FULL-LENGTH PLAYS
by Tara Meddaugh
FREE SPACE
a full-length dark comedy/absurdist thriller
Amelia spends her days under the watchful eye of her mother, doing the same nothing she has done for years. Yet when Bingo arrives at her local community center, a talking Bingo chip convinces Amelia that forming her own game is the way out of this life and away from her controlling mother. However, as her mother begins acting like her newly arrived sister, and the chip becomes increasingly dominating, Amelia discovers her new life is nothing as she imagined.
DETAILS
Cast: 3 female, 1 male
Genre: Dark Comedy/Absurd/Thriller
Set: minimal, impressionistic
Running time: Approximately 95-105 minutes
Great for: Strong female leads, unique plot, several good monologues, minimal set (easy to produce), creative directing and design, an eerie play, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats
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Click for a free excerpt to the full-length play, FREE SPACE
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FOR MY SILENT SISTERS
A full-length drama
In four parts of the world, teenagers, Jorani, Marta, Kayla and Abhay struggle to escape the dark underworld of human trafficking. While their stories take place in different countries, they are drawn together (and interact with each other) in theatrical moments, to support each other, witness each other, and connect with each other. The play’s structure alternates between their individual journeys, with these moments of intersection.
In Cambodia, Jorani has been sold to a brothel in payment for her sister’s gambling debt, and her Buddhist upbringing is put to the test. In Romania, Marta seeks a new life as a translator in England, but after finding her “employer” has vastly different plans for her, she must risk her own life to save another. After a fight with her father, American Claire meets an older man whom she starts to fall for—but whose manipulation over her brings on severe consequences. Abhay, living on the streets of Mumbai, finds employment at a brothel and must decide if the “good life” is worth the atrocities.
This heightened drama shines light on the unthinkables that occur all over the world, but also the hope, faith and strength that allow people to survive and create a new future.
DETAILS
Cast: 5 female, 3 male, 1-2 female children
Genre: Drama
Set: minimal, impressionistic
Running time: Approximately 1 hour 45 minutes
Great for: very strong leads for teens or young adults, intense dramatic acting matched with lighter moments, awareness/activism for a serious social atrocity, fundraising, community discussions and engagement, 4 unique engaging storylines with rich and complex characters, many fantastic and moving monologues of varying lengths, creative directing and design, medium to large casts, diversity. This is a play about a serious social issue, but foremost, it is a play with developed, sympathetic characters and their engaging stories.
READ A FREE EXCERPT
Click for a free excerpt from the full-length drama, For My Silent Sisters
For My Silent Sisters is enriched with moving dramatic monologues from the four central characters, Jorani, Abhay, Marta and Claire.
Click for Abhay’s monologue, Abhay and the Banana.
Click for Jorani’s monologue, No More Mirrors.
Click for Marta’s monologue, Engulf the Evil Ashes.
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MOVEMENTS OF THE WIND
A full-length allegory/dramedy in 5 parts
As wind sweeps through a garden, its inhabitants must confront the volatile effects of Mother Nature, as well as their own changing nature. The story follows several short, intertwined pieces, as Carrot and Potato, taught to be enemies from birth, struggle to remain friends, Tulip wants more out of life than only her partner, and two pieces of pollen attempt to make a dangerous jump from a dying flower to a fresh one. Through sacrifice and friendship, they must not only survive their trials, but also come to populate another generation.
DETAILS
Cast: 5 - 12+
-3 female, 2 male but flexible casting; does not need to be gender specific.
-Doubling written in, but can be a larger cast with no doubling, as many as 12 characters/roles.
Genre: dark comedy/drama/family
Set: minimalist, impressions of a garden, flower and greenhouse
Running time: Approximately 60 minutes
Great for: a large cast if you do not double roles, a minimal set, creative directing and design, discussions based on the allegoric nature of the play, a play for all ages (adults will get a lot of out of this but a younger audience can, as well), a play with a heightened kind of world, great roles for actors, scenes with very high stakes (much of the play is “life or death” for these characters), a play in one act that feels very full
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Click for a free excerpt of MOVEMENTS OF THE WIND.
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THE VICTORY GARDEN PLAYS
A full-length drama/comedy in 7 parts
While soldiers fight abroad in WW2, those remaining on the Homefront strive to make a difference by creating Victory Gardens, supplementing limited food supply. But the pressures on the homefront extend much further than simply growing produce. A child worries her failing rooftop garden is an omen of misfortune for her father’s return from a POW camp. An infertile woman throws her purpose into feeding neighborhood families. A wealthy man whose chemical plant is commissioned by the government for war purposes struggles with how to leave a meaningful legacy not tainted with warfare. These stories, and more, are given light in The Victory Garden Plays, a series of 7 vignettes chronicling people’s journeys with their new realities of love, growth, life and death.
