Spring 2005 Plays

THE ATOMIC AGE by James K. Brown
Directed by Carl Thelin

An examination, through four independent vignettes, of how citizens interact with their media. And it's in play form.

James K. Brown, after many years of keeping it real, has recently been spending his time just chillin'. Not cold chillin', mind you, just chillin'. Perhaps next year he'll be gettin' busy though at times his mind turns toward kickin' it live. That'd be dope.

February 22
REARRANGE/RECONNECT/REINVENT by Kenyon Brown
Directed by Rebecca Noon

A therapist discovers confronting changes in her own life is a lot more challenging than helping the couples she counsels.

Kenyon Brown is a San Francisco-based playwright and freelance editor. His full-length play, The Future Built In, was produced by the Cambridge Playwrights Workshop. He has had staged readings of many 10-minute and one-act plays. Several of his poems and short stories have appeared in Chanticleer and Rising Star. He is also the author of eight books about information technology. His professional theatre experience includes working at Circle Repertory Company in New York, one of the country's leading theatre companies dedicated to producing new works by leading and emerging playwrights. He was awarded the Hopwood Award for Drama from the University of Michigan. He also holds a B.S. Education and M.A Education from the University of Michigan. He is a member of PlayGround Writers Pool for the 2004-05 season. He also serves on the Board of the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco.

March 15
ANOTHER MAN'S SLINGBACKS: A FAIRY TALE by Andrew Black
Directed by Rebecca Noon

A gay teenager's vengeful wish turns Lincoln High's homophobic quarterback gay overnight; he must then learn about life on the other side of the pom-poms.

Andrew Black belongs to the Playwrights Center of San Francisco and the Dramatists Guild. His play Porn Yesterday (co-written with Pat Milton) was a finalist in PCSF's 2002 Dramarama contest, and was produced by the Fritz Theatre Company (San Diego) in its festival of new plays in 2003. He and Pat have co-authored a screwball comedy, Strange Bedfellows. He is one of 36 playwrights in the playwright's pool for Playground, a Bay Area theatre company specializing in ten-minute plays.

March 29
TAKING STOCK by Aaron Schmookler
Directed by Carl Thelin

The familiar story of a young man grappling with his own inertia and an inherited melancholy. What happens at the confluence of identity, futility, ambition, and fate?

Aaron Schmookler is a director, actor and playwright who in 1999 graduated Magna Cum Laude from Oberlin College with a BA in Theater. Recently, his work has been seen in The Marsh Theater, The Exit Theater, Don Jose's Salon, Dance Mission and a few very small silver screens. He is currently nursing the fledgling theater company, Gold From Straw - Putting on stage what you didn't know you wanted to see. Taking Stock is the first full-length play Aaron is proud to have bare his name - others he disowned and aborted before they'd completed gestation.

April 12
THE ONLY VIRGIN IN JUBILEE COUNTY by Patricia Milton
Directed by Anna Budd

When the Blessed Virgin Mary makes an unannounced appearance in a Texas bridal shop, five women must examine their beliefs about marriage, men, miracles . . . and x-treme bridal gowns.

Patricia Milton is co-author of Porn Yesterday and Strange Bedfellows, with Andrew Black. Porn Yesterday was a finalist in the Playwrights Center of San Francisco's 2002 Dramarama Festival, and was produced in June 2003 at the Fritz Blitz Festival in San Diego. Patricia's ten-minute plays have been featured in PlayGround and in the Sheherazade and Short Leaps Festivals. Her Power Plays was second place winner of the Spring 2004 Marin Fringe.

April 26
JANIS PIECES by Bob Lane
Directed by Brian Katz

While confronting a painful loss, Jessie lands in jail, defended by Mae and Quentin, who are dealing with losses of their own -- all echoed in Janis Joplin's music.

After seminary and careers as a lawyer and college professor, Bob got involved in theatre as both director and actor. When he moved to the Bay Area in 1997 he also taught acting in high schools and theatre companies. Since beginning his playwriting career two years ago, he has written Janis Pieces, The Lord's Song (about an Archbishop of Canterbury who paid dearly for defying Queen Elizabeth I), and Another Country (a one-act about the unexpected fallout from the Vietnam War). He lives in the East Bay with his wife, Sue, and their cat, Jasper.

May 10
HIGH SPIRITS by Carol Sheldon
Directed by Anna Budd

A romp around the planet, HIGH SPIRITS is a comedy about reincarnation in which several souls keep coming back to Earth to "get it right."

CAROL SHELDON'S plays have won awards and have been seen in community and professional productions across the country. Most recently, three of her scripts came to life in staged readings by Ross Valley Players. Lemonade or Dinner toured the retirement homes in Marin in a fully-staged production. Carol teaches writing classes in her home and for the Marin Writers' Center. She has written three books of poetry and recently finished her first novel. Carol enjoys acting and directing, as well.

May 24
HERE TO STAY by Chris Drury
Directed by Brian Katz

When a young boy meets an older man in a park an unusual friendship develops that challenges both of their assumptions about life, love and the search for community.

Chris Drury is a new playwright living and working in San Francisco. A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Chris is studying acting at the Jean Shelton Actors Lab and Studio A.C.T., and has participated in playwrighting workshops at the Playwrights Foundation in San Francisco and at Perishable Theatre in Providence. Before moving to San Francisco in 2004, Chris was the Assistant Director for the National High School Civic Engagement Initiative, Project 540. He is the Producer of the documentary film 'Students Turn for a Change' currently being distributed by American Public Television.

June 14
TRANSPARENT STING by Cassandra Lewis
Directed by Anna Budd

A dark comedy in three acts about a dysfunctional family brought together under the guise of suicide prevention. It explores the art of failure, odd drug inventions and the meaning of life.

Cassandra Lewis moved to San Francisco nearly two years ago from New York, where she studied Forensic Psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is currently completing her MA in Writing at New College of California. Her eclectic adventures as an activist, actor, caseworker, and media researcher have greatly contributed to her appreciation for the absurd.

See a history of previous readings and synopsis