The Visitor in the Doorway: New one-act play about Grief (literally)

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This Spring, a theater company I often work with posted a call for submissions that were inspired by specific songs (skip to my new play, THE VISITOR IN THE DOORWAY). The plays selected would be showcased in a one-act festival, and after each play, the song which inspired it would be sung by a talented local musician (Anne Carpenter). I glanced at the list sent out by the Executive Director, recognizing a few songs, then went to the beginning of the list and began playing 30 seconds or so of each song to feel how it resonated. When I got to this rendition of Mavis Staples singing Hard Times Come Again No More by Stephen Foster, it kind of took my breath away. I’d heard this song before and had always loved it, but there was something majestic, inspiring, bitter-sweet, sad, but hopeful, and so powerful about this version. I knew this was the song that would inspire my new play.

I literally closed my eyes and let the song wash over me as I began to visualize... This refrain…

'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary
Hard times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door
Oh, hard times, come again no more

I loved how the lyrics have the singer speaking to Hard Times directly, as though Hard Times is a kind of entity, a Being that is lingering around her cabin door and just won’t leave. I could feel this weary, exhausted person, who had been through so much, just begging Hard Times to finally leave. Leave her alone. Leave and don’t come back.

While this song can be about many things, to me, Hard Times, this Being hovering at the of this exhausted woman, started to morph into…well…who comes during Hard Times? Grief himself.

And the character of Grief started to form…

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Production Photos from There Once Were Two Clouds in the Sky

I love getting a nice batch of production photos back, and when you have some far-out costumes to showcase, that just adds an extra layer of fun! THERE ONCE WERE TWO CLOUDS IN THE SKY is a short comedy/drama where two clouds (yes, clouds are the characters!) strive to find purpose in their short lives before dissipating. It has been performed by middle-school actors to middle-aged actors and resonates at various points in one’s life. It first premiered at the fantastic Fusion Theatre (and won the Branford Gromelski Jury Award in THE SEVEN). I’ve seen photos from this play where people costume it up or down, and both styles work in their own way. But these current production photos fall in the “costumed up” category!

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Two Christmas Trees on Their Way to The Great Pyramid of Giza: New One-Act Christmas Drama/Comedy

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Happy Christmas in July! Enjoy browsing Christmas monologues during this intense heat, and if you’re considering producing a short but sophisticated Christmas play for 2 strong actors, with a bit of humor, and a bit of drama, check out my new play, TWO CHRISTMAS TREES ON THEIR WAY TO THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA. While yes, the 2 characters are talking Christmas Trees, this isn’t exactly a children’s play. It’s touching and charming and has funny moments; but it’s also about our short time on Earth, what we leave behind, what we choose to do with time we have, and whom we choose to spend those precious years—or minutes—with (think the musicians playing as the Titanic goes down…). All told through the voices of two Douglas Firs. So what exactly is this play o’ trees about?

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New One-Woman One-Act Play: The Eyes of Old Bet

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Years ago, I visited a friend in Somers, NY, and passed by a building called “The Elephant Hotel,” complete with a small elephant statue erected on a pole high in the air. (Skip to my one-woman play, THE EYES OF OLD BET) I asked my friend about it and she explained that in the early 1800s, a man with the last name of Bailey had acquired one the first or second elephant in America at his farm in Somers. Later, Bailey would go on to create a touring menagerie (aka, rudimentary circus) with this elephant and other exotic animals at the time.

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Production Photos of 20 Magical Minutes of Darkness and Silence and Peace

Ooooh—wanna see some fun production photos of my one-act play, 20 MAGICAL MINUTES OF DARKNESS AND SILENCE AND PEACE? I was lucky enough to be involved in this local production of the play toward the end of of 2023 in the Aery Festival at Philipstown Depot Theatre (yes, the theater is right at the train station!), and got some great photos back from JCP Images. The play is a sort of heighted dramatic/comedic piece about grief and relying on others and finding value in yourself, and…raccoons. Yes, it’s definitely about raccoons! Nathan Flower brilliantly directed the play and created such a cool and grungy, dark but gorgeous, haunting but sweet aesthetic; Missy Flower and Miguel Angel Guzmán were absolutely amazing as raccoons, Joffrey and Grace. Click to read a free excerpt, get the whole play or learn more about the play (it’s about 10-15 minutes long for 2 actors). Enjoy the gallery below!

And always feel free to send me your production photos of my plays or monologues. I love to see!

