Victorian Players in Youngstown, Ohio will produced three of my Christmas scripts starting December 2. They will produced the one-acts A ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS, SVETLANA’S FIRST CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM HOME and an abbreviated version of my full-length JOSE AND MARIA: AN OLD STORY FOR NEW TIMES.
Interesting back story: I had sent Sam Luptak a bunch of scripts, which he liked but what he really needed was a large-cast show with parts for a lot of kids. I didn’t really have one, so I wrote him one . . . that’s SVETLANA’S FIRST CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM HOME, which made the cut.
SVETLANA’S FIRST CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM HOME
A last-minute substitute attempts to preside over a Christmas pageant, which has devolved into chaos – unruly kids, a pushy parent, a church busybody, a kitchen on fire. And then there’s the foreign exchange student, who’s supposed to be the angel, who is in the restroom in tears because it’s her first Christmas away from home. Then something unexpected happens. Cast: 21 – 6 adults (four female, one male, one non-gender), 7 teenagers (five female, two male), 8 early teens or pre-teens (one female, seven non-gender.)
A ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS
A grandfather and grandmother dress up as a zombie and a vampire to try to connect their their teen-age granddaughter. Miscommunication ensues. Cast: Four – one senior male, one senior female, one adult female, one teen female. Running time: Fifteen minutes.
* Staged reading, Princeton Theatre Group, Princeton, Illinois, July 2016.
JOSE AND MARIA: An old story for new times
The birth of Jesus, in a modern setting. On the one hand, this is based on the New Testament accounts. On the other, it’s thoroughly updated: Joseph and Mary are Jose and Maria, two Mexican immigrants on the road to the courthouse to get their paperwork straightened out. The three wise men are three astronomy professors arguing over the nature of the star. The angel of the Lord is a pizza delivery girl named, well, Angel. And there’s a radio talk show host who talks a succession of calls from callers named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Humorous, but with a point. Cast: 20 — 18 adults and 2 children. Gender breakdown: For the 18 adults, 7 male, 8 female, 3 non-gender; the two children may be of either gender.
• One of 18 semi-finalists in the 2003 Barter Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights, Barter Theatre, Abingdon, Va.
• Produced by Attic Productions, Fincastle, Va., November 2004.
More below!
* January 2: Staged reading of RHONDA’S HIGH-CLASS ROADKILL CHILI (full-length) at Showtimers, Roanoke, Virginia.
* January 28: MAC AND BETH (one-act), Cascade Christian Schools, Puyallup, Washington.
* January 30: HIT THE BOOKS (one-act), Greater Sioux Falls Home Schools, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
* Feb 5: Staged reading of THE BEAUTIFUL OGRE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES (ten-minute plays) as radio play before live audience, Hoosier Hometown Live, Mitchell, Indiana.
* Feb. 12: JIMMY’S PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION (one-minute play), Curiosi-Tea House, Mankato, Minnesota.
* Feb. 24: Staged reading of LARRY’S PLAN TO GET OUT OF DOING YARDWORK (five-minute), Readers Repertory Theatre, Los Angeles.
* Feb. 25: Staged reading of JILL AND THE BEANSTALK (one-act), Mitchell Community Public Library, Mitchell, Indiana.
* March 12: Staged reading of EXILED TO TEXAS, Roanoke Children’s Theatre, Roanoke, Virginia.
* March 19: Staged reading of 57 HOURS IN THE HOUSE OF CULTURE, Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Virginia.
* March 19: Staged reading of PIECE OF CAKE (five-minute piece), Talif Productions, Theatre Momentum Pendulum Space, Chicago.
* April 22-24: CHEF PIERRE DOES NOT DO SIMPLE (ten-minute play), Dover Little Theatre, Dover, New Jersey.
* April 26: Staged reading of CAT ON TRIAL (five-minute play), Readers Theatre Repertory at San Pedro, Los Angeles.
* May 7-8: LETTERS FROM THE MONA LISA (ten-minute play), Jewel Box Theatre, Poulsbo, Washington.
* June 9-11: THE BIGFOOT SIGHTING and A MOMENT OF SILENCE (one-minute plays), Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, New York, NY.
* June 24-26, July 1-3, 8-10: THE BEAUTIFUL OGRE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES (ten-minute play), Garfield Center, Chestertown, Maryland.
* July 8-9: THE ZOOKEEPER’S ARM, 10-minute play produced in “Overnight Sensations,” a 24-hour play project run by Hollins University and Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke, Virginia.
* July 11: Staged reading of SOFTBALL IS LIFE, Endstation Theatre, Lynchburg, Virginia.
* July 21: Staged reading of SOMEWHERE TONIGHT, THE WASHINGTON SENATORS LAST GAME PLAYS ON, Chincoteague Theatre Company, Chincoteague, Virginia.
* July 23-24: Staged reading of A ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS (one-act), Princeton Theatre, Princeton, Illinois.
* August 5-7, 12-14: THE BEAUTIFUL OGRE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES (ten-minute play), Open Space Arts, Reisterstown, Maryland.
* August 5-13: DEATH BY POINSETTIA (one-act), Artists Exchange, Cranston, Rhode Island.
* August 6: THE TALE OF THE WHALE (one-act), Historic North Theatre, Danville, Virginia.
* Sept. 4: PRETTY LITTLE WHITE LIES (very short play), Starcropolis festival, Roanoke, Virginia.
* Sept. 8-10, 15-17: LITTLE SUGAR (five-minute play), Asphalt Jungle Shorts, Kitchener, Ontario.
UPCOMING
* Sept. 30, Oct. 1-2: THE PICTURE WINDOW (ten-minute play), North Park Playwrights Festival, North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe, San Diego, California.
* Nov. 6-9: A CHALKBOARD SCRIBBLED IN BLOOD (very short play), Rabbit’s Riot Theatre Company, Sligo, Ireland on 6-8, Manorhamilton, Ireland on the 9th.
* Nov. 9-19: THE RECRUITER (five-minute play), Cone Man Running Festival, Obsidian Theatre, Houston, Texas.
* Dec. 2-10: A ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS and SVETLANA’S FIRST CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM HOME (both one-acts) and abbreviated version of full-length JOSE AND MARIA, Victorian Players, Youngstown, Ohio.
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