I wrote the following five short plays for Spanish actors and others involved in various language class projects. They were meant to stretch the abilities of non-natives, though, so they’re appropriate for natives too. All are comedies between 12 and 18 minutes in length -- slightly more substantial than skits -- and have simple set requirements. Idyll 1996. 2M, 1F. AL SUE BOB   Three people enjoy their favorite activities on a beautiful afternoon in the park: AL, painting a watercolor landscape; SUE, reading William Carlos Williams; and BOB, flying a kite. They seem to be strangers, introducing themselves and sharing their pleasures with ease and even falling in love, until their mobile phones intervene and they are revealed as business associates embroiled in ferocious office politics. It is left to the audience to decide whether these relationships are real and explicable or, in the manner of an Escher drawing, impossible but nonetheless there.   excerpt    The Olympic Dinner 1994. 2W. CYNDI DEBBY CYNDI and DEBBY, two runners on the US Olympic Team, welcome the team’s corporate sponsors at a banquet. Their canned spirit-of-a-winner banter gradually stretches thin and reveals their heated animosity amidst accusations of sabotage. Suggested by the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding scandal.   excerpt   Cancún 1994. 1M, 2W. HILDA DORIS MILES MILES and DORIS visit their marriage counselor, HILDA, with a serious problem: Doris thinks Miles has been having an affair, which he denies. Hilda strives patiently to bring the truth to light, but in as controlled a way as possible since, as gradually becomes clear, she’s got a stake in the outcome as well.   excerpt    Bleach 1994. 1M, 1W. MOTT JULIE   JULIE, a talented young actress who takes her work a little too seriously, struggles mightily to get into a role she’s landed in a bleach commercial. Her more experienced director, MOTT, copes as best he can, trying to get from Julie the performance he knows she’s got inside.   excerpt All Or Nothing 1996. 4M, 2W. MAL PHIL PHYLLIS PAUL PAULA JERRY   MAL MALLARDSON hosts the all-time championship round of “All Or Nothing”, a game show, in which two couples (PHIL and PHYLLIS, PAUL and PAULA) face off for a truth-or-dare style contest for cash and merchandise. But the contestants suddenly refuse to play, hijacking the show to relate how their previous victories disastrously affected their lives, and pointing the finger of blame (and more) at Mal, whose announcer, JERRY, waits in the wings for his big opportunity.   excerptIdyll.htmlOlympic.htmlCancun.htmlBleach.htmlAll_or_Nothing.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4
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