The Playwrights Database
ROXANNE RAY (1968 - )
Nationality: USAemail: Click here to contact Website: Click here
Literary Agent: n/a
I completed a B.A. in Drama and a B.A. in Women Studies in 1991 at the University of Washington in Seattle. My play Yellow Doll was produced in a Directors Festival at the Open Eye Theater in New York in May, 1992. My writing has been published in the Hawai'i Review, Onion River Review, and Wings, and I spent a wonderful month at the Hedgebrook writer's colony in 1994. In 1996, I completed my M.F.A. in Playwriting at Brandeis University. Also in 1996, my one-act plays Obsolete and Small, Dramaturgy, and The Studio were included in two Love Creek Productions' festivals, and I became the proud author of a play, Fifi and Josie, performed by interactive robots in both Boston and Scotland. More recently, my full-length play Heretic Links was selected as a finalist in the 1996 Wichita State University National Playwriting Competition, and Hook the Holy Hollow was a finalist in four competitions: the 2004 Theatre Conspiracy 7th Annual New Play Contest, the ALR New Play Search, Fall 1996; the 1997 Reva Shiner Full-Length Play Contest, and the 1997 Keene State College Premiere Series New Play Contest. My play Fire! was presented in January 1999 by Two Bit Productions in Seattle, and Lifeblood (1999), The Blackmailer (2000), Captivated and Siren Song (both 2001), Chicken Ranch (2003), and The Francs-Tireurs and Obsolete and Small (2004) were presented in Seattle's annual Mae West Fest. This past September, my full-length Exchange of Prisoners was produced by White Cat Productions, as part of its Experimental Theatre Project, and in April 2005, Standing Alone was presented by Edge Theatre Ensemble as part of Si Molesto con Mi Canto: A Concert of New Socio-Political Works, and Something Short of Balance was produced as part of Green Theatre Productions' version of the 24 Hour Plays. Most recently, my play Hook the Holy Hollow was produced by the Experimental Theatre Project (White Cat Productions) in June 2005, and Our Own Dixie Land was produced in July by Radiant Theatre as part of the Emergence 2005 Festival in Portland, OR. More detailed information on my plays can be found at www.RoxanneRay.net. In January, I completed my Ph.D. in Performance Studies at New York University.
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below is a list of Roxanne Ray's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Blackmailer, The Boreal Mirage: The Infinity Of Antarctica Captivated Chicken Ranch dis-CON-tent Double Crossed Dramaturgy Dust of Providence Exchange Of Prisoners Fanged And Hairy And Mad Fifi And Josie Fire! Francs-Tireurs, The Glimpsing Sickness Grave Sitter Heretic Links Hook The Holy Hollow Jeopardy Gaping Killing Double Lifeblood Love Lines Tangled Obsolete And Small Our Own Dixie Land Pressumed Innocent Q-Factor, The Rising Class, The Silence of the Sea Siren Song Something Short of Balance Standing Alone Studio, The Tally Ho! Those Blackguard Acts Two If By Sea Underground Wild White Rose Woman/Girl Yellow DollBlackmailer, The
Synopsis:
This surrealistic play concerns the relationship between Her Uncle and His Niece. In the context of 20th-century European history, His Niece becomes swept up into a fascination for Her Uncle's artistry and charisma. But his increasing possessiveness of His Niece brings Her Uncle to make unreasonable, even criminal, demands of her. Even his eventual death will not free her or us from his tyranny, for at the end of the play, Her Uncle's voice still seems to resound from beyond the grave.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Mae West Fest, Seattle, WA 2000
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageBoreal Mirage: The Infinity Of Antarctica
Synopsis:
This three-part experimental butoh-influenced scenario explores the elements and milieu of the frozen continent of Antarctica. Three ghostly Visitors enter and explore the Antarctic environment created by an ensemble of at least five Elements, butoh dancers who express the geo-meteorological elements of Antarctica's landscape and climate. These Visitors interact with the changing Antarctic landscape, embodying ghosts of past boreal icebergs, past wildlife, and previous visitors of all kinds.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2003
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Butoh Scenario
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: 8+
Further Reference:
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Top of PageCaptivated
Synopsis:
This fifteen-minute experimental play was inspired by the true story of the media spectacle made of the young Elian Gonzalez. As the play opens, the Young Man is 20 years old, looking back upon the various claims that had been made upon him when he was 5 years old. The members of the Family press these competing claims as if living them in the present. Into this realm of rival claims enters the Hostage Negotiator, who issues orders and guidance regarding the extraction of a hostage. The Young Man views himself as that "hostage," reliving his astonishment at being the 5-year-old pawn in the politics of family and nation. Yet he talks through his process of reclaiming his identity and his future, linking the truth of his adult identity to the truth that he could not help but speak as a child.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Mae West Fest, Seattle, WA 2001
