CK Brestman

(FULL LENGTH. 120 pgs)

A young couple decides to take the next step in their life story, having a child, only to be confronted by extraordinary challenges. Their pursuit for answers leads them only to unimaginable heartbreak. Their solitary struggle takes a devastating toll on their selves and their relationship.

Letters to Angels is the oft unspoken story of the countless couples who struggle, and endure, and fight to overcome the challenges of infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss.

(ONE ACT. 35pgs)

Dante’s Inferno gets a fresh new circle when the Seven Demon Princes of Hell are summoned to group therapy. When these demons explore their inner demons, all hell breaks loose.

(ONE ACT, 18pgs.) A cohort of toxic teens, frenemies and unapologetic enablers, eager to outdo one another's deceptions. Their deleterious actions spiral to an unfortunate and inevitable outcome.

Actions have consequences.
A prelude to a tragedy.

(CYCLE. 40pgs)

The Bench Cycle explores the complexities of relationship, and the challenges and complements of differing
personalities.

This collection of short plays eavesdrops on conversations on a simple park bench. Each vignette explores that which is said and unsaid at pivotal moments over the course of a half century of relationship. Cause and consequence in the untold stories between.

(ONE ACT. 32 pgs)

A middle-class American family awakens to find themselves suddenly thrown into the middle of a devastating war, 7 years in the future.

First published in 1954 in the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, Philip K. Dick’s Breakfast at Twilight explores the eternal nature of the threats of censorship, totalitarianism, and war.

(ONE ACT. 23 pgs)

First published in the 1927 short story collection Men Without Women, Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers presents the tense realism of a young man learning the harsh consequences of a life of wrong choices in prohibition-era
Chicago.

(SHORT)

3:33a.m. A time when all good souls are resting soundly in deep slumber. But for one poor insomniac, these wee hours are plagued by nightly visits from their inner voices. Psyche makes strange bedfellows.

I hear the secrets that I keep. When I’m talking in my sleep.

(SHORT. 7 pgs)

Water, water everywhere. At work, at school, at the gym, in the car. Water bottles are everywhere. People have become obsessed with constant hydration and fear being without their emotional support bottle.

Holy Water is a satirical examination on the prevalence of water bottles, the misconceptions behind the need for constant hydration, willful ignorance, confirmation bias and the acceptance of misinformation, and blind faith. Drink up.

(SHORT. 8 pgs)

Karen wakes up to yet another disaster of a day. Facing a seemingly endless barrage of inconvenience and indignation, Karen tells everyone about her displeasure, yet finds little sympathy. But Karen has learned that the secret to overcoming life’s constant calamities… is to speak to your manager.

A whirlwind of whining, Karen’s world literally revolves around her as her day is retold in a nonstop scroll of attitude and action, with 14 settings and 18 characters, portrayed by a supporting cast of quick-changing performers.

(SHORT)

A man and a girl share a drink and conversation while awaiting a train on a hot summer day in Spain’s Ebro River
Valley.

First published in 1927 in the collection of short stories Men Without Women, Hills Like White Elephants uses Ernest Hemingway’s minimalistic style to tell its story largely in the words that are unsaid.

(SHORT. 11pgs)

Springtime. Orbits intersect, barriers broken. Hearts are warmed when words are spoken.

A spark of interest ignites between a pair of strangers. Could this spark become burning love?

Bench Warming is the inception point in The Bench Cycle, a series of vignettes eavesdropping on conversations on a simple park bench.

(SHORT. 10 pgs)

Rolling with challenges that shake & rattle. Fighting for turf in the parenting battle.

A couple attempt to survive the slings and arrows of parenthood.

Bench Press is the second story in The Bench Cycle, a series of vignettes eavesdropping on conversations on a simple park bench.

(SHORT. 11 pgs)

The Fall. A road diverged, two travelers stood. Their journey took them where it could.

A middle-aged couple struggle to rediscover themselves and each other after becoming empty-nesters.

Bench Trial explores a pivotal moment in The Bench Cycle, a series of vignettes eavesdropping on conversations on a simple park bench.

(SHORT. 9pgs)

Lives once intertwined can never truly separate. Dim the light, but the memory remains.

A pair of explorers recount their solo journeys.

Benched is the conclusion in The Bench Cycle, a series of vignettes eavesdropping on conversations on a simple park bench.

(SHORT. 4 pgs)

A humble chef dares to take pride in a simple yet elegant meal prepared for another quiet dinner alone.
But are we ever really alone ???

(MONOLOGUE ~950 words, ~7 mins)

A reflection on the relics and mementos that pull the heart to return to places that might never existed.

(MONOLOGUE. 1100 words, ~7 mins)

What happens when trying to be everything others expect us to be leads us to forget who we are?
A reflection on self-image and the many variations of ourselves we inhabit to conform to the groups around us.

(MONOLOGUE. ~1250 words. ~7mins)

Exploring the challenges of identity and expectation while struggling with feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness.

Too much is never enough.

(MONOLOGUE. 1200 words. ~7 mins)

A man reflects on the clouded memories of a childhood trauma.

The scars that remain remind us of the scars that remain.

Monologue (~900 words, ~6 minutes)

A down-trodden comedian comes unraveled and pours his heart out on one last turn in the spotlight.

What happens when a stand-up guy falls down?

(MONOLOGUE. ~1000 words. ~6mins)

Karen wakes up to yet another disaster of a day. Facing a seemingly endless barrage of inconvenience and indignation, Karen tells everyone about her displeasure, yet finds little sympathy. But Karen has learned that the secret to overcoming life’s constant calamities… is to speak to your manager.

(MONOLOGUE. 2 pgs. 1 word)

Noun, verb, adjective, interjection. An ode to the most versatile of words.

It's not what you say, it's how you say it.