All links lead to New Play Exchange where you can download the plays to read.
4M 3F
Paul struggles as the lone survivor of a death cult. He lives on their former compound with the ghosts of his past as his only companions. Tabitha, the child of a former member, wants to restart the cult. Paul has one chance to convince Tabitha to leave the past alone, but his own ghosts try to stop him.
3F 1M 2 NOT SPECIFIED
Dorothy, Dottie, and Dot are three women and one person. Dorothy had postpartum depression and was sent to an institute for treatment. Instead of help, she was used as an unwilling test subject for MK Ultra. She went into the institute as a loving wife and mother with hopes of becoming an author. She came out Dottie, a shattered woman struggling with PTSD and memory loss.
Dot is 87. She’s come a long way but carries guilt and shame over the things she did as Dottie.
The women explore and create together as they try to find their way to a place of peace and forgiveness. The play takes place in the 1960s and 2025. Time is permeable, so are the walls of the set.
A fictional account based on things that actually happened.
In near future America, climate collapse is on the horizon and the rich plan to live the good life no matter what. A new company has constructed the first-ever deep sea bunker with all the luxuries of land-life without all the pesky risks. But the super rich think their future is on the new colony being built on Mars. In order to convince their potential clients that life in the ocean is the best bug-out strategy, the company hires fives down-on-their-luck strangers to live in the bunker as guinea pigs.
This group will be watched by the company as well as potential clients.
The play deals with economic inequality and the unfairness of climate change, but it is mostly a deep-dive into what it means to be a human under pressure (my apologies for the pun).
(5F 1M)
Kelly is a recent retiree searching for community. Deirdre has a book club in need of a place to meet. She and the other members of the club have grown complacent and disconnected. Kelly offers to host the club, but cutting insights are on offer as well as scrumptious hors d’oeuvres.
Kelly’s not the only new guest. Betty, Kelly’s right hand gal, is on hand to offer her opinions between stories about her fabulous career as a C list actress. Even Kelly’s new rescue dog has things to say.
37 Incidents Between Victoria and Her Brain
(2F)
37 Incidents Between Victoria and Her Brain explores the complex relationship between our minds and ourselves. Like most of us, Victoria often feels disconnected from her brain. As she matures, Victoria develops both good and bad coping mechanisms. Through familiar and a few not-so-familiar rites of passage, Victoria deals with love, life, death, and trauma. Her brain supports and undermines her along the way.
Workshop Production – The Tank
(3F 3M)
The story begins with Girl’s small act of rebellion – refusing to speak or move. Her action/inaction sparks a need for change in every member of her family. Over three acts, their home becomes a living nightmare as they try to make their dreams come true.
Finalist – Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship
Workshop Production – New Circle Theater Company
(5 Actors- 1F and 4 Clowns)
After years of making John Waters inspired films in her parents’ basement, Diana is catapulted into fame with her exploitation film, “Clown Fucker.” Diana is bold, blunt, and willing to offend. She does not suffer fools nor does she allow anyone to question her asexuality or her extremely close relationship with her parents.
Diana directs a cast of clowns as she explores her career and personal growth. Her strong outer shell hides a fearful soul plagued by troubling thoughts. Once the safety her parents provided is stripped away, Diana has a break down and must learn to negotiate the world again by herself.
Semi-Finalist Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference
Short Listed for Yale Drama Series Prize
Short Listed Theater 503 International Playwriting Award
(15-19 parts – double casting is encouraged)
In the race to create nuclear weapons, multiple nations overlooked the safety and health of individual workers. They didn’t enforce safety procedures, didn’t purchase safety equipment, and often times kept the dangers of working with radioactive materials secret from their employees. “Atomic Town” is a surrealistic look at the atomic accidents that ensued.
The play follows Carl, a nuclear plant worker, and Tessa, a spokesperson for Radium Water, as they gain their portion of the American Dream and the American Nightmare. Carl is given one huge dose of radiation in an industrial accident while Tessa is slowly poisoned by drinking Radium Water, a 1940s health product (based on real products available at the time). Carl’s body breaks down completely while Tessa’s reaches a new kind of normal. Carl becomes an experiment. Tessa is destined to live a life of pain and destitution. The subject matter of “Atomic Town” is dark, but there are moments of levity. The style is absurdist/surrealist using puppetry, dance, and humor.
Reading – Hot Metal Arts Collective
(1M 1F) 10 minute play
Two actors/frenemies spend their careers helping and hurting one another.
Production – Hot Metal Arts Collective 2019
(1M 1F) 10 minute play
An eccentric man and a unique woman fall in love over lunch
Production – Sonorous Road Theater and Film Studio
(3M 1F) 10 Minute Play
Three bar regulars argue over a painting done by the bartender’s son. They see themselves, their true selves, in his work.
Production – Cary Playwrights Forum
Libby Heily 