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Experimental Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: - Other: 4-5
Further Reference:
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Top of PageChicken Ranch
Synopsis:
This twenty-five-minute experimental play takes satirical aim at the social swirl of recent births of septuplets. Three Mothers highlight the worries and excitement of having multiple births after undergoing fertility treatment, and the Father expresses his concerns and pride at his paternal accomplishment. But the parents also double as prostitutes and client at a brothel, interweaving solicitations for sex with solicitations for help with the fragile newborn babies.Into this mix arrives the Questioner, who interrogates the motives and insecurities at the heart of various expressions of sexuality and the procreative impulse. The play interweaves the dilemmas of such difficult multiple births with other more taboo kinds of sexuality, highlighting common elements of fantasy, scandal, and generosity in realms that appear diametrically opposed. In the end, the play foregrounds both the dreams and disappointments that pervade seemingly unrelated realms of sexual expression.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Mae West Fest, Seattle, WA 2003
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Experimental
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Pagedis-CON-tent
Synopsis:
This ten-minute experimental play explores the relationship between form and meaning. As the play opens, the Writer defends her/his work against the critiques of two (or more) androgynous Tormentors. They charge that the Writer's words actually say little in the way of "content," but the play's blocking should demonstrate the "meaning" of their critiques, even when the words spoken draw upon slang and nonsense. As the blocking aims to demonstrate that meaning can arise out of form, a Ghost joins the Writer and Tormentors onstage, reminding the Writer that she/he is dispossessed from the written word as soon as it is written on paper. The Writer must defend the writing in the living world of the social, while simultaneously facing the existential possibility that death itself shadows the finished written product.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2003
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Experimental
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: 4 actors
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageDouble Crossed
Synopsis:
This ten-minute comedy opens as three men enter, complaining of the cold. Jesus, dragging the cross, is then led in by two guards. The cold men covet the wood out of which the cross is made, and see their chance to "mug" Jesus of his cross. Jesus appeals to his Father, who smites him. The invisible power of God then drags the cross back onstage and up into the wings, leaving the three cold men to commiserate together as before.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1994
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 6 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageDramaturgy
Synopsis:
his ten-minute satire opens as the young, enthusiastic Playwright meets with the Director of the local community theater. However, the Playwright objects to the Director's plans to tone down the script to suit her older, more conservative audience. The two theater artists cannot resolve their disagreement, and the Playwright threatens to rescind his permission for the Director to produce the play. Not to be outdone by a mere playwright, however, the Director resorts to murder to ensure that her dramaturgical suggestions are respected.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Love Creek Productions, New York, NY 1996
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageDust of Providence
Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2006
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageExchange Of Prisoners
Synopsis:
Exchange of Prisoners is a tale set in 1917 about a young German soldier with a gift for storytelling, who visits home on a 5-day furlough. But when his desire for a little R&R clashes with his sister's war-mongering and his mother's need for order, domestic tranquility turns to upheaval - and time is short for a family reconciliation.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Experimental Theatre Project (White Cat Productions), Seattle, WA 2004
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageFanged And Hairy And Mad
Synopsis:
This ten-minute satire juxtaposes two different kinds of recruitment: the recruitment of young racists into white supremacist groups, and the "recruitment" of romantic partners through singles ads. The Man in Shadow regales his listeners with fear-mongering predictions about the destruction of American society by virtue of its multi-ethnic characteristics. Interspersed with his admonitions are live, gender-bending presentations of singles advertisements, seeking to attract a wide variety of dating possibilities. The juxtapositions provide their own dark "commentary" on the many types of connections available to the young and unmoored
Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Riot Act Cabaret, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1996
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Experimental
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageFifi And Josie
Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1997
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageFire!
