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Here's my primary output, plays. I tend toward comedy, though I like to bite periodically.
I like making fun of humanity for our vanity, and I like staring too hard at my personal problems.
First and foremost, I think of my job as a playwright being to entertain.
To help you find what you're looking for, each entry includes:
- Running time
- Genre
- Cast breakdown
- Publication and production history.
- A short synopsis
And if anything makes you say, "huh, I'd like to read that," then you're in luck:
The full play is just a link away. If you're interested in producing something, or have
questions about the plays, don't hesitate to contact me.
Hateful messages should be addressed to Fox News, Editorial Department.
One-Acts
I'm a short play writer. I love evenings of one-acts, seeing my voice mixed in with the voices
of other writers, other visions of the theatre. It's certainly where I've enjoyed the most success.
The Gun in Saint Margaret's Basement
(75 Minutes; Drama; 1M, 5W)
A group of women in a church basement are taken hostage by a sleep-deprived gunman who has come to bring them the new gospel.
Six Dead Bodies Duct-Taped To A Merry-Go-Round
Co-written with Lindsay Mariana Walker
Published in The
Best American Short Plays 2010 - 2011 , Applause Books.
(20 Minutes; Drama; 2M, 2W)
A young veteran who has just returned from the Afghanistan War can't get a hold of his wife to finish
his last leg of the journey home. He accepts a ride from a cantankerous trucker who's got an
ulterior motive for the cadavers he's supposed to be delivering to UCLA medical school.
- Production, Springback Community High School; Calgary, Alberta (April 2016)
- Production, Westminster College Arts Department; Salt Lake City (April 2012)
- Production, Full Circle Theatre; Off-Off-Broadway (October 2011)
- Production, Last Frontier Theatre Conference by Three Wise Moose; Valdez, Alaska (June 2011)
- Production, Reader's Theatre Repertory; Portland, Oregon (April 2011)
- Production, Anchorage Community Theatre and Three Wise Moose; Anchorage (October 2010)
- Production, Salt Lake Artists League as a part of Weekend of New Works (August 2010)
- Reading, Circle East; New York City (March 2010)
Bile in the Afterlife
Published in Bay One-Acts Festival Anthology, 3WM Press (2002).
Finalist in the 1999 Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival One-Act Play Competition (1999).
5th place in the Last Frontier Theatre Conference Play Lab (1998).
(30 Minutes; Comedy; 3M, 1W)
After dying in a business meeting, Bile Talon discovers that the ancient Egyptians were right about what
happens to us when we die. Things are looking run-down, though: cremated ashes litter the ground, and
Osiris has put on weight. Bile has little choice but to take over and run things his way.
- Production, Last Frontier Theatre Conference,
TBA Theatre Company; Valdez (June 2008)
- Production, PWSC; Valdez (March 2005)
- Production, Bradley University; Peoria, Illinois (April 2004)
- Production, Reston Community Players, NVTC One-Act Festival; Reston, Virginia (June 2003)
- Production, Las Positas College; Livermore, California (May 2003)
- Production, Teatro del Naville, BOA Italia Festival; Bologna, Italy (April 2003)
- Production, Three Wise Monkeys, BOA Festival; San Francisco (January 2002)
- Reading, Theatre Artists Conspiracy; San Francisco (September 2000)
- Production, Kokopelli Productions; Anchorage, Alaska (August 2000)
- Reading, Last Frontier Theatre Conference Play Lab; Valdez (August 1998)
Domestic Companion
Published in House to Half, Pretty Things Press. (2005)
Finalist in the Love Creek Playwrights' Festival (1997).
1st runner-up in the American College Theatre Festival Playwriting Competition, Pacific Northwest Region (1996).
(30 Minutes; Comedy; 2M, 1W)
Frustrated by her boyfriend Cato's snoring, Lindsey was tricked into injecting him with cat DNA by Kane, her stalker boss.
The snoring has disappeared, but there are all sorts of complications to this rash misapplication of genetic
engineering. Highly farcical and suitable for high schools.
- Production, Bellingham Theatre Guild's One-Act Festival, Nearly Stellar Entertainment (April 2006)
- Production, Theatre Studio, Inc; Off-Off-Broadway (December 2003)
- Production, Reston Community Players; Reston, Virginia (July 2000)
- Production, University of Puget Sound; Tacoma, Washington (December 1997)
- Reading, Last Frontier Theatre Conference Play Lab; Valdez, Alaska (August 1997)
- Production, Love Creek Productions; Off-Off Broadway (April 1997)
- Production, University of Alaska Anchorage (April 1995)
Living With the Savage
Published in Bay One-Acts Festival Anthology II (2003).