DETAILS
Casting Options:
Large Cast: 1 female child, 7 female, 4 male
Smaller Cast/Doubling Options:
1) 1 female child, 4 female, 3 male
2) 1 female child, 2 female, 2 male
Running time: Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes
Genre: Drama/Comedy/1940s
Great for: large casts, vignette style plays, 10-minute plays, historical plays, victory garden, discussions
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BLACK AND WHITE AND RED ALL OVER
A full-length absurdist dark comedy
When Wife charges Husband with the perilous mission of finding her a new heart, his actions set into motion a series of unusual events, resulting in four strangers being left in his bathroom. One individual has a will, one has a makeup bag, one doesn’t know his name, and one has a gun. And no one has any idea why anyone else is there…
DETAILS
Cast: 6 female, 6 male
Genre: Dark Comedy/Absurd Comedy/Absurdist/Thriller
Set: a bathroom and living room
Running time: Approximately 95 minutes
Great for: a play that is very thought-provoking (What do we trust as real news? Can we rely on our own interpretation of events? Can any act truly be altruistic? How far will you go for the one you love?), very funny, a large cast, an even cast (male/female), an absurd play harkening back to writers like Ionesco, Beckett, Durang), always relevant
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Click to read a free excerpt of the play, Black and White and Red All Over.
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PINHOLE OF JOY
A full-length absurdist drama/thriller
When David gives his ill wife, Leah, a wig for her bald scalp, he is thrilled to find this pleases her, so he complies with her request for more of them. However, as Leah’s demands become increasingly troublesome, and loose human hair with mysterious “red dots” now engulfs their entire apartment, David must decide how far he is willing to go to satisfy his wife.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 female, 2 male
Genre: Absurd Tragedy/Dark Comedy/Thriller
Set: a living room/kitchen of an apartment
Running time: Approximately 95 minutes
Great for: a play with 4 characters, a play with even male/female roles, an absurd drama of sorts, a thought-provoking play (dealing with obsessions, how far to go for the one you love, death, paranoia), humor within a darker setting
READ A FREE EXCERPT
Contact Tara for a free excerpt.
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BRUSH THEM FLEAS
A full-length absurdist comedy/dark comedy
As the owner of a high-end dog grooming salon, Tootsie takes great pride in presenting an upstanding establishment. Yet when Mr. Boland's dog is murdered on site, it stirs up ill feelings and suspicion amongst the staff and clients. Through the commotion, however, Mr. Boland discovers a rare connection with an awkward dog groomer, Stacy, who thinks he may give meaning to her past. And…who murdered Mr. Boland’s dog?
DETAILS
Cast: 4 female, 2 male (or 5 female, 1 male)
Genre: Absurd Comedy
Set: a dog grooming salon
Running time: Approximately 70 minutes
READ A FREE EXCERPT
Click for a free excerpt to the full-length absurdist comedy play, BRUSH THEM FLEAS
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THE LAST TWO
A full-length absurdist thriller/dark comedy
Scruffy has been a contented guard dog on an isolated island all his life, but when he meets Daisy, a spunky dog with a flair for adventure, he must decide if he'll join her in starting a new life in the city. But the city is nothing as Daisy imagined, and soon her fate falls into Scruffy’s paws. As they fight to find their way to safety, the two discover a very strange secret about their existence.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 female, 2 male, 1 voice
Genre: Dark Comedy/Absurd
Set: A house on an island, a city, impressionistic
Running time: Approximately 90 minutes
READ A FREE EXCERPT
Click to read a free excerpt of the full-length play, The Last Two.
READ THE FULL PLAY, DIGITAL COPY
Contact Tara for the entire script.
FOR THE LOVE OF SOLOME
A full-length drama
DETAILS
Cast: 2 male, 1 female
Genre: Drama
Set: A prison, the outdoors, minimal, impressionistic
Running time: Approximately 115 minutes
Great for: a play dealing with a biblical story from a new perspective, a play for 3 characters, great acting roles, a minimal set, creative directing and design
READ A FREE EXCERPT
Contact Tara for a free excerpt or for the entire script.
READ THE FULL PLAY, DIGITAL COPY
Contact Tara for a free excerpt or for the entire script.
For permission to perform, contact Tara.