JM Lahr

Zuri goes to an art show for free wine and cheese. She finds much more in the art of Kinsley Tate. Zuri wants to buy a painting, but Kinsley isn't selling. Kinsley is more interested in another kind of exchange.

Three Rivers is a One Act Play that finds Meade and Zarian on the run from the West Coast in a desperate attempt to escape the draft for World War III. They are headed to Green Bay, Wisconsin to meet up with a group of draft resistance. They stop in St. Louis, Missouri in search of rest and food in an abandoned Union Station. There, they run into a wary group of guards for the underground citizens of St. Louis. Chouteau, Vander and Veiled Prophet are guarding the perimeter for St. Louis underground, a group of citizens that went underground when the United States Military occupied St. Louis due to the out of control gun violence. The Meade and Zarian, Chouteau, Vander and Veiled Prophet have early tension and threatened violence but eventually find common ground in relaying the history of St. Louis is performing scenes, song and dance. Finally, the peace brokered between the two groups is threatened by the impending storming of Union Station by the U.S. Army. Veiled Prophet awakes from a most vivid dream to the sound of gunshots and news reports.

Gary survives a school shooting, though his best friend and student do not. He does not deal with the losses and effects of trauma well and has basically sunk into a deep depression and psychosis. Gary’s wife Elaine is trying her best to hold it all together, take care of Gary, work, pay the bills for the household, maintain her relationships and dealing with her own sadness. This causes friction in Gary and Elaine’s relationship with each other and others. Gary and Elaine can’t go on living this way forever and soon they both reach a breaking point. This play explores the damage done by violence to the individual and community and how just surviving trauma isn’t the same as truly living. This play shows one man’s fight for sanity, survival and rebuilding.

Intervals follows Lanie, Eric and Hayley as they deal with being homeless. They each record their thoughts about how they solve daily tasks like where to sleep, how to get food. They also record their feelings about their situation and share the hope and desire to have a permanent home.

Shayna Rose is a down on her luck singer. Singing her nights away in a dive bar in the middle of nowhere when a visitor from her past comes to visit. Her old singing partner Emily comes to visit her when all of the sudden a secret Shayna Rose has been hiding for years rears its head. The lies she has told finally are revealed and she is left alone with the only thing Shayna Rose really cares about, the music.

Four lives intersect from Wichita, Kansas to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Race and bigotry have torn Alvin and his daughter Carrie apart for almost 20 years. The bigotry of his father has made Charlie run away. Adrian is losing everything, his job and now his best friend and longtime crush. He runs to his addiction, cocaine. Running away from the pain of the past has put them face to face with the things they fear most.

Aaron and Susan are at a cross road in their relationship. Susan wants to lay down ground rules for their relationship and Aaron just wants to get to the next step.

Troy is beginning a new chapter in his life, moving into assisted living. He is uneasy with this transition and is struggling to accept that he is no longer young. Rhett, the activities director at Sunny Vista is hoping to make Troy feel comfortable in his new home. They find that they have met in this life before.

Two sisters have to plan their Mother's Funeral. They are very different women and have their own ideas for arrangements. As they navigate their grief and their differences they have to find a proper way to say goodbye to their mother and find common ground with each other.