Synopsis:
This ten-minute experimental play concerns the trauma experienced by soldiers who kill during war. The action centers on four soldiers who conduct reconnaissance, discipline each other when the stresses of war become too great, and briefly tell their war stories about avoiding actual kills.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Two Bit Productions, Seattle, WA 1999
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Experimental
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageFrancs-Tireurs, The
Synopsis:
this fifteen-minute experimental play concerns the politics of occupation and terrorism. As the play opens, the Story-Teller begins to spin tales of terrorist attacks: the details are drawn from the alleged terrorism committed by the Belgians against their German occupiers during World War I. As the Story-Teller, Fact-Generator, and Truth-Disseminator duel with words, the speakers challenge each other in non-verbal combat positions. Into this mix enters the Invisible Moderator, who serves as referee between the parties from an invisible location and highlights the pervasive uncertainty in language and truth in the postmodern era.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Mae West Fest, Seattle, WA 2004
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Experimental
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: 4 actors
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageGlimpsing Sickness
Synopsis:
A family deals with the infirmities, loss of memory, and deaths of the grandparents.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
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1st Published:
in Wings; Clifton, NJ; May, 1995 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: 2
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageGrave Sitter
Synopsis:
This fifteen-minute experimental play explores the troublesome nature of ghosts. As the play opens, the 18th-century Wealthy Man has hired a Grave Sitter to prevent the theft of the body of his freshly buried child. As the Wealthy Man explains the Grave Sitter's graveside duties, the Ghost Child appears, visible only to the Grave Sitter. Attempting to gain the attention of the Wealthy Man, the Ghost Child only manages to terrify the Grave Sitter, who relies on liquor and tobacco to dampen his fears. Into this mix is injected the advice of the Baby Sitter, a 21st-century child-rearing specialist. But the Grave Sitter finds it difficult to deploy her suggestions, because the Ghost Child is more than an unruly youngster. This androgynous creature tries to tell the truth of its otherworldly existence, and finally topples the Grave Sitter's resistances, utilizing the poor man as a means for conveying that knowledge back to the Ghost Child's family and the wider world.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2003
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Experimental Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 1 Other: 1
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageHeretic Links
Synopsis:
This two-act satirical comedy, based on an actual historical court case, opens as the prisoner Catharina Linck is led in by her Inquisitor. The Inquisitor cannot resist delineating Catharina's crime in a long-winded fashion, but Catharina repeatedly cuts through the Inquisitor's harping with humor and theatricality, and then takes over the trial. The satire and humor of the play are punctuated by the reality of Catharina's inevitable fate and her courage in the face of it. Finalist in Wichita State University 1996 National Playwriting Competition.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Satire
Parts:
Male: - Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageHook The Holy Hollow
Synopsis:
Dark comedy ensues when repressed teenage sexuality meets a telephone book listing - and a little homegrown religion gets tossed in! Our protagonist Penelope bursts into womanhood, while around her unfolds the haunting "horror show" in her head.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Experimental Theatre Project (White Cat Productions), Seattle, WA 2005
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Comedy/Satire Comedy
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 2 Other: misc extras optional
Further Reference:
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Top of PageJeopardy Gaping
Synopsis:
This surreal dramatic comedy shows the progression of events that occur over the course of twenty weeks in the waiting room of a physical therapy office. Valdisa must deal with a wound marked by uncontrollable bleeding, while Jaffna seems unable to speak in front of others. Yet, these are not the problems for which they attend physical therapy; nor does the Nurse seem to offer the compassion that would heal their ailments. The one patient, Laura, who does seem to have a condition for which physical therapy is indicated, is first shamed and then callously pulled out of her wheelchair. Each of these characters, as well as the other patients who attend the clinic, miss the opportunity to help each other and themselves, which becomes apparent with Valdisa's collapse, the Nurse's cruel obliviousness, and Jaffna's revelation of her emptiness in the final scene.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1997
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Experimental Dramatic Comedy
Parts:
Male: - Female: 5 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageKilling Double
Synopsis:
This fifteen-minute experimental play explores the dual nature of the self, through the lens of two twins in conflict. The character of the Fifth, a cousin of the twins, try to mediate between them: after being helpless to aid a woman who had shot herself, one twin has turned to alcohol, and the other sees guns everywhere. The twins' special connection seems broken. Into this mix enters Death, embodied in Female and Male forms, mirroring the dual nature of the twins. The twins' inability to deal with the traumatic event they witnessed leads them to turn on each other, to the point of inflicting murder in order to silence the pain within the self. The twins' cousin tries with futility to stop these events, which demonstrate the conflict between permanency and change.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2004
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Experimental Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: 3
Further Reference:
