The PlayFinder™

1-900-DESPERATE. Gretchen, nagged by her mother about her empty love life, calls a romance talk line and finds only other women and one young man named Scuzzy. When a five-year-old child dials by mistake, Gretchen finds his innocent babbling preferable to all the adults.... Read more

This first half of 24 HOURS consists of twelve short plays covering the hours of one A.M. to twelve noon. Ranging widely in mood and style, from zany humor to touching sentiment to near tragedy, the plays cover the gamut of human emotions as well as the times of the day. Neatly dovetailed, the program moves along with exceptional swiftness and in covering so many facets of the human condition, provides an unique theatrical experience which, without question, offers something ... Read more

In this second portion of 24 HOURS, the plays deal with events taking place during the hours of one P.M. to twelve midnight. Again the range of subjects and people represented is as broad and diverse as the imaginations of the writers involved. Somehow, however, life seems brighter when the "wee hours" have been left behind, and the result is a predominance of humor, much of it offbeat and truly hilarious, although a balance of serious and poignant moments is also provided to... Read more

Swift and passionate scene.... Read more

27 WAGONS FULL OF COTTON. Swift and passionate scene. (2 men, 1 woman.)

THE PURIFICATION. Poetic drama in New Mexico. (9 men, 6 women.)

THE LADY OF LARKSPUR LOTION. Powerful sketch about derelicts. (1 man, 2 women.)

THE LAST OF MY SOLID GOLD WATCHES. A character sketch about a salesman. (3 men.)

PORTRAIT OF A MADONNA. A sketch of a demented spinster. (4 men, 2 women.)

AUTO-DA-FÉ. Tragic Study of fanaticism. (1 man, 1 woman.)
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The Observatory. Running into an old, attractive paramour can cause mixed feelings when you find out she's the one who told your wife about the affair, causing your divorce. (1 man, 1 woman.)

Dearborn Heights. In a home-style diner, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, two young women discover the meaning of racism an... Read more

Prelude to a Crisis by Ari Roth. A traveling teacher up for reappointment becomes obsessed by a student's "glistening brown lip gloss" and, for the first time in his marriage and career, contemplates giving in to temptation. She invites herself up to his hotel room, ostensibly in need of special instruction, and brings along her laptop. He presses her cursor. Together they scroll through her incend... Read more

Inspired by Hitchcock's classic tale and performed as a live period radio play, this romantic thriller is a fast-paced ride through the signature world of the Master of Suspense. Richard Hannay is visiting 1930s London when he meets Annabella Smith, who is on the run from foreign agents, after a disturbance at a music hall. Later that night, Annabella is murdered and Hannay must then try to break the spy ring and prove his innocence. From an epic train chase to a feisty love in... Read more

Halle hails a taxi after a party, when Alison, her aggressively bubbly friend, pushes into the cab too. It’s clear Halle didn’t want to ride with her, but she puts up with it until Alison asks if she’s mad at her, so Halle comes right out and tells her "I just don’t like you very much."... Read more

6:15 ON THE 104, deals with a chance encounter on a New York City bus, where four women, all strangers, suddenly find themselves confiding in each other. Happily they all benefit from the experience—particularly the timid Blair, who is convinced that no one ever notices her until a fellow passenger playfully dabs a dot of red lipstick on the end of her nose!... Read more

The first play, 6:15 on the 104, deals with a chance encounter on a New York City bus, where four women, all strangers, suddenly find themselves confiding in each other. Happily they all benefit from the experience—particularly the timid Blair, who is convinced that no one ever notices her until a fellow passenger playfully dabs a dot of red lipstick on the end of her nose! (4 women.)

The s... Read more

74 GEORGIA AVENUE, is a deeply affecting examination of the bizarre developments that follow when a successful (but deeply unhappy) white businessman, Marty, decides to spend a few days in his boyhood home, in what has now become a black neighborhood. He encounters Joseph, the son of the now deceased black man who was once the janitor of the once thriving synagogue that Marty attended as a child, and whose recollections of those long ago years parallel his own. And, magically, ... Read more

The scene is a private dining room in a restaurant overlooking Lake Quannapowitt, the occasion the seventy-fifth reunion of a high-school class—of which only two members remain. Now in their nineties, the two, Arthur "Cookie" Silverstein and Amy Chamberlain, don't remember each other at first, but, as they review their memories and recall old friendships, the past begins to clarify and emerge. Touching, funny and revealing, the play captures the sweep of long life, and the sens... Read more

It is the custom of Hector Pomadour to invite his friends to his home on Sunday for lunch and games. On this occasion, one guest has run into another gentleman on his way and has invited him to join the group. Hector is delighted, as Adolphe Dumanoir seems to be a man worth knowing—at least, that is, until he is caught hugging and kissing Hector’s wife. This calls for a duel, of course, despite the summer heat—and after Hector has been assured by his friends that the guilty Dum... Read more

90° in the Shade. It is the custom of Hector Pomadour to invite his friends to his home on Sunday for lunch and games. On this occasion, one guest has run into another gentleman on his way and has invited him to join the group. Hector is delighted, as Adolphe Dumanoir seems to be a man worth knowing—at least, that is, until he is caught hugging and kissing Hector’s wife. This calls for a duel, of c... Read more

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The five characters in A.M.L. represent the thoughts and feelings of a single woman who is trying to cope with her boyfriend's Leukemia. Each of the women depicts a different stage of the illness and the relationship. By the end we realize that the boyfriend has survived, the woman is stronger, but the relationship is over; and her five separate parts have grown into one.... Read more

ABANDON ALL HOPE. Al and Benny stand before a giant portal. A sign above the portal reads, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Benny is more than a little frightened, but Al has no intention of abandoning his hope, as the two debate the precise meaning of the sign.... Read more

The sixteen-year-old grandson of the late President Lincoln, named after his grandfather, meets a girl in the gardens of Versailles. But it is her mother, who, upon discovering the young man's identity, relates the story of her being at Gettysburg as a young girl on the day the president delivered his famous speech. She has never forgotten that moment when he kissed her lightly on the forehead, as she now does to the young man, passing his grandfather's kiss on to him. What she... Read more

The place is the front hall of a very chic Manhattan apartment, where the hostess, Winnie, is giving a party for one of her pet charities—in this case, Liars Anonymous. A late arrival, who is intercepted by the worldly wise maid, Martha, is one Danna—who claims to be both on the wagon and a very dear friend of Winnie. She is also, as it develops, rather close to Winnie's husband, Lon, as well (they claim to have shared a wild night of passion involving the bizarre use of vegeta... Read more

Two acrobats go valiantly through the complexities of their routine, smiling toothily, bowing on cue, and, all the while, conducting a sotto voce but lacerating marital spat. He threatens to drop her, she vows to leave him—but then the lights come up, the final bows are taken, and, subtly but surely, we are aware that their mutual dependency is still stronger than the tensions that have been so wittily and amusingly exposed.... Read more

Acrobats. Two acrobats go valiantly through the complexities of their routine, smiling toothily, bowing on cue, and, all the while, conducting a sotto voce but lacerating marital spat. He threatens to drop her, she vows to leave him—but then the lights come up, the final bows are taken, and, subtly but surely, we are aware that their mutual dependency is still stronger than the tensions that have be... Read more

Beginning with rudimentary exercises in self-expression, the Teacher has his three students (two actors, one actress) become plants opening forth to the sun, and then various trees with their characteristic natures. From this they go on to depict children playing with imaginary toys—and falling into the pouts and tantrums to which such activity so often leads. And then comes a more complex situation. Both actors are to be young lovers proposing marriage to the actress, and each... Read more