Athens-Moscow by Evdokimos Tsolakidis

Comedy/ 3 characters, 3 Women / Full Length, 8 scenes

Synopsis: Olga and Massa are sisters from Russia living in Greece. The arrival of sibling Irena ignites their suspicions of one another. Does Massa work at the musical academy or is she a drug dealer? Is Irena really a nun or is she involved with the Russian Mafia and selling guns?

But sisterly solidarity prevails and eventually the trio decide to leave for Moscow together. However, as in a certain other play about three sisters, actually getting there is another matter altogether. Athens-Moscow is a hilarious, inspired reimagining of Chekhov’s great play.

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Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information: Amateur and professional rights:
Theater of Changes,
3rd Septemvriou 19a
104 32 Athens GR
Ph: +30 210 52 48 251
Email: info@toc.gr

About the Playwrights: Evdokimos Tsolakidis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1962. He studied in the Medical School of the University of Rome. He was awarded a diploma from the Drama School of Northern Greece with honors. He continued his studies in drama, acting, and directing in New York (Actor’s Studio, H.B. Studio) funded by the American state (Fulbright Foundation). He has worked as an actor and director in Greece and abroad, for more than 20 years, working both on classical and modern drama. During the last nine years he has taught improvisation, acting, and acting technique in various drama schools in Greece and abroad.His first play, Athens-Moscow, was staged under his own direction for two years (2001-2003) and has been published along with his second play, Nothing (Athens, Greece: Dodoni Publisher, 1998). He has also published a book, Acting (KOAN ed.). He is the founder and the artistic director of the Theater of Changes in Athens.

Athens-Moscow was first produced by the Apo Mihanis Theater, Athens, in 2001.

 

Babes In America by Carole Clement

Comedy-drama/ 7 Characters, 3 Women, 3 Men, 1 either gender/ Full Length, Two acts

Synopsis: (From NewYorkTheatre.com): “Babes in America is a new play by Carole Clement about a woman named Liz Small who is suffering from information overload. An obedient wife and mother of two, Liz finds herself confronting the absurdities of the Information Age — ‘information overload and experiential underload.’ Struggling against the inertia of her own values, she must move beyond the expectations of others while avoiding the ‘Siren Song’ of new technology.”

(From www.offoffoff.com): “We’re in a perfect little suburban housing complex where the husbands go out to work and the wives stay home and scan stacks of newspapers into their computers, so their children will never be information-deprived for the rest of their lives. Liz Small (Kate Lunsford) — who’s slightly out of her mind as a mom, forcing her two kids (Alexandra Leeper, Ryan Paulson) to continue their babyhood well into their teens — is the first to crack. She starts to spiral down to reality and wonder whether scanning all day long is really the way to educate the family.

“She has another idea — go outside the cookie-cutter house and see what’s out there.

“‘I think I could learn from experience!’ she imagines.

“‘Even if you could, says her skeptical hubby, who hopes to achieve a totally electronic existence, ‘do you realize how long it would take? Your whole life!'”

Character and production notes

“An often-inspired comedy about a gated-community family on the edge between going totally digital and pulling the plug on their technological rat race . . . .

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Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Carole Clement
8371 Villa Marina Court
Mentor, Ohio
USA 44060-2039
(440) 209-0634
clement@ncweb.com
About the Playwright: Carole Clement lives in the Cleveland area and is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Cleveland Playwright’s Salon, and past President and Director of Development for the International Centre for Women Playwrights.Among the competitions that have recognized her works are the Sundance Film Festival, Jane Chambers Competition, Last Frontier (Edward Albee) Competition and the Eugene O’Neill Competition.When not writing, Clement is probably gardening, pumping iron, ballroom dancing, or digging on archaeological expeditions.Babes in America was premiered by the Breakaway Theatre Company at Theatre for the New City, New York City in September, 2001.

