Mary Carol Stunkel

Mary Carol Stunkel
After graduating from Michigan State Univ. in Theater, she held writing and on-camera positions with Natl. Educational Radio & TV while acting in a graduate theater company. From 1970 to 2001 Mary Carol worked full time in video producing, directing and management, and as a freelance voice-over artist. As Broadcast Division Manager for Press Broadcasting she ran PBC-TV from 1982 –89 and directed six of their syndicated TV programs. She is currently president of MC Squared Productions, Board of Directors member of the Two River Theatre Co in Red Bank, NJ where she served as president from the company’s inception until 2005. She is also Adjunct professor of Communication at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ where she teaches Story writing and performing. Mary...

Mary Carol Stunkel
After graduating from Michigan State Univ. in Theater, she held writing and on-camera positions with Natl. Educational Radio & TV while acting in a graduate theater company. From 1970 to 2001 Mary Carol worked full time in video producing, directing and management, and as a freelance voice-over artist. As Broadcast Division Manager for Press Broadcasting she ran PBC-TV from 1982 –89 and directed six of their syndicated TV programs. She is currently president of MC Squared Productions, Board of Directors member of the Two River Theatre Co in Red Bank, NJ where she served as president from the company’s inception until 2005. She is also Adjunct professor of Communication at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ where she teaches Story writing and performing. Mary Carol is a published short story writer but also performs original stories drawn from her own life.
Her play Random Access was recently one of three finalists for the Hudson Shakespeare Company’s New Works Competition.

Scripts

Indulgence

by Mary Carol Stunkel

1

Cast Size

4

Genre

drama

In 1517, Martin Luther tacked 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, condemning the sale of Indulgences and sparking the Protestant Reformation. By challenging papal authority and rejecting the corrupt practices, rituals, and non-scriptural doctrines of over a thousand years of Catholic dogma, he regraded the path to salvation for more than half the world’s Christians.
When Martin...

In 1517, Martin Luther tacked 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, condemning the sale of Indulgences and sparking the Protestant Reformation. By challenging papal authority and rejecting the corrupt practices, rituals, and non-scriptural doctrines of over a thousand years of Catholic dogma, he regraded the path to salvation for more than half the world’s Christians.
When Martin married an excommunicated nun in 1525, he also set the model for clerical marriage, but Katharina von Bora’s idea of a good wife was closer to today’s feminists than the obedient spouse Martin expected. Katie’s struggles, between her husband’s reforms and her Catholic roots, compel her to betray Martin to save the soul of their child. Indulgence is the story of their journey to find God’s grace and forgiveness from each other.

Random Access

by Mary Carol Stunkel

3

Cast Size

7—8

Genre

drama

Random Access

Renee: Memories aren't stored in closets; they’re in your head, and sometimes you can’t even give them away. I know; I've tried.

Arnie: And sometimes you can’t find them without a memento to remind you. I know; I've tried. Besides, you should never give away your memories.”
Act 1, Scene 5

Can one design a future without opening the closets of one’s past? What if they are locked and the key...

Random Access

Renee: Memories aren't stored in closets; they’re in your head, and sometimes you can’t even give them away. I know; I've tried.

Arnie: And sometimes you can’t find them without a memento to remind you. I know; I've tried. Besides, you should never give away your memories.”
Act 1, Scene 5

Can one design a future without opening the closets of one’s past? What if they are locked and the key to getting your son back is buried in a place you're afraid to go?

Random Access is a story about the capacity for caring; two often dismissed human beings who encounter each other, their past, their memories, and the transformation that can change their future. Renee, a young, self-proclaimed “good mother” is fighting to regain custody of her five year old son. But her unwillingness to face her past threatens a future far richer than the mere survival she’s learned to expect. And Arnie, a cantankerous octogenarian fighting just as fiercely to hang on to his memories long enough to complete the architectural legacy that will insure he is remembered.

Till Death Due Us Part

by Mary Carol Stunkel

1

Cast Size

2

Genre

dark comedy

A short, deadly serious romp
Shirley has recently lost her husband after almost 50 years. She's having trouble letting go and has decided to keep his ashes at home. Anxious to have a final resting place befitting her husband's high academic standing, she has purchased a "one of a kind" urn on a Black Friday Sale but needs the reassurance of her best friend to convince her it's the right choice.