Adam Richter

Steven is visiting the land of his ancestors.

(ONE-MNUTE PLAY)

A writer has just spent a month confronting daily deadlines when a zombie comes knocking.

Written for 28(29) Plays Later: Zombies.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Pete is waiting for his friends in a karaoke bar. What's even worse is they don't even have any Pearl Jam songs.

Well, there is one thing that's worse ...

Written for 28(29) Plays later 2024, prompt: Title of play is "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)." Which was the title of this play until about 10 minutes ago.

(FIVE-MINUTE PLAY)

A writer has just a few hours to complete an absurdly strict writing assignment. Plus it's bath time.

Written, albeit grudgingly, for 28(29) Plays Later. Prompt: Follow 10 strict rules

The heart is just trying to do its job. Brain keeps pestering it with requests.

Written for 28(29) Plays Later 2024: Write about body parts.

(One-Minute Play)

D is infatuated with E. E is attracted to D. What could go wrong?

Written for 28(29) Plays Later in response to the prompt: “Create music with your words.”

(TEN-MINUTE ALL-AGES PLAY)

While walking with his grandchildren, Bernard gives Rosa and Brian a seemingly impossible task.

Inspired by a short story by Lady Gregory.

Written for 28(29) Plays Later: Write a panto play.

(FIVE-MINUTE PLAY)

Brendan and Daniel are listening to Irish music in a pub. Daniel is into it a little too much.

Written for 28(29) Plays Later 2024: Prompt 12: Write part one of a trilogy.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Doctor Jay has created a new form of life, but things quickly get messy — especially once an angry villager breaks into his laboratory.

Written for 28(29) Plays Later, with the prompt: Use lyrics from a favorite female songwriter. This play contains lines misappropriated and taken out of context from Brandi Carlile's superb 2007 album, "The Story."

(SOLO PIECE FOR 1 ACTOR)

A runner is four miles (give or take) from the marathon finish line when doubt starts to creep in.
(Content warning: Verse)

Written for 28(29) Plays Later 2024.

(One-minute play)

"Moby Dick" gets some severe (and probably much-needed) editing.
(Content Warning: contains spoilers about the end of a really old novel.)

Written for 28(29) Plays Later 2024.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Bridget is trying to write a letter in a delicate situation when some unexpected help arrives.

Written for 28(29) Plays Later 2024: Write a riddle play.

(FIVE-MINUTE PLAY)

A copy editor has to clean up a reporter's story. Deadline is fast approaching.

Written for 29 Plays Later 2024.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

Fallon has a fear of falling asleep. Luckily, there's an app for that.

Written for 28(29) Plays Later 2024. Prompt: Write about a fear.

(TEN-MINUTE MONODRAMA)

In 1923, Grace Giffords was held in the same jail where in 1916 she married her husband, who was executed the morning after their wedding. While there, she did what she knew best: draw.

Written for 28 (29) Plays Later 2024.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

A new baby enters the lives of four people. What will they think?

Written for 28 Plays Later 2024

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Tybalt and Laertes could have been great men. They were just in the wrong story. Now they're stuck with Cinna, a poet.

Written for 28 Plays Later 2024.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

(Despite what the title may imply, this is a play for all ages.)

Can a broken ornament and a hungry cat save Christmas?

Written as part of Playwrights Thriving 2023 Secret Santa Title Swap.

(TWO-MINUTE PLAY)

Trevor and his sister Britney share a bonding moment at the funeral of their father, who died because Trevor was hungry.

(MONOLOGUE)

A parent tries to give a reassuring talk after their teenager messed up.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

M's insecurities come calling at the worst time, as always.

(Five-minute play)

B tries to stop their partner A from getting sucked into the never-ending news vortex.

A college admissions counselor has bad news for a high school student from Florida.

(Ten-Minute Play)

(Part of the "Terrible Beauty 2.0" series)

Marisa tries to recruit a spoken-word artist for her master plan. But first she has to figure out what that plan is — and break some bad news to the poet.

