Donna Hoke

Kilroys List
Winner, Firehouse Festival of New American Plays
Nominated for the Susan Blackburn Prize

Law student Abby Gates has no qualms about becoming a sugar baby to get her tuition bills paid--until it means keeping a secret from the man she loves, an artist exploring confession and thresholds of shame. When Abby's two worlds collide, she discovers her sugar daddy has taught her about more than good wine.

Selection, 2016 Kilroys List; Nominated for the Susan Blackburn Prize; Finalist, nuVoices , Actors Theatre Charlotte; Winner, Firehouse Festival of New American Plays; Winner, HRC Showcase ; Finalist, Rising Sage; Finalist, Woodward/Newman Drama Award;
Finalist, Theatre Conspiracy New Play Contest; Semi-Finalist, Playwrights First; Last Frontier Theatre Conference

SEEKING WORLD PREMIERE!
Winner, Gulfshore New Works
Winner, Guilford Technical Community College Center New Work Initiative Playwriting Contest
Winner, Athena Plays in Progress
Finalist, Ashland New Play Festival
Two-time semifinalist, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference

Five actors, three characters, one story: Ten years ago, Ken and Chris were teacher and student. Now, as principal and teacher, Ken uses a student's suspiciously high grade as license to grill Chris until the young teacher is forced to confront both past and present. While most plays question the audience, TEACH exposes the biases that make audiences question themselves. Though its production requirements are simple, TEACH is anything but.

Finalist, O'Neill National Play Conference
Finalist, Princess Grace Fellowship
Finalist, Austin Film Festival

Elevator Girl was never meant to be more than an urban legend, a sexual revenge fantasy created by Vanessa and her graphic illustrator boyfriend. But when the comic superhero unleashes her boyfriend’s darkest fantasies, as well as a flesh-and-blood copycat, Vanessa must stop EG in her tracks—with the truth.

SEEKING WORLD PREMIERE! When frenemy nail techs Cha-Cha and Katie are privileged to hear a favorite customer's bizarre dying wish, they set off to make it come true. In their quest to find Neil Patrick Harris, they discover that what they've been searching for has been right in front of them.

After 14 years of marriage, Britt and Joe called it quits, so Joe is surprised when three years later, Britt asks him to try again. Cheater Joe still loves his ex and their boys, so he’s willing to go along with dates nights and counseling which seem to be going well—until he realizes that Britt has a very specific agenda.

This play was a finalist in the inaugural contest of the American Association of Community Theaters.

EIGHT DATES is an serialized audio series of this story. You can find these episodes under "Script sample."

The Puzzlemaker is holding a workshop to teach you to make a crossword puzzle! As the Puzzlemaker embarks on their creation, they reveal the tricks of the trade, but also something unexpected: there is power in puzzles. Will the Puzzlemaker use their powers for good--or evil? And which choice means making a puzzle that will solve their life?

Kilroys List 2020

On both screen and stage, you've seen myriad period iterations of LITTLE WOMEN, but you've never seen LITTLE WOMEN... NOW. In this present-day take on the classic novel, the beloved March women manage love, life, and disappointment with heart, humor, and 21st century sensibilities.

After eight years, Cane dumps fiancee Yasmine and is ready to propose to someone else--as soon as he retrieves his mother's engagement ring. Yasmine is ready to give it back, once she gets what she's been promised. In this taut two-hander, Yasmine and Cane face off over the truth of eight years together and arrive at life-changing consequences.

It’s 1955—post WWII, amid McCarthyism, years before Stonewall. In this dangerous and difficult era, Mitzi operates a cabaret and gay bar where Cruz, a playboy bartender; Levi, an aspiring Broadway composer; Bob, a WWII vet; and Mac, a guy who just wants camaraderie with his Coke, find solidarity in relative safety.

When Andy, an idealistic newcomer with a law degree, discovers their sanctuary, it opens his eyes not just to other men like him, but to the oppression they're hiding from. Andy challenges them--particularly Bob, with whom he's found a connection--about their complacency, but the men are unable to do more than fantasize about a different future.

