n/a

n/a

Circle-in-the-Square Workshop, NYC

Pre 1982

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com

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Notes:
-

Synopsis:

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in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

1

-

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
From his hospital bed, Benjamin envisions his own deathhe jumps from a plane into a bright blue ocean. But his fantasies are eroded when the word of his lover berates him back into a reality where he can cling to life.

Circle Repertory Company, The, NY >>>

1989

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Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Play/Drama

3

4

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
A juxtaposition of the romantic and the banal

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-

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in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

1

1

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
Doreen, a prostitute, is visited by a mysterious older friend who can't speak, but has something important to tell her. Upon his revelation, that he is terminally ill, Doreen tries to hide her emotions with her anger.

Circle Repertory Company New York

1985

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

2

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-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
Tim and Rob are priests in New York. Tim does not believe Rob when he tells him that he has seen a brightly coloured bird in the cathedral. Rob thinks that it is Heaven sent. They close the cathedral so that Rob can show Tim the bird. He describes its wonderous colours. Then Tim sees it but says the colours are very different. They realise that there are two birds. They debate what to do - open the doors so that the birds can fly away or try and catch them. As it is winter and the birds are obviuosly tropical - the birds will die and trying to catch them is impossible. They find a note from the birds' owner saying she has left New York to live with her boyfriend and also a bird cage. In the note she tells them how to get the birds back in the cage.

: Circle Repertory Company New York

1985

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in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

3

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-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
A playwright waits in a diner for the director of one of his plays that has had a run through the night before. When the director shows up the playwright tells him to take the play off as the performances, directing and lack of scenery and a constantly playing organ made it all appalling. The director is upset by this as it turns out he has cashed in his life assurance to pay the actors and hire the venue and that also he has not long left to live. The one thing that he wanted to do before he died was to direct a play by his favourite playwright. The playwright is very moved to learn this and they leave determined to put things right with the play.

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-

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in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

2

3

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
The table is set for a feast, only the meal served is human and the family members are turkeys, or mostly so. This family of humans has turned into turkeysby various political factors and maybe a few genetic mishaps, as the traditional Thanksgiving dinner takes a twisted turn.

Actors Repertory Company, NY

Pre 1982

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in Cacciatore: Three Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Three Short Plays

One Act

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-

Notes:
Charlie and Vito, Flywheel And Anna, Uncle Zepp

Synopsis:

Actors Repertory Company, NY

Pre 1982

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in Cacciatore: Three Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Play

One Act

2

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-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
two brothers meet in the younger one's room the night before the older brother's wedding. They have been estranged and their conversation dwells mostly on their dead brother Eddie, who in life had been the bridge between them. Their talk, seemingly casual at first, turns more serious, and then violentuntil the air is cleared and the basis for future intimacy established.

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in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

2

-

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
A priest leads a congregationperhaps only of onein appreciating life after one of the congregants is taken from their midst.

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com

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Notes:
-

Synopsis:

Bay Street Theatre of Sag Harbor

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in By the Sea By the Sea By the Beautiful Sea, Dramatist Play Service, NY

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Play

One Act

1

2

-

Notes:
part of By the Sea By the Sea By the Beautiful Sea, Three one-act plays by Joe Pintauro, Lanford Wilson and Terrence McNally

Synopsis:
Quentin and his sister Veronica, together with his wife Pat, gather at the beach to scatter their mother's ashes. The act itself is a closure of sorts, but it stirs up conflicts between the three as marital wounds and sibling rivalries never dealt with are finally confronted.

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, CT, USA >>>

1998

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com

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-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:

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-

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in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

2

1

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
In a rural bar a sexy young woman causes a stir with the locals. When the bar closes, she stays behind with the bartender, does her best to get him aroused, then reveals she is his son, changed, but back for revenge on a neglectful father.

-

-

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

2

2

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
When Kristen's mother dies, she comes home to her father and his friends. Their differing ways of mourning affects them all, as Kristen unleashes her anger. Boomer, her father defends himself, through his own anger and grief, and only after they are all spent, does Kristen find the magic of her mother return to her.