(FiVE-MINUTE PLAY)

(Part of the "Terrible Beauty 2.0" series)

A would-be saboteur has a new assignment: Teach her target to be better.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

(Part of the "Terrible Beauty 2.0" series)

On a lunch break, two co-workers at an AI company consider the implications of what they do for a living.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

(Part of the "TERRIBLE BEAUTY 2.0" series)

A manager at an AI company has a breakthrough with one of his employees, as well as the AI itself.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

(Continuation of the "Terrible Beauty 2.0" play)

A worker at an AI company finally gets the chance to ask the machine why she has to feed it so much information.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

In the (let's face it, near) future, two office workers are tasked with teaching an AI bot how to write poetry.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Itinerant workers Reggie and Tommy have been riding the rails for years. But Reggie got some news that could up-end their friendship.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

You know how the first pancake in the batch never turns out right? That has more than one application.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

Family mortalities are different in their own way.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

A writer seeks inspiration from a muse, who is frankly a little tired of all the entreaties.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Jon was sent on a simple mission: Buy a new car.

(FIVE-MINUTE PLAY)

Eddy has found an analog way to replicate the online social networks he has abandoned.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)
Two people spend a lazy summer afternoon staring at the sky.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Cris and Nell are standing in a void. What happened to everything (and everyone) else?

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

A mockingbird tries to build a nest in a human's backyard. The human really, really, doesn't want them there.

Written for the 2022 28 Plays Later challenge.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Once upon a time, a wizard who helped educate a town's youth raised the suspicions of parents and local politicians alike, becoming a target of their hatred and bigotry.

Written for the 2022 28 Plays Later challenge.

NOVA and AMORDAD love each other, but can they get the timing right?

Written for the 2022 28 Plays Later challenge.

(Ten-Minute Play)

What happens when time finally runs out? Is it a paradox to answer this question with a 10-minute play?

Written as part of the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

Laura is a world-famous artist. Jake wants to be just like her. This is his first class.

Written for the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge

(Monologue)

Bob, a CIS man, defends a trans co-worker.

Written for 28 Plays Later 2023.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Looking for inspiration to create art from true events, Carson goes through newspaper archives and finds truth but no art. He doesn't even find the whole truth.

Written for 2023 28 Plays Later.

(TWO-MINUTE PLAY)

In an effort to undo centuries of oppression and mistreatment of Black Americans, a car seller tries to strike a bargain.

Written for 2023's 28 Plays Later

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

In 1632, royal physician William Harvey is sent to a woman's cottage to determine if she's a witch. Based on a purportedly true story.

Written as part of the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge.

Harper is proud to celebrate his 50th birthday and the long list of accomplishments that got him there.

Written as part of the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

A college student wrote a paper using an AI chatbot, and their professor is freaking TF out.

Written as part of the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge.

What do you need to solve a crossword puzzle? Intelligence or wisdom?

Written as part of the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge

(FIVE-MINUTE PLAY)

Harold and Eunice, now at the age where they can enjoy early bird specials at the diner, finally start to date now that their spouses are out of the picture.

Written for the 2023 "28 Plays Later" challenge.

(FIVE-MINUTE PLAY)

A detective has an unconventional way of breaking down clients.

Written for 28 Plays Later 2023.

(Monologue)

Rollo makes a chance encounter that turns out to be important.

Written as part of the 2023 28 Days Later challenge

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Pam and Nancy are having relationship trouble. Can Taylor's diary bring them back together?

*Written as part of the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge

(TWO-MINUTE PLAY)

A teacher instructs his class of writers to write a play in the style of Dylan Thomas.

Written as part of the 2023 '28 Plays Later' challenge. (Details in the play.)

(ONE-ACT PLAY)

High above the River Brandon in Kinsale,County Cork, Ireland, Nancy Donough hears the cry of the banshee. But she’s not the only one to hear it — nor is she the only one to be haunted by the plaintive wail that reaches across generations.
“Banshee” is a story about ambition, fate and what we inherit from our ancestors.

Written as part of the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge: Write a play in the Japanese Noh style.

(Previous Titles: "Why The Banshee Wails", "Granny Nancy")
New draft uploaded Jan. 7, 2024

(A monologue in verse)

What if Macbeth changed his mind?

