Tom Cavanaugh

Tom Cavanaugh was born in Newark, New Jersey. He received a B.S. in Computer Science and Business Administration from Seton Hall University in 1987. In May of 2000, he received an M.F.A. from the Actors Studio Drama School at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Cavanaugh’s playwriting professors at the Actors Studio Drama School included: Romulus Linney, Jim Ryan, Jeffrey Sweet and Laura Maria Censabella. In 1999 while at the Studio, Tom was a semi-finalist in the Chesterfield Films Writers Foundation Project in Los Angeles.

Cavanaugh’s one-act play THE CIRCUS STILL COMES TO TOWN was produced as part of the Thesis Repertory Season at Circle in the Square Downtown (NYC). Veteran playwright Jonathan Reynolds and director/actor Carlyn Glynn mentored the production....

Tom Cavanaugh was born in Newark, New Jersey. He received a B.S. in Computer Science and Business Administration from Seton Hall University in 1987. In May of 2000, he received an M.F.A. from the Actors Studio Drama School at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Cavanaugh’s playwriting professors at the Actors Studio Drama School included: Romulus Linney, Jim Ryan, Jeffrey Sweet and Laura Maria Censabella. In 1999 while at the Studio, Tom was a semi-finalist in the Chesterfield Films Writers Foundation Project in Los Angeles.

Cavanaugh’s one-act play THE CIRCUS STILL COMES TO TOWN was produced as part of the Thesis Repertory Season at Circle in the Square Downtown (NYC). Veteran playwright Jonathan Reynolds and director/actor Carlyn Glynn mentored the production.

Cavanaugh served as Associate Producer for Ensemble Studio Theatre (NYC) in 2000 and his short plays 50TH & 8TH and AMEN were produced there in special presentation. 50TH & 8TH was selected a few months later for a showcase production by the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City.

Under the guidance of playwright Edward Allan Baker, Cavanaugh wrote the one act play DINER TALK in a workshop at Ensemble Studio Theatre. DINER TALK was awarded first prize in the Jersey Voices One Act Play Festival and was produced that summer in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Cavanaugh won his first screenplay competition in 2002 and was featured as a “Writer to Watch” in the March/April 2006 issue of “Script” magazine. HARVEST, a short erotic thriller, won third prize in Toucan Films Short Screenplay Competition in Burbank, CA. THE HEROES OF ’76, a coming of age screenplay about a boy growing up in Asbury Park in 1976, was a semi-finalist in the 2003 Sundance Institute Feature Film Development Project.

In 2005, Tom’s one act plays, ICONS and STARS IN CEMENT were produced for one month of shows in the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce’s, Hollywood Boulevard Playwriting Competition at the Actors Playpen in Hollywood, California.

Tom received his first commission for writing the one act play, ACE OF HEARTS in 2009. Twilight Productions produced ACE OF HEARTS during the summer of 2009 in Gilbertsville, Kentucky and has commissioned Cavanaugh to write two companion one act plays for a trilogy production in 2010.

Tom’s full length play BEHOLD was a 2010 finalist in the New American Playwrights Development Program at the Utah Shakespearean Festival and was one of three winners of the 2011 Pickering Award for Excellence in Playwriting. His one act play, WONDER won the Irene Bashore Award for Playwriting from Firstage Los Angeles.

Cavanaugh’s “coming of age” screenplay, THE WILDNESS TREATMENT was one of twenty scripts to receive Honorable Mention at the 2012 Los Angeles Movie Awards. THE WILDNESS TREATMENT is about a group of teens that are court ordered to attend a wilderness Boot Camp in the Utah desert.

Tom’s full length play ADAM & YOSHI is a finalist in The 2nd Annual McKinney Repertory Theatre New Play Competition in McKinney, Texas, one of three finalist for the 2013 New American Playwrights Development Program at the Utah Shakespearean Festival and won the 2012 Make the House Roar Prize for Comic Plays at the Lionheart Theater in Georgia.

In 2014, BEHOLD was given a staged reading with blocking for one night in The Living Room Series of The Blank Theatre in Hollywood, California. Members of the cast included David Marciano (From the television show HOMELAND) as John and Kerris Dorsey (From the television show RAY DONOVAN) as Rachel.

