musicals
Salem
Outlandish conspiracy theories; misinformation spreading like wildfire; and an infamously controversial trial in the early 90’s. Yep, this is 17th century New England.
SALEM is a dark musical comedy that follows two Puritan teenagers, Abby and Betty, as they plant accusations of witchcraft in an attempt to con their way out of the oppressive theocratic swamp town of Salem, Massachusetts. After pushing the limits of townie gossip, they find themselves centered in a web of witchy conspiracies more intricate than they ever could’ve imagined.
With pamphleteers presented as 1690’s cable news anchors, deliciously danceable pop musical numbers, and an apparition of the Devil forged from the imagination of a teenaged girl, this is not your high school English teacher’s take on "The Crucible.”
Book by Shelby Solla and T.J. Pieffer. Music by Jennifer Lucy Cook.
Pilots
Trailblazers
Trailblazers is a half-hour dark comedy taking place in April, 1848, when a wagon train of single women and queer outcasts sets out to travel the Oregon Trail. Stranded without their tough-as-nails leader, they’re forced to dig deep if they’re ever going to build a utopia of pariahs in the wild, wild West. Following Pepper, a 30-something queer woman whose past is constantly nipping at her heels, Trailblazers interrogates the rugged individualism of American folklore and exactly who gets to call themself a pioneer.
1385
Co-written with TJ Pieffer, 1385 is a half-hour sitcom pilot taking place in, you guessed it, 1385. It follows Agnes, a 20-year old rat catcher whose real dream is to replace the aging, sexist, and unfunny court jester of her medieval kingdom. To pursue her dream, she accepts the help of the offbeat but savvy village crazy lady, Lettice, who is no stranger to the village jail cell. As she works on her routine and defies the social doctrines preventing women from appearing onstage, she suffers through the antics of her deadbeat brother, Gilbert (an unpaid intern for a coffin start-up), and her well-meaning but self-absorbed singer-songwriter boyfriend, Simon. Think Game of Thrones meets The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Outlander meets Broad City.
Full-Length Plays
Custodians
In a rundown middle school in Western Pennsylvania, four summer cleaners scrub walls, scrape gum from cafeteria tables, and paint curbs while confronting the divide between childhood and adulthood. Under the guidance of the offbeat and predatory head custodian, the four young employees navigate their relationships as friends and coworkers, and contemplate their futures in the world outside of the school’s four walls.
Bury the Castle
On Millie’s 70th birthday, she is greeted with the opportunity to do something she never thought possible: To leave the psychiatric institution she’s been confined to since her teen years. As she prepares to leave the only home she’s known for her entire adult life, she’s faced with the task of re-living her trauma and confronting the villain she thought she’d forgotten. Based loosely on the life of my great aunt, Bury the Castle is a deeply personal exploration of the “what-if’s” and unanswered questions that emerge when long-closeted family skeletons are exposed to the harsh light of day.
B.B.W
When Megan enlists the help of her childhood nutritionist, Marilyn (an other-worldly demon), to lose the last 20 pounds before gastric bypass surgery, she is re-submerged in the world of diet culture that she desperately hoped to leave behind. As she spirals deeper into the depths of obsession and restriction, her younger sister, Lauren, a fat fetish cam girl, is forced to confront their demon to save her sister from Marilyn's grotesque tactics of control once and for all.
One-Acts
Group
Co-written with Keira McGill, GROUP is a contemporary play that explores the depth and intricacies of group therapy, more specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic when the intimate practice is thrust into the virtual realm. The show follows a handful of adults and their 'fearless' therapist, whose tactics are somewhat questionable. As her clients' stories unfold, so does her own. (dir. Sarah Rosenthal)
Astronaut (or Frantic Action)
35-40 minutes, dark comedy
It's February, 2007 and NASA astronaut, Lisa Nowak, is driving in adult diapers from Houston to Orlando to kidnap and potentially murder her ex-boyfriend's new lover. Over the course of her drive, she revisits the relationships that brought her to this infamous moment and made her a media sensation.
Astronaut (or Frantic Action) most recently had a production at the PIT Loft (dir. Sarah Rosenthal). It received a workshop as part of the 2018 Pittsburgh New Works Festival’s LabWorks Program where it was a finalist for Best LabWorks Production (dir. Shelby Brewster). It has also been produced as a staged reading by the Lounge @ Dixon Place and as part of Undiscovered Countries' Infinite! Festival (dir. Sarah Rosenthal).
The Ladies’ Room
Co-written with Keira McGill.
35-40 minutes, comedy
As Carol Burnett celebrates her lifetime of achievements with the Mark Twain Prize, her feminist ancestors appear to remind her of how much work is left to be done in the 21st century. Jackie Kennedy, Sojourner Truth, and Frida Kahlo – just to name a few – bring down the hammer of wokeness on the oft silent comedian, and explore how even the most seasoned trailblazers can misstep when it comes to intersectionality.
The Ladies’ Room has been produced by Project: Human Better at the PIT Loft (dirs. Andie Lerner & Melissa Tonning-Kollwitz).
A Play About Nothing
20 minutes, comedy
Four 20-something New Yorkers battle their own neuroses while filling out abortion paperwork in the waiting room of a Planned Parenthood.
A Play About Nothing was produced by Marymount Manhattan College's Department of Theatre Arts as a part of the Advanced Playwriting Projects (dir. Daphnie Sicre).