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-

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in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

1

1

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
Ken is a hairdresser who wants to commit suicide in his salon. When a flamboyant Latino Madonna enters the salon and disrupts his plans, he puts it offuntil he realizes she is there to escort him to the other side he seeks.

Actors Repertory Company, NY

Pre 1982

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in Cacciatore: Three Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Play

One Act

1

1

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
a middle-aged couple from New York's Little Italy are summering in a small house on the Long Island shore. Although he doesn't realize it, she hates the place and yearns for home, and she is stunned when he announces that he has given up their city apartment and bought the house with money secretly hoarded over the years. Bitter over the realization of all that his withholding of the money has denied them and their children, her frustrations and resentments pour out in an explosive confrontation which neither had expected but from which neither had expected but from which both will benefit.

-

-

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

2

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Notes:
-

Synopsis:
Vinny and Kevin, two Catholic priests, have just had a spat. Vinny, has just found out that Kevin had asked to be stationed with him for the last ten years and feels his goals have been compromised. But love between friends is strong and may have leanings they both now discover.

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-

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in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

1

1

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
Janet is to give a lecture at a University. As she goes over her notes in the cafeteria, her ex-husband, Don, a professor, unintentionally sits down at the same table. Their hatred and resentment of each other surfaces in their conversation and it all comes to a head when she almost leaves her fur hat at the table, and he at first refuses to give it back.

-

-

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

2

1

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Notes:
-

Synopsis:
James and Edna are newlyweds who visit William, James' brother, at his country home. After a king's breakfast made by the adoring Edna, James leaves the table for a moment. Then William tells her she married a man she didn't know. When James returns, the evidence surfaces and Edna escapes.

The Cubiculo, NYC

Pre 1982

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-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com

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-

-

-

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:

-

-

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

-

1

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
Matilda Neruda, wife of the famous poet, tells of the last few days of the life of Pablo Neruda. A haunting memoir to the world.

Caffe Cino, NYC

Pre 1982

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com

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-

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Notes:
-

Synopsis:

-

-

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

-

2

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Notes:
-

Synopsis:
For the first time, Ency has neglected to bake the annual Lenten puddings for her family. Her niece, Megan, attempts to pry the recipe from her stubborn aunt, and when talk of the family's history surfaces, the recipe Megan held so dear might not be that important after all.

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-

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

1

-

1g

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
A woman sits alone, outside, during a violent rainstorm. When it passes, her young daughter retrieves her, praising the Lord her mother is alright. The woman had again challenged God, and he spared her.

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com

-

-

-

-

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:

-

-

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

2

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-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
Pop visits his son, Boomer, to attempt to console him on the recent death of his wife. The two are very different and resentments flare, even getting the better of them. The common bond between themthe deaths of each of their wivesbrings them closer together, but it may only temporary.

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Dramatists Play Service, NY

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Drama, full length

-

7

1

flexible

Notes:
Adapted from the Peter Matthiessen.

Synopsis:
The play chronicles the fate of a fishing family on the East End of Long Island. Walt, father of the family, is a quiet and decent man, who senses he may be the last of his line to make a living from the sea. Alice, his wife, is cut from the same cloth, giving all her strength and love of the sea to her men. Lee, their oldest son, is full of anger, realizing that the fishing life is virtually finished and that he is too old to learn a new trade. William, the youngest son, is bright, happy and stubbornly in love with the sea. Peter, a writer living in East Hampton and trying to make a living working the sea, serves as the narrator of the play as well as a friend of the family. The baymen, he tells us, have been making a good living fishing off the coast of the island for three hundred years. Over the last few decades, however, their already hard life has become tougher, as pollution, over fishing and downturns in the natural life cycles of the fish have led to ever diminishing catches. The strain on their lives is more acute with the growing population of affluent urbanites who see the East End as their weekend and summer playground. The baymen are determined to persevere despite financial troubles and loss of life, but the nail in the coffin comes as the baymen's last dependable method of catching saleable fish, a technique called haul-seiningwhich the Indians had taught to the baymen's ancestorsis outlawed by the NY State government. While claiming to protect the Striped Bass from over fishing, the government is really responding to pressure from the powerful sports-fisherman's lobby. The family is unable to survive this blow. Walt dies soon after, as if his heart had broken. Lee drowns in a boating accident, and, after Alice's death, William ends up mowing the lawns of the rich urbanites' weekend homes. All that remains of the family are the details that Peter captured in his journal as part of a promise to them to try and save their way of life.

