Welcome to my newest plays. You may now read them in their entirety for free! (Just don't produce them for free. Not that you would do that.) The majority of my work features teen performers portraying teens who have done remarkable things. Need tiny plays for drama class? I have you covered on my FREE SCENES FOR TEENS page. I have a rotating variety. The NEWS will give you updates on awards and publications and the contact page makes it easy for you to drop by and say "hello." Thanks for the visit. Click the type of plays you are looking for from the above menu or click below to read.
UP NORTH
CAST: 5-33 (Large cast: 6 female, 5 male, 10 any gender - change narrators to increase cast to 33) (Small cast: 3 female, 2 male)
70-80 minutes
One-Act version: 30-40 minutes pick your own 3-4 vignettes according to your needs.)
Minimal set.
Not all who wander are lost. Some are just looking for firewood. Or the ideal fishing spot. Or the Northern Lights. Grab your trail mix and start hiking. In this vignette play, characters experience the wonders of what is "up north" and what they can lose and find once they give in to the magic of northern exposure. Guaranteed star gazing. Trail mix not included. Easy to costume? Yep. Minimum set pieces. You betcha.
Read for free: Up North
CAST: 5-33 (Large cast: 6 female, 5 male, 10 any gender - change narrators to increase cast to 33) (Small cast: 3 female, 2 male)
70-80 minutes
One-Act version: 30-40 minutes pick your own 3-4 vignettes according to your needs.)
Minimal set.
Not all who wander are lost. Some are just looking for firewood. Or the ideal fishing spot. Or the Northern Lights. Grab your trail mix and start hiking. In this vignette play, characters experience the wonders of what is "up north" and what they can lose and find once they give in to the magic of northern exposure. Guaranteed star gazing. Trail mix not included. Easy to costume? Yep. Minimum set pieces. You betcha.
Read for free: Up North
AT THE FAIR
CAST: 12 (7f, 3m, 2 m or f) - all teen cast
Extras welcome and desired.
60 minutes
Unit Set
The State Fair opens after 2 years of being closed because of the polio epidemic. It's the last day of the fair and young people find dreams, grant wishes for each other and regain a renewed appreciation for the magic of the fair and everyday life. An early version of the script titled "Meet Me at the Fair" was produced by the Lakeshore Players Summer Youth Project.
Read for free: At the Fair
CAST: 12 (7f, 3m, 2 m or f) - all teen cast
Extras welcome and desired.
60 minutes
Unit Set
The State Fair opens after 2 years of being closed because of the polio epidemic. It's the last day of the fair and young people find dreams, grant wishes for each other and regain a renewed appreciation for the magic of the fair and everyday life. An early version of the script titled "Meet Me at the Fair" was produced by the Lakeshore Players Summer Youth Project.
Read for free: At the Fair
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FINDING AMERICA
CAST: 17+ (7 female, 7 male, 3 any gender If using a choir (optional): increase the cast by any amount 80-90 minutes Unit Set "I thought I was pretty good at bringing people together. America's a harder nut to crack than I thought. We are a mixture and sometimes it boils over." A taste of Americana just in time for the 250th anniversary of our country in 2026. SYNOPSIS: In 1939, on a wing and a prayer, young Quakers opened a hostel (a working boarding house) for refugees fleeing the Nazi regime. Sixteen-year-old Lotte arrives with remembrances of Kristallnacht and her father being dragged away. She was determined to forget both her Jewish and German heritage. Her brother Hans is hiding an ark containing a children’s Torah from a burned-out synagogue while Miklos is waiting for news from his father in Amsterdam. In Iowa, a teen grapples with a secret that both upsets and intrigues her. While, the volunteers imagined a place where their “guests” could learn English, American laws, and obtain the most American symbol they could think of – a driver’s license – there was a steep learning curve for the idealistic Quakers. In “Americanizing” the refugees, were they unwittingly erasing their guests’ culture? A one-act is coming in 2026. Message me if you're interested. Read for free: Finding America |
LOUISA AND HER LITTLE WOMEN
CAST: 14 (8 Female, 6 male; extras possible)
Serio-Comic
80-90 minutes
Area Staging
The play chronicles Louisa May Alcott's teen years at Hillside House in Concord, MA. Those years became the basis for the famous novel Little Women. As Louisa struggles to become a published author, she starts to find her voice. The play utilized diaries and anecdotes from the Alcott sisters. Read for free: Louisa and Her Little Women
Need a One-Act version? Louisa and Her Little Women - One Act
CAST: 8 (5 female, 3 male)
Serio-Comic
35-40 minutes
Area Staging
Read for free: Louisa and Her Little Women One Act
CAST: 14 (8 Female, 6 male; extras possible)
Serio-Comic
80-90 minutes
Area Staging
The play chronicles Louisa May Alcott's teen years at Hillside House in Concord, MA. Those years became the basis for the famous novel Little Women. As Louisa struggles to become a published author, she starts to find her voice. The play utilized diaries and anecdotes from the Alcott sisters. Read for free: Louisa and Her Little Women
Need a One-Act version? Louisa and Her Little Women - One Act
CAST: 8 (5 female, 3 male)
Serio-Comic
35-40 minutes
Area Staging
Read for free: Louisa and Her Little Women One Act
