Rachel Rubin Ladutke

Rachel Rubin Ladutke

Rachel Rubin Ladutke is a produced and published playwright living in New Jersey.

Her works include 8 full-length plays, 3 musicals, and numerous shorter pieces. Excerpts from several of her plays appear in monologue and scene anthologies.

​She is a proud member of the International Centre for Women Playwrights (and a former ICWP Board Member), and of the Dramatists Guild.

Plays

  • CROSSING THE LINE by Rachel Rubin Ladutke
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy
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    Keyword: comedy, theatrics + 2 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: comedy, theatrics, one-act play in three scenes, four characters
    The Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the Vermont/Quebec border. Violet Blue, the long-suffering librarian, also serves as the border patrol agent, and is directing a summer production of The Pirates of Penzance. Damon, a conscientious and soft-spoken high school student, is just trying to reconnect with his older brother Harrison, a member of the Pirates cast. Unfortunately, the brothers soon...
    The Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the Vermont/Quebec border. Violet Blue, the long-suffering librarian, also serves as the border patrol agent, and is directing a summer production of The Pirates of Penzance. Damon, a conscientious and soft-spoken high school student, is just trying to reconnect with his older brother Harrison, a member of the Pirates cast. Unfortunately, the brothers soon find themselves entangled in a power struggle play between Violet and the company's star, Aurora Allegra.
  • GRACE NOTES by Rachel Rubin Ladutke
    Cast: 
    7–11
    ·
    Genre: drama, period
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    Keyword: family, adoption + 7 more
    Genre: drama, period
    Keyword: family, adoption, blended family, divorce, infidelity, reminiscence, reconciliation, absent parent, adult child with aging parent
    GRACE NOTES traces the lives of a New England family for three generations, through the lens of the witty, acerbic matriarch.
  • RICHMOND UNDERGROUND by Rachel Rubin Ladutke
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    14–17
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: History, American Civil War + 8 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, period, political
    Keyword: History, American Civil War, spies, espionage, woman-centric, family, drama, period piece, thriller, biographical
    Set in 1864-65, RICHMOND UNDERGROUND tells the true tale of a ring of Unionist spies operating in the heart of the Confederacy. Among their ranks is wealthy, middle-aged Elizabeth Van Lew, whose veneer of respectability provides the perfect cover...for a while, anyway...
  • SOWING THE SEEDS by Rachel Rubin Ladutke
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: adoption, reconciliation + 1 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: adoption, reconciliation, family
    In her late teens, Catherine gave up her daughter Samantha for adoption. Twenty-seven years later, they have been reunited, but it is not everything she hoped for. When the family gathers for a memorial service for Catherine's father, she is forced to come to terms with her own expectations, her aging mother's honesty, and her desire to repair her relationship with her teenage son.
  • THE UNDERSTANDING by Rachel Rubin Ladutke
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama, period + 2 more
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    Keyword: war, Torture + 3 more
    Genre: drama, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: war, Torture, atrocity, adoption, family betrayal
    Set in Argentina in 1995, THE UNDERSTANDING depicts the legacy of Argentina's "Dirty War" through the eyes of two sisters who stumble upon shocking secrets about their past.
  • THE WAY FORWARD by Rachel Rubin Ladutke
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: infertility, humor + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: infertility, humor, love, marriage, Depression, medication, Vermont, straight, Family. LGBTQ
    Wickham, Vermont. Mud Season is in full swing, and change is in the air. Liza, her wife Marti, and her best friend Charlie are all pondering life-altering choices...some of which don't sit well with Charlie's fiance, Ben. Meanwhile, Marti's mother Evelyn shows up on the doorstep of Liza and Marti's bed-and-breakfast, The Wickham Way Inn, unexpected and uninvited, with news of her own...
  • THE WAY HOME by Rachel Rubin Ladutke
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    11–13
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: centers LGBTQ characters, nonbinary character + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: centers LGBTQ characters, nonbinary character, asexual character, family, forgiveness and home
    Wickham, Vermont. Liza and her wife Marti are at the center of a large, close-knit family-by-choice spanning four generations. When her brother's child comes out as non-binary, Liza's carefully balanced family dynamic is irrevocably changed. Over the course of one chaotic summer, everyone will be forced to re-examine their views about the true meaning of family and home.

    Infused with...
    Wickham, Vermont. Liza and her wife Marti are at the center of a large, close-knit family-by-choice spanning four generations. When her brother's child comes out as non-binary, Liza's carefully balanced family dynamic is irrevocably changed. Over the course of one chaotic summer, everyone will be forced to re-examine their views about the true meaning of family and home.

    Infused with longing, pathos, and gentle humor, The Way Home explores our universal need for connection, understanding, and love.
  • THE WICKHAM WAY by Rachel Rubin Ladutke
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: Lesbian, gay + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Lesbian, gay, love, family, healing, friendship, grief
    Liza Cooper, an up-and-coming folk singer, returns to her native Wickham, Vermont with her girlfriend Marti in tow. Liza fled Wickham ten years earlier, after a traumatic experience on the eve of her high school graduation. She vowed never to return...until an important occasion demands her presence.

    Over the course of an emotionally fraught weekend, Liza struggles to come to terms with her...
    Liza Cooper, an up-and-coming folk singer, returns to her native Wickham, Vermont with her girlfriend Marti in tow. Liza fled Wickham ten years earlier, after a traumatic experience on the eve of her high school graduation. She vowed never to return...until an important occasion demands her presence.

    Over the course of an emotionally fraught weekend, Liza struggles to come to terms with her past, in the form of her estranged childhood best friend, Charlie, and makes significant choices about her future with Marti.

    Because Liza is a professional musician, this play with music includes four songs by Lisa Brigantino.