THE UNFORTUNATES

by Aoise Stratford

DRAMA/THRILLER

1 WOMAN; OR 5-7 ACTORS (3W/2M OR 4W/3M)

Mary Jane Kelly is behind in her rent, her window is broken, and her boyfriend just moved out. And it’s 1888—not a good time to be poor and “unfortunate” on the streets of London. Somewhere in the foggy shadows, one of the world’s most notorious criminals is at work. Mary only has two ways to secure her own front door. One of them is prostitution. The other is selling something she shouldn’t have in the first place, something she’ll have to betray her friend and herself to give up.

Aoise Stratford’s plays have been translated and performed internationally and produced around the country at theatres including Looking Glass, City Theatre Miami, Lakeshore Players, The American Globe, Centenary Stage, Red Thread, Kitchen Theatre Company, and many others. She is the winner of a Pinter Review Silver Medal and the Yukon Pacific Playwriting Award. THE UNFORTUNATES (“haunting and engrossing”—NY Times) was a Time Out NY Critics Pick and winner of The Susan Glaspell Award.

Red Bike

by Caridad Svich

DRAMA

1 OR 2 ACTORS OF ANY GENDER OR ETHNICITY

(NOTE: POSSIBLE TO DO THIS PLAY WITH 3 OR MORE ACTORS)

What kind of future will you have living in these here United States? Remember when you were eleven years old and you had a bike, one that made you dream about a world bigger than the one in which you live? This is that memory. Except it is now. A play for one performer (two, three or more). This is the first play in the AMERICAN PSALM seven-play cycle.

Caridad Svich is a playwright, songwriter, editor and translator living between many cultures. She was born in the US of Cuban-Argentine-Spanish-Croatian parents, and while growing up lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina, Utah, New York, and California. The nomadic strain instilled in her has become an inevitable part of her writing vision. As a playwright, songwriter, editor and translator living between many cultures, including inherited ones, the idea of departure has always been not only an actual or metaphorical basis for writing the work.

Lockdown

by Cori Thomas DRAMA

1 WOMAN, 3 MEN

Daily work with an inmate at San Quentin State Prison granted playwright Cori Thomas unprecedented exposure, as a volunteer, to the day-to-day routines and struggles of incarcerated people. The inmates she got to know were so gracious and open in sharing their lives that the process led Thomas to put her own life experience into her writing as well. The resulting play, LOCKDOWN, tells the story of a writer who agrees to help an incarcerated man with his parole statement and embarks on an unexpected journey confronting her own grief.

Cori Thomas is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Produced plays: LOCKDOWN; WHEN JANUARY FEELS LIKE SUMMER; CITIZENS MARKET; PA’S HAT and more. Produced and developed at: WP Theatre, Rattlestick, Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Mixed Blood, Horizon’s Theatre, Mosaic Theatre, and others. She has won the American Theatre Critics Osborn Award, Edgerton Foundation Prize, and Theodore Ward Prize. Cori is the Mellon Playwright in Residence at WP Theatre and a New Dramatists Resident Playwright.

MRS. HARRISON

by R. Eric Thomas

DARK COMEDY

2 WOMEN

MRS. HARRISON is about two women and one story. At their 10-year college reunion, Aisha and Holly meet by chance. Is this the first time or has it just been a long time? They can’t agree. Aisha is a Black, successful playwright; she’s on the cover of the alumni magazine. Holly is a White, struggling stand-up comedian; she’s here for the free drinks. Aisha’s most successful play bears a striking resemblance to a tragic event in Holly’s life. Is it a coincidence or is it theft? As a rainstorm interrupts the outdoor reunion, they find themselves trapped inside, together. They both have a story that they’ve been telling themselves about what happened all those years ago and they’re both willing to fight for the truth in the present.

R. Eric Thomas is a bestselling author of Here For It, or How to Save Your Soul in America, and Reclaiming Her Time, a biography of Rep. Maxine Waters, co-authored with Helena Andrews-Dyer. He also writes for AppleTV’s Dickinson and FX’s Better Things. His play TIME IS ON OUR SIDE was commissioned by Simpatico Theatre Project and developed with PlayPenn. It won the Barrymore Award for Best New Play. Other plays include MRS. HARRISON, BACKING TRACK, CRYING ON TELEVISION and THE FOLKS AT HOME.