With or without them, Andy's sense of justice propels him out the door to a Mattachine meeting. En route, he's set up by a cop who beats and arrests him. When Andy sacrifices himself to shield his friends, they and Mitzi are forced to figure out what matters to them most as they take the brave first steps toward revolution.

(Note: As ON THE ROOF takes place in a cabaret, it is a play with two and a half diagetic songs,but not a musical.)

Doomsday, Lizley, DeGaulle, and Dummy lived at Central State Psychiatric Institute more than fifty years ago. Now, Lydia Stokes is dreaming about them. At first, she and husband Roy are amused, but when the dreams become visions in her waking hours, Lydia believes the deceased patients need her help, while her husband believes she's losing her grip, possibly due to grief over her mother's recent suicide.

As Lydia's attention to the visions increases, Roy fears for her sanity, and enlists psychiatrist co-worker Jack to help. Jack is hard-pressed to explain Lydia's visions, but he's not quite ready to dismiss them or give in to Roy's request to have Lydia admitted for psychiatric evaluation. Pushed to the limits, Lydia determines to prove to Roy that she's not crazy, and the shocking result brings about closure that none of them could have imagined.

Semi-finalist Bay Area Playwrights Festival
Recipient Individual Artists Grant, New York State Council on the Arts

Bennett won't believe what his best friend and sister keep telling him: his girlfriend Nina is maybe a little abusive. Bennett also won't believe what Nina is telling him: that his best friend Jason has feelings for him.
After a jealous Nina maybe accidentally sets fire to Bennett's apartment, Bennett reexamines his feelings and is stunned to discover that labels lose and love wins--if only someone other than his plants will believe him.

Summoned by Vivien Leigh's final companion, Jack Merivale, Sir Laurence Olivier rushes to the apartment where his one-time love has been recovering from a bout of tuberculosis. Viv and Larry's love story was as legendary as the careers they forged on stage and film--until devastating mental illness tore them apart. Is it too late for them to make amends?

After ten years of marriage, Sadie and Vance are experiencing the all too familiar trials that arise when lovers become parents, job and home responsibilities become never-ending, and alone time becomes scarce. To Sadie’s further frustration, reticent Vance refuses to acknowledge—or discuss—any of them. Next door, demographic equals Janet and Rich have fared much better; their happy marriage is full of passion, love, empathy—and multiple sex partners.

When the ever-ready Rich overhears Vance and “hot burrito” Sadie having wild sex, he’s intrigued, and determines to invite the couple over to test the waters. Janet is also curious, but hesitant: They live so close, what if it goes bad, and why is Rich so insistent? Through a comedic series of events, Sadie and Vance arrive at the Lewis house one Fun Friday, hoping that—as they’ve read on-line—a “just sex” evening of swinging will open up communication and elevate them to a new level of closeness.

All appears to go well… until the morning after. At the Nelson house, Janet senses the encounter with their new playmates was a little off, while Rich—dazedly fondling Sadie’s left-behind underwear—feels something is definitely on. At the Lewis’, the experiment has seemingly proved a bust: The couple is barely talking, and it’s clear that Sadie is more pissed at her husband than ever.

In the ensuing days, Janet’s suspicions grow, and Rich visits Sadie to confess that she made him feel something he never has before. While Sadie insists it was “just sex,” Vance gets a cryptic visit from Janet that makes him realize his marriage is on the line. That night, Vance and Sadie bond after he digs deep to reveal his feelings about what happened last Friday, and the two take tentative steps toward reconciliation, which include a new start. Crushed, Rich nonetheless recognizes the need to recommit to his family, albeit with the unsettling knowledge that there might be more to love—and sex—than he’s ever known.