(35 Minutes; Comedy; 2M, 2W)
Two erudite children have the world view shattered when their matriarchal mother brings home a
literal loincloth-wearing, spear-wielding Savage to be her lover.
- Workshop Production, University of Namibia (October 2015)
- Production, Three Wise Moose and Anchorage Community Theatre (October 2011)
- Production, Teatro del Naville BOA Italia Festival II; Bologna, Italy (May 2005)
- Production, PWSC; Valdez, Alaska (March 2005)
- Production, Isis Arts Collective's Summer Shorts at the EXIT Theatre; San Francisco (July 2003)
- Production, Three Wise Monkeys BOA Festival at the Eureka Theatre; San Francisco (March 2003)
The War of Virginia & Alabama
Published by JAC Publications
(20 Minutes; Comedy; 1M, 2W)
A brother brings his fifteen-year-old fiancé home to meet his domineering sister. Set in the mythical South.
- Production, PWSC; Valdez, Alaska (November 2015)
- Reading, Blue Roses Infusion Series; New York (February 2013)
- Production, Circus Theatricals Best of the Festival; Los Angeles (October 2010)
- Production, Circus Theatricals 14th Annual Festival of New Plays (May 2009)
- Reading, Mid-America Theatre Conference Playwriting Symposium's Ten-Minute Play Showcase; St. Louis (March 2005)
- Reading, Three Wise Monkeys' Short Leaps Festival; San Francisco (August 2004)
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (December 2003)
Oh, Nancy!
(20 Minutes; Farce; 3M, 1W)
Nancy is going out to dinner with her boyfriend and her photography professor, because
they both love her and want to clear the air. Unfortunately, the waiter has been pining for
her since she stole his virginity in grade school. She can only choose one of them…
the question might be "who," but it's also "will she."
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Shane Mitchell flanked by Charlotte Kopp and Elle Janecek in In a Red Sea.
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In a Red Sea
Honorable Mention in Turnip 15-Minute Play Festival (production received Best Director and Honorable Mention Best Actor, 2004).
Audience Choice Award at Last Frontier Play Lab (2002).
(15 Minutes; Comedy; 1M, 3W)
Reginald is seeing a shrink because he has a problem he can't put his finger on, but as he relives his past relationships
for Maureen, his attractive psychiatrist, it becomes apparent that the problem is a patterned behavior.
The Fears of Harold Shivvers
Best New Play in Anchorage (2005) by critic Catherine Stadem on KCHU's Stage Talk.
(20 Minutes; Drama; 3m, 2w)
Harold beat a lame squirrel to death when he was five. He's never been the same.
- Reading, University of Southern Mississippi (January 2009)
- Production, Impact Theatre Winter One-Act Festival; Off-Off Broadway (February 2007)
- Production, PWSC; Valdez, Alaska (May 2005)
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (January 2005)
Cacophony Amore
(20 Minutes; Farce; 3M, 3W)
Sarah is trying to get to a second date with dreamy coffee-shop owner Kevin, but her
stalker boss, drunk bi-curious best friend, and life in general seem determined to stop her.
- Production, PWSC; Valdez, Alaska (February 2010)
- Reading, Circle East; New York City (February 2010)
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (August 2009)
America's Next Saddest Family
(20 Minutes; Comedy; 3M, 4W)
Two ex-wives and an estranged adult son are auditioning for the game show where families can become
instantly rich, as long as their life story is the saddest one in America (that week).
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (August 2016)
Dead Middle-Aged Whore
(20 Minutes; Historical Comedy; 3M)
Based on the Tennessee Williams poem Cinder Hill.
Three men in in the early 1900s Pacific Northwest decide what to do about the potential fortune that
may be buried in the yard of the town prostitute. She died last night, and no one knows; to be
righteous or greedy has always been the question.
- Workshop Production (as a part of "Tom's Children," plays based on Tennessee Williams' poetry), Blue Roses Theatre; New York City (January 2011)
Alyson & the Great Bagel Mistake
(30 Minutes; Comedy; 3M, 3W)
Everyone is sick of Austin's crap, no one more than him. His friends ridicule him, his ex haunts him,
and the woman of his dreams remains barely real before his eyes. Can he find true love? Does he even want that?
- Production, Pier One Theatre; Homer, Alaska (June 2012)
- Reading, Circle East; New York City (February 2010)
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (August 2007)
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Ryan Buen offending people at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference Fringe Festival with Boyd Was Waiting.
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The You'll-Never-Have-a-Second-Wife Club
(20 Minutes; Comedy; 1M, 4W)
Elisabeth thought she was going to an abandoned woman's support group, but it turns out this
klatch is more interested in fatal solutions to the men who have hurt them.