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Top of PageLifeblood
Synopsis:
This one-act drama opens as Scheherazade, the young heroine of The Tales of the Thousand and One Nights, narrates a story for King Shahrayar. She has been the king's consort for almost one year, and is nine months' pregnant as the play opens. Scheherazade tries to continue her story to entertain the king, but the contractions overtake her, and Dinarzade conducts her to a birthing bed. King Shahrayar's tenderness, in the face of Scheherazade's struggles, offers hope that he will bestow upon her, and upon all the women of his kingdom, a permanent pardon from death.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Mae West Fest, Seattle, WA 1999
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageLove Lines Tangled
Synopsis:
This ten-minute experimental satire focuses on the challenges of dating in modern American society, comparing "service" in the realm of dating to the jury service required of all citizens in good standing. The play opens as the Judge and Bailiff describes what is expected of jurors. Intermingled with this description of the legal bureaucracy, the Man and Woman ask questions of their potential partners in the same manner as the court makes inquiries of potential jurors
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1998
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Experimental Comedy
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: 2
Further Reference:
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Top of PageObsolete And Small
Synopsis:
This fifteen-minute play is based upon a true case of domestic murders. The dramatic action concerns the search for peace and understanding following the murder of a family by a teenage son.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Love Creek Productions, New York, NY 1996
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Experimental Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageOur Own Dixie Land
Synopsis:
This four-act play opens as Diantha and her family greet her father, Benjamin, as he returns from a mission to England on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are surprised as he introduces his companion, Nancy Meedham, as his new wife. It is in the context of a budding religion in the middle of a salty Utah territory that Diantha must grow to adulthood and choose the direction for her life.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1994
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PagePressumed Innocent
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2006
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageQ-Factor, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2005
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageRising Class, The
Synopsis:
This ten-minute experimental play opens as two Women enter with hastily-packed bags and begin to discuss their individual experiences of the night of the fire in their apartment building. The Firefighters locate and drag onstage the limp body of the Arsonist, a young man who had lost his life while vengefully setting fire to his ex-girlfriend's apartment. Finally, the Undertaker enters and prepares the Arsonist's funerary makeup, periodically explaining the creative art and science of postmortem restoration. This leads to further questioning of this massive upheaval in their lives: extensive safety rules and regulations could not prevent or explain the Arsonist's violent behavior and the destruction of their homes, so now they too have to "get creative." Yet, despite the increasing importance of creative thought in solving modern problems, the Women find the lack of answers unsettling - and find themselves in a realm of expanding insecurity.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2003
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Experimental Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: 3
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageSilence of the Sea
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 2005
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageSiren Song
Synopsis:
This fifteen-minute experimental drama is based on two different true stories of "captivity" under water: the unsolved murder of young Mary Rogers in 19th-century New York and the Russian sailors drowned in the recent Kursk submarine disaster. Interwoven with these evocations is the commentary of the young male Sports, rough-and-tumble single men who brag of masculinity, independence, and sexuality. They ponder the facts until uncertainty becomes overwhelming, while those underwater seek more desperately to communicate their fate. Even in death, those in captivity retain their desire to speak and to ponder the mysteries they leave behind.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Mae West Fest, Seattle, WA 2001
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Experimental Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageSomething Short of Balance
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 2005
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageStanding Alone
Synopsis:
This twelve-minute experimental play explores the challenges of dealing with the aftermath of large wildfires that strike residential areas. As the play opens, the Wildfire Victims recount the moments in which they escaped the fast-approaching fire. The Woman emerges from the group, and progressively shares her experiences of confusion, anger, and guilt, as she examines the charred terrain that used to be her neighborhood.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Edge Theatre Ensemble, Seattle, WA 2005
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Experimental
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: 3-4
Further Reference:
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Top of PageStudio, The
Synopsis:
This ten-minute drama centers on the disappointments that arise from a confusion of identities. The play opens as Caroline, a young journalist, returns after almost 20 years to the ballet studio where she had taken lessons as a child. The Master Teacher appears to remember her, and enthusiastically launches into ballet warm-up exercises with Caroline. But the young woman proves incompetent, and the Master Teacher realizes that Caroline is not her star pupil from years past.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Love Creek Productions, New York, NY 1996
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageTally Ho!
