PLaywright
BETTER
Full Length
***WINNER, Ashland New Plays Festival 2025***
In a high-security meat-processing plant in the Ozarks, middle-aged line workers Ruth and Donna have long ago settled into a routine based on decades of shared resentments. But when a new figure shows up in town, cracks start to break wide open - between Ruth and Donna, and in the world high above their workstation. And what’s up with all these Security alerts lately? BETTER is a darkly comic drama about the personal and systemic forces that conspire to resist change — often and especially change for the better.
3 Women, 1 Man
Find it here.
CHAGUTOK
Full Length
***Semifinalist, O'Neill Playwrights Conference
***Finalist, FutureFest, Dayton Playhouse
Four Americans each make a solitary pilgrimage to a remote, unpopulated island off the Alaskan coast, hoping to witness an obscure and mysterious atmospheric phenomenon known as the Chagutok Lights, which occurs only once every seventeen years. They each expect to be camping alone out there, but find themselves stuck in each others' company - an unwelcome situation for these people-skills-challenged individuals, but they manage...until a dead body appears. And it's just the first. Alone on this barren island, these four loners must work together to solve the mysteries of the dead, the Lights...and each other.
2 Women, 2 Men
Find it here.
ALEXANDRIA
Full Length
***Winner - Sanguine Theatre Company's Project Playwright Festival
In a small town library in the Deep South, two librarians share an unlikely close friendship, despite being on opposite sides of the culture war. But when a young runaway, global events, and the Sweep of Human History come crashing through their front door, what will it take for that friendship to survive?
Alexandria is a play about relationships that cross deep divides of belief and conviction: what those relationships are worth, and what they cost.
2 women, 3 men
Find it here.
YOU HAVE EARNED BONUS STARS
Full Length
Danielle has survived a shocking act of workplace violence; her quiet older co-worker Jimmy has not. A small act in his final moments becomes a clue that sets Danielle off on a quest on his behalf, a quest that sends her down a rabbit hole of secrets, lies, and questions about her own place in the moral universe – and the state of the moral universe itself.
You Have Earned Bonus Stars is a comedy about tragedy, an exploration of the judgement we all face – from the great beyond, from each other, and from ourselves..
3 Women, 2 Men
Find it here.
DOUBLE HELIX
Full Length
A deadly plane crash kills everyone on board – except for a pair of infants, who inexplicably survive without a scratch. Forty years later, the now-estranged twins meet up for lunch – and the secrets buried in their origin and upbringing may end up redefining the universe as we know it. Double Helix is a sibling drama about the commitments that connect and divide us, and the spiraling strands that make up the American DNA.
1 Women, 3 Men
Find it here.
WAKE
Full Length
Dan and Eric have a new marriage license, a new baby, and a new house in the country. As they settle into their new life, Dan, the older of the two, is having what seem to be sleepwalking episodes. A ghost story told by a young visitor leads Eric to suspect that Dan's sleepwalking incidents are actually something far more sinister -- but are they what he thinks they are? Or are there other forces at work?
WAKE is a ghost story for the post-AIDS generation, a play about marriage, expectations, and the power of narrative to both heal and harm.
1 Woman, 4 Men
Finalist - Mystery/Thriller Festival, Vintage Theatre Productions
Finalist - Futurefest 2016, Dayton Playhouse
Semifinalist - PlayPenn 2015
Get it from Next Stage Press here.
BETTER (short)
Short Play
Two women working along the line of a poultry-processing plant in Arkansas share many things, including their views about personal improvement; but when those views unexpectedly diverge, old cracks break wide open.
2 Women
Winner - Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival
Finalist - City Theatre National Short Playwriting Award
Get it from Samuel French/Concord Theatricals here.
PROTOCOLS
Short Play
Two adult siblings on a video call attempt to manage a crisis. Or two. Or several.
2 Actors, Any Gender
Get it from Smith & Kraus here.
THE OKTAVIST
Short Play
In a small church in Imperial Russia, Father Kirill is approached by the scion of a prominent local family for a favor: the young man is convinced it's his divine calling to be an oktavist, one of the legendary ultra-deep-voiced singers in Russian liturgical music. That calling, and much else, will now be put to the test.
2 Men
Winner, The Gary Garrison Playwriting Award for 10-Minute Plays
Find it here.
