CRACKED POTS
Full length drama
5 Women and 2 Men
Commissioned and developed by Theatre J’s Locally Grown Initiative
Finalist in the 2023 Gulf Shore Playhouse New Works Festival
Cracked Pots examines mental illness and treatment through three interconnected stories. In 1887, Pink (aka Nellie Bly) convinces newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer to allow her to fake insanity to investigate the treatment of women kept in a lunatic asylum. Through letters to “Little Mouse,” Pink details her harrowing time on Blackwell Island. In the mid-1960s, Pink’s tale finds its way into the hands of a twelve-year-old girl and budding writer, Kaz. She writes stories to entertain and pass messages to her brother, a patient in a psychiatric institution. While visiting her brother, Kaz learns that the institution wants to discharge him due to overcrowding, but Kaz’s mother is not ready or willing to bring him home. In the present, Rina must face her fears, misinformation, and stigma about mental illness and treatment to help her grandson, who is experiencing a psychiatric crisis. His saga bouncing between emergency room visits and law enforcement causes Rina to reflect on her life and stir memories she buried.
LETO LEGEND
Full length comedy
6 Women
Commissioned by the Hub Theatre in Northern Virginia
Charlie is a full-time mom, writer and superhero. How does she do it all? And more importantly, is there a way for her to stop? The mythical and modern collide in the comedy about today’s superwoman. Production reviewed by the Washington Post.
DIRE WOLVES
Commissioned by the Hub Theatre and developed further by Spooky Action Theatre.
Set in Evansville, Indiana (the 3rd largest city of Indiana), DIRE WOLVES examines how quick changes impact personal identity. Six people are blindsided by the fierce pace of change. They can either adapt and evolve, or face the possibility of extinction.
FOOLISH FIRE
Full length
3 Men, 3 Women
Commissioned by the Hub Theatre
Winner of the 2011 Firehouse Theatre New American Play Award
Foolish Fire explores the American identity in a bleak, post sub-prime mortgage crisis world. The story unfolds in reverse chronological order as Mark Jones, a once successful realtor, now squats in the gutted and abandoned McMansion. While he desperately tries to reignite his American dream by fixing up the foreclosed ex-paradise, he is haunted by Erika Wang, a neurotic and indebted banker; Jo Jones, a homeless contractor and former owner; and Christopher Jones, Mark’s estranged son, who seeks solace in a world that he no longer recognizes.
LULLABYE
Full-length, tragi-comedy
4 Men, 4 Women.
A dairy cow, stuffed tiger, and raging hormones collide over Kung Pao Chicken in this surreal comedy that follows three couples and one baby over the course of one evening spent in a Chinese Restaurant where they experience the magic and heartache of procreation.
LAUNDRY BLOWS
One-act comedy
2 Women
Commissioned by AccokeekCreek Theatreco
Inspired by Albert King’s “Laundromat Blues,” Nirvana’s “Sappy,” and even the Vatican, this short romp finds two women stuck in messy lives, scrubbing dirty secrets while seeking the sort of salvation that only comes when the hamper is empty, socks are all matched up, and all the towels are neatly folded and put away.
THE INSIDERS
One-act for middle or high school students
Commissioned by Fairfax County Schools
The Insiders is a modern-day story of four young friends, who are on their way home from school to spend Thanksgiving with their respective families. Each family is unique in their culture and traditions, which we learn about as we enter their homes around the evening dinner. Then, outside, an apocalyptic event occurs, forcing all the families to stay inside for the next year for fear of what is happening outside. A story of family, community, and coming together to survive in the face of unknown forces in the outdoors.
HERNDON TOWN
One-act drama for middle school students
Commissioned by Fairfax County Schools
Inspired by Our Town, this meta-theatrical comedy swiftly covers 100 years of Herndon history to explore what makes a community special.