FULL LENGTH
100 Famous Views of Otzi - (the iceman)
100 Famous Views of Otzi is a comedy in two acts, and was premiered in 2016 by 12 Miles West Theatre Company in Rutherford, NJ.
Otzi is the name given to the 5300-year-old “ice man” whose mummified remains were found in a glacial field in the Alps in 1991. 100 Famous Views of Otzi is a riff on his discovery, his significance, and his murder.
Otzi is the name given to the 5300-year-old “ice man” whose mummified remains were found in a glacial field in the Alps in 1991. 100 Famous Views of Otzi is a riff on his discovery, his significance, and his murder.
The play consists of six playlets and four unifying “intermezzi.” Each playlet is a different dramatic form – a noir satire where crime scene metaphors are as important as the facts; a comedy sketch about copper-age reenactors at a fantasy convention; a social commentary in which a cereal company contemplates marketing Otzi-Os; a commedia dell‘arte fantasy about finding a man frozen in a block of ice; a series of Japanese Noh-like tableau narrated in Haiku and depicting the visual how, not why, of a murder; and an Irish tragedy set in the late 1970s when “retiring” from the fight was not an option. The intermezzi tell the story of the German couple who discovered Otzi and their struggle with the authorities for compensation.
Six-eight actors play multiple roles and multiple styles in a fragmented reflection on the fragmented facts we have been able to deduce about a man whose too, too solid flesh and bones are older than the civilizations of China, Egypt, or Crete. 100 Famous Views of Otzi explores the echoes of Otzi in our world, and the notion that our world reverberates all the way back to his.Feather on the Sea - (Daedelus and Icarus)
Feather On the Sea was commissioned by Idaho Theatre for Youth, which later became absorbed by the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Originally, the concept was for a play for three actors which could be toured to grade schools, middle schools, and high schools in the small towns of Idaho. The venues were lunch rooms, gyms, assembly halls, and the occasional real theatre. Ok. That's a tall order. My problem was that a superficial look at the Icarus legend reveals the story of a hot-headed boy who disobeys his wise father. What kid wants to hear that?
Fortunately, I was invited out to see one of their productions. I was astounded. I saw a four-character production of Moby Dick directed by David Lee Painter that was as good as any theatre I've ever seen. Engaging, theatrical, musical, captivating for the kids and entertaining for the teachers, that production was a revelation as to what theatre for young audiences could be. I did my research and discovered that Icarus' fall was Daedelus' punishment for a prior sin. Kids could go for that.
Feather On the Sea was part of ITY's 1995 season and toured all over Idaho. New Artistic Director Pam Sterling reprised the show in 2000, this time touring the western states of Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming. In 2006, Idaho Shakespeare Festival revived Feather for their community outreach program.
Feather On the Sea
a play with music for young audiences
4 Characters: (2 men, a narrator, and a Korus)
Sanctuary of the Muse
Sanctuary of the Muse is a full-length play that explores the relationship between artist and inspiration. It takes place in a large museum after hours. An artist, who has a day job as a cataloger, wallows in self-pity in the dark of the Greek Hall. A goddess appears to him. Or is she only the spoiled child of a rich patron of the museum? To the security guards, they have an intruder, a mentally disturbed 17-year-old running naked through the halls, and the artist is a possible molester.
Sanctuary of the Muse has had a staged reading, but not a production.
Sanctuary of the Muse
a play
5 characters: (3 men, 2 women)
nudity
Club Moonlight
Club Moonlight was a commission facilitated via Musical Theatre Works. Essentially a three-character play with music (with two male supporting characters playing several parts), Club Moonlight is about a jazz trio and utilizes jazz and Broadway standards ("Moonlight in Vermont," "Let Us Entertain You," "For Once In My Life," "As Time Goes By," etc.) to tell the story of a love triangle between the singer, the bass player, and the new replacement piano player.
Club Moonlight
a play with music
by James Racheff and Ted Kociolek
5 characters (3 principals: one woman, two men, two supporting men)
requires strong musical ability (piano and bass)
SHORT PIECES
The Bottomless Cup is a fifteen-minute short comedy that explores what happens when someone decides to test a Midwestern coffee shop's committment to its motto of a "bottomless cup."
The Bottomless Cup
a play in one coffee break
4 characters (one woman and three men)
currently unproduced
The play was accepted in the Players Theatre Short Musical and Play Festival in NYC and was presented for four performances February 14, 15, 16, 17, 2013 at the Players Theatre.
currently unproduced
The Full Mindy is a fifteen-minute short comedy about three community theatre actresses waiting to audition for a female version of The Full Monty. Nudity is involved because, after all, it is The Full Mindy.
The play was accepted in the Players Theatre Short Musical and Play Festival in NYC and was presented for four performances February 14, 15, 16, 17, 2013 at the Players Theatre.
The Full Mindy
a play in one short strip
3 characters (women) and 2 walk-ons (1 man, 1 woman)
