The Best New Ten-Minute Plays, 2019 presents approximately thirty of the most original and fresh ten-minute plays, selected by renowned editor Lawrence Harbison. This volume is ideal for theater enthusiasts looking for new and compelling short pieces from some of the finest playwrights of our time. Selections include: -Wild Birds by Nicole Pandolfo -The Pole at the Center by C. S. Hanson -Persephone by Jennifer O'Grady -Hercules Didn't Wade in the Water by Michael A. Jones -Avalanche by Rita Anderson -Brickwork by K. L. Snodgrass -Death Defying by Stephen Kaplan -Moths by Don Nigro
Welcome to our new book of ten-minute plays, chosen for you by the team at True Acting Institute. For the first time, the content of this classic book was chosen as a result of a playwriting competition with three winning categories. The first place winners have their plays presented in the book along with details about the playwrights and producing theatres. Second place winners are plays that were produced and third place winners have yet to be produced.
The Best New Ten-Minute Plays, 2020 presents thirty new ten-minute plays, selected by renowned editor Lawrence Harbison. This volume is ideal for theater enthusiasts looking for new and compelling short pieces from some of the finest playwrights of our time. Selections include: Beta Testing by Jenny Lyn Bader The Fourteenth Annual Foot Puppet Festival by Holly Hepp-Galvan Glasstown by Don Nigro Incident on the Golden Gate Bridge by David MacGregor Oxycontin Follies by Steve Gold Two Artists Trying to Pay Their Bill by Lucy Wang The Scottish Loo by J. Thalia Cunningham
A ten-minute play is a streak of theatrical lightning. It doesn't last long, but its power can stand your hair on end. This splendid anthology contains enough wattage to light up a small city. For in its pages, thirty-two of our finest playwrights hone their skills on a form that has been called the haiku of the American stage. The plays that Nina Shengold and Eric Lane have collected in this volume range from monologues to an eight-character farce. Eminently producible, ideally suited for the classroom and audition, Take Ten is a marvelous resource for teachers and students of drama, as well as a stimulating read for lovers of the theatre. Contributors include: John Augustine, Cathy Celesia, Laura Cunningham, Joe Pintauro, Mary Sue Price, Megan Terry, Jose Rivera, Romulus Linney, David Mamet, Jane Martin, David Ives, and many others.
The Best New Ten-Minute Plays, 2021 presents thirty new ten-minute plays, selected by renowned editor Lawrence Harbison. This volume is ideal for theatre enthusiasts looking for new and compelling short pieces from some of the finest playwrights of our time. Selections include: The Architecture of Desire by Brian Leahy Doyle Count Dracula's Café by Scot Walker Extended Play by B.V. Marshall Go to the Light by Laurie Allen Greater than Nina by Bruce Bonafede The Home for Retired Canadian Girlfriends by John Bavoso Judas Iscariot's Day Off by David Macgregor Last Dance with MJ by Lindsay Partain The Lobster Quadrille by Don Nigro Meanwhile at the Pentagon by Jenny Lyn Bader Most Wonderful by Jennifer O'grady Reconcile, Bitch by Desi Moreno-Penson Trumpettes Anonymous by Rex Mcgregor You Are Here by Nandita Shenoy
Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Paula Vogel once said that theater helps us learn how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable with each other. Revolving around the theme of "this is who we are," the one-act plays in this latest edition of the Best American Short Plays series (now in its ninth decade) explore the thoughtful ways in which playwrights are wrestling to make sense of our world today. The selected plays reflect how we perform our identities (private and public) and how we negotiate who we are with others who often have different perspectives, perspectives that make us uncomfortable. The theme of this collection is topical and apt—as our country continues to shore up its borders along party lines, from pride parades to strict abortion laws, from inclusivity in education curricula to children in detention centers at the US–Mexico border. Each of the plays presents a clear reflection of who we are (and who we aspire to be) as individuals and as a nation. The styles of the plays also reflect different approaches to storytelling: two characters, four characters, a single setting, multiple settings, or a utopian "nowhere." The rich and compelling characters try to work out their differences and overcome obstacles using humor and a sense of magic that comes with simple moments of human connection. This is who we are: people who are grappling with the desire to be understood, the hope to be loved and accepted, and to allow that hope to shape a larger sense of who we could be if we continue to work and listen.