All Angela wants is a happy Christmas--or a more exciting life--but her daughter's left for college, her husband's obsessed with fantasy football, the plumbing's a mess, and her cat won't stop peeing where he shouldn't. Mom May thinks she should get a hobby--or a handyman--but a run-in with old friend Kelly leaves Angela aspiring to the thrills her pal gets from social media. Before long, Angela's giving Candy Crush lives to high school sweetheart Billy Sweeney, despite Kelly's warnings that Billy's a guy who uses shouty caps and the wrong form of your. Ignoring the danger signs, Angela invites Billy to fix her pipes, and the former prom dates find themselves bonding over flip phones as they color Christmas pictures by the fire. Their nostalgic bliss is interrupted by an ominous phone call from Kelly, but not before Angela's cat and her husband catch them in the act and force everybody, including May, to adopt a healthier relationship with technology.

This play was workshopped at the 2015 Hormel Festival of New Works at Phoenix Theatre and the third place winner of the Pickering Prize for Playwriting Excellence.

In 1986, Nancy is a sheltered high school girl who lives under the thumb of an overprotective and domineering father, a widower paralyzed by grief. On the first day at her new school, Nancy is befriended by Brett, who, despite being friendly, funny, and charming doesn't seem to have many friends himself. If Nancy suspects the reason, well, she doesn't acknowledge it, at least not until the school bullies make it clear that if she thinks Brett's a romantic prospect, she's got another thing coming. Terrified, Nancy runs home, leaving Brett to fend for himself to harmful result.

Fast forward 25 years when Nancy, married to the controlling Kirk, is confronted by another bully--her son, Rex. When Rex's gay schoolmate hangs himself after being bullied, Nancy is finally forced to examine the fear that has held her hostage or risk repeating history with her infant son

This play is the winner of the 2014 Todd McNerney National Playwriting Contest, the Naatak National Playwriting Contest, and the 2015 Great Gay Play and Musical Contest. It was also a finalist in T. Schreiber New Works, and a semi-finalist in the 37th Bay Area Playwrights Festival and nuVoices at Actors Theatre of Charlotte.

See photos, trailer, and mini-doc here: http://www.donnahoke.com/plays/Safe.html

NEW! SEEKING FEEDBACK AND DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS: After Charlotte "dies" alone, she seeks other Near Death Experiencers to determine if she can trust what happened--and make sure it doesn't happen again. As the little group struggles to find meaning in these experiences, they realize that no matter their beliefs, they are all in this together.

Years of infertility treatment have convinced married research scientist that she doesn’t want children, even though her single, identical twin Josephine has three. Too bad Marjorie’s husband, Aidan, isn’t ready to give up his quest for a biological child. When Josephine offers the couple the “ideal” solution—egg donor surrogacy—salesman Aidan gives the pitch of his life and convinces his hesitant wife to inseminate Josephine in their living room.

Aidan and Jo bond over the resulting pregnancy, but Marjorie’s just not feeling it. When baby Joseph is born early with serious health issues, Aidan embraces his new role as a father, but Marjorie’s inability to bond with the baby is obvious—a situation that doesn’t improve much after his birth.

As fear over Joseph’s prognosis increases, the insecurities that brought the sisters to this point come to the fore until finally Josephine offers—and insists—that Joseph come home with her. Despite Aidan’s protestations, Marjorie is unable to put up a fight but in relinquishing motherhood, she is at last ready to welcome Joseph.

Winner, Emanuel Fried Award for Oustanding New Play

One-act sixty-minute version under "Script Sample."

One-act sixty-minute audio version under "Score."

Winner of the 2021 Anna Zornio Memorial Playwriting Award

When Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to take in foster child Anne instead of a boy as they requested, it's with the hope that they can do her some good. As Anne comes of age, her curiosity, imagination, and capacity for love teaches all three of them what it means to create and commit to family. Adapted freely from the classic by L.M. Montgomery.

SEEKING WORLD PREMIERE! Silent film star Mabel Normand, the Female Chaplin, was canceled just before the dawn of talkies--and now she desperately wants to be heard.

