Dawn Thomas, KenYatta Rogers and Maya Jackson in Holly Down in Heaven; photo by Ryan Maxwell. Directed by Michael Dove.
Full-Length Plays
Welcome to Fear City
Dramedy - 2w, 4m
It is July 1977 and the South Bronx is HOT: from a heat wave, from this new thing that would come to be known as “hip-hop,” and from an astounding number of fires burning the borough to the ground. E, a young African-American man, dreams of being a poet, but unemployment, a raging fiscal crisis, and a family on the brink of disaster drive him to ask a dangerous question: Can you love your ‘hood if you take part in its destruction? Welcome to Fear City is about a community trying to get by in the midst of crime, social apathy, poverty, and a whole new art form that’s about to electrify the world.
Production & Development History
It is July 1977 and the South Bronx is HOT: from a heat wave, from this new thing that would come to be known as “hip-hop,” and from an astounding number of fires burning the borough to the ground. E, a young African-American man, dreams of being a poet, but unemployment, a raging fiscal crisis, and a family on the brink of disaster drive him to ask a dangerous question: Can you love your ‘hood if you take part in its destruction? Welcome to Fear City is about a community trying to get by in the midst of crime, social apathy, poverty, and a whole new art form that’s about to electrify the world.
Production & Development History
- Kansas City Rep: Production, April-May 2018
- CATF: World premiere, July 2017
- Kansas City Rep: Workshops, May 2017 & December 2017
- PlayPenn Mini-Conference: Workshop, March 2017
- Atlantic Theater Company: Reading, October 2016
- Labyrinth Theater: Reading, June 2016
- Bay Area Playwrights Festival: Workshop, July 2015
- The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep: Workshop, June 2014
Listen for the Light
Drama – 1w, 2m
A former slave with a tragic past questions his faith, a powerful man fights his inner and outer demons, and a precocious young woman locked in a room reluctantly awaits word from God. It’s 1844 and in the small town of Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith—Mormon prophet—rules all. Or so he believes.
Production & Development History
A former slave with a tragic past questions his faith, a powerful man fights his inner and outer demons, and a precocious young woman locked in a room reluctantly awaits word from God. It’s 1844 and in the small town of Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith—Mormon prophet—rules all. Or so he believes.
Production & Development History
- Know Theatre of Cincinnati: World premiere, April-May 2017
- New Dramatists: Workshop, May 2016
- Women's Project Theater: Reading, April 2014
- Midtown Direct Rep: Workshop, November 2013
- Seven Devils Playwrights Conference: Workshop, June 2012
- South Coast Repertory: Reading, July 2012
AliceGraceAnon
Comedy – 4w, 2m (flexible: can be done with many actors as well)
A curious girl who falls down a rabbit hole. The lead singer of an iconic ‘60s rock band. The poor, nameless star of a classic druggie diary. Three oddly connected heroines inhabit three separate worlds, playing out their stories pretty much as expected, but when those worlds collide—we mean really, they collide—they will all start to wonder “Who’s really controlling my destiny?”
Production & Development History
A curious girl who falls down a rabbit hole. The lead singer of an iconic ‘60s rock band. The poor, nameless star of a classic druggie diary. Three oddly connected heroines inhabit three separate worlds, playing out their stories pretty much as expected, but when those worlds collide—we mean really, they collide—they will all start to wonder “Who’s really controlling my destiny?”
Production & Development History
- New Georges: World premiere, October-November 2012
- New Georges: Excerpt produced as part of The Germ Project, June-July 2011
Holly Down in Heaven
Comedy – 2w, 2m, lotsa dolls
Holly collects dolls. Holly is a born-again Christian. Holly is a fifteen-year-old, brainy, outspoken, spoiled, tyrannical brat. She’s also pregnant. During her nine-month odyssey, she must find a way to move forward with the new life she’s landed in or remain forever hidden in her own special heaven…of talking dolls. A dark comedy about navigating the treacherous terrain from child to adult.
Production & Development History
Holly collects dolls. Holly is a born-again Christian. Holly is a fifteen-year-old, brainy, outspoken, spoiled, tyrannical brat. She’s also pregnant. During her nine-month odyssey, she must find a way to move forward with the new life she’s landed in or remain forever hidden in her own special heaven…of talking dolls. A dark comedy about navigating the treacherous terrain from child to adult.
Production & Development History
- Forum Theatre: World premiere, September-October 2012
- Vineyard Theatre: Workshop, April 2009
- New Dramatists: Reading, June 2009
- Horizon Theatre (Atlanta): August 2008
Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night
Drama – 1w, 1girl, 3m
Jules, an African-American painter, has fled the U.S. under ambiguous circumstances and embraced a whole new life and family in Iceland. But Obama Fever, Iceland’s economic meltdown, the appearance of a shocking children’s book, and a mysterious visitor unearth the demons of Jules’ past and shake her sense of racial and personal identity.
Production & Development History
Commissioned by InterAct Theatre Company
Jules, an African-American painter, has fled the U.S. under ambiguous circumstances and embraced a whole new life and family in Iceland. But Obama Fever, Iceland’s economic meltdown, the appearance of a shocking children’s book, and a mysterious visitor unearth the demons of Jules’ past and shake her sense of racial and personal identity.
Production & Development History
- InterAct Theatre Company: World premiere, June 2012
- PlayPenn Conference: Workshop, July 2010
- Vineyard Theatre: Workshop, March 2011
Commissioned by InterAct Theatre Company
Julius by Design
Drama – 3w, 3m
Jo and her husband struggle to cope with the violent death of their teenage son, but when his murderer contacts Jo seven years after the crime, she is sent on an unexpected and challenging journey toward forgiveness.
Production & Development History
Jo and her husband struggle to cope with the violent death of their teenage son, but when his murderer contacts Jo seven years after the crime, she is sent on an unexpected and challenging journey toward forgiveness.
Production & Development History
- Fulcrum Theater: World premiere, July 2011
- Penumbra Theatre Company: Word(s)PLAY! workshop, July 2009
- Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage Festival (w/thehegira): Reading, September 2009
- Page 73 Productions: Reading, July 2008
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Time and a Half
Comedy...until it's not - 7w, 2m Is there enough time or far too much of it? Join the Lucky Daze team for the end of the last shift on Christmas Eve and you can decide. It's your one-stop shop for last-minute holiday savings! Development History
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Spookwater
Drama – 5w, 2m An African-American New Orleans ecologist struggles with university politics, her aloof twin brother, a cousin who wants to be Scarlett O’Hara, a precocious shapeshifter, and her reckless passion for saving her beloved wetlands. Then Hurricane Katrina comes and in an instant survival is the only fight that matters. Development History
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Wild Black-Eyed Susans
Dramedy – 3w, 1m A hunger for something beyond the limits of her trailer park fills an expectant mother’s belly while boredom, spite, and the earth itself attempt to consume her best friend, husband, and sister. On the edge of poverty, might a newly adopted French accent, a Heineken, and a coal mine rescue these four souls? Development History
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#tinybirdcries
Dramedy - 5w, 2m, 1intersex #TinyBirdCries is a play that lives in the real world, the virtual world, and the mysterious place that lies between. It takes two parallel journeys: 1) that of a teenager who’s been raised as a girl her whole life, but was born intersex, and now realizes that neither gender quite fits; and 2) that of a monstrously lonely man, a brilliant math teacher with a multitude of online personas. Eventually, the two collide on Twitter, thinking that they’ve found the perfect companion but, in reality, they know nothing about the other beyond what can be typed in 140-character bursts. Development History
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*Some of these scripts are available in full on the National New Play Network's New Play Exchange. Check it out!