ASKING STRANGERS THE MEANING OF LIFE

by William Missouri Downs

COMEDY

10 ACTORS (GENDER-NEUTRAL, FLEXIBLE CASTING)

In the opening scene, a writer meets the ghost of Franz Kafka, which sets off an existential chain of events forcing the cast to confront the meaning of life. Through a series of hilarious random encounters, the play questions: can we understand our existence, or is life just one long Zoom meeting interrupted by Amazon and Doordash deliveries?

How To Steal A Picasso

by William Missouri Downs

DRAMATIC COMEDY

2 WOMEN, 3 MEN

The Smith family doesn’t agree on much, but when their son Johnny comes home for the first time in four years, they reconvene to celebrate the father (a failed painter) winning the Yoko Ono Lifetime Achievement Award for Non-Objective Art. In fact, Sean Lennon (the son of John and Yoko) is coming to present the award personally. But, when a Picasso goes missing from the nearby Detroit Institute for the Arts, the family is suspected and Johnny’s homecoming takes a dramatic turn. Soon it’s discovered the missing Picasso and the father’s award could both be part of a cruel hoax that forces the family to question the purpose of art in this modern, pixelated world where everything is copyrighted and art is a commodity.

William Missouri Downs has had over 250 productions of his plays, including two rolling premieres from the National New Play Network. His plays have been seen at Orlando Shakes, InterAct Theatre, San Diego Rep, Berkeley Rep, The Kennedy Center, Salt Lake Acting Company, and Detroit Rep, and produced in Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Austria, Israel, India, Australia, and South Korea.