Tom’s full length play, INLAND EMPRESS was developed in workshop for over a year with the Fierce Backbone Theater Company of Los Angeles. INLAND EMPRESS had its World Premiere at The Lounge Theatre in Los Angeles on January 23rd, 2016. Spring of 2016, Tom was a member of the first PLAY LAB at the William Inge Theatre Festival and his one act play, THE CIRUCS STILL COMES TO TOWN was given a workshop reading.

In 2017, Tom’s one act play, THE FIELD premiered as part of the CTI Playwrights Festival in Independence, Missouri. His short play, MR.PICMAN was produced in the Short & Sweet Theatre Festival of Hollywood California and Manila, Philippines. In 2017, Tom was also the Director & Producer of UNDER THE JELLO MOLD, the Best Solo Performance of the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival and the Writer & Producer of POKER NIGHT, and the Short, the Best Comedy Short at the Culver City Film Festival.

Tom’s short play, COYOTE was listed by Theatre of Action in Los Angeles on their List of Plays on Immigration.

Tom is a writer member of The Actors Gym in N.Y and a writer member of We Make Movies Film Collective in Los Angeles, California. Tom is also a member of the La Strada Theatre Company in New Jersey.

Cavanaugh has been a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. since 1998 and is currently living in New Jersey.

Scripts

A SEMICOLON IS... (Monologue)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

What Semicolon means to some of us... some of us.

What Semicolon means to some of us... some of us.

OCEAN FRONT (Short Play)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

It's been 11 years since they were married and a couple goes to the beach to find the bench with commemorative plaque to celebrate the event when secrets and truths are told on their anniversary.

It's been 11 years since they were married and a couple goes to the beach to find the bench with commemorative plaque to celebrate the event when secrets and truths are told on their anniversary.

WORK SHOPPING (Short Play)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

A couple sits in a theater watching a staged reading when the characters on stage start to speak exact dialogue from the life of the watching couple. Life imitates art or has the playwright stolen the couples words?

A couple sits in a theater watching a staged reading when the characters on stage start to speak exact dialogue from the life of the watching couple. Life imitates art or has the playwright stolen the couples words?

Mr.Picman (Short Play)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

A mother and daughter accidentally exchange their cell phones. They realize what they have done after mom starts to receive text messages at three A.M. that are attached to pictures of naked men.

A mother and daughter accidentally exchange their cell phones. They realize what they have done after mom starts to receive text messages at three A.M. that are attached to pictures of naked men.

COYOTE (Short Play)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

A human trafficking operations goes wrong and two men deal with their criminal actions. Inspired by a true story.

A human trafficking operations goes wrong and two men deal with their criminal actions. Inspired by a true story.

THE MONARCHS (Short Play)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

Two school kids meet on a bench and discuss a natural phenomenon as they are smack in the middle of the Monarch Butterflies migration flight path.

Two school kids meet on a bench and discuss a natural phenomenon as they are smack in the middle of the Monarch Butterflies migration flight path.

I'M FAT! (Short Play)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

I’M FAT deals with the body shaming issue! A big beautiful woman is working out when she’s approached by a slender, attractive, seemingly “Fitness Guru”! We find out that our big, beautiful woman Our big beautiful woman is NOT putting up with it this time. She’s been through it all! Our lady has been approached by people selling diets, people selling coaching, people selling gym memberships and not once have...

I’M FAT deals with the body shaming issue! A big beautiful woman is working out when she’s approached by a slender, attractive, seemingly “Fitness Guru”! We find out that our big, beautiful woman Our big beautiful woman is NOT putting up with it this time. She’s been through it all! Our lady has been approached by people selling diets, people selling coaching, people selling gym memberships and not once have they gotten to know her, but they all just assume our lady is a miserable, over eater with no self control and despite their fees for services and products… these healthy salespeople were all going to solve her FAT problem for her, as if they knew her enough to come up with a solution… a HIGH priced solution.