BUT SOFT
Short Play
Two roommates at boarding school are picking monologues for an upcoming audition for their school's production of Romeo and Juliet. The choice proves more momentous than expected.
2 Men
Find it here.
GROUND ZERO
Short Play
It’s late at night, and Katie is at the end of her rope: a historical footnote from World War II has led her to some hard conclusions about the role luck plays – or doesn’t – in our proximity to disasters. But the woman in her bed still has some questions.
2 Women
Find it from Smith & Kraus here.
A GROVE, AGAIN
Short Play
The déjà vu Bri is experiencing while working a jigsaw puzzle with her dad is unpleasant in more ways than one.
2 Women, 1 Man
Find it here.
HEY
Short Play
A boy's quest for a safe harbor leads him unexpectedly into the most terrifying danger of his young life. A comedy (sort of?) about shopping for underwear.
Finalist - City Theatre National Short Playwriting Award
1 Woman, 2 Men
Find it here.
JAM
Short Play
A malfunctioning piece of office equipment brings out the worst in a diverse group of co-workers.
2 Women, 2 Men
Winner - Best Play, 2015 LIC Short Play Festival
***One of six standalone shorts that also serve as companion pieces to the full-length YOU HAVE EARNED BONUS STARS.
Find it here.
STATUS UPDATE
Short Play
In a sunny suburban kitchen on a Saturday afternoon, a mother's last nerve is getting trampled on by her teenage son's loud music. But underneath their argument over iTunes, a sudden loss and an unspoken fear are waiting to be revealed.
Status Update is about youth, middle age, the relentless passing of time, and the small acts of love that make up our days.
1 Woman, 1 Man
Winner - Kentucky Playwrights Workshop New Play Series, 2021
***One of six standalone shorts that also serve as companion pieces to the full-length YOU HAVE EARNED BONUS STARS.
Find it here.
CASSIE STRICKLAND IS NOT UNDER THE BED
Short Play
Trapped in his bed, Clay makes a desperate call for help.
2 Men
Winner - Two-Hander Slam, 2021
***One of six standalone shorts that also serve as companion pieces to the full-length YOU HAVE EARNED BONUS STARS.
Find it here.
THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
Short Play
Three nurses on a run to 7-11 encounter a stroke of good luck -- and other surprises. A play about cynicism, compassion, and sudden reversals of fortune.
2 Women, 1 Man
***One of six standalone shorts that also serve as companion pieces to the full-length YOU HAVE EARNED BONUS STARS.
Find it here.
SHE'S BLOWN AWAY
Short Play
An eager high school boy enlists his friends' help in coming up with the perfect "big gesture" to win the heart of the girl he loves. The help he gets, though, isn't the help he wants -- and for reasons he can't seem to understand. A play about romance, boundaries, control, and consequences.
2 men, 1 woman
***One of six standalone shorts that also serve as companion pieces to the full-length YOU HAVE EARNED BONUS STARS.
Find it from Smith & Kraus here.
JANMADIN
Short Play
Having to set up the dumb office "surprise" birthday party is tedious enough, but now Nathan also has to contend with the weirdly skittish janitor and a mysterious stranger occupying the conference room. Janmadin is a (dark?) comedy about our complicated American relationship to work, and to the people we work with. Also: cupcakes.
3 men, 1 woman
***One of six standalone shorts that also serve as companion pieces to the full-length YOU HAVE EARNED BONUS STARS.
Find it here.
IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF HI-Q
Short Play
One the eve of the last tournament of the year, three high school trivia nerds must confront the real reasons for their losing streak.
1 Woman, 2 Men
Finalist - City Theatre National Short Playwriting Award
Find it here.
NEON GLOWING NEW
Short Play
On the eve of the millennium, a teenage girl attends her first rave and envisions a potential future that rejects the rules and restrictions of her parents' middle-class values. But she soon finds that the freedom the rave promises is not just for her, in ways she finds deeply threatening.
2 Women, 2 Men
Find it here.
HAIR TUCK, HALF SMILE
Short Play
A series of nested dreams, exploring how our celebrity obsessions both flatter and condemn us.
Might as well be titled: What We Dream About When We Dream About Katie Holmes
2 Women, 5 Men
Find it here.