Sheherezade's Last Tales

Announcing Sheherezade's Last Tales!

PCSF proudly presents its annual showcase of fully-produced short plays by our member playwrights, featuring an ensemble cast of talented local actors!

Sheherezade is a 15-year tradition that brings together the talent of local writers, actors, directors and designers. This year, our show will be particularly special, as this is the final year of Sheherezade in its current form -- hence, Sheherezade's Last Tales! Next year, we will be transitioning to a new format for our annual short play festival.

Starting December 3, come help us celebrate the legacy of this wonderful festival with 8 brand-new short plays. From zany money-making schemes and awkward first dates at 70, to buried pasts, dark secrets and the aftermath of war, these plays range from hilarious to sobering and bittersweet.

There are two ways to get tickets:

Early-bird tickets go on sale Nov. 18 through Brown Paper Tickets.

Or, reserve your tickets now by contributing to our Kickstarter campaign, active through Nov. 18. You can get fun rewards like autographed posters and commemorative t-shirts, and your support helps us bring this wonderful festival to life.

Congratulations to these member playwrights!

  • A Comfortable Life by Madeleine Butler
    As she nears retirement age, Ruth is forced to confront her buried past. Will the truth set her free? Or will it destroy her?

    Madeleine Butler has been a member of PCSF and the PlayGround Writer’s Pool for the past two seasons. Her short musical A Beautiful Evening was staged at Monday Night PlayGround in 2013, and her play The Box was included in Sheherezade 14 last summer. A freelance marketing writer by day, she also is at work on a variety of writing projects in her spare time: more plays, a crime novel, a memoir, essays, short fiction, and poems.
  • New New Economy by Steven Hill
    A young couple tries to deal with the realities of a down economy, set amidst the backdrop of their moody relationship and a very peculiar – and desperate – money-making scheme.

    Steven Hill is a San Francisco-based writer whose work has been published extensively in leading newspaper and magazines in the United States, the UK, Europe and elsewhere. He is the author of five books on politics and political economy, and his poetry and fiction have been published by various journals and publications. Several of his short plays have been produced Off-Off Broadway. Visit Steven Hill’s website.
  • Rorschach Test by Vaughn Hovanessian
    A couple attends a marriage counseling session with a twist.

    Vaughn Hovanessian is a San Francisco native. He's retired and can frequently found auditing classes at UC Berkeley and at Golden Gate Fields racetrack.
  • How To Make A Video by Bill Hyatt
    In war, it is not only the soldiers that suffer. How To Make A Video presents life on the home-front and the effects of the loss of loved ones.

    Bill Hyatt is a playwright, director and occasional actor. Produced plays include: Christmas In Chechnya (Backstage West 2003 Critics List); Babe Hunting Season; The Light Blue Sea. Bill has directed many world and West Coast premieres, and was one of several directors of Lysistrata (Ebell Theater, 2003) – an international theatrical effort protesting the U.S. entry into Iraq. As an actor, Bill most recently played a crazed middle-aged misogynist in two different plays: The Beauty Of Growing Older (a 35 minute monologue!) at the Black Box Theater (West Los Angeles) and The Evidence at the Company of Angels (Los Angeles). He hopes this is not typecasting. Bill is a member of PCSF and has produced and stage-managed several PSCF theatrical events. Visit Bill Hyatt’s website.
  • By Any Other Name by Carol S. Lashof
    Jeanette and Sharon fought for the right to be married. Can they sustain their love now that “Sharon” has come out as “Steve”?

    Carol S. Lashof is Cofounder of Those Women Productions. Her plays have been broadcast on BET and NPR and staged on five continents—from the Magic Theatre in San Francisco to Peking University in Beijing. Her numerous publications include Medusa’s Tale in Plays in One Act and several scripts licensed by YouthPLAYS. She’s written for the SF Olympians, the SF One-Minute Play Festival, and PianoFight’s ShortLived comedy festival. Her full-length plays Just Deserts and Disclosure as well as her one-act When Briseis Met Chryseis have all been premiered by Those Women Productions. Carol is a member of PCSF, PlayCafe, and the Dramatists Guild.
  • The Stuff We Keep by Rod McFadden
    While cleaning out the basement of their deceased father, a brother and sister find a box of secret love letters to him, not from their mother. Should the letters be shown to their mother? In trying to decide this, the siblings uncover their own dangerous secrets.

    Rod McFadden began writing plays in 2009. In addition to successful productions at small theatres around the country, Rod’s plays have been well-received by Bay Area audiences of Broadway West, The Playwrights Center of SF, Wily West Productions, The Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Fringe of Marin, the Masquers, and PlayGround SF. He has received awards in national playwriting competitions for his plays, Love Birds, Counting on Love, and Getting the Message, and was chosen for the People’s Choice award at the 2012 inspiraTO Festival in Toronto. Hope’s Last Chance, Rod’s second full-length play, premiered in SF as part of Wily West’s 2013 season. Rod serves on the Board of Directors for the Playwrights’ Center of SF, as well as teaches in the Master's program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
  • Sparse Pubic Hair by Lorraine Midanik
    Two older adults, both seeking casual relationships, meet through the Internet for an uncomfortable first date at a bar.

    Lorraine Midanik has had several short plays produced in the Bay Area including Branding (SF Theater Pub, 2015); Are we there yet? (PCSF’s Plays in a Daze Festival 2015); Misunderstandings and Lack Thereof (Fringe of Marin 2015); and The Revolution (PianoFight’s Shortlived Festival 2015). She is a member of PCSF, Theatre Bay Area where she is currently in the ATLAS playwrights program, the Dramatists Guild, and Stagebridge where she studies with Anthony Clarvoe and is a board member. Lorraine wishes to thank Stephen, Beth and Amy for their never-ending love and support.
  • A Clean Well-Lighted Park Bench by Patricia L. Morin
    An old Jewish man sits on a park bench talking to the moon as he reflects on his wife's death when a young teenager with a gun attempts to mug him.

    Patricia L. Morin, MA, ACSW, has three short story collections published. Her play, Where Is Horatio T. Adams?, was read and considered by The National Pastime Theater in Chicago for their 2012/2013 program. Another of her plays, The Gatekeeper, swept the awards at the 2012 Fringe of Marin Playwright Contest. Her play, Simplexity, was produced as part of the 2013 Playwrights' Center of San Francisco Plays in a Daze Festival. Most recently, her play, Till The End, was selected by the San Francisco chapter of the Dramatists Guild for a reading at the Tides Theatre. Last month, The Gatekeeper was chosen as one of the best plays in the Fringe of Marin’s twenty-five-year history. Visit Pat Morin's website.