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Jeffrey Strausser

JEFFREY STRAUSSER

  
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Jeff Strausser's short stories have been published in various literary journals and he has contributed articles to various magazines. In addition, Barron's Educational Series has published four of his textbooks for middle school and high school students. Regarding his work in the Theater, Jeff is a full member of the Dramatists Guild of America and a member of the Houston Scriptwriters. Theater groups across the country have performed his published plays, SOMEWHERE ELSE DREAMS and LAST STOP FOR the A-TRAIN. Two high school Theater groups currently slate COMING HOME, the sequel to SOMEWHERE ELSE DREAMS, for production this fall. Jeff's one-act comedy entitled FAMILY MATTERS, winner of the 2011 Pacholder Award, will be performed at the Upstage Theatre in Houston from August 12-27, 2011. His latest project, ALPHAS and EPSILONS, is being reviewed by a community Theater group for inclusion in their 2011-2012 productions. In April 2010, the Country Playhouse in Houston under the auspices of Diana Howie, Playwright in Residence, selected the DECORATOR for its 2010 Reading Series. Jack Dunlop directed the staged reading. From May 20 to June 28, 2011, the Overtime Theater in San antonio, under the direction of Matthew Byron Cassi, performed the DECORATOR to mostly sold-out houses. the play has been nominated for the 2011 Alamo Award, the award given to the best play performed in the city of San antonio. Jeff is grateful for his opportunities and gives back to the community. He has tutored at-risk middle school students in mathematics. He is a member of the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts (TALA) through which he has performed pro bono legal work for artists, writers, and musicians. He also provides assistance as a playwright to various high school Theater groups. Jeff Strausser lives in Houston, Texas with his wife Beth. His daughter Katie is in the doctoral program in Mechanical Engineering (Robotics) at University of California at Berkeley, and his son Matt is in the graduate program in Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University.

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below is a list of Jeffrey Strausser's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Decorator, The         Family Matters         Last Stop for the A-Train         Promise, The         Somewhere Else Dreams
Decorator, The

Synopsis:
Ladies, Amanda Hartman, interior designer extraordinaire, can make your decorating dreams come true and extract her revenge on men to boot! Set in an upscale metropolitan suburb, the play chronicles how the vixen designer has added a new meaning to "full service". As a way to avenge the hurt from her husband's infidelity, Amanda convinces and cajoles wives disgruntled with their own Ward Cleaver-like husbands who stifle not only their decorating dreams but their life dreams to hire her to remodel their lives. Although she has murdered her own stodgy and philandering husband, Amanda's rage won't let her quit killing. Amanda's plan is ingenious, yet simple. She hides her psychotic fury as she beguiles herself into the mistress role with the unsuspecting, but excited frumps. the woman with no apparent loose moorings systematically murders each paramour with a lethal concoction of prescription drugs she stole from her deceased father's medicine cabinet, making it look like a heart attack. then she entices the next adulterer in line that hopes to earn the affection of the chic decorator to haul away the body. Amanda Hartman has created the perfect scheme to grow her business, provide her clients their life makeover, and feed her obsession for revenge.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Overtime Theater, San Antonio, Tx     25/2011

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:
Dark Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Family Matters

Synopsis:
Can we just get through this! Nagged by a sense of duty, Katherine, Stephen and Jessica plan to surprise their parents with a fiftieth wedding anniversary party. This burden serves to spotlight the problems coursing through their haphazard lives-big sister Katherine is mired in a floundering marriage; unemployed Stephen is a starving poet (this week); and little sister Jessica, a career minimum wage earner, is drowning in debt as she proudly lives beyond her means. the party starts early, however, when their off-the-wall parents, one of whom is practicing to be a standup comic and the other wants to escape to Paris, unleash a surprise of their own on their directionless children. Adding to this cauldron of bubbling chaos, Katherines self-absorbed husband and her angst-ridden daughter toss in their issues to blaze a hilarious path to an important life lesson.

Notes:
Winner of the 2011 Pacholder Award. Twenty-five minute one-act comedy suitable for family viewing

1st Produced:
Upstage Theatre, Houston, Tx     12 Aug 2011

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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  5            Other:  3

Further Reference:
-

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Last Stop for the A-Train

Synopsis:
Al Trainor hates selling cars. the former high school football star can only dream about what might have been - an exciting college football stint filled with glory and girls, and then on to a lucrative professional career. Unfortunately, a fateful knee injury ended his dream. And fate has more cards to play. the man whom Al holds responsible for his life-changing injury, Parker Robinson, his high school football coach, is walking into the dealership. Propelled in large part by Al's gridiron greatness four years ago, Parker Robinson's career has rocketed skyward. Robinson has just signed a multi-year contract to coach the city's professional football team. Now he and his new lady friend are going to spend some of his new wealth. Catalyzed by a cast of unusual characters, the confrontation between player and coach is emotional, action-packed, and unpredictable. About 25 minutes.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Houston Texas     28 Apr 2010

Organisations:
Southwell Players

1st Published:
Eldridge Plays & Musicals   

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:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  1

Further Reference:
-

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Promise, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Best 10-Minute Plays 2013 Plays For Three Or More Actors. Published by Smith and Kraus, Inc.    

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:
ten min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Somewhere Else Dreams

Synopsis:
Ashlee Martin, a young waitress at the All American Diner in the town of Jacksonville, located in the heart of east Texas, dreams of finding a better life somewhere else. Yet, fate holds her at the Diner just a little longer so the cast of zany characters that include a nursing home escapee, a used lawnmower peddler, a welder who insists on telling corny jokes, and a yokel who might have won the lottery can unwittingly create a hilarious chain of events that show Ashlee her "better lie" was always right in Jacksonville.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Lufkin High School     01 Sep 2008

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Brooklyn Publishers, 2009   

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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  12            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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