These brief descriptions of my scripts are organized by my two-volume book, Seeking Point of View 1 and Seeking Point of View 2, and Others, as yet unpublished scripts. (To purchase the published volumes, click here.)

____________________________________________________________

Seeking Point of View 1

____________________________________________________________

STOPGAP

Three seniors muse about memory, forgetting, and attitude toward the others. But when one of them panics, the need to support each other overrides any ill-feelings.
Setting: A comfortable room nearby. Earlier today.
Characters: 3FM (There have been productions with 3F, 2F 1M, and 1F 2M.)
Pages (book format): 11

____________________________________________________________

HOW MAY I HELP YOU, MR. TIM?

A software engineer in Oregon, USA, and a help-desk representative in Bangalore, India, try to resolve a cable billing error. In the process they discover cultural differences and common interests.
Setting: A living room in suburban Oregon. A help desk office in Bangalore, India. The present.
Characters: 1F 2M
Pages (book format): 12

____________________________________________________________

MORNING RUSH HOUR

A street musician reflects on her life, her partner, and how audiences respond in concert halls and in subway stations.
Setting: L’Enfant Plaza metro Station, Washington, D.C. 8:30 on a workday morning.
Characters: 1F
Pages (book format): 4

____________________________________________________________

A SMALL MIRACLE

Two Polish work-camp survivors recollect their lives and their miraculous reunion.
Setting: Apartment living room, the Bronx, 2006. Furniture repair workshop,
Manhattan, 1953. Cafe, Manhattan, 1953. Freudelager labor camp, near the Polish
border, 1943.
Characters: 4F 4M
Actors(with doubling): 3F 3M
Pages (book format): 26

____________________________________________________________

MOONSHADOWS

Eddie Marchese’s new shoes have gone missing, and it appears that the Moon took them. Eddie is set on getting them back, even if it means a journey into the Endless Forest to confront a powerful adversary. Will he recover the shoes, and in the process rebuild his relationships with father and family? Or will Eddie remain angry, frustrated, and shoeless?
Setting: A mid-sized town in a world much like ours, in a time much like ours.
Marchese bedroom. Fortune teller’s shop. Sidewalk in town. Man In The Moon
Saloon, Pawnshop & Antiquarium. Path in the Endless Forest.
Different locations have different degrees of realism: Marchese bedroom and the
Sidewalk are firmly in consensus reality. Man In The Moon Saloon exists in its own
reality. Fortune teller’s Shop and Path in the Endless Forest are between these
extremes.
Characters: 4F 4M
Actors(with doubling): 3F 3M
Pages (book format): 80

____________________________________________________________

TALKING CRAIK

An Irish farmer and his visiting American cousin meet in a Galway pub to catch up on their lives. As they chat, the Irishman relates a wondrous tale of loss, recovery, and good fortune, all with the assistance of the Lord.
Setting: A pub in Galway. The present.
Characters: 2M
Pages (book format): 11

____________________________________________________________

OUR HERITAGE

A matriarch fights to save her family’s inheritance. As the daughter of a President and wife of a leading candidate, that inheritance is the future of the country.
Setting: An office with waiting room connected by door. Any day now.
Characters: 1F 2M
Pages (book format): 9

____________________________________________________________

DO THE MATH

An introduction to some issues of global warming, presentable in a public location by a small group of performers. Some music, some farce, some science of global warming.
Setting: A space, could be a sitting room, cafetorium, coffee shop, park, fast-food
court, theater, whatever venue presents itself. In the space, a number of people, five
of them on script. Others may participate or not. The time is right now.
Characters: 1F 3M 1FM, + hecklers (FM)
Pages (book format): 17

____________________________________________________________

SUN AND MOON, DANCING

Mr. Sun and Ms. Moon meet once again on the dance floor. Will this be the night they succumb to their mutual attraction?
Setting: Starlight Ballroom, the dance floor. Some source of music, a piano and
player, guitarist on stool, etc., on stage or just off. Danceable ballroom music played
through performance. Possible melodies are suggested, but often others can be
used. Lighting starts full, fades to almost dark at midpoint, uptown full at end. Every few years.
Characters: 1F 1M 1FM (voice off)
Pages (book format): 13