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2006
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageThose Blackguard Acts
Synopsis:
This three-act drama, set in 19th-century London, opens as young Alexis and Mary are sent by their father to the city in order to supplement the farm-family's wages. In town, they meet Gisela, with whom they share a cramped apartment. Alexis follows Gisela into prostitution to pay the rent, while trying to protect her fragile sister Mary from the ugliness of the city. They later take in Hannah, who has run away from the brothel run by her mother, Mrs. Harcourt. The girls form three strands which gradually entwine themselves inextricably in each other's futures.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1995
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 9 Female: 9 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageTwo If By Sea
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1995
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageUnderground
Synopsis:
This four-act play opens as Lenora and her teenage daughter, Emmeline, assist young Alice in childbirth, as all struggle in hiding on the Mormon Underground. Young Alice, like Lenora, is married to a Mormon elder with more than one wife, and if arrested by federal marshals, Lenora and Alice will be forced to provide damning court testimony against their husbands. Yet new Mormon theology demands that Lenora distance herself from her illegal spouse. It is in the context of a budding religion in the middle of a remote Idaho territory that Lenora must raise her family alone and find her place in her community.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1994
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 5 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageWild White Rose
Synopsis:
Rose meets Rudolf, and is intrigued by him despite the warnings of her alter egos, Sophie and Eliza, and her brother. Throughout the play, Rose and Rudolf interact as individuals, but also symbolize greater historical forces. Rudolf personifies totalitarian power, while Rose symbolizes youthful but naive resistance to such power. Rudolf's will to dominate comes to fruition in his murder of Rose. But he cannot escape the haunting consequences of his actions, for in the final scene, Rudolf is confronted by Rose's resurrection as well as by those who are resurrected with her. Her legacy threatens to topple his arrogance and outshine his presumed dominance.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 2002
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Experimental Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 3 Other: 5
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageWoman/Girl
Synopsis:
This three-act surrealistic play opens as Ruth confronts her daughter, Sabrina, with questions about being sexually involved: 15-year-old Sabrina is dating 33-year-old Kate, the sister of Ruth's best friend Judy. Ruth hopes to end the relationship without involving the authorities, for the sake of both her daughter and her friend. Despite new understandings gained by all, Ruth's proposed restrictions collide with Sabrina's drive for freedom, and together they place everyone in the same mode of secrecy as when the play began.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1999
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: 5 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageYellow Doll
Synopsis:
The play opens with the routine experiences of a Chinese woman forced to serve as a prostitute in San Francisco's 19th-century Chinatown: she calls to customers and eventually receives one. The customer is visibly afflicted with venereal disease, and the woman's resistance is met by a drunken, violent reaction. The constant struggles which actual Chinese women faced in America during the nineteenth century to avoid disease, violence, and humiliation are explored in more depth throughout the play.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Open Eye Theater: New Stagings, New York, NY 1992
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Published (excerpt) in Hawai'i Review; Honolulu, HI; v. 16, n. 3, Spring, 1993 -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 10 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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