Jan Probst

While turning a familiar nursery rhyme on its head, a long held secret is revealed.

The crows reluctantly gather for an emergency meeting. Putting their wings together, they hatch a plan to save the planet. Is murder on the menu?

Sheriff Hardy Justice is spending another rainy night minding the drunk tank in dusty Cooterville Montana, when in walks a dame with a murder for him to solve. There's something about Cecelia Hooferberg; her long legs, her luscious red lips, her desperate need to avenge her father's death... or it might be that she's a horse.

The Cooterville Caper was written for the Story Relay at the 2023 Valdez Theatre Conference Fringe by The Loud Mouthed Malamutes (aka Kelsey Sullivan, Jillian Blevins, Jan Probst, Erin Moughon and Dante Medema).

It’s a spring day in April 1965. Vivian and Doug are a white, middle class couple taking refuge in their basement as they find themselves in the path of the worst tornado on record in the Midwest. They share their shelter with Hannah, a black woman they picked up at the bus stop, on their way home from church. Racial tension, misunderstanding, family secrets and regret underpin the story of this play. Civil rights meet civil war as the trio struggle to survive this shelter from the storm.

NOTE: The 2020 Premiere at Phoenix Theatre in San Francisco was cancelled due to the emerging Covid pandemic. Subsequently, a virtual version presented online was produced by Phoenix Arts Association in 2021 and received the following commendation from the San Francisco Theatre Critics Circle:

"For especially courageous and distinguished work online during Covid-19’s devastating forced closures. Thank you for keeping theatre alive through such dark days."

Bird on a Tree Branch is published by Next Stage Press. Script sample available under Supporting Materials.

We first encounter Edna at ninety-six, alone in her apartment in the small town where she has always lived. Like many others her age, she is awash in memories, appearing to await the end of her life. As we meet her best friend Margaret, and travel back in time through a handful of moments from Edna’s past, her very human journey unfolds. With good humor and the strength it takes to survive nine decades, Edna reminds us everyone's story is full of dreams, some met and some lost, challenging our immediate perception of the elders among us.

Published by Next Stage Press, script sample available under Supporting Material.

One young man's search for a lost brother and release from the story that haunts his family.

Allen and Mary clash over differing views of the perfect road trip. When the family gets involved, and the carefully marked map is tossed out, more than the route is changed.

The shocking truth behind a classic nursery rhyme.

NOTE: This is the stage version. Jill and Jack is also available as a radio play.

Short riff on an old, familiar nursery rhyme. How do Jack and Jill get safely down the hill during a pandemic?

This play was written for the Coronavirus One-Minute Play Festival, created by Dominic D'Andrea. On April 15, 2020, Jack and Jill Beyond the Pail received an online zoom reading, hosted and produced by Bevin M. O’Gara & Tyler Struble, Kitchen Theatre Company, Ithaca, New York.

Charlotte and Mo are afraid their dear friend Edna has dementia, while Edna just wants to go dancing with her sweetheart.

Two lonely people, out of step with the world, have a chance encounter on a Chicago train platform in 1965.

An older woman in a small town in the Midwest, recalls how she and her best friend survived the 1960s sexism of the town fathers with wit, humor and a fair share of moxy.

A surprising visitor arrives at a country estate in Victorian England.

After their wacky little sister makes a stunning announcement, the older two try to reel her in. Again.

An aging former child star engages her psychiatrist in one final performance.

The police sergeant finds her best friend digging through the local dump. Just who lost what and was it on purpose?

A surgery scar takes center stage in this monologue detailing the excitement of how they came to be and the sometimes harrowing adventures that followed.