Edmund Sabato

Edmund Sabato

Edmund P. Sabato is a former corporate communications writer and a
lifelong theater person. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

His 10-minute play, TROUBLEMAKERS, was selected in a blind national competition
and was produced with seven others in a three-week festival by Heartland Theatre
Company (Normal, Illinois).

His political comedy, TIGHT RACE, was...
Edmund P. Sabato is a former corporate communications writer and a
lifelong theater person. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

His 10-minute play, TROUBLEMAKERS, was selected in a blind national competition
and was produced with seven others in a three-week festival by Heartland Theatre
Company (Normal, Illinois).

His political comedy, TIGHT RACE, was commissioned and produced by Growden Theatre Company (Philadelphia).

TUMBLEWEEDS, a one act comedy, was one of five finalists produced in November 2021 as part of the Wilmington Drama League's Ruby M. Stanley One Act Play Festival.

SMITE ME, a two act dark comedy, was selected in a blind national competition as a Semifinalist in the 2022 Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival. It was selected for a Dramatists Guild DG Footlights City Swap Zoom reading in November, 2020 and was cast and directed by members of the Tennessee Chapter. It reached the second round (top 20%) in the 2022 Austin Film Festival Playwriting contest and was named a Semifinalist (top 1%) in the Playwrights First contest. An early draft was named a top 10 finalist in Southwest Theatre Association’s New Play Competition.

TROUBLE IN ANY LANGUAGE, a two act drama, was selected in a blind national competition as a Semifinalist in the 2021 Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival. It reached the second round (top 20%) in the Austin Film Festival Playwriting contest. An excerpt reached the semifinalist round of consideration for The Depot's (CT) new play readings. It was given a rehearsed Zoom reading on June 1, 2022 as part of the Dramatists Guild's DG Footlight program for new plays. A link to a recording of that Zoom reading is available by contacting the author at edsabato@gmail.com

His screenplay, A BENNY SAVED, was selected as a Semifinalist in the 2021 Cinequest contest (top 50 out of 1,109).

He has performed professionally with Philadelphia Actors Theatre and as an understudy for The Arden Theatre Company and Act II Playhouse. He has also acted in several productions with Barley Sheaf Players and Wilmington Drama League.

Plays

  • Trouble In Any Language
    Two Italian brothers are coal miners in West Virginia during Prohibition. Phil quietly saves his money to bring his wife over to join him. Joe enjoys wine, women, and America, and is a constant source of worry for his brother. Together they must deal with a new culture and language, a shady sheriff, a determined landlady, and a violent, jealous resident of their boarding house.

    Production notes:...
    Two Italian brothers are coal miners in West Virginia during Prohibition. Phil quietly saves his money to bring his wife over to join him. Joe enjoys wine, women, and America, and is a constant source of worry for his brother. Together they must deal with a new culture and language, a shady sheriff, a determined landlady, and a violent, jealous resident of their boarding house.

    Production notes: Fixed set. Firearms shown. Sound only of gunshots. Two acts. 75-85 minutes.
  • SMITE ME
    Helen, still dealing with her own childhood tragedy, is reluctantly pulled into another family’s crisis. A bombing has put J.P. in a coma, killed his father, and exploded the feud between his older brothers, an angry atheist and a priest whose followers may have been involved.

    Unlike his brothers, J.P. has never taken life or faith too seriously. But his grief and his own near-death experiences...
    Helen, still dealing with her own childhood tragedy, is reluctantly pulled into another family’s crisis. A bombing has put J.P. in a coma, killed his father, and exploded the feud between his older brothers, an angry atheist and a priest whose followers may have been involved.

    Unlike his brothers, J.P. has never taken life or faith too seriously. But his grief and his own near-death experiences may have changed that. He meets his match when he meets Helen, whose pointed humor spares no one as she wrangles three brothers into dealing with their blind spots and each other.
  • Tumbleweeds, a one act stage play
    A rookie female police officer is hazed during her first night shift working the desk at small desert substation in Arizona. Her partner for the evening is a veteran cop who is just trying to kill time until retirement. He tries to share the "wisdom" of his experience while preparing her for hazing yet to come. On her guard, she isn't fooled when the station gets a couple of unexpected visitors. Or maybe she is.
  • Tumbleweeds, a radio play
    A rookie female police officer is hazed during her first night shift working the desk at small desert substation in Arizona. Her partner for the evening is a veteran cop who is just trying to kill time until retirement. He tries to share the "wisdom" of his experience while preparing her for hazing yet to come. On her guard, she isn't fooled when the station gets a couple of unexpected visitors....
    A rookie female police officer is hazed during her first night shift working the desk at small desert substation in Arizona. Her partner for the evening is a veteran cop who is just trying to kill time until retirement. He tries to share the "wisdom" of his experience while preparing her for hazing yet to come. On her guard, she isn't fooled when the station gets a couple of unexpected visitors. Or maybe she is.

    This is a 20-25 minute radio play. It may also be staged as a short one-act.
  • TIGHT RACE
    A week before a Congressional election, a young speechwriter is suspended from her job when she discovers the campaign manager’s secret plan to win the campaign. She sneaks back into the campaign office at night to retrieve the evidence she needs to confront the candidate, but is surprised by a janitor. He has his own ideas about her freedom, her career, and the election. Their next decisions could make the...
    A week before a Congressional election, a young speechwriter is suspended from her job when she discovers the campaign manager’s secret plan to win the campaign. She sneaks back into the campaign office at night to retrieve the evidence she needs to confront the candidate, but is surprised by a janitor. He has his own ideas about her freedom, her career, and the election. Their next decisions could make the difference in a tight race.

    Produced by Growden Theatre Company in Philadelphia, 2004.
  • Attack Of The Strawmen
    A ten-minute play about political fear mongering. A new hire at a fringe right wing think tank accidentally encounters the messaging wizard located in their basement hideaway - someone they thought was a myth. They discover the persuasive value of fear and the role it plays in their new job.
  • Troublemakers
    Two brothers clash over their different approaches to faith and grief at the funeral service for a third brother.
    This script is no longer available. This ten minute play, which was produced after winning a national competition, was adapted from a scene in an early draft of the full length play, Smite Me.