Babes In America gets off plenty of clever lines, poking fun at gated communities, homeowners’ associations and the bright electronic future . . . . It takes on [its] big subject with wit, imagination and a strong sense of purpose.”
– www.offoffoff.com

Becoming Strangers by George Freek

Dark Comedy/ 5 Characters, 3 Men, 2 Women/ Full Length, Two Acts

Synopsis:
Howard and Jane are just looking for a break from the city when they show up at Duke and Betsy’s l’il ol’ cabin in the hills. But dang (as Duke and Betsy might say) if things don’t go wrong sometimes.

First there’s Duke’s curious interest in Howard and Jane’s sleeping arrangements. Then there’s the fact that Duke and Betsy haven’t slept together for twenty years. And then there’s the gun that unexpectedly shows up in Howard and Jane’s bedroom.

As Howard settles in for some hard fishing, and Jane realizes they’re not at a resort after all, Becoming Strangers gives new and blackly hilarious definition to the term “going native.”

 

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Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
George Freek
515 Douglas St.
Belvidere, Illinois
USA 61008
Ph.: (815) 547-7521
Email: gfreek@juno.com

About the Playwright: George Freek’s plays have been produced by the Organic Theater in Chicago, the Milwaukee Repertory, the West Coast Ensemble in Los Angeles, and the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, as well as the 13th Street Theater, Love Creek Productions, and the Theater-Studio in New York. He has been playwright-in-residence at the New American Theater in Rockford, Southern Methodist University, and Southern Illinois University, and has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Becoming Strangers was first produced at Southern Illinois University, and received its professional premiere at the 13th Street Theatre, New York City.

 

Beef Junkies by Jonathan Dorf

Beef Junkies - Victoria University - Wellington, NZ

Dark comedy/ 3 Characters, 2 Men, 1 Woman/ One Act

Synopsis:
Cowgirl is addicted to beef. She and Cowboy, her boyfriend, lie in wait for the world’s last cow, Betty the Bovine. When Shepherd, Betty’s companion, arrives, Cowgirl tries to make Shepherd reveal her meal-in-waiting’s location. Instead, he reveals that Betty is pregnant.

When Cowboy begins to have second thoughts, Cowgirl blackmails him — if Cowboy doesn’t help her, her people will kill the last salmon, which is his favorite fish. Will Cowboy cave? It’s one species against another in this dark look at our dwindling resources.

A portion of Beef Junkies may be read by clicking on the “Read It Now” button. To obtain a complete reading copy, please see the Contact Information on this page.

“It manages to [convey to] the audience a snapshot both of the dizzying highs and unfathomable lows of addiction and delivers a pertinent message about the unsustainable use of limited resources . . . A thoroughly enjoyable black comedy.”
– Jules van Cruysen, Salient, the magazine of Victoria University (Wellington, New Zealand)

Read it Now
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
YouthPLAYS
7119 W Sunset Blvd #390
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Ph: 424-703-5315
E-mail: info@youthplays.com
Publisher’s website: www.youthplays.com

About the Playwright:
Jonathan Dorf has had his plays produced across the United States, as well as in several foreign countries, including stagings of his work by Walnut Street Theatre, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Ensemble Studio Theatre – LA and the Pittsburgh New Works Festival. Mr. Dorf is the co-chair of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, the former managing director of the Philadelphia Dramatists Center and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He has also written several produced short screenplays and a number of feature scripts.

In addition to writing for stage and screen, he serves as the resident playwriting expert for Final Draft: he created “Ask the Expert” Playwriting for their scriptwriting software and also writes a column about playwriting for their website. He is resident playwriting expert for The Writers Store, for whom he created Playwriting 101.com, and he also contributes regularly to their e-zine. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in dramatic writing and literature and holds an MFA in playwriting from UCLA. He is available to playwrights and screenwriters as a script consultant.

Beef Junkies premiered at the Pittsburgh New Works Festival.

Big Baby by Frank Moher

Big Baby, Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary

Comedy/ 3 Characters, 2 women, 1 man/ Full Length, Two Acts

Synopsis: Liz is a middle-aged nurse happily living the high-rise life when Alex shows up at her door, claiming to be her son. Only problem: she doesn’t have a son. So how come he knows so much about her?