____________________________________________________________

A FINE KETTLE OF FISH

Making a dinner reservation for the President and his entourage is not easy, particularly when the restaurant in question does not take reservation. An urban legend based on a true incident.
Setting: An office in the Western White House. The Fish Kettle Restaurant. Several decades ago.
Characters: 2M 1FM
Pages (book format): 2+

____________________________________________________________

CHANGE OF CLIMATE

Dr. Laura Hoskins is building a world class Climate Research Laboratory at Fleming Institute. But when she breaks off a brief romantic involvement with a junior researcher, Jake Zamosa, his impulsive retaliation threatens their careers and those of their colleagues. Can the consequences of Jake’s action be contained, or will they spread beyond the Lab and add fuel to the wider debate over global warming?
Setting: Fleming Institute Climate Research Lab: Main Lab room with large display at
back; Dr. Hoskins’ office. The Greeks, a neighborhood bar. Videos depicting climate
data and speakers on climate change constitute a prologue and epilogue. The recent past or future.
Characters: 3F 5M 1FM (voice off)
Actors (with doubling): 2F 4M 1FM (voice off)
Pages (book format): 83

____________________________________________________________

Seeking Point of View 2

____________________________________________________________

SO LUCKY

Connie, a widow living alone at home, fears losing control of her life. Her son Jim worries about his mother’s increasing tendency to stay home and no longer engage with the world. He wants her to consider moving to a senior community. She just wants to remain in the home she knows and be left alone. Can this conflict be resolved to the satisfaction of both?
Setting: Connie’s living room, mid morning. Jim’s apartment, a week later. A nearby town.
Present day.
Characters: 1F 1M
Pages (book format): 11

____________________________________________________________

NELL FLAHERTY’S DRAKE

In the Spring of 1803, Irish nationalists plot an uprising against English oppression. Their leader is Robert Emmet, supported and comforted by his fiance, Sarah Curran. The misconceived and poorly planned rebellion fails miserably. Emmet escapes into hiding and Sarah is exiled to the countryside. Unable to stay apart, they meet secretly at her family’s cottage, where they are discovered and arrested. Emmet is brought to trial for treason and found guilty. In a speech famous in Irish history, he defends his actions in pursuit of freedom for his people. Emmet becomes a martyr to the cause of Irish independence, commemorated by Irishmen everywhere in statue, story, and song.
Setting: Here and now. Various locations in and around Dublin, Ireland, 1803.
Characters: 1F 11M
Actors (with doubling): 1F 5M
Pages (book format): 41

____________________________________________________________

BOOKSTORE ENCOUNTER

A bookstore clerk meets a seductive customer, an encounter he will never forget.
Setting: A bookstore: Among the stacks. In the back room. This morning and several days later.
Characters: 1F 1M
Pages (book format): 10

____________________________________________________________

A GLORIOUS MORNING

After a medical trauma, Mark McKelvy struggles to recover his health and put together a new life. Can it be the life he wants?
Setting: Mark’s apartment. Mark’s hospital rooms. The present.
Characters: 2F 4M 5FM (3 voices off)
Actors (with doubling): 2F 3M 2FM (1 voice off)
Pages (book format): 48

____________________________________________________________

THE BLACK BIRDS

In a modern retelling of Aristophanes’ The Birds, two con men join forces with a hackers cooperative, Black Birds, Inc. Together they develop a plan to extract money from the financial industry and government security agencies by diverting selected internet messages into a virtual city in the Cloud, holding the messages hostage. News of their plan leaks out and a stream of dubious characters arrives seeking a piece of the action.
The two groups, hackers and powers-that be, meet and reach an apparent agreement, although neither can resist trying one more con. Which side will win out in the end?
(Spoiler note: A traditional comedy always ends happily, complete with weddings in the end.)
Setting: Exhibition Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center, site of Black Birds annual meeting.
This morning, early.
Characters: 3F 4M 10FM
Actors (with doubling): 2F 2M 3FM
Pages (book format): 92

