James Hutchison

When Kris Kringle makes a guest appearance on the Dick Corey show he gets accused by one crazed member of the audience of making hamburger out of Rudolph and planning to take over the world.

2 Act Drama - 1M, 1W - Single Set - 120 minutes

Six characters from Langford tell stories from their lives: stories about, jealousy, revenge, love, and forgiveness.

Scene 1 – BACK ROADS: Mitch just wants to get drunk with his friends, roast marshmallows, and burn every copy of, The Story of Langford: A Century of Progress, the book he was commissioned to write by the Mayor.

Scene 2 – SMILE FOR THE CAMERA: Simone is busy getting things ready for her parent’s 50th wedding anniversary while she talks about Debbie Fisher and how much the two of them hated each other and how she caught her father cheating at the Green Gables Motel when she was sixteen and how that forever changed the relationship between her and her father.

Scene 3 – AIN’T NOTHING BETTER THAN FRIED CHICKEN: Earl is eating fried chicken and potato salad, on a hot summer day, in the park, while remembering, how twenty years ago, all that trouble started and people ended up getting killed.

Scene 4 – BAD HABITS: On a hot summer day during the Harvest Festival Carol is packing a picnic basket and talking about wanting to leave Langford when she was growing up and having to come back years later to look after her sick mother.

Scene 5 – DANDELIONS FOR BECKY: Trent Bowers is painting his fence and talking about the first summer he and his wife Tammy moved into the old neighborhood and how every Sunday morning they’d wake up and find a dandelion bouquet wrapped in a white ribbon on the bottom step of their front porch.

Scene 6 – TWELVE YEARS: Nora is celebrating her twelfth wedding anniversary alone, drinking wine, and talking about how cities and buildings and mountains and trees and animals and people all have souls and that sometimes you can capture that soul in a photograph.

2 Act Detective Mystery - 7M, 3W, Multiple Sets, 120 minutes

Jessica Quinn is a hard-drinking female detective who gave up her job as a newspaper reporter writing advice columns in order to start her own detective agency and put Alexander King, a local crime lord, out of business. Her most recent case started twenty years ago when Mary McConnell was forced to give up her baby girl for adoption by her father Colonel McConnell. Now a woman by the name of Hannah Stark has shown up claiming to be Mary’s daughter and the Colonel’s granddaughter. Quinn has been hired to find out the truth. Complicating matters is Quinn’s relentless crusade to put King, whom she blames for her father’s death, behind bars. There are plenty of twists and turns and a few gunfights as Quinn tries to find out the truth about Hannah and put King in jail.

2 Act Comedy - 1M, 1W - Single Set - 120 minutes

ACT I: The Gingerbread Suite - It’s Christmas and fifty-seven-year-old Mike Riley is unemployed, divorced, and living in his brother’s basement. Is it any wonder he’s depressed? Especially, since he’s spending the holidays in the Gingerbread Suite at the Prairie Dog Inn. It isn’t until Mike meets Claire McKenzie and the two spend a romantic night together that his luck begins to change. Now, on Christmas Eve determined to change his life Mike purchases the Two Turtle Doves Holiday Romance Gift Basket and hopes to make his relationship with Claire more than a one-night stand.

ACT II: The Candy Cane Suite - Harvey Swanson and Nancy Potter have been friends for years but after a kiss in a movie theatre during the ending credits they’ve decided to try and make their friendship a romantic one. Booking the Candy Cane Suite at the Prairie Dog Inn for a romantic rendezvous seemed like the next logical step but Harvey is still struggling to get over the death of his wife and feels guilty about being with another woman. Will Nancy and Harvey become lovers or will these new feelings and Harvey’s reluctance to let go of the past end their friendship?

Full Length Comedy - 1M, 1W, Single Set - 80 Minutes

- Sarah loves her Saturday afternoons with her lover Jerry, but when her husband Glenn finds out about the affair and threatens to kill Jerry – Sarah has to make a choice. Which wouldn’t be so strange – except for the fact – that Glenn and Jerry are the same man.

2 Act Drama - Cast of 10+ - 100 Minutes

A cast of ten brings to life this fresh, fun and lively adaptation of A Christmas Carol where you’ll meet Mr. Bentley, learn about the letters Scrooge wrote to his sister Fan, and find out who Mr. Newbury is. You’ll still find all the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future along with Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, the Ghost of Jacob Marley, Old Fezziwig, Scrooge’s nephew Fred, and the love of Scrooge’s life, Belle. There are some new scary bits, a few good laughs, a tender moment or two, and some surprises! It’s a fresh take on an old tale sure to thrill young and old alike.