So our beautiful plus sized lady isn’t having it anymore! She’s not gonna hear another sales pitch or put up with another “fitness” hawker making her feel bad about her size and eating habits! Our larger than usual heroine isn’t having it when the skinny, fitness guru lady hands her a before and after set of pictures and explains… “ I know what you are feeling”… “That used to be me.” The beautiful, in shape lady used to a be a big beautiful woman and she wants to help our heroine… she wants our hero to join her “program”, her “fitness plan”… our small sized, work-out guru explains, “I do have a plan… it’s called FRIENDSHIP!” and our hero smiles as the two women shake hands and become friends. I’M FAT is a short that deals with a matter that is right out of the headlines and the story puts it all in perspective, so that by the end of the piece not only has the audience been educated, but they will feel hopeful and with promise!

PORK ROLL, EGG & CHEESE (Full-Length)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

Someone is stealing the bread and baked goods deliveries from the Garden State Breakfast Shop before it opens up. and that is only the beginning of the Tomaso Families new problems. Jimmy Tomaso and his three daughters run a sandwich shop on the Jersey Shore. Jimmy is a "dinosaur" now in this #Me-too world and is constantly being corrected by his 3 daughters on how to talk correctly "in mixed company" as his...

Someone is stealing the bread and baked goods deliveries from the Garden State Breakfast Shop before it opens up. and that is only the beginning of the Tomaso Families new problems. Jimmy Tomaso and his three daughters run a sandwich shop on the Jersey Shore. Jimmy is a "dinosaur" now in this #Me-too world and is constantly being corrected by his 3 daughters on how to talk correctly "in mixed company" as his livelihood is threatened when and Indian woman and her son open a breakfast shop across the street from the family business. The three daughters have their issues too! One, is trying to catch their Bakery Bandit, the other has a new boyfriend, who happens to be the Indian son of the new competitor across the street and the oldest is in love and having an affair with Jimmy's best, black friend Eddie. Jimmy cannot handle the fact that after thirty years of serving breakfast to the community that another business will open that also sells breakfast to the beach going crowd. The girls have to deal with their father while trying to grow and fulfill their dreams, but dad is having a hard time with the new relationships and the new competition. Jimmy constantly refers to the new Indian family across the street as "DOTS" and makes several unacceptable comments that are cut off by his daughters, but it isn't until his best friend, Eddie, a black man, explains, "No, you really are a racist, you just don't realize what you are saying!" Eddie then educates Jimmy on being a better man in the Twenty-First Century. In the end, Jimmy makes the changes and accepts his daughters new romances with men of color, deals with the homeless woman former teacher who has been stealing the baked goods to survive and Jimmy ends up schooling the Indian Woman/Chef from across the street what Pork Roll, Egg & Cheese is all about! Jimmy becomes a 21st Century Man with a new outlook on the world and an elevated consciousness in diversity and fairness.

INLAND EMPRESS (Full-Length)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

INLAND EMPRESS is a full-length play set in California’s High Desert or Inland Empire that deals with many contemporary themes and issues. Louise is a career criminal who finishes her seven year stretch in Chowchilla Women’s Prison and comes home to find that her position as head of the family and the family business has been filled by her niece. The family believes that Louise has come back to take her place...

INLAND EMPRESS is a full-length play set in California’s High Desert or Inland Empire that deals with many contemporary themes and issues. Louise is a career criminal who finishes her seven year stretch in Chowchilla Women’s Prison and comes home to find that her position as head of the family and the family business has been filled by her niece. The family believes that Louise has come back to take her place, but Louise reveals to them that in prison she had a spiritual enlightenment and her life has changed. Louise explains that she has converted to the Muslim religion and at the same time reveals the answers to many, deep, family secrets. Louise tries to make amends and help the girls through their personal problems, but must confront the eldest girl, Sierra, who believes that Louise is trying to dethrone Sierra and take away the power that she has held over the last seven years.

ADAM & YOSHI (Full-Length)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

ADAM & YOSHI is a full-length drama. It features a young successful comic book writer who is getting over a divorce and falling deeper in love with Yoshi, a woman who dresses as a superhero and claims to be from another planet. Adam bears with his unhappy home and career, but he learns from Yoshi how to envision a different reality for himself until she reveals her real intention at the end of the play. Themes...

ADAM & YOSHI is a full-length drama. It features a young successful comic book writer who is getting over a divorce and falling deeper in love with Yoshi, a woman who dresses as a superhero and claims to be from another planet. Adam bears with his unhappy home and career, but he learns from Yoshi how to envision a different reality for himself until she reveals her real intention at the end of the play. Themes of masking, unmasking, complacency and bravery are interwoven as Adam’s alpha-male persona morphs before our eyes to into the role of a victim in a “catfish” like scam.

