her mom goes missing, KC checks with the neighbors and meets Mrs. Carlisle, a no-nonsense octogenarian widow, known as the the town's "crazy cat lady", who now sits in her wheelchair brandishing a shotgun. Just as an uneasy friendship is forming between the two women, something happens that sets in motion a chain reaction of events that will change everyone's lives forever.
  • Please Report Any Suspicious Activity
    A man on the subway hears announcement encouraging riders to "please report any suspicious activity". At the next stop, Antonio and Dirk, two gay dolphins having a horrible anniversary date, get on the train and manage to put the man in the middle, literally and figuratively.
  • No Cross, No Crown
    Marko and Ness have returned to their Southern home for their father's funeral. Greeted by their father's common-law wife, Nomi, a trans woman who has been with their dad for decades. The stress of the situation brings out the worst in the siblings, who snipe and claw at each other, while slowly revealing to Nomi their own individual struggles with agoraphobia, eating disorders and abusive boyfriends...
    Marko and Ness have returned to their Southern home for their father's funeral. Greeted by their father's common-law wife, Nomi, a trans woman who has been with their dad for decades. The stress of the situation brings out the worst in the siblings, who snipe and claw at each other, while slowly revealing to Nomi their own individual struggles with agoraphobia, eating disorders and abusive boyfriends. When their real mother announces she is coming to collect their father's ashes, Marko and Ness rally to support Nomi's rights to them, only to be shocked and horrified by what Nomi has done to keep the ashes where she thinks they should be.
  • You've Been Approved!
    Sometimes, it's not WHAT you say, but HOW you say it...
  • A Swing and A Miss
    When baseball is more than just a game...
  • Stealing Home
    Gentrification hurts everyone
  • Til Text Do Us Part
    Phones are everywhere.
  • American Idle
    We've all sung the wrong lyrics to a song, right?
  • Last Train
    Late at night, on a secluded subway train in Boston, Mich is just minding her own business, listening to their music. Until Hank gets on and starts asking if she thinks she is safe with the "Red Line Ripper" slashing the throats of random strangers on the train line. As tensions mount, the train is made express--meaning no one can get on or off until the last stop. Will they both get off the train alive?
  • Life's Half a Glass
    Connie, Margee and Heather are best friends from way back in the day. They've all grown up and live in Southie. On the night before Thanksgiving, the girls are sharing a cigarette outside of Connie's house, talking about how Connie's husband hurt himself playing with the frozen turkey. WHile Heather sips her kahlua-laced iced coffee from Dunks, Margee shares the news that her son Aiden is...
    Connie, Margee and Heather are best friends from way back in the day. They've all grown up and live in Southie. On the night before Thanksgiving, the girls are sharing a cigarette outside of Connie's house, talking about how Connie's husband hurt himself playing with the frozen turkey. WHile Heather sips her kahlua-laced iced coffee from Dunks, Margee shares the news that her son Aiden is getting married to another man and she isn't sure how her husband Jerry will take the news. Part of the South Boston Series.
  • NOLA
    Three survivors of Hurricane Katrina ruminate on how their lives have changed.
  • Space Saver
    Kevin and Jerry have been friends since they went to grade school together in South Boston. They live next door to each other and their wives Connie and Margee are best friends too. But when cabin fever (and the in-laws) drive both men out into the snowy streets of Southie, they start talking about things. Things like what space saver to use to save the parking space you just shoveled. Things like how the...
    Kevin and Jerry have been friends since they went to grade school together in South Boston. They live next door to each other and their wives Connie and Margee are best friends too. But when cabin fever (and the in-laws) drive both men out into the snowy streets of Southie, they start talking about things. Things like what space saver to use to save the parking space you just shoveled. Things like how the neighborhood is changing. Things like why are they even on this planet. You know, the stuff guys talk about when they're alone.
  • Men on First and Third
    Donnie, Richie and Dooch have been friends forever, growing up together in South Boston. Hanging out on a rooftop on night smoking a joint, their conversation turns to a topic near and dear to every Bostonians heart: baseball. Talking about their beloved Red Sox and other ball teams, this question gets posed: would you rather get to first base with Angelina Jolie or third base with Helen Hunt?
  • Stolen Breath
    Jelly drives the Mattapan trolley, an extension of the Red Line subway in Boston. Ginevra, very pregnant, falls asleep in the back of the trolley and Jelly allows her to ride for free until the trolley is shutting down for the night. As the two women talk, they find they have more in common than they thought. But when something is not what it appears to be is revealed, it could devastate both of them.
  • From Your Mouth to God's Ears
    Connie, Margee and Heather have been best friends since they grew up together in South Boston. A girls' day at the local beach, replete with Heather's special "juice boxes" is something all of them need to get rid of the stress of their everyday lives. But when an unexpected phone call comes, these friends relize just how close they really are.
  • The Doppler of My Heart
    Donnie and Eileen were high school sweethearts. After a recent medical scare, Donnie brings Eileen on a trip to a special parking lot and takes the pressure off of his heart.
  • Birdbaths, "Twilight" and Other Sundry Topics
    Dec and Mick are on a subway in Boston. Just a couple of dudes who have been friends since they were little. Dec's been having problems with his girlfriend and her obsession with the Twilight movies, which leads to the question: would you rather be a vampire or a werewolf? The conversation spins into other "sundry topics" and Mick, thinking he is in his own little world, breaks into a spirited...
    Dec and Mick are on a subway in Boston. Just a couple of dudes who have been friends since they were little. Dec's been having problems with his girlfriend and her obsession with the Twilight movies, which leads to the question: would you rather be a vampire or a werewolf? The conversation spins into other "sundry topics" and Mick, thinking he is in his own little world, breaks into a spirited lip-synch (and dance) to the song "If You Could Read My Mind". What Mick doesn't expect is that Dec can do just that.
  • Dressed Up Like A Douche
    Murph and Donnie like getting stoned, playing video games and listening to music. Then the song "Blinded By The Light" comes on and the argument starts: what exactly is the second line of the chorus, right after "Blinded by the light"? As they both spin wild tales of what the line is and where it came from, they eventually call in some help in the form of the man who wrote the actual song--Bruce Springsteen.
  • Santer-Baby
    Linda and Lisa were high school best friends from the North Shore of Boston who lost touch with each other, until one night in December when they run into each other at the mall. With accents as thick as chowdah, they catch up and relive good times, until a surprise threatens to blow up their friendship.

  • Moo-Maid
    A dad talks about the lessons learned by Disney princesses while dealing with some harsh lessons himself.
  • There's Always Tomorrow
    Find out what really happened with Herbie the Dentist that one Christmas...