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Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Collection of One Acts

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Notes:
see relevant individual plays

Synopsis:

Vineyard Theatre, New York

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com

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-

-

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Notes:
-

Synopsis:

-

-

-

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy Drama

One Act

1

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-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
When we fail to find God in our everyday lives, can we declare ourselves God over smaller creatures if we care for it always?

Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, London >>>

1995

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Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

full length, 90 min

Play/Drama

10

3

-

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
In an opening scene, a man dies an agonizing death from AIDS. The play itself is an explosive AIDS support group session, where the members discover the disease they share can divide as effectively as it conquers. The members of the group are a diverse lot, including homosexuals, heterosexuals and bisexuals, conservatives and liberals, black, white and Hispanic, rich and poor. Some of them are philosophical, some are angry, and some resigned. As the evening's discussion progresses they discover that one member, Larry, a reporter, does not have AIDS, but is tape recording the sessions for an article. They attack him verbally and physically until Nairobi, a homeless woman in the group, stabs Larry with a dirty syringe, infecting him with the virus. The others are stunned and the reporter is hysterical, until Nairobi reveals that the needle was a clean one and that she would not give the disease to her worst enemy. The other members of the group then react with a kind of awe, asking the reporter what it feels like to experience the miracle of a "cure." The quick trauma brings them together, reaching for their own comfort while they search for unattainable answers.

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Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Drama, full length

-

3

1

2 girls, 1 boy (flexible casting

Notes:
-

Synopsis:
Atop the arctic world, pilgrim members of a Detroit family huddle around a giant soup pot filled with nothing but melting ice and a gauze-wrapped raccoon head. The starving family awaits the return of Vince, the eldest, who has promised food from the company store where he works. Charlie, the next oldest, is mentally slow, but he is the kindest, tending the soup which is barely saving their lives. Julie, a vegetarian, is the most distressed. Little Chrissie wants her mother. Klute, the middle son, has stolen and hoarded what little food remained. The children have tied up Pop who is distraught over his wife's death and his layoff by the auto industry. Though deceased, Mom shows up in a yellow pinafore with fabulous food for breakfast, but she is forced to leave when the children convince her she is only a hunger hallucination. Vince arrives all wet, after having lost the whole supply of food in a stream so polluted that the water couldn't freeze. Later that night, Pop steals away with Charlie, and they return with a beautiful reindeer that Pop killed with his pickup truck. They dress the animal, store its parts and throw the rump in the soup. Just when the soup is ready, Iona, an Eskimo-type woman appears with a helicopter escort and a blue blizzard lamp, like a big blue star, to help the helicopter track her movements. She is searching for Norman, her pet reindeer who somehow became lost in the blizzard. As she is about to sip the hot soup to warm herself, Chrissie blurts out that Norman is in the soup. Iona is seriously shaken but recovers enough to forgive them, recalling how loyal and tender a reindeer Norman was. Seeing how weak Julie is, Iona convinces her eat some soup, then takes half of the family in the helicopter to her commune colony under the ice, leaving the blue blizzard light out on the tundra so the helicopter can find its way back for the rest of them. Pop, Chrissie and Charlie put on their coats and sit at the open barn door, guarding the blue light so it will not disappear, hoping that Iona will remain real and not become another maternal hallucination.

Offstage Downstairs, London

1992

London Gay Theatre Company

in Metropolitan Operas 27 Short Plays, Dramatist Play Service, NY

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies