PLAYS
Produced
"Just when local stages were looking a bit drowsy, here comes a burst of theater with an attitude."
- Kansas City Star
NEXT OF KIN tells the story of three squabbling siblings who begrudgingly head home to throw their mother a surprise birthday party only to discover that she's been dead for three years. They have all taken care of her, but never communicated with her. Her electricity still works, but her heart doesn’t. The search for lost innocence and parental love fuel the fire of Next Of Kin.
A collection of four one -act plays that center on the deterioration of the human race. It all begins in the hopes of a pure future for all, but quickly highlights the de-evolution of our species. The four one-act titles are: HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW, AT THE FEET OF DOVES, THE STING OF LOVE and COMFORTABLE IN YOUR SKIN.
The premise has Ted and Sam, two Red Cross disaster workers, in their hotel room after a day counseling survivors of a roof cave-in. Ted is visibly upset by the finality of death at the disaster and wants to hash it out with Sam, who takes it in stride, sees death as a phase and is bent on a night out with a woman curiosity seeker whom he met at the site. He undergoes a number of startling changes that lead to a violent demise.
Two hit men of different ages and backgrounds are brought together for the first time on a job. Their personality clash leads them to a high stakes conversation about, life and philosophy, manners and morals, sexuality and Disneyland and, of course, vegetarianism. Along the way the two must find enough team mentality to bury a body in the woods.
One desperate woman. One toilet salesman. One naked cowboy, and a drifter collide 31 miles north of Reno. The search for love is a so-called "complicated highway,” and remember all highways lead to prom.
The story of a serial killer who is maneuvered by TV and motion pictures into becoming a public idol pushes satire and absurdity to the extreme. The focus is on Bobby, who’s in his early 20s and holed up at home surrounded by police after admitting to 22 killings. Before Bobby can be taken away, Parker, a producer for Paramount, gains admission to the house by helicopter and signs Bobby to a picture deal. A flashback tells of Bobby’s birth to trashy parents who are vague about moral values. Seems Bobby is just a loving son who loves people — some of them so much he wants, literally, to keep a part of them.
The Bagheads are two men in black suits with bags over their faces. They are Eddie’s inner throughts and motivations. Eddie’s marriage is falling apart, his professional life is in shambles, and the Bagheads are loving every minute of it. Eddie loves his wife but has drawn distant from her. She is starving for his touch…for his love…for his anything. From mouth-watering passion to the demons of our inner thoughts, Bagheads is a journey into the sweetest tasting fruit of all—the fruit of letting go and admitting who you really are.
It's about a couple of losers who try to grab themselves a piece of the American dream but don't have the wherewithal to get there. Set in the 1970s, two buddies head out on a drug deal that could and will change their lives. An out of work garbage truck driver and a lounge singer in a shiny gold jumpsuit tackle the crime world as best they can’t.
What if all the conspiracy stories we ever heard were true? Did Elvis fake his death? What if you found out that there was an government agency that actually did all the things we always viewed as crazy? What if many famous people that we thought had died were really very much alive and kept in a government holding facility? What if the members of the top secret agency, ZONE 3, were really in charge of almost everything we see, hear, and believe?
One by one, johns busted in a prostitution sting are led onto a police bus. Each john is from a different background and state of mental health. The tension is high and the denial deep as these men explain the reasons they are there. We meet a manic depressive who is eight steps short of his 12th, a young man who is getting married in the morning, a lawyer who never pays for sex, a man who is comfortable enough in his skin that he is proud to be there, and an angry lesbian with a secret who can't believe the cop led her on. In the end, the true meaning of love is discovered.
Carol felt abandoned by her married friends due to her being single. However, today is the day that she gets to introduce her new husband Barry to her best friends, Steve and Joan. She courted her new husband by visiting him while he was in prison. He's now a free man with a strong libido and an interesting past. Barry's former cellmate and prison husband, Marco, has tracked him down. He's a jilted lover with no interest in moving on. He has come to claim his man. This is a story about LOVE, MARRIAGE and PRISON SEX.
