10-Minute Plays

Below are a few of my short scripts. Please feel free to download the PDFs and read them. Also, please remember that allowing you to download the scripts does not give you performance rights. If you want to use them in a classroom - just drop me an e-mail. Producing theatre without attaining performance rights is against the law, angers the Dramatists Guild of America, and breaks the Eighth Commandment.

For inquiries about performance royalties for these scripts, please e-mail me.

behind the glass
by p. m. strain

First Production:
Rochester Repertory Theatre
Rochester, MN
July, 2008
Directed by Cheryl A. Frarck
Scenic Design by Paul Skattum
Costume Design by Cheryl A. Frarck
Lighting Design by Robert Andrews

Cast:
1 man and 1 woman

Roles:
Joel: An average man who wears glasses.
Deb: An average woman of the same age who does not wear glasses.

Time and Place:
Present, before a two-way mirror.

Genre:
Drama.

Synopsis:
Joel and Deb find themselves behind a two-way mirror watching. Their observations are at times humorous, at times shocking. While we never discover the objects of their observations, we are left with a feeling of both superiority and shame.

READ behind the glass - CLICK HERE

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weighting area
by p. m. strain

First Production:
Zona Gale Young People's Theatre
Youth Theatre Workshop
Portage, WI
June, 2009
Directed by Patrick M. Strain
No technical production values.

Cast:
2 women

Roles:
Sarah: An average young woman.
Melanie: An average young woman of the same age.

Time and Place:
Present. The start of a waterpark ride.

Genre:
Light Drama, Dark Comedy, or what you will.

Synopsis:
Sarah and Melanie are waiting to go on a water park ride. Standing in their swimsuits, they each serupticiously see a sign that reads, "Heavier Rider in the Back of the Ride." As they coyly move to be in position to be the "Lighter Rider," they engage in a subversive dialogue meant to bring the other to their knees, as only young women can do.

READ weighting area - CLICK HERE

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knock at the door
by p. m. strain

First Production:
Unproduced.

Cast:
1 man
1 woman

Roles:
Grace: A 63 year old woman.
Hunter: A 19 year old man.

Time and Place:
An autumn afternoon. The living room of a middle-class home in Rochester, Minnesota.

Genre:
Light Drama, Dark Comedy, or what you will.

Synopsis:
Hunter, a young Jehovah's Witness, arrives at the home of Grace, a woman who has too much time on her hands. She not only invites Hunter in, but appears eager to do so. Their conversaiton reveals a lack of connection despite each of their best intentions.

READ knock at the door - CLICK HERE

NOTE: This script may offend members of the Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not my intention. The script was inspired by conversations with Jehovah's Witnesses coming to the door over the years. I then extrapolated a scenario where an over-eager retired person engages an inexperienced Jehovah's Witness. My bias certainly comes through in the script, and unquestionably there will be a comic effect for most audience members to see someone excited to host a Jehovah's Witness and "get the better of them." The tragedy would be if either of these characters were portrayed as clowns. Both are sincere and the real tragedy is that neither got what they were looking for.