Copyright(c) 2006 R. Elena Tabachnick. All rights reserved.
On a whim (or following a call), I auditioned for a local theatre company - The Kathie Rasmussen Women’s Theatre - and was cast in four short plays, part of the Smart Women Project 2009.
About two weeks into rehearsals, I began feverishly writing plays. Never before have I written such character-driven material. I need only sit at the computer and record the words the characters poured into my ears. I’ve now completed five that vary in run-time from 7 minutes to 75 minutes.
Short Plays
Snapshot: Breasts
CASTING: Two women, 30s
RUN TIME: 7 minutes
SET, PROPS & TECHNICAL: minimal
SYNOPSIS: Over-educated, underemployment, and nearing forty, Naomi has been dumped by her younger girlfriend for being a wimpy dyke. Then Naomi's neglected best friend, Laura, enters bearing bagels and comfort, and discovers that Naomi is terrified her breasts will fall. Laura laughs this fear away and their strained friendship is mended.
Guard of the Eyes
CASTING: Three women, 40s, 50s and 60s
RUN TIME: 20 minutes
SET, PROPS & TECHNICAL: minimal
SYNOPSIS: In the kitchen of their Benedictine monastery, Meg, a junior sister, and Sarah, a postulant, chat about the pleasures of monastic silence and the horrors of life “in the world.” Meg delights in their easy friendship until she discovers she has fallen in love and must face the hardship this brings.
Meditation on a Theme
CASTING: Fourteen characters played by nine actors: 5 women, ages 30-70; 4 men, ages 20-50
RUN TIME: 75 minutes
SET, PROPS & TECHNICAL: minimal set, a few unusual props, creative lighting
SYNOPSIS: Katherine can’t meditate because noisy parts of her psyche keep intruding. These include a pesky four-year-old, an angry teenager, and her critical mother. Even worse, a bevy of spiritual teachers, including Jesus, feel free to tromp through her mental space offering cryptic advice. When she finally gives up and listens to these parts of herself, she must face her story of inherited incest, and a painful paradox: although she was terribly, inexcusably wounded, the people who hurt her were, themselves, equally hurt. Struggling to accept the whole of this truth without the easy refuge of shame or blame, Katherine falls into the mystical connection she sought all along.
Love Among the Terrapins
CASTING: Two women aged 40s and 50s
RUN TIME: 10 minutes
SET, PROPS & TECHNICAL: minimal
SYNOPSIS: Sylvia wants to buy a pet turtle for her grandson. This sets her sister, Becky, off on a flight of romantic reminiscence over an English biologist they knew while growing up in Nigeria. Annoyed, Sylvia shocks Becky with the news that their mother had an affair with the biologist.
Walking to Extinction
CASTING: Two women aged 20s and 40-50
RUN TIME: 10 minutes
SET, PROPS & TECHNICAL: minimal
SYNOPSIS: Mastodons are going extinct and Beatrice, the Mastodon Matriarch, is on her way out. Fearing a similar fate, Amelia, the Mammoth Matriarch, abandons everything for a desperate journey to an island refuge. Underlying their opposed responses to the threat of annihilation are their vastly different views on the causes of extinction. Meeting in this moment of crisis, they have a choice: hold onto their differences or part as friends.
Full-Length Plays