In this small cast version of A Christmas Carol. The play can be performed with a cast of ten. One actor plays Ebenezer Scrooge and the rest of the cast play multiple roles. The staging is similar regardless of stage – thrust or proscenium. Along the back of the stage are costumes on hangers, set pieces, and simple furniture used throughout the play. Nestled in amongst all the costumes and set pieces are risers or chairs and places for the actors to sit at various times throughout the performance when they are not in a scene. The performing space is downstage, and all the magic happens in front of the audience. An actor who plays multiple roles simply changes costume or wig before moving down to play a scene. Actors move set pieces in and out. They perform special effects or make additional sounds to enhance a scene. If there are musicians amongst the troupe then they could add music if desired to particular moments of the play. Much of that invention will be determined by the performing space and talents and abilities of the performers and so it makes for great theatrical possibilities.

2 Act Drama - 20+ - Multiple Sets - 100 Minutes

In this fresh, fun and lively adaptation of A Christmas Carol you’ll meet Mr. Bentley, learn about the letters Scrooge wrote to his sister Fan, and find out who Mr. Newbury is. You’ll still find all the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future along with Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, the Ghost of Jacob Marley, Old Fezziwig, Scrooge’s nephew Fred, and the love of Scrooge’s life, Belle. There are some new scary bits, a few good laughs, a tender moment or two, and some surprises! It’s a fresh take on an old tale sure to thrill young and old alike.

2 Act Comedy - 6M, 3F, Multiple Sets, 120 Minutes

Marty Fisher has doubts and fears about getting married and staying in Pine Ridge with his fiancée Tami Cooper and so he’s been focusing on directing the Pine Tree Players Production of A Christmas Carol instead of helping his fiancée plan their wedding. On opening night when his Uncle, who’s playing Scrooge, turns up drunk, half the cast gets food poisoning, and Marty gets caught kissing his stage manager Samantha both the production and Marty’s relationship with Tami are on thin ice. As the curtain rises and the show lurches forward Marty will do all he can to save his show while trying to salvage his relationship with Tami.

CAST
Marty Fisher - Director of the play mid to late 20s
Tami Cooper - Marty's fiancée playing Belle and Lucy mid to late 20s
Kate Cooper - Tami's mother and Mayor of Pine Ridge plaing Mrs. Cratchit and Mrs. Fezziwig 50s
Kevin Fisher - Marty's Uncle and the Chief of Police playing Scrooge 50s
Peter Bingham - Marty's best friend and lighting director mid to late 20s
Samantha Banger - Stage Manager 19
Jayson Moore - Playing Young Scrooge and Topper mid to late 20s
Ed Markger - Playring Bob Cratchit late 30s
David Owens - The town Doctor playing Mr. Granger, Ghost of Jacob Marley, Fezziwig, the Ghost of Christmas Present and Cousin Herb 50s

SETTING
The entire action of the play takes place at the Grand Theatre in the city of Pine Ridge

One Act Comedy, 2M 1F, 8 Characters Three Sets, 60 minutes

After being told by his doctor that he’s dying Donny Bracco put out a contract out on his own life. So, when his Doctor calls him on his birthday and tells him the lab made a mistake, Donny is more than a little upset. Making matters worse, the original killer Donny hired, subcontracted the hit to another killer – who subcontracted it to another killer – who subcontracted it to another killer – who doesn’t know Donny is the one who put the hit out on himself. With time running out, Donny has to find the killer and convince him to call off the hit, otherwise this might be the last birthday he ever celebrates.

CAST
Donny Bracco - A Teacher
Vinnie Torelli - A Hitman
Sophia Falco - A Widow
Sid Valencia - A Butcher
Carmen Valencia - A Sister
Detective Murphy - A Cop
Detective Powell - A Cop
Stubby - A Hobo

Vinnie, Sid, Detective Murphy, and Stubby can all be played by the same actor.
Sophia, Carmen, and Detective Powell can all be played by the same actor.

SETTING
Stromboli's Italian Restaurant
The Sausage King
Donny's Apartment

TIME
Donny's 30th birthday

One-Act Comedy - 2M, 1W - Single Set - 60 Minutes

Failed playwright Leo Green kidnaps his ex-wife theatre critic Scarlet Osgood and rival playwright Morgan Brown and holds them at gunpoint just so he can prove to Scarlet how much he loves her and why his new play, The Phantom of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, deserves a Broadway production.