BEHOLD (Full-Length)

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

Act Act One, Scene One - It is a Friday in a suburban household, the night before a big football game. GINNY is making a birthday cake for her football star son, JUSTIN,
the golden boy of the family. JOHN returns home from work and steams open a letter
from Notre Dame, inviting JUSTIN to interview the next weekend. He and RACHEL,
a teen, go out to get blue and gold birthday party decorations for JUSTIN...

Act Act One, Scene One - It is a Friday in a suburban household, the night before a big football game. GINNY is making a birthday cake for her football star son, JUSTIN,
the golden boy of the family. JOHN returns home from work and steams open a letter
from Notre Dame, inviting JUSTIN to interview the next weekend. He and RACHEL,
a teen, go out to get blue and gold birthday party decorations for JUSTIN’s birthday
party that night. BOBBY, the elder son comes to the house drunk. We find that JOHN
had been an alcoholic but is now sober, and BOBBY’S life is going on a downward
path. GINNY helps BOBBY sober up with coffee before the others get home. The
scene ends with the family shouting, “Surprise” as JUSTIN approaches from offstage.

Act One, Scene Two – The family arrives home from JUSTIN’s funeral. He has been
the victim of a high school shooting. At JOHN’s insistence, RAY, the police chief and a
family friend, tells them the specifics of the shooting. It appears JUSTIN’s body was
found hunched over a female victim’s, apparently trying to protect her. They deem him
a hero. JOHN begins drinking again, but BOBBY stops. RACHEL breaks down with
guilt because she ran away from the gunshots instead of going to find her brother. They
see a memorial of seven crosses on the hill just above the school, which means that
someone has planted a cross for the shooter as well. JOHN is furious. The family
debates whether the shooter was a victim, and where God is in this whole picture.
JOHN calls RAY back and protests. RAY returns the contents of JUSTIN’s locker.
The family examines the clothing, GINNY puts on his jacket, and they view the photos
of the birthday party. BOBBY and GINNY discuss memories of the long nights when
JOHN was still drinking. RACHEL sets up a shrine to JUSTIN.

Act Two, Scene One – Each family takes part in a dramatic fugue wherein they
reveal how they spent the first sleepless night after the funeral. JOHN runs up the hill
and destroys all seven crosses; BOBBY has a revelation when he opens the Bible for
guidance (Song of Solomon, Ch. 2, v. 28); GINNY describes symptoms of phantom pain
and depression; and RACHEL mourns her loss of JUSTIN’s teasing and big brother
behavior. The fugue ends with the whole family watching JOHN destroying the memorial. RACHEL and BOBBY debate whether the shooter was a victim. RAY comes to arrest JOHN and takes him prison.

Act Two, Scene Two - RACHEL gives a monologue about reporters taking over the
streets of the town, shoving their cameras in the faces of the victims, yet focusing only
on the shock of the killings. She relates how her father came shackled through the courtroom and was released, and how each day is becoming worse. GINNY is depressed. JOHN wants to move and GINNY refuses. BOBBY goes to visit his estranged little daughter, then returns and says he would like to go back to school and become a minister. BOBBY says that rumors are circulating that JUSTIN had been a bully and caused the shooter’s rampage. RACHEL goes to a friend’s house, and then violently beats a girl at the mall because she heard her voice the rumors. JOHN insists of getting RACHEL out of town, but GINNY won’t leave. RACHEL says there is no God. JOHN takes RACHEL and leaves. GINNY is completely incapacitated by depression, and sinking into the delusion that JUSTIN is still alive. BOBBY remains in the family house to take care of his mother and moves into the position of the “good son”.

#whiteprivilege

by Tom Cavanaugh

Synopsis

A wealthy man's son comes home from exploring the world and finds he has been recruited into the family business. The son will manage a warehouse and work with two young men that will teach him about the world that he thought he knew... oh yeah... the two twenty-somethings have done time for murder and are working off their "debt to society".

A wealthy man's son comes home from exploring the world and finds he has been recruited into the family business. The son will manage a warehouse and work with two young men that will teach him about the world that he thought he knew... oh yeah... the two twenty-somethings have done time for murder and are working off their "debt to society".