As the mystery unfolds (and Liz’s life starts to unravel), Alex falls in love with Daisy, the flamboyant upstairs neighbour who insists she gave Steven Spielberg the idea for E.T. The three end up changing one another’s lives in ways that not even someone as imaginative as Daisy could have predicted.

“[A] brilliant comedy fraught with dark undertones.”
– Jennifer Partridge, The Calgary Herald

“Outlandish, peculiar and a little disturbing. But also thought-provoking and laugh-out-loud hilarious.”
– Lisa Wilton, The Calgary Sun

“An intriguing play . . . . Moher quickly and expertly establishes normal relationships out of this paranormal situation comedy.”
– Kamal Al-Solaylee, The Globe and Mail

“Rich, strange, politically and culturally charged.”
Erin Aubry Kaplan, L.A. Weekly

Read it Now
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Single Lane Entertainment,
650 Little Blvd.,
Gabriola Island, B.C.,
Canada,
V0R 1X3.
Ph.: (in North America) 1-855-757-9216 or 250-247-9216
Email: info@singlelane.com
Playwright’s website: FrankMoher.com

About the Playwright: Frank Moher’s plays have been produced internationally, at theatres including South Coast Repertory (Costa Mesa, Calif.), Detroit Repertory Theatre, Round House Theatre (Silver Spring, Maryland), the Canadian Stage Company (Toronto), the Wellington Repertory Theatre (Wellington, New Zealand), Workshop West Theatre (Edmonton, Alta.), the Asolo Theater (Sarasota, Fla.), Alberta Theatre Projects (Calgary), Dodona Theatre (Prishtina, Kosova), The Mingei Theatre (Tokyo), and OmaDa Theatre (Athens, Greece). He has won a Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award for Writing (for Odd Jobs), the Edmonton Sterling Award for Outstanding New Play (for both The Third Ascent and Prairie Report,), and is published by both ProPlay and the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Frank has taught at the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta (where he was a Distinguished Visiting Artist), and is currently an instructor in scriptwriting and journalism at Vancouver Island University. He has also worked professionally as a literary manager and dramaturg, and written for publications including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Saturday Night magazine, The Georgia Straight, backofthebook.ca and salon.com.

Big Baby was first produced at Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary, in January 2004.

Also by Frank Moher on ProPlay:

 

Buying The Moose by Michael G. Wilmot

Buying the Moose by Michael Wilmot

Buying the Moose
Port Stanley Festival Theatre
Port Stanley, Ont., Canada

Comedy/ 4 Characters, 2 Men, 2 Women/ Full Length, Two Acts

Synopsis: Women ask, “Why do men do the crazy things they do?” Sometimes the answer is simpler than it first seems.

Betty thinks her relationship with boyfriend Rob is just about perfect until she arrives home early from a business trip to discover him in his underwear with an inflatable sex toy. Shocked and appalled, Betty stomps from their home to seek solace from girlfriend Cheryl, who by coincidence, also happens to be Rob’s brother’s wife.

Betty and Cheryl do what women do in such circumstances –– hug, cry, console, consume empty calories, and search for answers to the age old question, “Why do men do such bewildering things?” Back across town, Ron is also being comforted (by brother Greg) in the way men do such things –– genuine support and concern disguised by a few beers and cruel mockery –– as they try to figure out how a seemingly perfect relationship came to this unhappy state of affairs.

As the story continues, hidden secrets surface, embarrassing insecurities are exposed, and genre stereotypes are bent, stretched and dented, before the hilarious truth finally comes out.

