Sonya Sobieski

A lucrative scholarship opportunity prompts several groups of students to try their hand at performance art (despite having little idea what it is), infuriating Pam, who has wanted to be a performance artist for, like, ever. Desperately upping her game, Pam inadvertently makes an enemy of Dan, a math genius on parole. In a fit of pique, and with the unwitting assistance of his cousin Jerry, Dan breaks into Pam’s apartment and defaces her diary. When they are interrupted by Pam’s best friend, Zandy, misunderstandings ensue. Jerry falls in love with Zandy, Pam recruits Jerry in her bid for performance art greatness—with a piece that targets Dan—and Zandy sets out to infiltrate a rival troupe of truant clowns. A madcap, low-tech extravaganza about friendship and theater and trying to live compassionately in a world obsessed with success.

A time-jumping theatrical thriller investigating the nature of memory, female friendship, and self-obsession. Awkward ingénue Theresa, menacingly glamorous Claudia, and rebellious Ellie are three college classmates with romance, food, and each other on their minds. Claudia is Theresa's only (and controlling) friend, until Ellie enters the mix. The two alpha females clash with increasingly destructive consequences to their entire social circle. Theresa blooms post-college and falls in love with a nice anthropology grad student, but Ellie and Claudia’s mythic battle of wills continues to hold her in thrall. Through flashbacks and commentary by the never-completely-uninvolved actor/narrators, we find that Theresa was not the innocent pawn she always seemed. Ultimately, she must choose between the continuing, damaging excitement of her tortured youth or the potential dullness of a happy ending. 4F, 3M, ages 18-28. No set required.

An absurdist romantic comedy about our society’s struggle not to offend. Nice guy Steve tries to win back his beloved Tricia, who now works at The Institute of Right Things to Say, an increasingly totalitarian think tank devoted to eliminating the hurtful qualities of words.

Middle-class mom Shana is thrilled that her daughter tested into the most prestigious public school in the city. Unfortunately, her daughter isn’t; the school doesn’t believe in learning through play, even in kindergarten. Shana has joined the PTA to advocate for more recess and gym class, which the state mandates should be once a day, not once a week. But she discovers that “mandates” mean little in public education, where schools are run by bureaucratically tyrannical principals and shrinking budgets force reliance on the donations and hard work of parent volunteers. As discussions about money allocation and past disagreements get more heated, Shana and her fellow volunteers must admit to themselves that their kids are “gifted”mainly in socioeconomic status. But they have been reluctant to rock the boat while their own children benefit, thereby betraying their liberal ideals of protest and equality and keeping afloat—often single-handed—a deeply flawed system. One set.

Fencer wants Girl Scout, but she’s too good for him. If her heart were broken, however, she might be interested. He enlists his noble geek friend Henry to woo her, which he does, to Girl Scout’s delight. Now Fencer must orchestrate an apparent betrayal which can turn to actual betrayal. His not-so-secret admirer, Clown, who is also Girl Scout’s only friend, becomes an unwitting accomplice. An alternative take on the archetypes of high school. 2F, 2M

Another school day begins, and our seemingly stalwart student heroes are torn between anxiety and apathy. Will Craig ever tell Amber he likes her? Will Marcy convince anyone to help with the school beautification project? Does any of it really matter? Yes! And no! Maybe? A comic look at youthful ambivalence and the agonies and ecstasies of growing up.