FULL-LENGTH & ONE ACT PLAYS

Steve Perry Loves Me
Full-length

Angie, an experienced trauma therapist for refugees, walks out of her office and into seclusion after one too many encounters with the horrors of genocidal violence. Numb to everything, including her daughter and granddaughter, she is stuck in stasis until a spate of binge watching introduces her to a soundtrack featuring the band Journey. Her fascination with lead singer Steve Perry, whom she believes is a reclusive kindred spirit, sparks six-months of letter-writing to Perry and a period of introspection in which Angie draws on her past, her friendships and her family to come to terms with the cruelty in the world. Like warming up from frostbite, the pain of recovery is necessary for healing, and Angie emerges from her self-imposed retreat at peace with the darkness and the light around her.

Production History:
And Toto Too Theatre Company, Denver, October, 2023 (staged reading)

Orchid Child
Full-length

Violent and unpredictable, Ada is the child of your nightmares.  Would she turn out differently if her teenage parents could give her away to the “right” family?  Orchid Child begins before Ada is born as Luke and Valerie, seven months pregnant, uncertainly consider creating a secure and happy family in their city basement apartment, while middle-aged Peter and Elizabeth reflect on their own insecurities as prospective adoptive parents from the comfort of their suburban living room.  As we watch two possible futures unfold for Ada in a split stage setting, dreams disintegrate into bitter memories that are resented, abandoned, longed for, and barely survived according to each character’s strengths and weaknesses.  Over a thirty-year period, Ada’s histories become one, and in the end, her saga speaks to everyone who has considered whether or not nurture can really overcome nature.

Production History:
And Toto Too Theatre Company, Denver, October, 2016 (staged reading)
     Playwrights Revolution, Capital Stage Theatre, Sacramento, August, 2014
(workshop staged reading)

Awards:
Top Ten Finalist, Title Wave New Works Festival, Sag Harbor, 2022

Salon Femmes
Full-Length

Frustrated by the dull and conservative town in which she lives, high-powered Lola decides to turn things around by hosting intellectual salons at the local home décor store.  Her plan for communal enlightenment slowly unravels as her hand-picked group of female enthusiasts engages in an unforeseen clash of ideas and faith.  By the end of the first meeting, civility has gone out the window as friendships are strained and secrets revealed.  In the aftermath of the melee, one person’s tragedy forces the women to reconsider whether or not their dreams are worth the price of illusion.

Production History:
     Paragon Theatre, Trench New Play Development Series, Denver, May 2011
(staged reading)

This Land
One-Act

When four aging sibling Aunties uber to their great-niece’s graduation, they discover a shared Lebanese heritage with driver Charbel. A refugee who arrived in the US at the age of 10, Charbel’s unresolved trauma intensifies family dynamics as issues of ownership, belonging, status, and privilege reveal themselves during the emotional car ride. Stakes are raised, vulnerability is laid bare, and Charbel discovers that salvation rooted in relationship might just change history.

Shadows
One-Act

John and Christine met in high school when he was 17 and she was 13.  They fell passionately, uniquely in love with each other, but forbidden by Christine's father to see each other, were never able to pursue a romantic relationship.  After John's marriage, they lost touch with each other until John decided to seek Christine out once again, finding her through the internet.  In Shadows, they meet for the first time in thirty-five years, finding much has remained the same in their love and affection for each other - so much so, that it feels as if time hasn't passed.  While learning about each other's lives, they remake their love story against heartbreakingly familiar constraints that now consist of marriage, family, and loss.

Shooting Stars: A Cairo State of Mind (in development)
Full-length

A father afflicted with schizophrenia; a once-booming river city suffering racial and economic turmoil; their intertwined personal and public histories of decline come together in a multi-media narrative anchored by the daughter's revelations and recollections.

The Salt Uprising (in development)
Full-length

In a dialysis center where everyone knows everyone's business and the rules you need to follow just to stay alive can't be denied, choice doesn't seem like an option. That is until Ace, a young African American man, shakes up the daily routine and offers up the privilege of protest.