Dan West

FULL LENGTH: In this darkly comedic reimagining of Greek mythology, a grief-stricken suburban couple takes in a homeless woman who turns out to be Medusa herself, leading to the gradual transformation of their neighbors into eerily lifelike stone statues. As her husband Charlie grows increasingly terrified of their house guest's true nature, Ann maintains a steadfast denial of the horror unfolding around her, treating Medusa's supernatural powers as mere social faux pas. In a surprising twist on the classic myth, it's not a hero's sword that proves most powerful against the Gorgon, but rather Ann's unshakeable commitment to suburban propriety and polite denial, which ultimately robs Medusa of her ancient powers.

FULL LENGTH: In this absurdist family comedy, sixteen-year-old Samantha Din's already-frustrating family dinner spirals into chaos when a mysterious visitor arrives claiming Samantha's attention-seeking little brother will become a future messiah. As competing time travelers with conflicting prophecies turn her dining room into a battlefield of faith and physics, Samantha - armed with wit, logic, and a mastery of foreign languages - must navigate her way through an increasingly bizarre evening that challenges everything she knows about family, destiny, and the nature of time itself. Through sharp humor and clever multilingual wordplay, the play explores how different people can interpret the same reality in wildly different ways, ultimately asking whether we accept the future others imagine for us or chart our own course.

ONE-ACT: A scathing theater review leads to critic Barry being lured into an empty theater by Wayne, a vengeful playwright who fails spectacularly at various attempts to kill him, while an oblivious family wanders in thinking they're about to see a show. As Wayne grows increasingly desperate to make Barry recant his criticism, a series of farcical murder attempts are comically misinterpreted by the family as theater rehearsal. Everything comes to an explosive head when Wayne is seemingly killed, only to emerge transformed into the actual god Pan - revealing he truly was the divine figure from his critically panned play about Pan's return.

ONE-ACT: A taut psychological war drama where two American soldiers trapped in a trench receive a visit from a mysterious angelic figure who demands one must go with her or both will be doomed. When a third soldier arrives, they wrestle with increasingly desperate moral choices - including attempted murder and human sacrifice - as they try to escape their fate. Through mounting supernatural elements and an ambiguous ending, the play explores how extreme circumstances can corrupt human values, suggesting the trench itself might be Hell or purgatory rather than a real battlefield.

ONE-ACT: A former English professor turned slovenly recluse faces an intervention from his seemingly proper suburban neighbors about his unkempt property and violations of community standards. What starts as a typical neighborhood dispute spirals into a darkly absurd kangaroo court in the professor's living room, complete with a mop-and-hat-rack judge, where his perfect recitation of Shakespeare isn't enough to save him from his fastidious neighbors' twisted sense of justice. After murdering their nonconforming neighbor, the couple casually moves on to their next "case," revealing a disturbing pattern of lethal vigilante justice in their quest to maintain suburban order.

HOA members John and Dorothy pay a visit to Wallace to help him see the error of his ways and convince him to clean up his act (and his yard). By any means necessary.

ONE-ACT: Zugzwang - Noun. A situation in a chess game in which a player is forced to make an undesirable or disadvantageous move. Derived from the German: Zug, meaning to pull or move, and Zwang, meaning compulsion.

A former suburban dad abandons his family to live as a chess player in the park, choosing the game's orderly rules over life's messy complications. Through matches with a fellow chess bum, a privileged child, and his wife who tracks him down after six months, we witness the cost and complexity of trying to escape from one's own life. Set entirely at a park chess table, this darkly comic one-act explores themes of escape, authenticity, and the stories we tell ourselves about the games we play - both on and off the board.

ONE-ACT: Maxwell Page is a publisher who, alongside his assistant Zelda, replaces human authors with an ever-growing army of typing monkeys in a metaphor for artificial intelligence in creative industries. When his attempt to "simulate infinity" is derailed by a monkey virus and banana shortage, Max watches his empire crumble as his automated workforce begins to fail. As the final typewriter falls silent, the play offers a prescient warning about the dangers of believing we can control systems we scale beyond human comprehension.

who has acquired an almost infinite number of monkeys with typewriters to generate literature, succeeds in dominating the publishing industry in a metaphor for AI automation replacing human creativity. When his star author warns him about the dangers of the system he's created, Max ignores him, focusing only on profits and power. The system catastrophically collapses when a banana shortage causes the monkeys to stop typing, leading Max and his employees to become fatally entangled with the artificial system that they created.

ONE-ACT: A seemingly innocent fairy tale transforms into a twisted journey when young Johnny and his talking dog Wags venture into the Deep Dark Woods in search of a lost ball. As they encounter a suspiciously familiar witch and a werewoodsman, they find their way to a mysterious Storyteller who promises to help them return home - but his magical trunk holds a sinister secret. This clever one-act blends humor and horror as it subverts fairy tale tropes, building to a chilling revelation about the true cost of never growing up.