YOURS UNTIL NIAGARA FALLS Cast: 2-10 females Serio-Comic; epistolary play 45-55 minutes Residency: Utah Valley University Readings: Northeast Playwrights Collective No set; no memorization A friendship play. A memory play. "Maybe growing up means you have to accept that things can have a happy ending and a sad ending at the same time." "Does friendship have an expiration date?" "I will never totally move on from the past. I carry my murdered family with me wherever I go." "The past is never very far away, is it?" SYNOPSIS: LINA and IZZY are best friends as in “LINA-AND-IZZY-ONE-WORD” best friends. The differ in all ways – background, faith, and their aspirations - but somehow fulfill a gap in each other’s life. They’re always there for each other – for each important day in their lives until one day – they aren’t. Lina and Izzy must figure out what to take from the friendship and what is left behind even if it’s painful. How does one reconnect with someone who has hurt you? With thanks (and apologies) to A.R. Gurney for inspiration and structure, and to the Zenes family for inviting this playwright into their lives. Read for free: Yours Until Niagara Falls 
THE UNITED PLAYS OF AMERICA
Volume 1 (East and South) Volume 2 (Midwest and West) Cast: 2-112 Flexible casting Many of the plays center around relationships, family, and friends. You will find some talking crabs and an occasional talking llama. Because, why not? The plays have had 95 productions in theatres, universities, high schools, and middle schools. Read for free: United Plays of American Volume 1 United Plays of America Volume 2 
AND THE UNIVERSE DIDN'T BLINK
Cast: 2 (1 female, 1 male) 55 - 60 minutes Drama Reading: Theatre Pro Rata, MN. Development: Purple Crayon Players, IL. Excerpts performed: Relative Theatrics, WY, Carroll College, MT. Area Staging Is there a science for grief? Grief comes in all forms. Miranda dwells in the past. Any past – as long as the world is prior to her father’s death. In a fantastical turn of events, Miranda spends a few days with an ancestor from her father’s past – the Russian Polar explorer Otto Schmidt. Miranda finds herself at the North Pole gleaning information about the nature of the universe, loss and ever-lasting presence. She turns to the stars and devises a physics theory that she thinks will bring her face-to-face with her father one more time. But it's problematic - in order for it to work you need to travel faster than the speed of light. During her debates with Otto about the origins of the universe, Miranda carves a way to bring her back into the world. Part fantasy with a bit of particle physics thrown in for fun. Read for free: And the Universe Didn't Blink |
KAFKA AND THE DOLL - full length and one-act
Cast: 9-15
80-90 minutes or 35-40 minutes
Fantasy, adventure, comedy
Area Staging
There is a story that Kafka found a young girl weeping in a park. He tried to console her, but she was bereft. She had lost her doll and would never get over it. Kafka announces that he has a letter that he found and he wonders if it could be from her doll. It was! And so began a three-week correspondence where Kafka wrote daily letters for the girl from her traveling doll. Her doll was not lost. She was merely traveling to see the world. Sometimes people come into your lives briefly but make an impact. And so it was for Sofie and Kafka who meet during a challenging times in their lives and form a friendship that changes their worlds for the better. The story might have gone something like this…
Read for free full length: Kafka and the Doll
Read for free one-act: Kafka and the Doll One Act
Cast: 9-15
80-90 minutes or 35-40 minutes
Fantasy, adventure, comedy
Area Staging
There is a story that Kafka found a young girl weeping in a park. He tried to console her, but she was bereft. She had lost her doll and would never get over it. Kafka announces that he has a letter that he found and he wonders if it could be from her doll. It was! And so began a three-week correspondence where Kafka wrote daily letters for the girl from her traveling doll. Her doll was not lost. She was merely traveling to see the world. Sometimes people come into your lives briefly but make an impact. And so it was for Sofie and Kafka who meet during a challenging times in their lives and form a friendship that changes their worlds for the better. The story might have gone something like this…
Read for free full length: Kafka and the Doll
Read for free one-act: Kafka and the Doll One Act
When Fumble Met Flutterby
Cast: 4 (1 male, 2 female, 1 any gender)
35-40 minutes
Fantasy, folktale
Area Staging
Fumble-the-bee becomes the dancing partner of a charming butterfly (Flutterby) and is loving the break from his work-a-bee life. He longs for a summer of dancing with Flutterby and the fairies. Unfortunately, if he doesn't make honey when the sun shines, he won't last the winter. What's a bee to do? Ideal for young audiences, family audiences, and beginning/young teen/middle school performers. Adapted from "The Bee that Would Not Work" by Charlotte Herr. Tied for Best Play Adaption from Children's Books contest at Winneshiek Players in Canada and produced by them. Read for free: When Fumble Met Flutterby
Cast: 4 (1 male, 2 female, 1 any gender)
35-40 minutes
Fantasy, folktale
Area Staging
Fumble-the-bee becomes the dancing partner of a charming butterfly (Flutterby) and is loving the break from his work-a-bee life. He longs for a summer of dancing with Flutterby and the fairies. Unfortunately, if he doesn't make honey when the sun shines, he won't last the winter. What's a bee to do? Ideal for young audiences, family audiences, and beginning/young teen/middle school performers. Adapted from "The Bee that Would Not Work" by Charlotte Herr. Tied for Best Play Adaption from Children's Books contest at Winneshiek Players in Canada and produced by them. Read for free: When Fumble Met Flutterby