Comedy is king in this hilarious new collection of ten-minute plays that are guaranteed to have audiences rolling in the aisles. From the sublimely funny to the ridiculously inane, this unique compilation from the puckish pen of award-winning playwright Andrew Biss runs the comedy gamut. Some of the plays have their roots in realism, while others willfully and wantonly upend theatrical customs and conventions. Some are playful and lighthearted, while others hew closer to the realm of dark comedy. But whatever their milieu, they all share one common goal: to entertain and amuse. In this edition you'll find the critically acclaimed "The Craft" and the Heideman Award finalist "A Rebel Among the Wretched" along with thirteen other wry and uproarious comedy gems guaranteed to elicit laughter and levity. With minimal staging requirements and a broad range of characters, these plays offer a wealth of production opportunities as well as providing an invaluable resource of scenes for acting class. And on top of all that, they're a jolly fun read to boot! The selected plays included in the collection are: The Craft Kitchen Sink Drama The Skewed Picture A Flawed Character An Honest Mistake Filler A Slip of the Tongue The Curious Art of Critique Carbon-Based Life Form Seeks Similar What's the Meta? An Embarrassing Odour A Rebel Among the Wretched Cocktail Conversation The Joneses Tacked-On Ending
A dazzlingly diverse anthology of thirty-five short plays spanning the theatrical spectrum. A ten-minute play is a blaze of theatrical energy. In this follow-up to their groundbreaking collection Take Ten, editors Eric Lane and Nina Shengold have put together a veritable bonfire of talent. Take Ten II: More 10-Minute Plays provides a fast-track tour of the current theatrical landscape, from the slapstick ingenuity of David Ives’ Arabian Nights to the searing tension of Diana Son’s 9/11 drama The Moon, Please, to Susan Miller’s luminous fable The Grand Design. This remarkably diverse anthology includes thirty-five short plays by such major American playwrights as Christopher Durang, Warren Leight, Romulus Linney and Donald Margulies, alongside a host of exciting new voices. Actors, directors, producers and teachers will find Take Ten II an invaluable source of meaty roles for people of every age, ethnicity and gender; lovers of theatre will find it a richly satisfying read. These deceptively short plays throb with life in all its variety: harrowing, hilarious, and breathtakingly vital. Playwrights included: Taylor Mac Bowyer Laura Shaine Cunningham Anthony David Steven Dietz Christopher Durang Linda Eisenstein Simon Fill Craig Fols Sigrid Heath David Ives Caleen Sinnette Jennings Honour Kane Eric Lane Edward Bok Lee Warren Leight Romulus Linney Donald Margulies Susan Miller Chiori Miyagawa Itamar Moses Sean O'Connor Mark O'Donnell Dael Orlandersmith Rich Orloff Joe Pintauro Craig Pospisil Toni Press-Coffman Claire Reeve Elaine Romero Susan Sandler Nina Shengold Diana Son Alison Weiss Mary Louise Wilson Garth Wingfield Alexander Woo From the Trade Paperback edition.
In this volume, you will find fifty terrific new ten-minute plays from the 2017-2018 theatrical season. They are written in a variety of styles, some are realistic plays; some are not. Some are comic, some dramatic. The ten-minute play form lends itself well to experimentation in style. A playwright can have fun with a device which couldn¿t be sustained was well in a longer play. Several of these plays employ such a device. 2 Actors ¿ After You (Blessing), The Chip (Higgins), Comfort Zone (Rigney), Co-Workers (Ehrlich), The 5564 to Toronto (Howes), Ful Nabit (Cunningham), Gorilla Gorilla (Harris), Holy Toledo! (Jackson), I Got You Babe (Mariani), The Incompleteness Theorem (Hutton), Italian Now (Donaghy), The Jane Austen Expressway (Hanson), Just One of Those Things (Brody), Labrats (Lopez), A Limbo Large and Broad (Galvan), Melto Man and Lady Mantis (Pfeffinger), Memory Card (Schindewolf), Point of Intersection (Hindman), Rusalka (Nigro), Spark (Ehrlich), Time and Tony Oliva (Haworth), Tim Kaine Sits in Front of a Mirror and Studies his Face (Barsky), The Trapped Language of Love (Colfer), Tweak Me Now or Never (Hanson), Virtuous Reality (Gerardo), 3 Actors or More ¿ Art Strike (Bolcik), Breakout (Moran), Cubs Win! (Smith), English Only (Stubbles), Ethnically Ambiguous (Latham), Fightbook (McLindon), Flower Child in Blue (Vetere), For Mr. Cuddles (Moughon), Gold Standard (Bruna), Home Invasion (Knight), Just Desserts (MacGregor), Lorax (Perrone), Men on the Moon (Folwell), New York City Girls Will Kill You (Techler), No Time for Baby (Haar), One Another (Turner/Tuttle), Protocol (Foley), Silo #3 (McCamy), Some People Say (Saunders), That Night ¿Butcher¿ Pete Wilcox Go Knocked Out by Jesse ¿The Cannon¿ Tesori (Cook, The Night of All Nights (Heilveil), This Quintessence of Dust (Hinkle), Three Anne Franks (Macdonald), A Visit to the Rust Belt (Bader), Zombies R Us (MacCallum)