Janelle and Brittany haven't spoken since they were teen besties at summer camp; when they're accidentally reunited years later, they happily pick up where they left off, sharing vacations, the PTA, and their BFF daughters. Brittany wants nothing more than a friend for life, but when Janelle and her daughter's lives are upended, the fragility of their relationship is laid bare. Are female friendships conditional on commonality? And is there a special place in hell for women who won't support other women?

Ellen knows the score--her son is gay and her husband is cheating--but it's so much easier to pretend than to talk about it. It takes fantasy, farce, and one fabulous makeover before the truth flies free, mother and son discover just how much they have in common, and Ellen realizes the reality she's been avoiding most is her own.

Winner, Emanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play

"Hoke's words shine and sparkle."__Buffalo Theatre Guide

https://www.buffalorising.com/2017/09/sons-lovers-entertains-sold-out-h…

https://artvoice.com/2017/09/26/review-anthony-chase-donna-hokes-sons-l…

Clive Jenkins. A husband. A father. A writer with an MFA. An addict. A man who, sixteen years ago, gunned down a stranger, and still can't say why. Clive’s most successful attempts to examine his life come when he puts pen to paper, pouring out his demons in stories. Now, he’s got a chance at parole, and a six-figure book deal that might help him get it—if he can prove he’s a changed man. This play asks: what do we owe those we purport to rehabilitate and what do we owe their victims?

When a black, gay high school student finds a pink noose hanging in his locker, he puts it on and all hell breaks loose, especially after the administration steps in and "handles" the problem in a way that makes Marcus an even bigger target.

Adapted from the novella of the same name by Chris Crutcher (ALAN Award from The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents for Significant Contribution to Adolescent Literature, ALA Edwards Award, The Writer magazine Writers Who Make a Difference Award, Intellectual Freedom Award from the National Coalition Against Censorship).

All Soaps Magazine editor Maureen Stanton barely realizes that her life has become a soap opera itself. Caught between her solid long-time mate and the sexy, if perennially late, editor at the office, she grapples with living in the moment as both the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and the 25th anniversary of the magazine approach.

For one night, fans at the downtrodden Miracle Bar discover that the impossible happens when you believe it can.

Youth, large cast one-act, ideal for competition: On a campout near the Hudson River, a high school club advisor regales his students with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

By Coleman, Lawrence Dukore, Lee Lawing, Gary Jaffe, Scot Walker, Donna Hoke, Ken Levine, j. Snodgrass, Doric Wilson, Dan Berkowitz, J. Julian Christopher, and Paul Donnelly.

In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, BUA Takes 10 presents a cohesive collection of short works that tell the story of before, during, and after.

A family gathers at its long abandoned beach house to celebrate the vow renewal of a returning Iraqi soldier and the bride he left behind--an event that forces all who attend to confront what living means in the face of loss.

SLICE OF LIFE is a series of eight short plays (with three comedic alternates) that, beginning with teens and ending with octogenarians, present contemporary scenarios for each decade of life. All plays have easily suggested settings and few props, and can be performed as a complete thematic evening by an ensemble of two men and two women (unless the comedic alternate is used for seventies) or, of course, mixed, matched, and cast in any manner one chooses.

This collection of ten-minute plays comprises THE PEE TEST, DON'T GO BREAKIN' MY HEART, FACE TIME, SURVIVAL STRATEGY, THIS YEAR'S MODEL, LIFE LINES, STAGE WHISPERS, and YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT (along with comedic alternates PAY IT BACKWARD, BEST INTERESTS, and DOUGHNUT HOLE).
You can reach of these individual plays at my NPX profile.

IN DEVELOPMENT: 1982. TEXAS. Frat boy Kevin has always thought a little "physical bonding" among buddies is par for the straight course, but when he meets openly gay Cesar his freshman year at UT Austin, he has trouble writing him off as just another guy. Adapted with permission from David Lewis's movie of the same name.