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (August 2008)
Ten-Minute Plays
You can't write short plays and not have some of them end up this length… and
since the ten-minute form has sort of become the herpes of the American theatre…
who am I to pretend I've not been infected.
A Rose Is A Rose
(10 minutes; drama; 1M, 1W)
Kacey accuses her ex-boyfriend Griffin of burning down her current boyfriend's house. He says he
didn't do it… but he's still a Pete Rose fan, so can he be trusted?
Sell Out!
(10 minutes; comedy; 1M, 3W)
A company of young idealists on the verge of implosion gets an offer they're not going to be able to refuse.
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage (January 2020)
The Gaping Void of Human Loneliness
(10 Minutes; Comedy; 2M, 2W)
Time is melting together for an aging bachelor as he nears the end of his time on earth,
but there's still time for him to find someone somewhere in this lifetime… well, probably not.
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (November 2014)
The Call
(10 Minutes; Comedy; 3M, 2W)
Family dinner is interrupted when the religious parents of the girl the son has been hooking up
with arrive, looking for an apology.
- Production, Herman Torkelson's Armada sketch comedy, Out North Theatre; Anchorage, Alaska (February 2015)
Self-Inflicted
(10 Minutes; Absurdist Comedy; 1M, 1W)
Trenton's job is getting really bad, and he's taking it out on himself in increasingly violent ways.
- Production, Fairbanks Drama Association's Short and Sweet: 8x10 Festival Favorites; Fairbanks, Alaska (October 2012)
- Reading, Three Wise Monkeys' Short Leaps Marathon; San Francisco (August 2005)
Skid Marks
Co-written with Schatzie Schaefers
(10 Minutes; Dark Comedy; 1M1W)
Early in the morning, a distraught bride-to-be breaks in on the remnants of her fiancé's
bachelor party to ask her brother for a little advice on male underwear.
The Tie
(10 Minutes; Drama; 1M,1W)
A failing stand-up comic takes out his lack of a sense of humor on the woman he lives with.
Burning
Published in literary journal Crawdad (2007).
Winner of Write Angle's Ten-Minute Play Award (2007).
(10 Minutes; Political Comedy; 2M, 1W)
Should he burn the flag? Will it light? Why does anyone care if he does?
- Reading, Northwest Playwrights Alliance Salon; Portland (December 2007)
- Production, Theatre Limina's Summer Shorts Festival; St. Paul (June 2005)
- Production, Alleyway Theatre's Buffalo Quickies; Buffalo, New York (April 2004)
- Production, Impact Theatre's Impact Briefs V: Shock & Awe (August 2003)
- Reading, Three Wise Monkeys Short Leaps Festival; San Francisco (July 2003)
What a Drag It Is
(10 Minutes; Comedy; 2M, 1W)
The Senior Center Crafts Fair was a terrible idea for Austin and Sarah's first date, and that's before he accidentally pisses off an old wizard.
Strange Far Place
(10 Minutes; Horror; 1M, 3W)
Angelique is determined to find the ancient power that hides in the remotest ice, but
will her mind survive what lurks below?
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (January 2016)
…for the wrong one
(10 Minutes; Drama; 1M, 2W)
A great single woman from his past appears, but Thomas is really waiting for the
young attractive young meth-head he's trying to hook up with.
ONE-PAGE PLAYS
Brevity, the soul of wit,
Is on display here.
Only showing the good ones.
Diarrhea
Published in The Festival of Awkward Moments, Volume 1, Freshwater Theatre Company. (2011)
(Drama; 2M)
It's the "of the mouth" variety.
- Production, Freshwater Theatre's Festival of Awkward Moments; Minneapolis (May 2011)
- Readings, Java Theatre; Rhode Island and Maryland (April 2005)
- Production, University of Idaho's 3rd Annual DNA Festival of Very Very Very Short Plays and Film (March 2005)
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Performing Heart Poor in the Last Frontier Theatre Conference Fringe Festival with Kyra Meyer.
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Heart Poor
(Romance; 1M, 1W)
Jogging with the one you love can be very therapeutic.
- Reading, Blue Roses Infusion Series; New York (February 2013)
Immortal
(Comedy, 2M)
This old man thinks he's immortal! He's probably not.
The Penultimate Act of Frank the Cat
(Drama; 1M, 1 dead cat)
A dying house cat's last moments.
The Surprise
(Comedy; 2M)
Sure, he's an asshole, but he's fifty, everybody deserves a party when they're fifty…
The Peach
Semi-Finalist in Lamia Ink! One-Page Play Competition (2002).
(Comedy; 2M)
He says he's over her. He says he's never going back. He means it this time.
- Reading, Three Wise Monkeys' Short Leaps Festival; San Francisco (August 2005)
At the Cliff
(Drama; 1M, 1W)
Being stranded on a remote island is a matter of perspective.