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New 1-Minute Comedic Christmas Monologue for Men: Whack the Christmas Tree, Man

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So here’s a new comedic Christmas monologue for men that, when I read it to my husband, made him laugh out loud at the final line. Not an easy feat for that audience! WHACK THE CHRISTMAS TREE, MAN, is a short and, well…not-exactly-sweet, but still pretty-fun, Christmas monologue to perform. In the monologue, Robert is at a Christmas Tree Farm and explains to his friend the right way to chop down a Christmas Tree (they don’t call it “chopping down a tree” for nothing, right?).

WHACK THE CHRISTMAS TREE, MAN is a comedic Christmas monologue for men and runs about 1 minute. While it’s written for a male actor, as with most of my work, if you resonate with it, it’s suitable for any gender.

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New Comedic Christmas Monologue: Hallmark Christmas Romcoms are Stressing Me Out

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Okay. I promise - at least ONE PERSON out there is going to feel heard in my new comedic Christmas monologue, HALLMARK CHRISTMAS ROMCOMS ARE STRESSING ME OUT. We have tons of things to do each holiday season, right? And these light-hearted romcoms are supposed to make us feel warm, cozy, carefree and jingle-bell happy, right? But what if we just. can’t. keep. up?

That’s what is going on with Scarlett! She has made a pact with her best friend, Maia, that they will watch all the Hallmark Christmas romcoms of the season and dish about them all! Sounds easy, right? It’s not to Scarlett! Especially when Hallmark pulls the ole “let’s do double features for Thanksgiving weekend!” Now she’s hopelessly behind and it’s time she come clean to Maia. Hopefully Maia can expend a bit of holiday grace and let it slide. Or maybe she’ll be like my real-life friend who is 10 movies ahead of me but thankfully gave me the rundown of the best ones, so I can skip to those and pretend I’m not failing Hallmark Christmas Romcom season. ;)

HALLMARK CHRISTMAS ROMCOMS ARE STRESSING ME OUT runs about 1-1.5 minutes.

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Jingle Bell Hater: A New Christmas Comedic Monologue

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Okay, if you had fun playing Tootsie Frosted Cookie Stockings and you want to play another Christmas Elf with a ridiculous Christmas-Elf name, you’re in luck! Check out Fluffy McWaffles Tart’s monologue here, JINGLE BELL HATER, from my new one-act Christmas comedy, Grinching 101. In this monologue, Fluffy McWaffles Tart explains his reasoning for signing up for the Grinching 101 seminar: It has to do with those “saccharine-stevia-monk-fruit-sugar-free” jingle bells! And brownies. And eggnog. It all comes back to eggnog…

This monologue runs about 1.5 minutes, is suitable for any gender actor, child, teen (or adult playing a young elf). You can find the play, Grinching 101, from which it comes, here. Enjoy and excerpt below:

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New Comedic Christmas Monologue: Purring Ironically

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So the issue of “do you dress up your cat” is a hot button topic for pet-people! Personally, my cat “dresses up” once a year in a burrito cape for about 30 seconds so I can snap a Halloween photo of her, and then, I take it off and we’re done. Not that she seems to care if the cape is on or off, to be honest! Well, in this new Christmas monologue, Violet definitely has strong opinions about her kitty wearing something.

When Violet arrives home from work, she’s horrified to see her dignified cat, Luna, dressed up in a holiday “ugly sweater” and matching Christmas-light tiara. As she tries to figure out who might have done this cheesy costuming to her precious kitty, and why (hint: Her boyfriend, Fred, is none too pleased Violet refuses to wear matching snowman sweaters, even though he knows she’s not sarcastic enough to pull it off!), she tries to take off the cat’s sweater. But Luna doesn’t seem to want to take it off… In fact, Luna seems to be liking it. Licking it. Even purring at it. Can Violet accept it if her couture kitty is now preferring Ugly Sweaters?

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New Christmas Comedic Monologue: Forbidden in the Elf Manual

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Okay, who wants to play a character named Tootsie Frosted Cooking Stockings? Here’s your chance with this new Christmas monologue, Forbidden in the Elf Manual, from my play, GRINCHING 101. In the play, Tootsie Frosted Cooking Stockings (let’s keep saying the whole name over and over!) is enrolled in a Grinching class for beginners and is pretty much failing every lesson.

In the monologue, Tootsie Frosted Cooking Stockings reveals to fellow classmates and grinching professors the reason he signed up for this class. (Hint: It’s all about the videogames.)