PITCH: In Eagle Heights, USA, the residents are always just a little close to the edge—in their lives, in their emotions, and literally in their apartment building, Uppan Arms, which is on the edge of gentrification. As such, the building is home to an array of residents—from downtrodden to wealthy, young to old, secretive to secure--that allows limitless exploration of people and what happens when different walks of life find themselves walking together. The double wood, key-entry doors of this building are crowned with an arched sign that bears the name—UPPAN ARMS. The plaque is a little fancier than the building itself, a literal sign of the hope that the building will bear financial fruit, and a figurative sign of the hope inside all the residents.
● Serial soap
● Comedy
● 20ish minutes in length per episode
● Intended audience: Podcast listeners of millennial through boomer age, who have seen soaps—maybe with their moms and grandmothers—understand them, maybe even have a little nostalgia for those after-school snacks spent watching GENERAL HOSPITAL and don’t know how much they’d love to relive those moments in a modern way.

**WOULD-BE PRODUCERS**: Full bible for the series with detailed characters descriptions and story arcs available on request.

When a chorus student is confronted by a situation that isn't covered by policy, his teacher is confronted by his parents.

Lottie has never been to a high school reunion; Len has been to them all. Their 70th is a first for them both.

Officemates make a deal to get from each other at work what they can't get at home.

Darla takes Matt's rideshare with an agenda but to carry it out, she must pass Matt's strange test.

Jack's well-endowed anatomy is a distraction on the set of his TV show.

Two puzzles argue over which of them should be solved. (This play has also been performed in modified version as "Two Puzzles Walk Into A Bar." This script, which requires only two actors, is uploaded under Script Sample.)

Shirley Jackson writes "The Lottery," and experiences unexpected backlash.

Andrew is taken aback by Bob's unusual safe sex request.

In a world where no good indeed goes unnoticed, altruism is in danger.

Amana's unhappy when planned obsolescence doesn't go as planned.

On November 14, 2017, Rancho Tehama Elementary School was part of a two-day shooting spree. No children died, but a six-year-old was shot.

When Avery bucks her mother-in-law's favorite Christmas tradition, she finds tradition can either die hard--or continue.

Four SantaCon santas seek the true meaning of Christmas.

Two old friends discover that too much connection has driven them apart.

Jonathan's teacher calls in his mother to discuss her son's "lack of ambition."

Rhonda and Juliette agree they want to get married, but didn't realize they had different reasons for doing so.

When a mother discovers her late son's journal, she fights her conscience over her right to read it.

Medical history is made in Buffalo in 1850 but how much of history has been lost?

A woman and a young man bond after she asks him to help her select a gift for her estranged son and his new wife, but he ends up taking as much as he gives.

A mutual attraction to a waiter helps mother and son come to terms with their relationships and each other. (If you like this play, please read the award-winning SONS & LOVERS, a full-length comedy that grew out of it.)

In this analogous tale, Paolo has everything he needs to be happy in his contained existence--so why isn't he?

After six months, Karey risks telling Adrien the truth.

An atheist convict spends his final hours with the prison chaplain determined to make him believe.

Jennifer and Kate share their pregnancy news with Kate's parents

Straight Ellie and her gay best friend Vincent sleep together out of curiosity, then face the morning after.

Amanda helps her grandma pack up to move to a patio home.

In a dog-eat-doughnut world, the last peanut log can lead to life-changing decisions.

Vincent Van Gogh cuts off his ear and gives it to a prostitute.

A has-been musician and a career bartender vie for a dubious prize: a former homecoming queen.

A writer allows characters to take the lead and, in doing so, breaks through writer's block as well as stereotypes to create a love story.

A young military girlfriend's plan to use pregnancy to get her boyfriend to desert backfires.

When Thomas can't decide whether to buy for love or money, Mary helps him out.

Sam the Snowman tells the real story behind the famous reindeer.

Visiting American coach Jared offers Agymah the opportunity of a lifetime--training for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Documentary-style play written by students at D'Youville College as a final project once their Introduction to Theatre Production class went online. Available royalty-free with permission.

On a pouring night, a taxidermist finds a dead cat on his doorstep. You can imagine what happens next.