The Toilets Are Coming
(Comedy; 2M)
And the end of days comes… from automatic flush toilets. Who knew?
Boyd Was Waiting
(Comedy; 2M, many women)
She's getting married, why not just tell everyone everything?
- Performance, Don't Blink One Page Play Marathon; Anchorage (October 2010)
RETIRED PLAYS
These are plays that have been produced, but I'm really not looking to have them produced anymore.
The reasons why vary, and I've included them in the descriptions, because I like making fun of myself.
David's One Miracle
(10 Minutes; Historical Drama; 3M, 3W)
David Koresh sings a rock song, then shares the news with his followers that all the wives are now his
wives, meeting with mixed results. This is totally worth reading, and check out the kind of awesome song,
but there are just deeper, better works on this fascinating false prophet, and I'm really not sure how one
gets the rights to a song by a guy like this… and I wouldn't want to pay anyone who owns them for them…
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (January 2012)
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The TBA Theatre production of Love's Lumberings Remembered at the 2013 Last Frontier Theatre Conference.
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Laundry Day
(15 Minutes; Science Fiction; 2M, 3W)
Four roommates squabble over their apartment complex's arcane rules for the laundry room, while
just around the corner awaits the end of everything they know. I think it's beautiful and weird,
but there's a flatness to an audience's experience of this one.
- Workshop Production, Rough Theatre's Daytrippers; San Francisco (September 2001)
Love's Lumberings Remembered
(10 Minutes; Drama; 1M, 1W)
A man runs into a woman he liked too much to call back after their first date, and she's still a
little pissed about it. I've seen this done well, and it's not got too much to say other than "be
brave instead of cowardly," and I usually think my stuff aspires to more than that. I mean, not *always*…
Secret Stuffing
(25 Minutes; Science Fiction; 2M, 1W)
A brother and sister are visiting the taxidermist to have their recently deceased father
stuffed. There they run into a stripper friend of the brother. The first 24-hour script I
wrote, it's got good stuff in it, but it's really two plays strung together. I could play
with it, but really, on to the next thing.
- Production, Unidentified Theatre Company One-Act Marathon; San Francisco (March 2002)
- Workshop Production, Rough Theatre's Daytrippers; San Francisco (May 2000)
Better Living Through Chemistry
(60 Minutes; Drama; 3M, 3W)
A girl decides to join a bunch of friends who are dropping acid, much to the
chagrin of her straight-edge boyfriend. Some writing I like, but this was meant
to be a screenplay, and then when my friends didn't want to make it, I turned
it into an awkward play.
The Making of Eye Contact
(45 Minutes; Comedy; 2M, 1W)
An author gets lots inside the story he's trying to tell about this hooker he met. There's a
good monologue or two in here, and some funny jokes, but it's a draft of my literal first
produced plays, and some of it is cringe-inducing.
- Reading, Venue 9's Page to the Stage; San Francisco (April 1999)
- Production, Cyrano's Off-Center Playhouse; Anchorage, Alaska (December 1996)
- Production, Toast "Crust Festival;" Anchorage (April 1994)
- Production, University of Anchorage Alaska Second Stage (October 1993)
LibidOFF
(90 Minutes; Science Fiction-Comedy; 3M, 2W)
Feeling enslaved by his libido, Bile attempts to conquer his sex-drive through the use
of lust-killing patches. They work, but even without a sex drive he misses sex, so he
begins mixing Viagra into the picture… The stand-alone prequel to the award-winning one-act
Bile in the Afterlife, I've seen it done well (& and not well), and don't need to see it again.
Happy Loving Couples are a Thing of the Past
(10 Minutes; Science Fiction; 2M, 1W)
In the future, being part of a couple is no longer considered healthy, and grandpas
are assigned by the government. While I love this play, I've written enough better
ten-minute pieces since that I'd rather focus on them.
Sand & Granite On Liberty
(30 Minutes; Drama; 2M, 1W)
Sandy, an educated Southern gentleman, is taken prisoner by Grant, a ruffian seeking enlightenment.
Grant quickly realizes his mistake, but his mentally slow girlfriend, Jane, thinks of Sandy as her
pet bird. Strong language, violence, and adult content. This play is from the period where I was a
victim of my last conversation, writing about whatever I heard most recently in class.
This Really is the End
(20 Minutes; Science Fiction; 1M, 5W)
It's setting in that there is no one left in the world but them, and their defenses are
almost gone. Five women and the last gay man on earth face the end. Possibly the worst
piece I've written in a 24-hour format!
- Workshop Production, Alaska Overnighters; Anchorage, Alaska (August 2006)
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The Last Frontier Theatre Conference reading of The Making of Eye Contact.
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