(FIVE-MINUTE PLAY)

In this "Hobbit" parody, two characters compete in a riddle contest. Things go off the rails quickly.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)
During a school event, an author desperate for sales meets a school board member desperate to ban books.

Written as part of the 2023 28 Plays Later challenge

(first draft)

A meditation on the limits of time, and how we use (or waste) it.
Monologue for an actor of any age, race, gender, ability or ethnic identity

(FULL-LENGTH)
Mild-mannered reporter and copy-desk scourge Josh Watkins moonlights as a superhero. His biggest nemesis: Finding a work-life balance.

This is a working draft. Development opportunities welcome.

(Ten-Minute Play)

Tierney has come to Brita with an urgent request: To save the planet by killing them.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge are two of the most ruthless businessmen London has ever seen. They are hated by everyone and hate everyone in return.

But they have each other.

Based on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," or at least the characters therein.

Three friends play a version of Screw, Marry, Kill, minus the first two parts.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

A reporter has the scoop of the century.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

A Twitter user pursues that elusive blue checkmark.

(FIVE-MINUTE PLAY)

Someone left a sock in the middle of the floor. It’s a bigger deal than it sounds like.

(ONE-ACT PLAY)

In this prequel to "Hamlet," Claudius wants to get his brother to be a better king. He has the best of intentions. Really.

Working draft: Open to development opportunities.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Frank and Brendan get drunk and wonder why they fall for the worst Irish stereotypes on St. Patrick's Day.

A high school student weighs whether to remove his mask when scolded by Florida's governor.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

For the last 150 years, Phil has predicted when winter will end. This year, he may have gone too far.

Written as part of the 2022 28 Plays Later writing challenge

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Gary and Carol, two city slickers, have a lot to learn about country life.

(Ten-Minute Play)

As Rosa and Brady run errands in preparation for her wedding, Brady has trouble letting go of the past.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

A mystery play about the story of Job, the man whom God and Satan tormented for their own amusement.

Written as part of The Literal Challenge's 28 Plays Later Challenge, 2022

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

In 1980, a popular afternoon DJ is tasked with an assignment critical to the survival of the human race in 2022.

Written as part of The Literal Challenge's 28 Plays Later Challenge, 2022

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Reggie is determined to learn how to meditate. If only his notifications would STFU.

(MONOLOGUE)

A longtime editor talks about his work, to anyone who's interested. A tribute to the unsung heroes of the written word.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

A lighthearted look at the creative process and theatrical collaboration.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAYS)

Five one-minute plays about the online game Wordle and the fad it’s created. Pieces may be performed together or individually.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

An ancient Irish demon pursues Colleen intending to ferry her to the underworld. Instead, they both end up in an exurban shopping mall with unpleasant company.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Doctor Harold Bendix is on a critical mission to another planet. His crewmate is the one person in the universe he never wanted to see again.

A version with two women as the lead characters is also available. Contact the playwright for more information.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

On the occasion of the birth of the savior, those in attendance struggle to name the baby.

*A longer version of this play was performed by the sketch comedy group Some Kind of Cult in 1999.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

Benny hears the neighbors fighting and wonders what to do about it.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Winner, 2023 Phillips' Mill Emerging Playwrights Competition

On her last day, Sheila thinks she may have found a way to keep her struggling newspaper afloat.

(Updated July 6, 2023, with rewrites)

(TEN-MINUTE AUDIO PLAY)

Two swans return to their ancestral nest, only to discover it's not what they expected.
To listen to the play and view the accompanying map, visit:
https://adam-richter.com/mirror-pond/

(MONOLOGUE)

A guardian of a wild land finds a way to put some interlopers to good use.

(ONE-ACT PLAY)

Trevor has just been bitten by a 1,000-year-old vampire. He has questions.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

Hiram watches his grandson play in the backyard.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

Noah and Chloe are trying to find out about the latest shooting. They have a lot of headlines to get through.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)
A local taxpayer makes her voice heard at a town council meeting.

(ONE-MINUTE PLAY)

Mom and Dad just want their kid to get off her phone.

