Plays

Published Plays

Unless otherwise noted, each play is available through Pioneer Drama Service.

Kill the Critic!
Farce, 4M/3F/2E, 90min
Now available from Heuer Publishing!
2nd Place, 2013 McLaren Memorial Comedy Playwriting Competition
2nd Place, 2013 Robert J. Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence


On the night of his Broadway debut, Trevor Stanton kidnaps New York City's most powerful theatre critic to prevent him from writing a bad review. There's just one problem. Trevor accidentally poisons the critic, and as showtime nears he must take increasingly desperate measures to hide the corpse from a parade of outrageous characters. For more info, click here.


Bringing Down the House
Comedy, 9M/17F/12E, Extras, 90min
Now available from Pioneer Drama Service!

An up-and-coming musical composing team rents an abandoned theater for six weeks in order to develop their latest show, only to learn that the building is slated for demolition the very next day. Now they have just two hours to rehearse and mount the show for potential investors while grappling with temperamental actors, confused protesters, a publicity-hungry politician, and the demolition crew itself. For more info, click here.


The Real Reason Dinosaurs Went Extinct
Comedy,  4M/5F/12E, Extras, 90min
Now available from Brooklyn Publishers!

A deadly asteroid is headed toward earth and it's up to two dinosaur scientists to save their world from certain destruction. An allegory for our time, this light-hearted comedy presents climate change in a way even the youngest kids will understand. For more info, click here.


George Washington Ate My Homework
Comedy, 4M/8F/6E, 70min 
Now available from Pioneer Drama Service!

A trio of students accidentally timeport George Washington to the present day, resulting in the American Revolution being crushed almost before it started. Now they have to save history, but the more they try, the bigger the mess they make, with Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Albert Einstein, Florence Nightingale, H. G. Wells, and other historical figures ending up in their lab and no way to timeport them back. For more info, click here.


How to Enchant a Bookshop
Comedy, 7M/8F/3E, 45min
16 productions since 2023.

This one-act prequel to The Enchanted Bookshop explains how A Likely Story became enchanted in the first place--and it may not be exactly as Book Fairy claimed. For one thing, her mentor gave her strict instructions never to bring a book character to life. For another--well, let's just say two very bad mice may have something to do with it. For more info, click here.


It Happened on Route 66
Comedy, 7M/4F/5E, 70min
Over 50 productions since 2022.

In 1955, a glamorous movie star fleeing her heavily publicized Hollywood wedding gets stranded in an Arizona diner after her car breaks down, forcing her to pose as a waitress until the car can get fixed. For more info, click here.


Madhouse!
Comedy, 7-10M/9F/9E, 60min
Over 40 productions since 2022.

A shorter, smaller-cast version of my popular play It's a Madhouse! about a dysfunctional family racing to find the mysterious treasure that their recently deceased father hid in their house. For more info, click here.


The Last Radio Show
Comedy, 5M/5F, 90min
Available from Heuer Publishing

It's 1946, and KUKU Radio is in trouble. Their broadcast tower keeps falling over. The electric company is about to cut off their power. And now a mysterious series of "accidents" threatens to shut them down for good. For more info, click here.


It's a Madhouse!
Comedy/Mystery, Flexible cast of 40, Optional doubling, 80min
Over 60 productions since 2022

At the reading of a famous mystery writer's will, his dysfunctional family learns that he converted his entire 84 million dollar fortune into a single item that he hid somewhere in the house, triggering a madcap race to find it after dozens of locals take refuge in the house during a storm. For more info, click here.


Whole Latte Love
Comedy, 5M/8F, 60min
Over 50 productions since 2022

A coffee shop offers six magical coffees, but a visit from an overzealous health inspector leads to a hilarious brew-ha-ha as the scatterbrained new barista becomes so flustered that she mixes up all the blends. For more info, click here.


Lights! Camera! Murder!
Comedy/Mystery, 4M/5F, 75min
Available from Brooklyn Publishers

In 1948, a temperamental movie star drops dead during the shooting of a detective film and the film's perky young press agent takes it upon herself to find the man's killer. For more info, click here.


An Enchanted Bookshop Christmas
Comedy, 5M/10F/2E, 70min
Over 50 productions since 2020

The beloved literary characters of The Enchanted Bookshop are back in this very merry prequel that sees Margie's attempts to find a job for her unemployed sister go awry when an important present goes missing, forcing the Lits to find the culprit who stole it. For more info, click here.


You're Virtually Driving Me Crazy!
Comedy, 2-5M/4-7F, 40min
Over 20 productions since 2020

A virtual adaptation of You're Driving Me Crazy! (see below), a zany collection of four 10-minute driver's ed skits. Perfect for performing on Zoom, Skype or other videoconferencing apps. For more info, click here.


Real Pirates Don't Wear Tiaras
Comedy, 5M/6F/1E, 65min
14 productions since 2019

After their princes sail off in pursuit of the dread pirate Blacktooth, five pampered princesses pose as pirates so that they can experience the romance of the sea themselves. Unfortunately, they discover that the life as a pirate ain't all it's cracked up to be. The food stinks, the rats are rude, and the captain--well, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Blacktooth himself! For more info, click here.


The Enchanted Bookshop Musical
Comedy, 8M/9F/6E, 85min
Over 100 productions since 2019

The musical version of my hit play is available at last! For more info, click here.


Babka Without Borders
Comedy/Drama, 8M/11F/2 Either, Optional doubling, Extras, 80min
2nd Place, 2018 Robert J. Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence
14 productions since 2018

The Harmony Cafe could be any quaint European restaurant except for one thing. An international border runs smack dab through the middle of it. The loyal staff nimbly manages the multiple border crossings required to serve a single meal, but when the two countries go to war and the border is closed, it takes a whole new level of cooperation to keep the place in business. For more info, click here.