America In One Room

by Jason Odell Williams

COMEDY/DRAMA

5 WOMEN, 4 MEN

When eight strangers receive an invitation to the America in One Room event in 2019, promising robust discussions on a wide range of social and political topics, sparks fly, tempers flare, and comedy abounds. At a time when everyone thinks they’re right, it will take more than political debate to find common ground. Inspired by the real-life convention of the same name, the play tackles our nation’s past, present and future (and even employs a little audience participation) to answer the question: is there hope for our country?

“Williams wisely focuses on the personal relationships [and] the play gains its strength during breaks when the characters…connect over everyday things like parenting challenges or work. Williams doesn’t set out to change attitudes, but he does want you to think a little differently about people and what they may stand for.”—Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Jason Odell Williams has been nominated for an Emmy Award, an Off-Broadway Alliance Best New Play Award and an L.A. Ovation Best Original Play Award. His plays CHURCH & STATE and HANDLE WITH CARE won a Henry Award and a Theatre Bay Area Award for Best Play, respectively, and are published by DPS. He won the 2012 Hudson Valley Writers Workshop contest, was a finalist for the 2020-21 McKnight National Residency, and a semi-finalist for Playmaker Rep’s Thomas Wolfe Playwriting Competition. Florida Studio Theatre commissioned him to write AMERICA IN ONE ROOM, which premiered there in 2021.

Full-Length Plays

8 MINUTES, 20 SECONDS

by John Yearley DRAMA

1 WOMAN, 1 MAN

Late one night, a small disagreement erupts into a fight that threatens to end a decade-long marriage. In this 90 minute play, we watch in real time as Ruth and Bo try to get past their disappointments, in life and each other, to answer the question: can you ever really begin again?

John Yearley is the author of THE UNREPEATABLE MOMENT, LEAP, EPHEMERA, ANOTHER GIRL and BRUNO HAUMPTMAN KISSED MY FOREHEAD. His plays have won the Mickey Kaplan New American Play Prize and John Gassner Award. Works for young audiences include THE LAST WISH (Macy’s New Play Prize for Young Audiences) and an adaptation of Sophocles’ ANTIGONE. He has written for the children’s TV program Treasure Trekkers and PBS Kids’ Arthur.

RIGHT BEFORE I GO.

by Stan Zimmerman DRAMA

2 WOMEN, 2 MEN, 1 GENDER-NEUTRAL

Stan Zimmerman brings to life the last words written in letters by individuals lost to suicide—including celebrities, veterans, kids that were bullied, LGBTQ, and the clinically depressed—and those who have survived suicide attempts. Since its acclaimed first performance at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2015, the play has traveled across the country, raising awareness and offering hope for suicide prevention.

Stan Zimmerman’s entertainment career has included appearances on Broadway, in films, producing, and extensive directing credits. He has written for many television series, including The Golden Girls, Fame, Something Wilder, Roseanne, and The Gilmore Girls. His plays include YES VIRGINIA, (co-written with Christian McLaughlin), SILVER FOXES (co-written with James Berg), and RIGHT BEFORE I GO., which won a Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore Producers’ Award.

Silver Foxes

By Stan Zimmerman and James Berg

COMEDY

1 WOMAN, 5 MEN

Inspired by Gen Silent, a 2010 documentary about LGBT seniors, SILVER FOXES is described as a gay version of The Golden Girls. Benny and Chuck, two older gay men, rescue their dear friend Cecil from a homophobic senior living facility and bring him to live with them in Palm Springs.

James Berg is an American television producer and writer. He has written for many television series including The Golden Girls, Roseanne and Gilmore Girls and the 1996 feature film A Very Brady Sequel. He has frequently collaborated with fellow producer and writer Stan Zimmerman. Berg and Zimmerman received two WGA nominations - one for The Golden Girls’ “Rose’s Mother” and for Roseanne’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”