Playwright: Kaitlin Arocho
Title: “World Travels Mine”
Logline: Piper has believed in the supernatural all her life, much to her mother’s dismay. But what happens when she figures out everything she believes is real?
Summary: Piper, a 14 year old girl, has believed in the supernatural her entire life. However, her mom is constantly trying to get Piper to realize that none of it is real. One day after yet another argument Piper discovers a portal in her mirror that will take her to a place that will help prove everything she believes in is real. In this other world, she meets two boys, Dustin and Arron who show her around. Piper feels comfortable and at home here, however she soon finds out she must leave.
Playwright: Elizabeth Baseley
Title: “Six Chairs”
Logline: Six strangers suffering from amnesia must periodically sacrifice each other to a maze full of monsters, or else they’ll all die. Will one make it out alive, or will the distrust and betrayal tear them all apart?
Characters:
● ENZYME- A quiet man who wants to keep the balance.
● FIZZ- He is an absent minded man who is quick to anger.
● GASMASK- An anxiety riddled man.
● ROUTINE- She’s an intelligent woman who is bent on surviving.
● STOOP- A young college student.
● TORNADO- She’s a loving teacher who hates to see others in pain.
● VOICE- An unseen voice. It is robotic but human. (like Sarah Paulson in Glass) They never appear on stage.
Summary: Six strangers are awakened by the sound of a siren and an announcement explaining that they must vote to send someone out into a maze full of monsters. Gasmask, due to their non-stop screaming, is killed. The group then remembers their past jobs, and debate over who is the least useful to society. Fizz, the dentist, is eliminated. Then they all remember their greatest mistake. Routine is killed. The last three remember someone they loved, only to then recognize that Enzyme worked for the company that placed the group here. They learn that everyone in the game was placed here voluntarily. Enzyme is eliminated. Then, Stoop learns that he, while drunk, killed his best friend and can not live with that knowledge. He is eliminated. Torando is the last one left alive. She learns that the reason she volunteered was because she had a terminal illness. She is given the choice to leave or to go into the maze to die. She chooses the latter.
Setting: There is only one setting; the safe haven.
Mood: Eerie, uncomfortable. Like an overgrown hospital, but not as haunted.
Note: All of the characters have an assigned gender within the script, but I am fine with changes.
Playwright: Marissa Bazan
Title: “A Support Group For Those With Mothers Named Teresa”
Plot: Moira, the support group facilitator, holds a meeting for those with mothers named Teresa where they (Arlo, Amelia, Devilin, and Ellie) meet and discuss the hardships of living with mothers like theirs whilst uncovering things about themselves they never knew.
Characters: Moira, Arlo, Amelia, Devilin, Ellie
Setting: A room with five chairs and a poster in the back saying “Teresa Support Group”
Tone: Verbal irony and vulnerable- for the more emotional scenes.
Playwright: Lyda Martin
Title: “The Stranger”
Logline: A troubled musician murders innocent bystanders in exchange for song lyrics from the mysterious Girl, only to have the Girl disappear when they start taking their medication.
Summary: There are four characters and an Audience, which will be played by the actual audience watching the play. The protagonist is simply called The Stranger. The Stranger is a gifted singer, guitar player, and songwriter, but is affected by visual and auditory hallucinations. One such hallucination is the main antagonist The Girl, who requests that The Stranger kills a person in exchange for the lyrics to a song. These lyrics are actually written by The Stranger, but they never learn the truth and instead feel forced into murder because they want so desperately to have lyrics to sing. The Homeless Man acts as a conscience for The Stranger and a counterbalance to The Girl; the angel to her devil. He is a figment of The Stranger’s imagination as well. The Therapist is only in one scene where she prescribes antipsychotics for The Stranger that cause The Girl and The Homeless Man to disappear, frustrating The Stranger. The Therapist does not know that The Stranger is killing people, but she does the best she can given her limited knowledge of what is actually going on. The first act of the play introduces the Stranger, the girl, and the Homeless man, but does not reveal that the latter two are imaginary. The Stranger also performs a song about a serial killer to an Audience at a club, only to argue with the Girl outside the venue because they feel immense guilt about their actions. During the song, the Girl and the Homeless Man enter the stage to dance and harmonize, and then leave. To represent that the Girl and the Homeless Man do not actually exist, the dance will be fantastical and the lighting will change when they enter and exit the stage.
The second act is very small, where the Stranger goes to therapy and is prescribed antipsychotics. The Stranger then takes said antipsychotics for the first time and begins to craft a song in their room. This will be the second and last song performed in the play, and contrary to the first it will be more intimate and less polished because the Stranger will be making it up as they go along.
The third act opens in the same room, but a few weeks later. The Stranger monologues about how the antipsychotics are negatively affecting their life, and then flushes them down the toilet. The Stranger then returns to the same setting as the very first scene from the play, and alleyway, where they have a conversation with the Girl. The actress who plays the Girl will not actually be there, signifying to the audience that the Girl was never there at all. The play ends where The Stranger walks out of the alleyway, happy that they will be able to get song lyrics again. This play is about a lot of things, namely about mental illness and music. It is also partially about what it means to not believe in yourself. The Stranger doesn’t believe that they can write music for themselves, so their mind makes somebody who can. It’s about struggling to tell the truth and see things as they truly are.
Playwright: Joshua Mcalanis
Logline: To help with the reality of growing up, a young teen buys a pizzeria animatronic to his frustrated Mom’s dismay.
Characters: Elmo is a highschool senior, a big dork who’s scared to grow up and lose the fun of childhood. Mom is a protective mother who wants her son to grow up in order to have a bright future. Chunky Charles is an animatronic from Funtime Pizza, he has infinite knowledge, but also a questionable thought process.
