Full-length Plays
A full-length play about the Chinese slave trade. Set in 1862 Swatow. Not for the squeamish.
A full-length play. An eccentric old woman fights for dignity in present-day Florida.
Synopsis, scene synopsis, historical illustrations, cast list, Acts One & Two (complete) of a musical set in Hong Kong in 1857.
Actors: Caucasian and Asian.
A full-length play with intermission. Set in a New York city apartment in the late 80's. Veterans of wars, women who love them, and the mysterious workings of the Buddha. Love, humor, sexual seduction and the need to forgive. Six actors; three females, three males.
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One-Act Plays
ONE-ACT PLAYS | |
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INTERIORS | DEATH OF A LEGEND |
THE HISTORY LESSON | Serious Replies Only! |
A four-character play for two male actors and two female actors set in a cafe. Explores the interior monologue as well as the external dialogue between the two. Simple props. Sensual humor. A sin-filled play if ever there was one. Lots of jabs at both sides in the "gender wars." Fifteen minutes.
A three-character play for three male actors set in an apartment. A young man wants to become a hit man for the mob but gets quite a bit more than he bargained for. Simple props. Fifteen minutes.
A four-character play for two males, one female and one transvestite exploring the difficulties of being "normal." The play has an element of Theater of the Absurd. Simple props. Ten minutes.
A three-character play for three male actors. A Theater of the Absurd play about living according to Archbishop Ussher's belief that the world began in 4004 B.C. Simple props. Twenty-five minutes.
A humorous look at the patrons of Brooklyn Bars.
During the Vietnam War a chaplin who
has seen too much delivers a most
unusual sermon.
A two-character husband and wife play set in New York City's East Village. The stress of balancing a job and a marriage.
An aging actor rages against the 1950's.
Dominatrix Theory of the Universe
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Please note there is a charge of US$50 for three performances of a one-act play (not per performance). That is the minimum charge, but if you are making a video and can send me a copy you can forget about the first US$50.
In general, if you are a charity or not-for-profit organization and would like to put on only one performance of one of the one-act plays, there is no charge; but I would appreciate receiving a playbill, if any.
When asking for permission, please state where you are (city, state, country), how many performances there will be and when, if the actors and/or director will be paid, and if tickets will be sold. Please note Dramatists Guild of America rules below. My e-mail address is below. And, above all else, should you put on one of the plays, in the tradition of great theater, may your actors "Break a Leg!"
The playwright owns the copyright
No changes may be made to the work without the playwright's explicit approval and any and all such approved changes belong to the playwright.
The playwright has approval over all principal artistic elements of a production. (In any case, as I live in Bangkok, I will most likely not be able to see the play so I won't be able to hang around the stage, chase after actresses, throw tantrums, and get in the way.)
Following the production, the writer controls all subsequent exploitations of the work.
I'm happy to say the above one-acts have been performed in several countries, nine countries in all.
Send queries to: deanbarr@loxinfo.co.th
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"Breakthrough art always has trouble arranging its start-up financing." Ethan Mordden - The New York Times
"Everything that is worth doing artistically is scary." Craig Lucas - International Herald Tribune
"For me, there's only one rule of playwriting: don't bore the audience. Whether you're writing drama or comedy, you simply must be compelling." David Ives - Dramatists Guild's The Dramatist
"There is no success where there is no possibility of failure, no art without the resistance of the medium." Raymond Chandler - Playback
"Is a lively, contentious, reflective theater beyond our reach, our imaginations? Are the powers who reign over this theater of the bottom line aware that there are some really interesting -- even entertaining -- things to talk about on the stage and that they ought to be encouraged? Even if at times they require more than two or four people in the cast? A new 'Crucible' could not be produced on Broadway today, nor a 'Death of a Salesman,' either. Nor, for that matter, a 'Streetcar.' Too many people. Is this situation satisfactory for what purports to be the main stage of the richest country in human history?" Arthur Miller - The New York Times
"In the end - and it must always come down to this, no matter what other failings a theatre may have - in the end a public will get what it deserves, and no better." Edward Albee, - "Which Theatre is the Absurd One?"
"The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost." Arthur Miller
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Filmscript: Dragon Slayer
Click on the book cover to enter the world of Dragon Slayer