This monologue runs about 1 minute, is suitable for any gender actor, child, teen (or adult playing a young elf). You can find the play, Grinching 101, from which it comes, here. Enjoy and excerpt below:

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New Christmas Comedy One-Act Play for a Large Cast: Grinching 101

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If you’re looking for a one-act Christmas play for a large cast, check out my new comedy, GRINCHING 101:

Grinch professors, Sourpuss Fuddy Duddy and Killjoy Cactus Snarl, are pleased to find their Grinching 101 classroom filled with eager elf-students desiring to learn the art of becoming a grinch. However, the class of bright-eyed cheerful students are blatantly failing. Every. Single. Lesson. Are the elves really that dull? Are they actually trying? Or is there some other reason they’re all in this class…? And is there anything, like, anything at all, that maybe…just maybe… the grinches can learn from the sugar-loving, compliment-spewing elves?

Grinching 101 is great for actors of any age - children, tweens, teens, adults, and Theater for Young Audiences. There are 16 character roles and an unlimited number of ensemble elves, who have unison lines and actions; no matter how many people you’re looking to cast, they have a place here! All actors are on stage for the entire play. While some roles have gender pronouns mentioned, they are all appropriate for any gender casting and directors have permission to change gender pronouns to fit casting.

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Christmas and Holiday Rom-Coms - Here We Go!

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Whaaaa? Did I miss 3+ weeks of Hallmark Holiday Rom-Coms because I was too focused on Halloween and, like, the rest of regular Fall life? Apparently! YIKES! Hallmark started rolling out its 2023 snow-filled holiday romcoms in mid-October this year (maybe that’s normal and I’m always behind?). I should have been more clued in, because people have been getting my Christmas monologues for months now. I love it! YES! Christmas theater and movies are here!

(And if you want to try your own hand at a holiday romcom, check out my “HOW TO WRITE A CHEESY HALLMARK CHRISTMAS ROMCOM.”
btw—I totally embrace “cheesy” for Christmas romcoms!)

So what can you expect from Hallmark this holiday season? From a planetarium to to an aquarium, fashion to photography, travel around the world (France, Scotland, Norway, Germany, England and more) and of course, a bit of time travel, a time loop, a magic pen and there’s gotta be at least a little bit o’ royalty — and loooots of stuff in between, you’ll get that predictable jingle-bell cozy atmosphere Hallmark is known for. Hallmark isn’t exactly known for their diverse casting of leading-ladies (have you seen the meme-calendar of blonde-haired, fair-skinned leading ladies from Christmases past?), but this year, they have some romcoms with different hair colors, skin tones, at least one different body shape, one romcom of two leading ladies who fall in love, and one Hanukkah romcom.

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Great Small Cast Plays

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Large cast plays give good range and offer a way to get lots of actors involved. But there are many reasons why you might be looking for a small cast play, as well. Your budget may not be able to afford to pay a large cast or costuming; you may not have the sheer number of people needed for a large cast; you may want to pair small-cast one-acts together (easier for scheduling rehearsals) or your actors are all looking to have meaty roles, without the small side roles you may find in large cast. Check out these plays with small casts, all which have 2-5 actors. Scroll through and click on the play covers for more details, or check out the summaries below.

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New Kids' Dramatic and Comedic Halloween Monologue: “Boringest. Ghost. Ever.”

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Written and delivered today, on Halloween, is my brand new (as in, an hour old!) monologue, Boringest. Ghost. Ever. This monologue is great for kids, even the young ones (ages 4+)! Children can play with the dramatic and comedic elements of this monologue and deliver a funny, and even a little spooky (but still family-friendly), performance! It’s a good length for kids, running about 1 minute and is suitable for any gender.

In the monologue, Ayla is frustrated that her middle-of-the-night visitor won’t play with her, won’t talk until the wee hours of the night with her, and won’t even tell her what her name is! Instead, this girl in the odd dress just keeps…well…standing there. Staring at Ayla. Being the boringest ghost she’s ever seen.

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Halloween Monologues Great for Kids

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Give your kids some fun, family-friendly monologues great for Halloween! All of these are appropriate for any gender performer.

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A Screenplay for Ada Lovelace Day: Thy Young Blue Eyes

Did you know today was Ada Lovelace Day? I didn’t either! But I should, because, did you also know I wrote a screenplay, called THY YOUNG BLUE EYES, about Ada Lovelace (which won a Sloan Fellowship)? I was alerted to this special day when I noticed an image in my laptop’s search bar this morning that looked kind of like my Facebook avatar mixed with Princess Leia, shaking her hands together in the air as in victory. I clicked on it and, behold: that’s not Princess Leia/Avatar Tara celebrating after running a marathon. It’s Ada Lovelace! Okay…and WHO is Ada Lovelace? And what is this movie I wrote about her?

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