The Purrfect Crime
Comedy, 3M/6F/1E, 90min
Over 40 productions since 2018

A Texas cattleman gets his revenge on his uncaring family by leaving his entire 36 million dollar fortune to his cat. Now the family must learn to work together in order to save Wiggles from a pair of crooks posing as pet psychics. For more info, click here.


Wicked Is As Wicked Does
Comedy, 7M/12F/9E, 60min
Over 40 productions since 2017

In this follow-up to the famous fairy tales, the four Wickeds--Snow White's Wicked Queen, Cinderella's Wicked Stepmother, Sleeping Beauty's Wicked Fairy and the Frog Prince's Wicked Witch--fight back after learning of a fiendish plot to banish them to an icy wasteland. For more info, click here.


The Enchanted Bookshop
Comedy, 8M/9F/6 Either, 60min
Over 600 productions since 2017

After a band of diamond smugglers use a bookshop as a dropoff point, Dorothy, Robin Hood, Heidi, Tom Sawyer, Pollyanna and Sherlock Holmes team up to defeat the bad guys--even if it means risking their very existence. For more info, click here.


The Stinky Feet Gang
Comedy/Western, 10M/8F, 55min
Over 50 productions since 2017

Maladorous Mel and his gang of outlaws have a secret weapon: their smelly feet, guaranteed to incapacitate anyone at a distance of twenty yards. Only Rose Peddles and the other flower-named shopkeepers of Garden City can stop them. All they have to do is outstink these stinky stinkers. For more info, click here.


Trouble in Paradise Junction
Comedy, 10M/15F, Optional doubling, Extras, 75min
Over 90 productions since 2016

When a TV network offers "the best little town on earth" five million dollars to film a reality show there, the townsfolk jump at the chance. But host Wink Smiley has his own agenda. To boost the show's ratings, he plans to trick the residents into destroying their beloved town on live television. For more info, click here.


How I Met Your Mummy
Farce, 5M/6F, 85min
Winner, 2015 Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Play Competition for Youth Theatre
Over 100 productions since 2015

The O. Howe Dulle Museum is about to unveil their latest find--a mysterious mummy named Yo-Wut-Sup--and everyone wants to get their hands on him. Can Melvin Trimble, the world's most cowardly security guard, stop them? Or will he be left taking the "wrap"? For more info on the original English language version, click here.

If you're interested in the Swiss-German language version, click here.


You're Driving Me Crazy!
Comedy, 2-5M/5-8F, 40min
Director's Choice Award, 2014 Short + Sweet Theatre Festival, Canberra, Australia
Over 280 productions since 2016

A collection of four 10-minute plays exploring the wacky world of driver's ed class. For more info, click here.

#1: A teenage boy discovers that his driver's ed teacher doesn't know the first thing about driving a car.

#2: A teenage girl bring some unexpected guests to her driver's ed class.

#3: A teenage boy gets the backseat driver from hell when he's forced to share a driver's ed car with his temperamental ex-girlfriend.

#4: A teenage girl can't break away from her smartphone long enough to learn how to drive.


Million Dollar Meatballs
Farce, 4M/4F/4E, 90min
Over 230 productions since 2015

Two bumbling thieves pose as French chefs while hunting for the seven priceless diamonds they lost in a plate of meatballs. For more info, click here.


Rumpelstiltskin, Private Eye
Comedy/Mystery, 6M/11F/12 Either, 60min
Winner, 2014 Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Play Competition for Youth Theatre
Over 230 productions since 2015

Fairy Tale Land has been hit by a wave of nefarious crimes. Could an evil mastermind be behind them all? Only hard-boiled detective Rumpelstiltskin can crack this case. For more info, click here.


The Butler Did It!
Comedy/Mystery, 4M/5F, 120min
Winner, 2012 Cheyenne Little Theatre Players New Play Project
Over 180 productions since 2013

After a womanizing cad is found stabbed to death in an old English manor, the family's loyal butler is accused of the crime. Now he's got to find the real murderer--while tied to a chair. For more info, click here.


Long Tall Lester
Comedy/Western, 3-6M/2-5F, 30min
Winner, 2011 New Rocky Mountain Voices Competition
Over 100 productions since 2012

In the Old West, a meek encyclopedia salesman is drafted to fight a notorious outlaw. But he shocks the townspeople when he refuses to use a gun, insisting brains are more powerful than brawn. For more info, click here.


The _urloined Letter
Comedy/Mystery, 3-5M/3-5F, 30min
Semifinalist, 2007 Nantucket Short Play Competition
Over 70 productions since 2011

A beautiful nightclub singer hires a hard-boiled detective to find her missing letter. Only it's not an old love letter. It's the letter P. And without it, she can't sing, let alone recite "Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers". For more info, click here.


Unpublished Plays

These plays haven't been published yet. If you'd like to read a full script for possible production, email me by clicking here. No charge. No obligation.


Butterfly Effect
Farce, 3M/3F, 90min
World premiere opportunity available!

A neurotic young barrister sets off a disastrous chain of events at a cocktail party when, in an attempt to disprove the butterfly effect, he randomly tosses an olive. World premiere opportunity available! To read a sample, click here.


Doggone Detectives
Comedy, 10M/13F/12 Either, 60min
Winner, 2018 Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Play Competition for Youth Theatre

Follow Sherlock Bones, Sam Spayed, and a hyper little terrier named Frisky as they uncover a fiendish plot to turn all the town's dogs into cats. To read a sample, click here.

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