I’m a Californian. Growing up here has influenced my playwriting as much as any other factor.
I like plays that flow and move.I think many people avoid seeing plays because they assume they’ll be watching the same unchanging visual picture for two hours – an experience more of the 19th century than of contemporary life.
Full-length plays
Great Western Wanderlust | Winner, Las Vegas Little Theatre New Works Competition | Produced @ LVLT, Hunger Artists Theatre Company | Available via Original Works Publishing
A bored Midwestern couple makes an impulsive romantic getaway into the West … but no matter how far they go, they can’t seem to leave the fantasies, fetishes and doubts beneath the surface of their marriage behind. As their escape from suburbia turns into a vacation from hell, they follow the classic American impulse to find their true selves on the open road. Comedy, 4m/3w, 1 voice, suggested sets.
Hard | Staged reading, Laguna Beach New Play Festival
A community college professor recruits two of his former students to make a sexploitation film in the Mojave Desert. As the shoot unfolds and unravels, a mysterious young woman appears, hinting at a story untold. Drama, 2m/2w, suggested sets.
The Diaries of David Kind | Winner, Theatre Publicus Award for Dramatic Literature
As the hippie era fades into the Me Decade, 20-year-old David Sloop looks for something to believe in. Drifting toward L.A., he encounters a Bible-based cult offering exactly what he has been missing: a sense of love and family. So he embarks on an American spiritual misadventure, losing himself along the way and leaving a testament behind. Drama, 7m/3w, simple sets.
Whatever’s Easy | NEW for 2018
A father, a daughter, a slacker and a survivor cross paths one summer at a lakefront campground in Northern California, each of them avoiding the issues they’re afraid to face. Their emotional collisions lead them to realize that life is about doing the hard thing – a truth that cannot be ignored. Drama, 2m/2w, suggested or unit set.
Code 3 Adam | Finalist, Ground & Field Theatre Festival, UC Davis | Honorable Mention, Panndora’s Box New Play Festival
19-year-old Adam yearns to be important – but as a “sandwich specialist” working for minimum wage, he knows he isn’t. Stuck living with his loopy and medicated mom in California’s hot, smoggy Inland Empire, he craves a change. The media has taught him that celebrity and significance are both routine and deserved, and that shortcuts to each are readily available. So he takes a few of them, putting his fantasies of being a cop and EMT into action. What results for Adam (and his friends and family) is both a life lesson and an emergency of its own. Comedy, 3m/3w, suggested settings.
Selected shorter plays
Workers’ Carp | Last produced in Newport Lights, Newport Theatre Arts Center
Over lunch, two problem employees voice their absurd fantasies and psychoses about their workplace. Comedy, 1m/1w, simple set.
3,000 Words About Nevada | Produced @ Vanguard Theatre, Coastal Empire New Play Festival (GA)
A Midwestern travel writer veers headlong into a midlife crisis as a feature assignment in the Silver State turns into a road trip from hell. As late-30s Phil makes a giant wrong turn, he learns a simple lesson the hard way: “Never get too far away from yourself.” Comedy, 3m/1w, voices, suggested settings.
The Mystery of Another Man’s Wife | Last produced in Newport Lights, Newport Theatre Arts Center
A suburban husband becomes obsessed with the neighbor’s wife he never sees, almost to the point of rendering his own marriage ridiculous. But things are not quite what they seem next door, and the strange truth he discovers takes the edge off his marriage and restores happiness again. Comedy, 1m/1w, simple set.
Contact me @ asahi790-at-gmail-dot-com