Full length play scripts, mostly drama, but always with humor.
WOMEN OUTSIDE the WALLS [Drama]
Synopsis: Three ordinary women have one thing in common. The men they love are in prison. Wives visit their men behind bars every day and wonder how their lives brought them to this place.
Alma is an exotic dancer who seems, at first glance, to be a bit of a nit-wit. But on closer inspection she’s found to have a street-smart wisdom and humor. Hattie is a hard working African American with four children who is trying to keep her family together. Kitty, a wealthy socialite, who in spite of the shame and embarrassment of visiting a prison where her husband refuses to see her, doggedly visits every week.
The stage explodes when Chelsea, Alma and Charlie’s daughter, disappears. One visiting day something happens that will change each of their lives forever as the visiting room erupts in violence and heartbreak.
5f. 4m.
COOK COUNTY JUSTICE [Drama]
Synopsis: Chicago. 1946. Joe Doheny is seventeen, enrolled at the University of Illinois, Navy Pier, but he has a secret life; he’s a burglar. Joe’s parents migrated from Ireland and surviving the depression, they managed to keep their family together. Even though he holds down part time jobs, he steals so that he can continue in school and help his parents financially.
Joe is finally caught for petty theft by the police and arrested. And less than five hours later is charged with murder! He is questioned and brutally tortured for days at the Cook County Jail and finally, in fear for his life, he signs a confession. Without a trial, he plea bargains and is sentenced to life, with parole. The next fifty one years are told in vignettes by Joe [middle aged], and seventeen-year-old Joe, often on stage together.
Joe tells his story in an interview with an anchor person from a television news magazine. His quest for freedom, the people supporting him; the woman in his life who has stood by him for three decades.
13m. (double casting possible) 2f.
SINS of the MOTHER [Drama]
Synopsis: This full length drama is set in the roaring thirties in San Francisco. Violet is a beautiful woman with children of her own. She has had a successful basketball career and has since bought her own bar and grill. She is a ‘flapper’ in every sense of the word; working all day and playing all night. While her teenage daughter raises her seven year old son, Violet is out on the town when not running her own business.
Her second marriage is a stone around her neck and she is about to get rid of her loser husband who is a compulsive gambler. She has the next husband all lined up. But, Jay, her boyfriend, has eyes for Violet’s teenage daughter.
A dark, sensual drama with comedic relief provided by the two children. 5m. 3f. 1 boy
POSSESSION is NINE TENTHS [Comedy]
Synopsis: A young family takes ‘possession’ of a deserted lighthouse so that their critically ill daughter can enjoy the sea breezes and beautiful countryside. Little do they know that, for centuries, the lighthouse has been the home and in the ‘possession’ of four outrageous spirits.
Ben, the eight year old, has no trouble whatsoever making friends with two of the spirits, Baubles and Chaos. The story climaxes as Claire, ill with cancer, slowly fades toward death. Baubles and Chaos have no intention of letting that happen.
While this play has it’s serious moments, for the most part, it is a comedy and makes for great fun as the spirits romp around the stage. The adults can neither see nor hear Chaos and Baubles as they converse and play with the children and terrorize a ‘Man of the Cloth’! All in innocent fun, of course! 4f. 4m. 2 children.
NEXT ! [Drama]
Synopsis: Four young, brash actors come to Hollywood to live out their dreams of making it big in tinsel town. They are convinced that hard work and honed skills will bring them everything that they ever dreamed of. They discover that hard work and talent have very little to do with success.
This full length play tells the story of the unflagging optimism of these four actors. They never give up in spite of the daily exploitation and frustration. This comedic drama portrays the real story behind the auditions, the type casting, the ruthlessness and hidden agendas of the movie industry. How the beautiful people, with virtually no acting talent, become stars overnight while trained, talented actors work for years in menial jobs while pursuing a career in film and theatre. The four characters are representational of all the fine, new actors that Hollywood lures into its machination of heartbreak. The author purposely uses only first names as a symbol of how dispensable these young people are. A surprising and shocking ending will keep the audience on the edge of their seats. 3f. 3m.