Plays
Agreed Upon Fictions
2w 4m
Katie and Brian's smooth suburban life is rocked when their elderly neighbor, Harold, is found in possession of child pornography. His apparent dementia complicates their responses to this news, and to their almost daily interactions with him. As they adopt different modes of dealing with Harold, and protecting their 13 year-old son, Katie and Brian struggle to find the safety and comfort of common ground.
(NOTE: The play is not at all graphic. Were it on screen, it would probably merit a PG rating.)
2014 world premiere at 16th Street Theatre, Berwyn, Illinois, directed by Megan Shuchman
2012 workshop at Stage Left Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, directed by Megan Shuchman
photo: Anthony Aicardi
Handled
6w
A teenage girl returns home after undergoing a 6-week residential course of treatment for depression and other issues. She discovers that her mother has created and maintained a Twitter persona for her while she has been gone--a bright, shiny, "life is good," kind of girl. A daughter attempts to get her mother to see her for who she is. A mother attempts to steer her daughter around obstacles and pain, and toward happiness.
2016 workshop at Stage Left Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, directed by Amy Szerlong
World premiere, Fall 2018, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, directed by Amy Lane
Plans to Form a Human Chain Faltered
3w 3m
Bethany's volunteer efforts threaten to overwhelm her as she attempts to get a one-hundred yard section of a "human chain" (think Hands Across America, if you are old enough) organized. Her tyrannical supervisor terrifies, her brother is forced into disguise, and her ex-fiancé arrives masquerading as a clown. There's just not a lot of room for hand holding.
2011 world premiere at Shelterbelt Theatre, Omaha, Nebraska, directed by McClain Smouse
4m 2w
Christmas Cookies
Michelle, under the impression that no one knows that she and her husband have separated, has broken into the house they used to share, in order to host her Annual Holiday Cookie Exchange. Guests arrive, cookies are exchanged, stories are told, secrets are revealed and animals are murdered. Well, one animal is murdered. Accidentally. Sort of.
Mrs. Whitman’s Words for Women
4w 1m
In the fall of 1918, three young women meet when they move into the recently built Martha Cook Building, one of the first female dormitories on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As these three navigate a system meant more to develop them into gracious wives and competent hostesses than successful career women, they begin to see and rebel against the limits placed on them. Their ultimate campaign, an effort to illegally distribute information about birth control to factory girls in Detroit, brings results none of them could have anticipated.
4m 2w
1w 2m
Kelly and Tim's management of their son's NCAA recruiting process takes a back seat to the frequent presence of his troubled friend in their home.
Want
2w 3m
An adaptation of Frank Norris' 1899 novel, McTeague. Norris' 19th century unlicensed San Francisco dentist becomes a 2008 unlicensed Chicago tattoo artist. When the girl he is dating wins a huge jackpot in a raffle, it looks like things might be looking up for Mack. Base human instinct rules the day, however, as those close to the money quickly default to greed, jealousy, and violence.
short plays
Blood Harmony
2w 1m
Two members of a musical sibling trio meet their mother/manager in the green room after opening for a fairly famous solo artist. As the main act's music strains through the door, they come to a few realizations about where they are headed.
2015 world premiere at Creighton University, Stage of the Art Festival, directed by Emma Rasmussen
3w 4m
As the Patron of Hopeless Causes, Jude is overwhelmed at work. His requests for prayers come in to heaven at a rate he cannot possibly handle. His boss, St. Genesius of Arles, Patron of Office Workers, feels Jude simply isn’t working up to his potential. While heaven’s inter-office struggle heats towards its boiling point, insight and assistance come from the patrons of ice skaters, actors, difficult marriages, housekeepers, and the former patron of travelers.
2008 world premiere at University of Nebraska at Omaha, directed by Greg Harries