ONE-ACT: Two middle-aged men play an increasingly dangerous game of Russian roulette while discussing their mundane suburban lives, failed relationships, and deceased friends. When Bob's young son accidentally discovers their deadly pastime and is forced to participate, it leads to a confrontation with Bob's wife Anita and an end to the game. Through its chilling juxtaposition of casual conversation and lethal gameplay, this one-act dark comedy excavates themes of masculine friendship, suburban desperation, and self-destructive behavior patterns that can tear families apart.

ONE-ACT: A recently deceased man's Body and Soul engage in an increasingly desperate conversation as they cope with their new reality six feet under. While the Body slowly decomposes in his grave, his Soul frantically searches for a path to heaven, making disturbing discoveries about other trapped souls in nearby graves. This minimalist two-hander explores faith, doubt, and the possibility that the afterlife isn't quite what Sunday School promised, building from sardonic humor to existential horror as Body and Soul confront the possibility might not be the end - or the beginning - that they expected.

ONE-ACT PLAY - A Man starts his day by placing a gun into his briefcase, then endures a series of mounting personal and professional crises while being silently manipulated by two mysterious Stagehands that seem intent on guiding him to destruction. At his lowest point, just when he seems ready to end it all, he opens his briefcase to find a delightful surprise that causes him to laugh and choose to live another day.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: In this meta-theatrical comedy, Marvin, a lonely coffee shop regular who frequently breaks the fourth wall, meets Ingrid, a potential love interest who objects to his theatrical device of speaking directly to the audience. When things start to go wrong with the play, the frustrated playwright himself appears from the audience to demonstrate how the scene should be played and the actors playing Marvin and Ingrid rebel against his controlling nature in a battle between free will and creative authority.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: A mob hitman volunteers to be the one to kill his best friend after a seemingly minor altercation at a club turns out to involve a crime boss's sister. In the front seat of a stolen car, the two men share french fries and memories while wrestling with loyalty, friendship, and the search for dignity in death's darkest moments. When the time finally comes, they decide to drive to a childhood sanctuary by a waterfall, finding a glimmer of beauty in an impossible farewell.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY - Veteran clown Bingo convinces young idealist Winky to quit the circus with him - until their boss offers Bingo a promotion, revealing just how quickly principles crumble under the big top. Set entirely in a circus dressing room, this ten-minute play peels away the greasepaint to expose the raw truths about loyalty, ambition, and what really makes us look like fools. Through sharp dialogue and three meaty roles, "Circus Jerks" delivers both laughs and a gut punch about the choices we make when climbing the corporate ladder, no matter how floppy the shoes.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: "Tales of the Utterly Mundane" masquerades as a reality TV show that promises to expose a steamy affair but instead delivers an absurdist exploration of two lovers discussing everything from the color orange to gun-running while performing increasingly bizarre acts that everyone treats as perfectly normal. Through mechanical responses and meaningless small talk punctuated by surreal moments, the play satirizes both reality television's sensationalism and the emptiness of modern relationships. What begins as a voyeuristic peek into adultery transforms into a deliciously weird commentary on human disconnection.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: A former criminal duo's tense reunion in a cafe becomes a high-stakes confrontation when Paul desperately seeks a valuable book from his ex-partner Alison, who he abandoned years ago during their staged wedding in Barbados. As Paul attempts to manipulate his way back into Alison's good graces, their unresolved past and her quest for answers escalate into a dangerous power struggle. In this sharp two-hander about betrayal and revenge, Alison must decide whether to help the man who left her to face the consequences of their shared crimes alone, or finally seize control of her own narrative.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: In a suburban junior high school, an idealistic social studies teacher assigns an "activism project" to encourage student expression, unaware that one of his formerly admiring students is assembling something far more dangerous than a presentation. Through alternating monologues in their respective bedrooms, we witness the growing divide between Mr. Cooper's progressive educational philosophy and thirteen-year-old Casey's conservative worldview, as she methodically puts together an AR-15 while reflecting on guns, politics, and what she believes is love. The play builds to a chilling conclusion that reveals how good intentions, without true understanding, can become catalysts for tragedy.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: A peculiar poet in a cardboard suit methodically cuts words from newspapers while two devoted students await enlightenment in his bizarre classroom. When an impeccably-dressed businessman carrying a giant red fish attempts to join the class, chaos and nonsense escalate into a delightfully absurd exploration of meaning, education, and reality. This surreal ten-minute comedy challenges audiences to embrace the meaningless in search of meaning, culminating in an unexpected transformation that blurs the lines between student and prop, teacher and madman, fish and philosophy.

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: Santa Claus is ready to retire to Palm Springs, but first he and a ruthless corporate executive must interview his potential replacements. When Jesus Christ shows up to apply for the job, he is forced to endure the same dehumanizing screening process as all of the other applicants. How far is the Savior willing to cater to consumer culture and the commercialization of Christmas in order to take back his own holiday?

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: A condemned party clown receives his last visit from a Catholic priest while awaiting execution for strangling a child during a birthday party performance. Through their charged conversation, we discover how years of perceived mockery and disrespect drove a once-proud entertainer to commit an unthinkable act of violence. As Tickles prepares for his final "curtain call," this provocative drama explores the psychological breaking point of a man whose profession demands laughter while his soul screams for dignity.