“What’s refreshing about this play is that at no point does the playwright go out of his way to demean one or the other gender. The play is not so much about the battle of the sexes as much as it about pointing out how ridiculous and irrational human beings can be — especially when it comes to dealing with each other . . . . For anyone who has ever had a misunderstanding with their partner (and let’s face it, we all have), you are going to find something to laugh about in Buying the Moose.” — Sam Tweedle, KawarthaNow

“A comedic gem!” — St. Albert Gazette

Read it Now
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Professional rights:
Diane Carter
SRO Central
diane@srocentral.com
1-800-869-7351
Amateur rights:
Playwrights Guild of Canada

Amateur Rights Request Form

About the Playwright: Michael spent a number of years as an on-air radio personality before his love of theatre was sparked after being dragged to an audition to act as moral support for a friend.

His writing has been mainly in the field of comedy, including writing free-lance for Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” monologue and for Kevin Nealon during his stint on Saturday Night Live‘s “Weekend Update” segment. For a time he also had regular columns in two U.S. comedy newsletters.

As a playwright, his scripts have been performed across the USA and Canada, in Australia and Russia. No Tell Motel has been translated into Russian (under the title Love Shack) and was performed in Astrakhan Russia in 2016. His short play Nancy is published by Playwrights Canada Press in their short play anthology Long Story Short.

He is a member of The Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Dramatists Guild of America.

Buying the Moose was first produced by the London Community Players, London, Ont., Canada in February, 2015 and received its professional premiere at Globus Theatre, Bobcaygeon, Ont. in July 2016.

“One of the sweetest and funniest scripts we’ve read in years!” – Rainbow Comedy Playhouse, PA

“Quick and witty!” – KawarthaNow, Peterborough, ON

Cat As Cat Can by Alan Rossett

Cat As Cat Can

Comedy/ 12 Characters, 2 Men, 2 Women playing multiple parts or 7 Men, 5 Women/ Full Length, Two Acts

Synopsis:
A Disney-like kingdom in the mountains. To escape its wicked queen, a particularly uncharming Prince Charming turns into a cat and is confronted with the horrors of modern existence: poverty, political foment, frustrated passion and urban solitude.

Without a word, often without his consent, the cat is used as long-lost lover, departed family, friend who’d never betray you . . . and shrink who eases anxiety with his unblinking stare.Fantasy and reality collide. Fairy-tale princess, pathetic steno-typist, queen, dropout, sado-maso, travelling salesman are brought together by the cat catalyst.Paradoxically, the Prince, as a cat, becomes more of a human being. But at what price?

Playwright’s production notes

“Written with humour, freshness, will charm cat lovers and non-cat lovers alike.”
Figaro

“A charming and witty comedy turning around a humane, philosophical cat. Sheer delight.”
L’Avant-Scène Théâtre

“You don’t have to be a cat lover to enjoy this very tasty comedy . . . . Alan Rossett writes about love and politics with lots of humour and a refreshing innocence.”
Quotidien de Paris

“A delirious irresistible, hilariously funny fairy tale.”
Femme d’Aujourd’hui

“In a dreamy style all his own, Alan Rossett writes charming plays in which fantasy is matched up to tenderness. An adorable evening in the theatre.”
Figaro Magazine

Read it Now
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Alan Rossett
91, rue Nollet
75017 Paris
France
Ph.: O1 7375 57 65
Email: rossdoal@aol.com

About the Playwright: “Cocteau meets Woody Allen” was film-director Jean Delannoy’s comment on Alan Rossett, the only American to have French language plays produced regularly in France . . . and to receive awards from the Centre National des Lettres. Born in Detroit, he began his career as an actor in New York, where he appeared for a season with the Living Theatre and also as James Earl Jones’ first Iago. Relocating in Paris, he wrote and directed an evocation of Montmartre Light and Shade with Charles Boyer. Then his comedyHigh Time went from London to Sydney to New York (at the Actors Studio) and wound up, translated, in a Parisian cafe theatre before transferring to La Bruyere, a Broadway category house.Rossett made the language cross-over into French with two plays set in restaurants which he staged in the midst of diners at a show biz hang-out, running 200 performances. Many other productions followed of his French-language plays, including How It Happened, Cat As Cat Can, Love On Ice, Calamity Jane. Au Pair Girls premiered in Paris and was revived successfully at the Avignon Festival where it was nominated for a PIAF as comedy of the year.His French plays are published by Avant-Scene Theatre, Editions des quatre-vents, Editions Art et Comedie et Librairie Theatrale. He has adapted into English many of his own works as well as a series of plays by colleagues that have received grants from the Beaumarchais Association of the French Author’s Society. Rossett has done English versions as well of Alain Decaux’s historical pagaents (Chateau Blois Comes To Life and De Gaulle: the Man Who Said NO. As an actor, he has appeared in films of Marcel Carné, Woody Allen, and over 50 others.Cat As Cat Can was premiered in Paris, France in 1988 at the Théâtre Essaïon in its original French version entitled Chat Qui Peut. The French text is published by Editions Art et Comédie
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“The laughs are constant but under them, an exploration in depth as to why human beings share their lives with animals.”
Astre