(ONE-MINUTE)
Kyle's dad likes to micromanage.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

A fictional account of the night that Billie Holiday left Artie Shaw’s band. She was the first Black singer to perform full-time with a white orchestra.

(ONE MINUTE PLAY)

Alex and Mo violate a rule of writing, with disastrous results.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Max has had a bad year, so he pulls out all the stops to change his luck on Lunar New Year.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Sam and Taylor take a walk in the park for the first time together since the pandemic began. It's — awkward.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Nick has orders to kill Victor. Victor has other plans.

This play was inspired by the movie “Miller’s Crossing” and the Dashiell Hammett novel “The Glas Key.” but is not based on them.

(10-MINUTE PLAY)
A man gets the grim reaper for his guardian angel. It doesn't work out well.

*An earlier version of this play was performed by the Seattle-based sketch comedy group Some Kind of Cult in 2000.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)
Grace and her friend Immanuel Kant are strolling the midway at a carnival on a summer night when a chance meeting brings Kant face-to-face with an old rival.

(10 MINUTES) Milo and Dierdre are out for a hike when things go terribly wrong.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

Vanessa has some good news for Charles. But he doesn't take it that way.

(ONE MINUTE) The complete contents of every single Zoom meeting of the past year.

Milo becomes a viral sensation but doesn't want what his newfound fame can offer him.

Milo is about to get married, and he already hates the fathers of the friends of his unborn children.

A one-minute play about a son who visits his father in the hospital.

(10 MINUTES) (MONOLOGUE) A fictionalized account of the brief life of Luna, the killer whale who lived among people for most of his too-short life.

A woman preparing her first solo Thanksgiving meal checks in with her mom in the middle of a pandemic.

A landlady erupts when she sees her tenant has desecrated her rental property.

A dad confronts the demon hiding under his child's bed.

(FULL-LENGTH)

A set of five monologues based on interviews with immigrants who settled in the Reading, Pa., area over the last 35 years or so. The monologues are intertwined in seven scenes, organized by theme. An adaptation for Zoom performances is also available.

A man tries to improve his self-image with some mail-order clothes, but meets some strong resistance from himself.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

The Greek hero Perseus seeks to kill the Gorgon Medusa but his plan quickly falls apart.

(ONE-ACT)

An accomplished author returns to the hometown she wants to forget, only to encounter a fan who wants to immortalize her.

(TEN-MINUTE PLAY)

The philosopher Plato discovers the hazards of depending on technology when he loses the notebook he's been using to record all of Socrates' dialogues.

A one-minute play about a record-store owner who sells a valuable album to a customer who does not treat his purchase with sufficient veneration. Possibly based in real life.

A man facing the prospect of life-altering news meets someone who helps him put his life in perspective. Alternatively: A woman who received life-changing news meets someone to whom she can provide meaningful direction.

"Dancing Lesson" is a tale not of opposites attracting, but of how we find our tribe.

A vampire approaches a strange house looking for his next victim, not realizing his parents had moved.

A chatty worker gives a rambling soliloquy to a co-worker during lunch and finds an unreceptive audience.

A man gets into a fight with a fellow online commenter.

(10 MINUTES)
"Trapped" is a short play that looks at what could happen to someone whose only contact with the outside world was via social media. In it, Rapunzel is trapped in her tower by Mother Gothel, but one day a prince visits who gives her a smartphone as a present. Rapunzel uses it to learn about the outside world, but instead of really learning anything she falls for hoaxes and false rumors on Facebook.

The two characters in the play are women: One to play Rapunzel, one to play Mother Gothel. The staging requirements are simple: just two chairs. Props would include Rapunzel’s long hair and a smartphone.

A one-minute play in which every line starts with the letter "B". Not as part of any grand scheme or overarching vision; just because I thought it would be fun. It ends badly for one character.

A one-minute play in which a man tries to help his friend come up with a pet name for the latter's beloved. In the end, one of them is set upon by ducks. This was a writing exercise inspired by Matthew Weaver.

(10 minutes)

A vineyard owner practicing pest control gets an unexpected visit on behalf of the pests.