Short Plays
Blood Ties -- Edmonia Lewis (c.1845-1911—first woman of African-American heritage
to earn an international reputation as a visual artist) is in her studio in Boston
(1863) where she is working on a bust of John Brown and trying to convince her
patron, the white abolitionist Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880), that moving to
Rome in order to focus on her art would not be deserting the abolitionist cause.
Single set, 2w (one Caucasian, one African-American), 10 min.
In Her Name Festival, A Festival of New Plays, April 16, 2016, at the 13th Street Repertory Company, New York, NY; Publication, 'She Persisted: Thirty Ten-Minute Plays by Women over Forty,' Applause Books 2021; Going to the River, Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC; A Place At the Table, The Workshop Theatre, NYC, produced by Yvette Heyliger in conjunction with League of Professional Theatre Women 30th Anniversary; 365Women New York, The Sheen Center, Greenwich Village, NY, April 2015. Press Release on 365Women-NYC.
Related: See "Wildfires" in full length plays.
to earn an international reputation as a visual artist) is in her studio in Boston
(1863) where she is working on a bust of John Brown and trying to convince her
patron, the white abolitionist Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880), that moving to
Rome in order to focus on her art would not be deserting the abolitionist cause.
Single set, 2w (one Caucasian, one African-American), 10 min.
In Her Name Festival, A Festival of New Plays, April 16, 2016, at the 13th Street Repertory Company, New York, NY; Publication, 'She Persisted: Thirty Ten-Minute Plays by Women over Forty,' Applause Books 2021; Going to the River, Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC; A Place At the Table, The Workshop Theatre, NYC, produced by Yvette Heyliger in conjunction with League of Professional Theatre Women 30th Anniversary; 365Women New York, The Sheen Center, Greenwich Village, NY, April 2015. Press Release on 365Women-NYC.
Related: See "Wildfires" in full length plays.
The Price of Solitude -- After Sharon’s partner (Ted), who is a high powered attorney, breaks up with her, she moves to France to explore her writing; a year later Ted finds her and wants to continue their relationship, but Sharon has discovered another part of herself in this magical French village, which seems to make Ted jealous since he is no longer happy with his own life. Single set, 1w, 1m, 10min. Game Productions, Director's Theatre, NYC; Finalist, National Ten-Minute Play Contest, Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Eden -- During the 60s, a black minister (Rev. Jones), is involved with the Civil Rights Movement in the south when his wife is murdered, leaving him to raise his daughter (Cynthia), who blames him for her mother’s murder. Cynthia returns to the father’s home after several years because of the death of a neighbor who was like a mother to Cynthia. Single set, 2w (one mature), 1m, 40 min. Even Shades Black History Month, Theatre Row, New York.
Little Louis -- African American entertainer Josephine Baker, active in the French Resistance in WWII, tries to warn her friend, Valaida Snow, an African American jazz musician known as 'Queen of the Trumpet' who is performing in Amsterdam in 1941, about impending Nazi dangers. Single set: two locations, 2 w, African American, 1 OS Voice, male. 10 min. 365 Women; 'Women, Theater and the Holocaust,' Remember the Women Institute at the Marlene Meyerson Manhattan JCC, NYC, April 20, 2023, with April Armstrong and Justine J. Hall, directed by Adrienne Williams. lnclusion, 'Women Theater and the Holocaust Handbook, Fifth Edition,' Remember the Women Institute; Cosmic Orchid Theatre Spring Reading Series, Westbeth, New York City, March 2024
Waves -- Nomie has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and is spending a weekend at her summer home on the beach when her best friend visits, and the two women go over past and present indiscretions as a way of holding onto their friendship. Single set, 2 w (one Caucasian, one African-American), 10 min. Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Octoberfest; Love Creek’s Summer One Acts.
The Carver -- Inspired by the life of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960). Prophet, the first African-American to graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, is hospitalized for depression and malnutrition in France and returns to a cold studio in Paris with only her sculptures to keep her warm, waiting for the arrival of her estranged husband from America to either be her salvation or the source of her downfall. Single set,1 w (African-American) 10 min. Produced: 365 Women, Theatre for A New City: March 2016.
The Goddess of Hygieia -- Harriot Kezia Hunt (1805-1875), one of the first women physicians, meets with Edmonia Wildfire Lewis (1843-1907), the first African-American sculptor. 2 w (one Caucasian, one African-American), 5 min. LiveStreaming Worldwide and Live in New York, Reproductive Freedom Festival. Published, Short Plays on Reproductive Freedom. Book Launch, Bluestockings Books, Sept 2019. Upcoming: Saturday, November 12, 2022, 2 pm, We [HEART] Women Doctors, Episcopal Actors Guild, New York City.
The Art School -- In 1659, the trailblazing woman painter, Elisabetta Sirani, opens an art school in Bologna, Italy. Available in English and Italian. 2 w., 10 min. June 2024, Guardia Sanframondi, Italy
The Portrait -- a carpenter and his wife have a visit from an old friend, who was once the lover of the carpenter and dear friend to the carpenter's wife. As the three reminisce about the past, old passions are ignited and past decisions are revisited, forcing the three to question what they each desire now. Single set, 2w, 1m, 30 min.
