Contemporary Plays

Select plays listed in alphabetical order

"Emily C. A. Snyder writes soul-restoring, gorgeous plays."
Kelly Zekas, author of These Vicious Masks

One-Act Plays

More Human

In the near-future-now, an AI unit turns itself into a police station for murdering their owner. As the night progresses, both prisoner and interrogator consider what it means to be truly alive.
RUN TIME: Approximately 25-30 minutes

SET: Minimal (Two chairs and a table)

CASTING: 2 actors, any gender

Perfect As You Are

THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES.  A fat liberation play, about a girl dealing with self-image.
RUN TIME: Approximately 10-15 minutes

SET: Minimal (A girl's bedroom)

CASTING: 3-5F (flexible cast)

Short and Monologue Plays

Deep Breathing

In a yoga class with Karens. Let's stretch out...and escape the room. A two-hander, monologue.
RUN TIME: Approximately 5 minutes

SET: Minimal (A yoga mat)

CASTING: 1-2F (whomever resonates with a role should play that role)

Here

A choral poem play in quarantine.
RUN TIME: Approximately 5-10 minutes

SET: Minimal (A person)

CASTING: A single or choral speakers.

See Also:

Math for Actors
Available from Playscripts

Math meets mayhem when studious Kate agrees to tutor Keith, an arrogant actor who's more interested in Kate than in calculus. Answering such burning questions as how many actors it takes to screw in a light bulb, Math for Actors explores the relationship between art and algebra, and finds a common denominator.
RUNTIME: 20-30 minutes

SET: Minimal (Physical theatre encouraged; some props required)

CASTING: 1 female, 1 male

Shakespearean Contemporary Plays

All's Well That Ends.

Backstage shenanigans are afoot at a Shakespeare regional theatre.  Tasked with producing a "Problem Play" season, it turns out the problems are on-stage in more ways than one.  Written for the Shakespeare's New Contemporaries.  A very problematic play.
RUNTIME: 2.5 hours

SET: A stage.

CASTING: 4 F, 4M, 4NB

REFERENCES: All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Merchant of Venice

Edmund

"Beautifully sad" - Michelle Michel
RUN TIME: Approximately 5 minutes

SET: A boarding school in winter

CASTING: 1M (whomever resonates with the role should play the role)

REFERENCES: King Lear

A Midsummer Night's Brexit

"A Shakespearean take on Brexit and Trump that is richly funny! Well done." - Cheryl Bear
RUN TIME: Approximately 10-15 minutes

SET: A press conference; Titania's domain

CASTING: 4-9 people; any gender

REFERENCES: A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2016 English, European, and American politics

LISTEN: Original radio play from Radio Cote

Portia

Portia (Merchant of Venice) yells at her father, dealing with his grief in the best way she can.
RUN TIME: Approximately 5-10 minutes

SET: Portia's family crypt

CASTING: 1F (whomever resonates with the role should play the role)

REFERENCES: The Merchant of Venice

Rosa Kranz and Guilda Stern AREN'T Dead

Two middle aged women realize they can't wait their whole life waiting in the wings.  Available as a stage or radio play.
RUN TIME: Approximately 20-25 minutes

SET: Hamlet's banquet hall, after the play is over

CASTING: 2F, optionally also 3NB (whomever resonates with the role should play the role)

REFERENCES: Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

- seems, madam -

An Actor and his Lady share a quiet moment backstage of "Hamlet." Riffing on the question of what it means to seem, madam. A play for any actor - transactors, neurospicy, code-switching - who struggle to "seem."
RUN TIME: Approximately 10-15 minutes

SET: Hamlet's dressing room

CASTING: 1F, 1M (whomever resonates with the role should play the role)

REFERENCES: Hamlet

Touchstone

Touchstone (from As You Like It) is back in the city, at a night club, with his new lady love...but he yearns for the country, and how they loved it.
RUN TIME: Approximately 5-10 minutes

SET: A nightclub; a memory

CASTING: 1M (whomever resonates with the role should play the role)

REFERENCES: As You Like It