Theater today is striving to become more culturally diverse and inclusive. But what happens when marginalized groups are pitted against each other in the race for a piece of the theatrical pie? In Cultural Cannibals, former allies become mortal enemies in the pursuit of inclusion. It’s the story of a fictional regional theater in upstate New York and its passion for diversity at all costs, where we’ll soon learn that the road to hell is often paved with the blood of the marginalized.
The battle over political correctness in academia has reached the boiling point. Two professors, one liberal, the other conservative, plead their cases to each other in hopes of saving their careers, and their friendship. TRIGGER HAPPY presents the debate with each side equally represented. From Transgender Issues to Racism - Trigger Warnings to Feminism - Xenophobia to Safe Rooms, TRIGGER HAPPY confronts it all, as it begs "One Nation Divisible," to come together and debate.
The corporate view of the creation of mankind. The struggles of building the utopia we know as Eden. The story's been told from a Biblical perspective, but this is the story of the process behind the journey that led to the world as we know it today. Why did Adam want Eve? What where the dinosaurs? How did vaginas change the course of HIStory?
The end of the world is on the horizon and Lester Dupree has a plan for your salvation. Lester infuses his fanatical takes on the word of God with his very own brand of music. It's time to build your home in heaven, so bring an open mind and an open heart, but most importantly, bring your soul. Your salvation is moments away!
PLAYS
Unproduced
"Just when local stages were looking a bit drowsy, here comes a burst of theater with an attitude."
- Kansas City Star
Set in a corporate office building, IT NEVER HAPPENED answers all of life's major questions. What is the meaning of life? What happens after we die? Does the fact that we know we are going to die, take the joy out of life? Or does it give life more meaning? Can you be fired for punching your boss in the face if you caught him sleeping with your wife? What do you do if you realize your pep-talk to a depressed friend might have motivated him to commit murder? Simple ... Run damage control and pretend it never happened.
Jason is suffering the effects of being divorced in his 40s. The dating world had moved on and left him behind. His best friend introduces him to the newest tool for finding love, "Social Media." His best friend has been using it to cheat on his wife with Millennials for years. Jason soon learns that diving into another generation's dating pool just might be the cure for letting go of the past. Or it might be the end of life as he knows it. It seems that dating an Open-Polly-Pansexual is different today than it was 20 years ago.
Decorating Her Cage is the story of one woman’s battle against her own inner demons. April’s self loathing has allowed her to consider being victimized as a acceptable state of affairs. After years of therapy, she is kidnapped by her therapist’s son in an effort to give her a chance to fall in love with him. This is a story of enablers, sexism, and the strength many women need to fight objectification and oppression. Not all things are fair in love and war. April’s strength rises to the surface as her cage is rejected ["her cage is rejected" is confusing] and her self value is realized.
Tom's designs on a new man cave are put on hold to allow his dying mother to use it for hospice. Only she is not dying as quickly as predicted. This Armenian family struggles with guilt, depression, and the power of grudges in this very dark comedy. Sometimes only death can save a family.
A gift from the grave gives Roy a chance to save he and his wife Tandy's single-wide home. However, Roy still might be evicted from his empty marriage. Money might not buy happines,s, but it does buy Tandy's love, and Roy is totally broke. BULLET IN THE MUD is a journey into the heart of betrayal, brotherhood, and Star Wars action figures. The race is on for Roy to meet his financial deadline, before a former Operation Desert Storm veteran moves Roy's deadline to tonight.
The story of a woman in her 60s who has come to the realization that all of her success has not given her the fulfillment she had hoped it would. Her marriage is a joke, and her desire for passion couldn’t be higher. Sometimes we get everything we wanted, but don’t like what we got. Does building a new love life have an expiration date? Are we ever too old to start again? Yes. Of course we are. Deal with it.