Pigment & Stones -- African American painter Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998) confronts a difficult conflict between artistic ambition and discriminatory practices. Single set, 2w, 10 min. 365 Women, Theatre for A New City: March 15, 2017.
The Rejection -- The African-American sculptor Augusta Savage (1892-1962) after being informed by six white men that she will not be admitted to a summer art program in France because the other applicants are white women from the south and these white women should not be forced to spend time with a Black woman, with the help of her neighbor, Hattie Parker, who cleans houses, comes up with a plan to avenge those six white men. Single set, 2w (African-American), 10 min. Virtual Theater: Stories of Artists of Color, Sept 24, 2020. With With Toni Belafonte and Efé, directed by Sean Rose. Grok Acting Studio, Los Angeles. Watch on YouTube.
Just Wanna Go Home -- A monologue about Pamela Turner as she imagines the world in the moments before being killed by police officers outside her apartment. Part of Say Their Names, Honor Roll! Women Playwrights over 40 in association with the African American Policy Forum's #SayHerName Campaign, National Action Network and The Breath Project for 00:08:46. Say Their Names is an evening of readings about BIWoC women who have died at the hands of law enforcement. 1 w (African American). Say Their Names, October 23, 2020, Virtual.
Making It Right -- Inspired by the life of Pauli Murray (1910 -1985), this monologue has Pauli Murray on a mission to convince First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to support the cause of union workers. For Zoom. 1 w (African American), 5 min. StatueFest -- Put A Woman on a Pedestal, 2021, Virtual; StatueFest on Stage, 2021, Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, NYC, by New Shokan Kitchen Island Project
Tea With Eleanor Roosevelt -- Civil Rights activist and lawyer Pauli Murray comes to the Greenwich Village apartment of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1940 on a mission to garner her support for laborers. Inspired by the life of Pauli Murray (1910-1985). Single set, 1w, African American; 1 OS Voice, female. 10 min. 365 Women.
Singing Those Songs -- After a nightclub concert, jazz singer June Richmond awaits the visit of two special guests, Jimmy Dorsey and Bing Crosby, who are intent on recruiting her to sing with their band, something no African American has done. Inspired by the life of June Richmond (1915-1962) Single set, 1w, 2 OS Voices, males. 10 min. 365 Women.
A Dark and Stormy Night (for young audiences) -- a spoof on film noir with a young, female detective searching for the culprit of the crime. Stylized. Multiple scenes, 10 characters (including a rabbit), 10 min. 52nd Street Project.
Pastels and Portraits -- It’s 1896 and Annie E. Anderson Walker’s (1855-1929) first day as an art student at the prestigious Academie Julian in Paris, France - probably making her the first African-American woman to attend the school - when at the entrance, Annie is overcome with fear because of her treatment when she tried to enter an art school in America where she was denied her role as a student when the powers that be learned that she was a woman of color. Single set, 1w (African-American), 10 min.
The Dime -- Selma Burke (1900-1995), who is in the Navy at the time, goes to the White House to convince Eleanor Roosevelt that she is the best person to create the plaque of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that will eventually be used for the dime, but Selma Burke must first get pass a white woman who does not believe an African-American woman is capable nor worthy of the task. Single set, 3 w (1 African-American, 2 Caucasian), 10 min. Production. Juneteeth 2025: Southern Soul Theatre Ensemble, Galveston, TX; Fall 2020, Virtual: The Theater Workshop of Owensberg, Indiana.
Drawing the Chess Game -- Inspired by the correspondence between the portrait painter Sofonisba Anguissola (1532 – 1625) and sculptor/painter Michelangelo (1475-1564), played out in Michelangelo's studio when student and maestro have an honest discussion about art. 1 w, 1 m (both Caucasian). 10 min. Versions in English and Italian. Arts & Culture Week 2025, Guardia Sanframondi, Italy.
Diahann as Julia -- The glamorous actor Diahann Carroll is sent a script from NBC to play the role of Julia, which would make Diahann the first black woman to have a television series on primetime television, but she discovers that the creator, Hal Cantor, does not believe that Diahann has what it takes to play the part of Julia, which forces Ms. Carroll to dig deep inside of herself to prove this white man wrong. Single set, 1 w (African-American), 1 OS Voice, male, 10 min.
Things We Don't Talk About (A collaboration with Cynthia L. Cooper) -- two women (one Caucasian and one African-American) try to sort out the complexities of race, family and personal histories. Stylized. Multiple scenes, 2 w (one Caucasian, one African-American), 20 min. Women With Bite, Director's Theatre, NY.
The Lock -- A play for Zoom. An African-American woman in an unfamiliar land finds herself locked in her apartment, and barely holds her panic at bay, aided only by the understanding solicitude of a local locksmith laboring away on the other side of the door. For Zoom. 1 w (African American), 1 m, 10 min. Cosmic Orchid Theatre, NY, Virtual Production, October 30, 2020, Virtual.
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