Zombie: The American

The Future. The United States is in crisis: The East Coast has Flooded, the Capital has moved to Mount Rushmore, Cotton XP has been found in the hills of the West, Civil War is upon us again, African Peacekeepers are here to ensure our Presidential Elections, and there are Zombies in the Basement.

Read a feature article about ZOMBIE: THE AMERICAN at American Theatre.

The Vagrant Trilogy

THE VAGRANT TRILOGY consists of three plays: The Hour of Feeling, The Vagrant, and Urge for Going. In part one, The Hour of Feeling, (1967) we meet Adham, a hot young scholar back from university in Cairo, readying himself to go to London to give a talk. He marries a girl from the village and takes her with him, and when war breaks out at home, the two near-strangers must decide what to do. The second play in the trilogy, The Vagrant, finds Adham and Abir nearly 20 years later (1982), divorced, him teaching at a humble college in London. Adham’s hopes for professorship are tested when both “homes”—England and Palestine—flare up with political violence, and the compartmentalization he’s built around himself in order to survive starts to crumble. The third play, Urge for Going, finds a completely different Adham and Abir, representing a different fork in the road taken back in 1967. We see them in a modern-day refugee camp in Lebanon, with a daughter (Jamila) determined to break out of the endless stasis of her family’s life.

Witch Hunt

Ten years after Abigail Williams, instigator of the witch trials, disappeared from Salem, she turns up at the tavern of her fellow ex witch-hunter, Mercy Lewis. About to leave the colonies forever, it’s her last chance to understand the madness that overtook them. But with war threatening northern New England yet again, Mercy and her fellow townspeople are in no mood for Abigail’s doubts, which suggest to them complicity with the devil. And just when everything is at its most dangerously tense—the devil himself shows up.

Uncle Vanya

An elderly professor and his glamorous, younger second wife, Yeléna, return to the rural estate that supports their urban lifestyle. Ványa, brother of the professor’s late first wife, who manages the estate, and Ástrov, the local doctor, fall under Yeléna’s spell, while bemoaning their provincial existence. Sónya, the professor’s daughter by his first wife, who works with Ványa, suffers from unrequited feelings for Ástrov. Matters come to a crisis when the professor announces he plans to sell the estate, Ványa and Sónya’s home, to make more money for himself and his wife.

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Ghost Machine

London: November, 1905. England and the world are changing. As civilization edges towards the horrors of World War I, every day brings new tensions in Europe and technological advances that make Victorian England feel like a distant dream. Into the rooms of Sherlock Holmes come Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison—with new inventions that will alter the course of human history—only both inventions have gone missing. Can Holmes, Watson, and Irene Adler somehow unravel the latest diabolical scheme of Marie Chartier—evil daughter of the late Professor Moriarty? Can world peace be achieved by the most powerful weapon ever created? Can death itself be overcome by a scientific genius? And can Sherlock Holmes survive the greatest personal loss of his career?

Silver Foxes

SILVER FOXES is a contemporary comedy taking place in a time worn but iconic mid-century Palm Springs home. The plot revolves around Chuck and Benny, two 60ish gay men, now ex-lovers, still figuring out their post-relationship relationship. While their buddy Jerry’s much younger lover is in town, they discover their oldest and dearest friend, Cecil, has been forced back into the closet while living in a homophobic independent living facility. This “chosen family” is forced to take charge of Cecil’s future in order to help him live out his life with pride and dignity. Thematically the play explores gentrification, home and body maintenance, and the realities of growing older at all ages in the LGBTQ+ community.

Teen Dad

Abby, a precocious emo-goth teenager, orchestrates a surprise reunion for her mother Tanya and birth father Tom, with the help of her mom’s fiancé/healer John. Hoping to provoke long-lasting reconciliation between her parents before her high school graduation, Abby’s plans completely derail when Tom arrives with his new girlfriend Alisha. Can this family confront their past traumas, “deal and heal?”

twenty50

In the year 2050, Latinx people have been assimilated into the (white) majority of the United States, but race issues are far from resolved. In this tricky political environment, Andres Salazar is running for office and must decide whether losing some of his own identity is worth the potential social benefits. When a mysterious stranger appears at his house, Andres’s family must rally around him to save his imperiled campaign.

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear

The notorious and as-yet undiscovered genius, Vincent Van Gogh, presents Sherlock Holmes with a most unusual case. Aided by his partner Dr. Watson and his paramour Irene Adler, the trio embark on a rousing adventure and find themselves confronting the evil daughter of Professor Moriarty. With a helping hand from Oscar Wilde, the world’s greatest detective attempts to solve one of the most audacious crimes of the Victorian era and uncover a Post-Impressionist conspiracy.

Tartuffe

This free but faithful adaptation of Molière’s classic comedy TARTUFFE follows the original plot of a theological flimflammer insinuating himself into a life of comfort and ease at the expense of his gullible benefactor’s family. It is both funny and resonant, addressing many of the issues of our day – religious, political, and human hypocrisy as well as the extremism in which our frequently fractured society can find itself entrenched and how we often willingly conspire in our own duping.