One Act Comedy, 3M, Single Set, 45 minutes

When Mortimer Graves shows up at Psychiatrist Dr. Donald Thompson’s office claiming to be the Grim Reaper the good Doctor simply assumes that Mortimer is under the delusion that he is death. Although Mortimer says he is there to escort Dr. Thompson to the other side, Dr. Thompson convinces Mortimer that he should go into therapy in order to help him deal with his loneliness and emotional issues. With the Doctor’s help Mortimer confronts his emotional issues and Doctor Thompson, with Mortimer’s help, reevaluates his life priorities.

2015 2nd Place Frostburg One Act Playwriting Competition
2014 Short Listed American Actors UK
2011 Suncor Energy Stage One Festival Lunchbox Theatre

CAST
Dr. Donald Thompson - the psychiatrist
Randy Cooper - the patient
Mortimer Graves - the Grim Reaper

SETTING
The office of Psychiatrist Dr. Donald Thompson

Time
Just before 4:00 pm the Friday before the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend*

In Canada Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October. In the United States Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November. Alternate lines have been provided for an American version where needed.

*Just before 4:00 pm the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

10 Minute Comedy - 2M, 1W - Single set 10 Minutes

Time travellers Dr. Fred Bunson and Commander Robert Frump have travelled back in time to retrieve a lost book and save the universe. With no library card and the book already signed out things look dim for our intrepid time travellers until librarian Sally Knowlton comes to the rescue.

10 Minute Comedy - 1 M - 1M/W - Single Set - 10 minutes

Nigel Davenport is a playwright who has been entering the Short Cuts Playwriting Festival for years. He’s never won, in spite of submitting hundreds of plays. When Nigel gets a call from Artistic Director Todd Sparks, he thinks his luck has finally changed, until he meets with Todd and Todd tells him that they’d like him to stop submitting to the Festival because he’s a terrible playwright. In fact, three members of this year’s reading committee resigned, two were treated for depression and one tried to commit suicide all because of Nigel’s plays. But instead of giving up this only inspires Nigel to try harder and figure out how to write an award winning play that will win the festival.

Big Breakfast @ Edinburgh Fringe - four stars - review by Philip Fisher
Never Give Up by James Hutchinson
Billy Knowelden is Nigel, an aspiring playwright. He has submitted over 500 efforts to Todd (Tom Hartwell) and is finally invited to a meeting.

The mismatch of expectations between a terrible writer and a kindly producer, combined with tragedy, make for a poignant comedy.

10 Minute Comedy - 4+, 4M, 1W, Single Set - 10 minutes

Phallus, the son of Oedipus and Jocasta, the King and Queen of Thebes, wants to marry Clitoris. Unknown to Phallus, Clitoris is actually his sister and Oedipus and Jocasta believe that their son’s love for Clitoris is why the Kingdom was cursed by a pox and now faces a terrible drought and possible starvation. To save the people from the wrath of Zeus, Oedipus must offer the Gods the blood of a thousand chickens and maybe even the life of his own son.

10 Minute Drama - 2M, 2W, Single set - 10 minutes

On Tom’s first Valentine’s without his wife Heather he relives the day they met fifty years ago and fell in love.

10 Minute Comedy - 2M, 3W, Single Set, 10 Minutes

Amy’s father suspects that Amy is about to announce to the family that she’s gay and that’s okay with him, but when Amy tells him she’s straight and an atheist he has trouble accepting the truth.

10 Minute Comedy - As a male writer works on a traditional telling of Cinderella his Cinderella has some very different ideas about how the story should be told.

10 Minute Comedy - Mr. Kensington has died without learning the true meaning of life and must plead his case for another chance or be returned to earth as a slug.

10 Minute Comedy - 3 M/W - Single Set

When Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer are tasked with writing the Ten Commandments we discover how Lucifer ended up in hell and man was given a soul.

One Act Comedy - 2M, 2W, 30 Minutes

The Perfect Match Corporation provides humans with robotic companions. Sarah Quan has run into her old boyfriend Christopher Connor and invited him and his robotic companion Melissa over to have dinner with her and her glitchy robotic companion Leo. It soon becomes apparent that Sarah and Christopher still have feelings for each other and Leo sensing the attraction is determined to keep Sarah and Christopher apart by any means necessary.

One Act Farce - 2M, 1W - 30 Minutes

Dave Dixon is looking for a job on-line when he is interrupted by the Metro City Census Taker. This is unlike any census Dixon has ever taken and when he’s asked whether or not he was spanked as a child he refuses to answer. That causes the Census taker to call for police back up and Dixon finds himself being targeted for corrective action because of his unemployment and the fact that he’s left handed. When a 2 kilo bag of white sugar is found on the premises and Dixon is facing jail time he has to make a moral choice between naming names and protecting himself.