“An enchanted voyage, tender, biting, absolutely delightful.”
Radio G

Cathexis…or is it something else? by Julie Marino

Comedy/ 6 Characters, 3 men, 3 women/ Full Length, Two Acts

Synopsis: Tony-winning playwright Brett has lost his creative mojo and ended up at a small regional theater as Artist-in-Residence, hoping to fix the disaster that is his latest script. But Brett does not play well with others, and he especially doesn’t want input from those he considers small-town wannabes and not in his league.

Meanwhile, the members of the company, all hard-working professionals with years of experience, have no patience for the carryings-on of divas. After weeks of putting up with Brett’s resistance and tantrums, the cast decides to rewrite the play themselves, without his help or even his knowledge.

Instead of the searing drama they started with, the result is a laugh-out-loud farce that everyone except Brett seems to love. While Brett struggles to reconcile his overblown self-image with his need for a hit, the others gleefully dive into a project that rekindles their excitement and sense of joy.

Read it Now
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Brian Sherman
IPEX Literary Agency
Ph: 646-355-8050
bts@ipexartists.com

About the Playwright: Julie Marino is a playwright and producer living and working in Manhattan. Her previous play, Welcome to Paradise (also published on ProPlay), was a semi-finalist in the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Center in 2015, and had its world premiere at the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Michigan in June, 2019. Other works include Mondo Condo, a musical comedy about life in a retirement community, not to mention a love triangle, money laundering and the Russian mob, and Wildfire Season, which was presented in workshop form by Pier Studios, New York City. Julie is also the writer/producer of Synesthesia Radio Theater, which produces and presents radio dramas for podcast. Further samples of her work may be seen on her website, juliemarino.nyc.

Cathexis…or is it something else? was presented in a workshop reading at Pier Studios in New York City in 2021. It awaits its first full production.

Christmas 2.0 by Donna Hoke

Christmas 2.0

Christmas 2.0
Hormel Festival of New Works
Phoenix, AZ

Comedy/ 5 Characters, 3 Women, 2 Men/ Full Length

Synopsis: All Angela wants is a happy Christmas, but her daughter’s left for college, her husband’s busy with fantasy football, and her cat won’t stop peeing where he shouldn’t. In desperation, Angela turns to Facebook, where some old friends help her see things in a new light. CHRISTMAS 2.0 is a contemporary comedy about how much too much connection can drive us apart.

“A timely and VERY funny play about marriage, loneliness, the holidays and the lure of social media.” – David Lee White, New Play Exchange

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Most of Christmas 2.0 may be read by clicking on the “Read It Now” button above. To obtain a complete reading copy, contact the playwright at donna@donnahoke.com

Contact Information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Donna Hoke
donna@donnahoke.com
Ph.: 973-919-2038
Playwright’s website: donnahoke.com
Representation: Patricia McLaughlin, Beacon Agency
beaconagency@hotmail.com
212-736-6630