____________________________________________________________

ALL HALLOWS EVE

A new-boy-in town high school student, naive beyond his years, is among a group waiting in the Sheriff’s office after a Halloween Eve prank goes awry. He is “adopted” by one of the local boys, and during their conversation learns how little he understands of the difficult life non-whites endure in his new community.
Setting: Waiting room, Coconino County Sheriff’s Station. Front seat of car outside Sheriff’s Station.
A little before midnight, October 31, 1946.
Characters: 3M
Pages (book format): 10

____________________________________________________________

WE LOVE THIS PLACE

Residents of a small Midwestern town must deal with their failing rural economy, their debts, and the arrival of a demanding stranger from the city. (A pocket opera, with singing and accompaniment).
Setting: In town on Main Street: the Palace hotel, a cottage, the butcher shop, and a ranch house.
The building fronts are drab and dusty, except for the cottage, which is fresh and bright.
Characters: 3F 4M
Pages (book format): 16+

____________________________________________________________

ASHLANDIA

Families of deer moseying down the streets, stopping traffic as visitors take photos, is one of the charms of Ashland, Oregon. Unfortunately, the deer also consume gardens and occasionally attack humans or their pets. And they are soon enough followed by their predators, bears, cougars, etc. Controversy over whether the deer are a nuisance to be controlled, even eliminated, or the original inhabitants with whom we should gratefully share the land, divides city officers, neighbors, and even families.
Setting: Ashland, Oregon. A dining room/kitchen. An outside deck. The present.
Characters: 2F 1M
Pages (book format): 13

____________________________________________________________

FAMILY MATTERS

A secretive love affair between a home healthcare nurse and the son and heir of the local banking family is about to become public. Worried that his mother, now Board Chairman of the bank, will reject this Irish person from the wrong side of the tracks, the two invent a plan for the nurse and the mother to get to know and like each other (without revealing the couple’s relationship). But the mother is suspicious, and enlists her dead husband to spy on the couple. Can this would-be family resolve their differences and find a future that satisfies everyone’s dreams, or will the two women clash and burn?
Setting: Mason Grove, a small town in midAmerica. Living room and entrance hall of the banker’s
family mansion.
Late 1950’s.
Characters: 2F 2M
Pages (book format): 79

____________________________________________________________

VOICES FROM BEYOND

The TV series Voices From Beyond recalls dead authors to discuss their life and afterlife, joined by living personalities familiar with the author’s subject area. Tonight’s deceased author is National Book Award winner Ursula K. Le Guin, joined by a clergyman/scholar specializing in the scriptural significance of death and dying. The resulting discussion is both intellectually and emotionally stimulating, a succession of misunderstandings and disagreement witha few moments of finding common ground. Written as an homage to Ursula K. Le Guin.
Setting: A television studio with sofa, chairs, table. An evening like today.
Characters: 2F 1M
Pages (book format): 22+

____________________________________________________________

Others

____________________________________________________________

HUNGRY GHOSTS

The President just wants to chat privately, man-to-man, with his counterpart, the Chinese Premier. But women and politics keep interfering.
Setting: The United States White House, the Oval Office. An area for acting out stories, with a
basket of costumes and props. In a parallel space and time much like our own.
Characters: 2F 2M 1FM (voice off)
Pages (book format): 15

____________________________________________________________

A MAN AND A WOMAN WALK INTO A BAR

Mark is ecstatic. Yesterday he met a beautiful women, Liza, who seems as attracted to him as he to her. They enjoyed a fantastic night together, and now are sharing drinks in her favorite restaurant. Mark is looking forward to another fabulous evening, but at the moment something doesn’t feel quite right. As he often does when uneasy about the situation, Mark begins telling jokes. Unfortunately, Liza’s reaction to his word play is not at all what he expects.
Setting: A fancy but comfortable restaurant. Early evening, any day now.
Characters: 1F 2M
Pages (script format): 7

____________________________________________________________

FRED TONGE