Tom Smith

Co-Presidents of a collegiate improv team struggle to learn how to lead, how to open themselves to new directions, and how to let go of the past.

AUNT RAINI is based on the life of Leni Riefenstahl, who spent the early part of her career as the official documentarian of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Raini has come from Germany to visit her grand-niece, Katherine, a successful gallery owner. During dinner she meets Katherine's boyfriend, Joel, a photographer whose work focuses on his Judaism. Katherine does everything in her power to ensure Joel does not find out the true identity of her great-aunt. However, when Raini has a health scare and is admitted into a hospital, Joel discovers all.

Confronted with the truth, Joel grapples with his relationship with Katherine, questioning both her motives and the accusations lodged against Raini. But when a package arrives from Germany containing the original masters of Raini’s Nazi propaganda films, Joel forces Katherine to examine whether great art stemming from evil should be judged as significant historical artwork or evidence of hate crimes.

Veronica receives news her eldest daughter, Anna, has tragically died while on duty as a firefighter. The media picks up the story, and soon Veronica is thrust into the national spotlight as the mother of a hero.

After a year speaking to groups and becoming a sort of celebrity, Veronica must decide whether her choice to honor her daughter was based on her love for Anna, or something more self-serving.

Ophelia, her sister Eurydice, and four friends set up camp to study for a period of two years. Soon after, Orpheus, prince of Thrace, returns home after fighting alongside Argonauts accompanied by two soldiers, Aristeaus and Philandros. The men encounter the women and agree to assist in their studies.

Ophelia and Eurydice, having grown up with Orpheus, ask him to teach music since he is a demi-god blessed with special musical abilities. During the lesson, Ophelia declares her love for Orpheus, who does not respond in kind. Her sister Eurydice, a girl when Orpheus left, is now a woman and the two find they have instant chemistry. Eurydice rushes off to find Ophelia.

Eurydice and Ophelia are attacked by Echidna, half-woman and half-serpent, but are saved by Orpheus. At a party celebrating this, Orpheus announces his love for Eurydice. Ophelia agrees to the match, though is deeply heartbroken. Later that evening, Aristaeus, drunk and jealous of Orpheus’s abilities and reputation, attacks Eurydice, who runs away. She is attacked once more by Echidna and dies. Orpheus discovers her death the next morning, along with Ophelia’s, who hung herself in grief. In anguish, Orpheus unleashes his power and the world seemingly disappears.

Eurydice finds herself in the Underworld, looked after by her sister, Ophelia, and Maia, an older woman with a hidden past. Inhabitants slowly lose their memory in the Underworld, and Ophelia struggles to help Eurydice retain hers. Suddenly, a door appears and Orpheus arrives, having fought his way to retrieve Eurydice, yet losing his memory of her. Persephone, queen of the Underworld, hears of Orpheus’ arrival and banishes him. After much argument and a test, Persephone allows Orpheus to lead Eurydice back to the world of the living, as long as he does not look at her on the journey. Not hearing a single sound, Orpheus grows suspicious and looks back, banishing Eurydice to the Underworld forever. Days later, Eurydice sits in the Underworld, her memory of Orpheus completely gone, when Orpheus arrives, having killed himself to rejoin his love. Orpheus and Eurydice, not remembering each other, exchange pleasantries as he walks away forever…

Patricia’s husband Ron, who lives with Alzheimer’s, can no longer take care of himself and has been placed in a Memory Care unit at a local senior facility. The family deals with this difficult transition and Ron’s continual decline.

Just as a new normal seems to have been established, the family discovers that Ron has begun an intimate relationship with another patient. While Stephanie and Hallie are shocked and hurt by their father’s betrayal, Patricia has a much different reaction, due largely to a long-held family secret.