Tone/mood: A very fun and wholesome mood. Should feel like a Cartoon Network sitcom/cartoon from around the 2010s, with a healthy dose of internet humor.
Summary/major plot: Elmo comes home from school early after meeting a man for a Craigslist order. Elmo then shows his Mom, Chunky Charles, an animatronic he bought from one of his favorite childhood restaurants. Mom, who is frustrated that Elmo is buying expensive things when college is around the corner, makes Elmo angry, who then retreats into his room with Chunky Charles. Elmo and Chunky Charles share memories of the past when Elmo confesses his contempt for college, Chunky Charles plans to solve the issue between Elmo and his Mom. Chunky Charles talks to Mom and the two bond over their love for Harvard. Mom who realizes a middle ground is needed gives Elmo a set of Spongebob school supplies to prepare him and Chunky for the coming semester at Harvard.
Setting/other: Elmo and Mom’s house should be just a couple of chairs, a table, and any miscellaneous furniture. Please make Chunky Charles as chunky as possible.
Playwright: Madison Moscrip
Title: “Friendly Appointment”
Logline: Aaron has a secret that he won’t tell for anything. On the other hand, it’s Davis’ job to pry that secret out of him.
Summary: In the counselor’s office, hotheaded, guarded student Aaron and only slightly manipulative Counselor Davis banter back-and-forth in an attempt to pry the secret out of him, with an explosive revelation at the turning point.
Playwright: Andrew Ramon
Title: “The Closing Line”
Logline: A man hosts an imaginary podcast from a post-apocalyptic bunker with a stuffed pink rabbit.
Plot: After the world is destroyed by several nuclear bombs, comedian and podcaster Phil Fischer carries on his podcast First Up On Friday as usual. This play is a ten minute monologue that follows Phil rambling on a variety of subjects with his good friend, Ringo Rabbit, a pink stuffed animal. It is a dark comedy that shows this man reflect on his life as he talks about his past, while trying to avoid losing his mind.
Main Characters: Phil Fischer
Mood/Tone: Dark Comedy
Setting: Underground bunker
Playwright: Ricardo Rodriguez
Title: “Recurrence”
Logline: Soledad, a depressed office worker in her 20s, is so lonely that she summons a demon, Lilith, who explains that she’ll live her life over and over again, much to Soledad’s grief, so she insists that Lilith give over her position as the immortal demon to her but Lilith is secretly in love with Soledad and she wants her to have a good life.
Tone: Lighthearted and a bit silly.
Playwright: Joselyn Hofer
Title: “I Wish I Was Like You”
Logline: Two strangers, both dealing with insecurities, discover the truth about their worth through a chance meeting.
Summary: Two girls named, simply, Social Anxiety and Jealousy, both live their separate lives, struggling with the harsh realities of insecurities, anxiety, loneliness, and envy. They both think they are alone with these struggles until they bump into each other and strike up a revealing conversation that exposes the truth about our inner thoughts and about what we think about other people.
Setting: Two separate sections on the stage where Jealousy lives her life and Social Anxiety lives hers. Each character’s scene is indicated by a light.
Director’s Notes: I play a lot with lights in this play and how the different colors indicate Social Anxiety’s thoughts and Jealousy’s thoughts. I also play a lot with the set design, so be creative with that if you’d like.
Playwright: Kailey Monsivais
Title: “Fragmentation”
Logline: A family dinner quickly turns sour when old emotions arise along with the lingering truth.
Summary: Aunt Helen gathers her three young-adult nieces, Lena, Carmen and Emilia, for their first traditional family dinner after their mother’s death. Aunt Helen desperately wants this event to be a success. With this in mind, she lectures Lena and Carmen, especially Lena, to be on her best behavior with Emilia, not wanting their tense relationship to spoil the evening. However, when Emilia shows up with her new unconventional boyfriend, things don’t go as Aunt Helen hoped. Throughout the rest of the occasion, the two sister’s bad blood begins to boil over, the whole dinner table becoming a war zone. As the family’s problems begin to become apparent so does the underlying truth and grief they all carry. The desire of things being back to normal soon diminishes and Aunt Helen soon falls apart when she realizes she can’t pick up the pieces this time around.
Characters:
– Aunt Helen: The new matriarch of the family; stern and strong or at least attempts to be
– Lena: Strong-headed and not one to back down; still stuck in the past
– Carmen: The neutral/peacemaker sister; loves both of her sisters equally
– Emilia: Tries to act like things are normal and move on though her pain is evident; on her
last nerve with Lena
– Tate: Emilia’s new peculiar boyfriend.
Playwright: Alexander Charney
Title: “Love, Burger”
Logline: A man tries to order a burger at a new restaurant
Playwright: Amaryllis Martinez
Title: “The Death of Normal”
Logline: Elliot has a house party for his 17th birthday when a person from his past shakes things up and leads to a whole lot of emotions while tripping on a hallucinogenic substance.
Summary: It’s Elliot’s 17th birthday and his mother invites the entire junior class to party at his house. Elliot is already reluctant but has hopes it won’t be so bad until his old best friend, turned bully shows up (Adam). Bringing some new energy and nostalgia. They both take a swig of a hallucinogenic drink from Elliot’s dad’s secret cabinet and have separate hallucinations after a fight. There is tension and revealed secrets.
Director’s note: There is a point where the characters take a substance (that shall not be named bc school policy) so things should get wacky when Captain’s character comes in. You can do this by changing the colors of the lights, music, have the people move slower or faster whatever. Your choice. (Hint: it’s LGBTQ+)
Genders could change to two females.