About the Playwright: Donna’s work has been seen in 47 states and on five continents, including at Barrington Stage, Barrow Group, Celebration Theatre, Gulfshore Theatre, Queens Theatre, The Road, Writers Theatre New Jersey, Phoenix Theatre, Atlantic Stage, Purple Rose, Skylight, Pride Films and Plays, New Jersey Rep, Hens and Chickens (London), The Galway Fringe Festival, and Actors Repertory Theatre of Luxembourg. Plays include BRILLIANT WORKS OF ART (Kilroys List), ELEVATOR GIRL (O’Neill and Princess Grace finalist), SAFE (winner of the Todd McNerney, Naatak, and Great Gay Play and Musical Contests), and TEACH (Gulfshore New Works winner). She has been nominated for the Primus, Blackburn, and Laura Pels prizes, and is a three-time winner of the Emanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play (SEEDS, SONS & LOVERS, ONCE IN MY LIFETIME). She has also received an Individual Artist Award from the New York State Council on the Arts to develop HEARTS OF STONE, and, in its final three years, Artvoice named her Buffalo’s Best Writer—the only woman to ever receive the designation.

Donna also serves on the Dramatists Guild Council, is an ensemble playwright at Road Less Traveled Productions, blogger, moderator of the 12,000+-member Official Playwrights of Facebook, New York Times-published crossword puzzle constructor; children’s and trivia book author; and founder/co-curator of BUA Takes 10: GLBT Short Stories. Speaking engagements include Citywrights, Kenyon Playwrights Conference, the Dramatists Guild National Conference, Chicago Dramatists, the Austin Film Festival, and a live Dramatists Guild webinar. Her commentary has been seen on #2amt, howlround, The Dramatist, the Official Playwrights of Facebook, Workshopping the New Play (Applause, 2017), and at donnahoke.com.

Christmas 2.0 was presented in a workshop production by the Phoenix Theatre Company in Phoenix, Arizona in 2015. It awaits its first, full professional production.

Christmas Naughty and Nice by Daniel Curzon

Christmas Naughty and Nice

Comedy-Drama/ Multiple Characters, flexible casting/ Full Length, five short plays

Synopsis:
(from The Portland Phoenix): “Playwright Daniel Curzon explains that he wrote Christmas Naughty and Nice ‘to vent his inner Grinch, to make angels weep, and because he has sold his soul to the Devil.’ That gives you a fair indication of the range of tones expressed over the course of the show’s five plays.

“At one end, we have the humor of precocious adolescents. In the opening play, ‘Honest Christmas Presents,’ family members give what they really want to give, with varying degrees of cleverness: Tween Melissa in headgear gets dog doo from her brother Billy; Mom gets a ‘pile remover’ from Dad, who in return gets a penis enlarger.

“At the far end of the show’s range, we have the drama ‘A Christmas Mistake.’ The heartstring-pulling ‘Mistake’ looks in on a man remembering a past Christmas Eve, when he crossed the Golden Gate Bridge with his young daughter. The mistake of the title happens when the girl, who is fated to die the next year, believes a homeless man, who is about to jump, to be Santa Claus.

“The most interesting and unexpected of the plays is ‘A Christmas Miracle,’ in which two military men in uniform at a mess hall Christmas Eve party hide their love and lust in full sight. Like Naughty and Nice itself, it melds the perversely funny with the poignant.”

“Melds the perversely funny with the poignant . . . . studded with moments of both hilarity and quiet power.”
The Portland Phoenix

Read it Now
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Daniel Curzon
416 Dorado Terrace
San Francisco, California
USA 94112
Email: curzon@pacbell.net

About the Playwright: Daniel Curzon’s works include the novel Something You Do in the Dark (1971), The World Can Break Your Heart(1984), Superfag (1996) and Not Necessarily Nice: stories (1998), as well as the plays My Unknown Son (Circle Rep Lab, New York, 1987) and 1001 Nights at the House of Pancakes (San Francisco, 1998). Godot Arrives won the Southwest Theatre Association’s 1999 National New Play Contest, and was first produced by the California Travel Troupe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2000.

He has also written and published non-gay fiction and plays. His plays, both gay and non-gay, have been produced in several cities.

Christmas Naughty and Nice was first produced by Dark Water Theatre Company, Portland, Maine in 2009.