TRW Presents: Short Plays, Vol. 3

TRW presents ten compelling short works—heroes and villains, from earthly issues to supernatural ones—by established and emerging playwrights in this third volume of our popular series.

Paint Night

Imagine STEEL MAGNOLIAS with modern day issues, as six women gather for a much-needed girls’ night out. The plan is to eat, drink and create works of art at a local Paint and Sip night studio while celebrating a bride to be. But as the alcohol flows, so do their thoughts on motherhood and womanhood, […]

Mr. Dickens’ Hat

Set in London on December 21-22, 1865 (“the darkest night of the year”), this witty, heartfelt play-with-songs deftly weaves together Dickensian storytelling with a playful theatricality, featuring nine “original Victorian carols” and a diverse cast portraying an array of colorful characters. With its Victorian winter setting, MR. DICKENS’ HAT is perfect for holiday programming, though […]

Man of God

During a mission trip to Bangkok, a Korean Christian girls’ youth group discover that their revered pastor has hidden a camera in their hotel bathroom. Their communal rage and disillusionment fuel increasingly violent revenge fantasies amidst the no-holds-barred neon bubblegum sex-tourism mecca of Bangkok. MAN OF GOD is a funny feminist thriller about that moment […]

Journey to the Poles of Inaccessibility

If magic was real, how far would you go to find it? Dylan is comfortable with his insular life, working at an insurance company and living with his wheelchair-bound aunt. Then he meets Chris, a young woman of boundless energy, on a quest to gather what magic may still remain at the world’s most remote […]

Our Shrinking Shrinking World

Dr. Lyman Hidalgo-Nyquist is the only therapist in a faded New England mill town. His one remaining patient is Teddy, a down-on-his-luck cop, who lost his gun and can only get his job back by seeing a therapist. Another therapist shows up in town, the mysterious Dr. Michael Carver. The two therapists battle each other […]

The Last Wide Open

This 2-hander play with music explores the multiplicity of the immigrant experience through the lens of an earnest meditation on love and the metaverse. Lina and Roberto’s lives intersect and parallel as three alternate realities unfold. The play renders the near hits and misses of two worn out restaurant workers and the mystical ways the […]

Funnyman

New York City, 1959. Fading vaudeville comic Chick Sherman, along with his long-suffering agent, tries to revive his career with a role in an avant-garde off-Broadway play. While his grown daughter searches for answers from her absentee showbiz father, a lifetime of private and professional struggles rise to the surface, cracking the polished public persona […]

What Doesn’t Kill You

A witty contemporary comedy that follows one person’s journey through a heart attack, a gay marriage, an obsession with Cher, and a trip to a concentration camp. So, yes, it’s a comedy!

Public Speaking 101

When a neurotic, amateur actress leads her community college class of terrified adults to compete in their county’s First Annual Public Speaking Competition, their cross-currents, tongue-tied quirks and foibles escalate as the pressure builds.

The Heart Sellers

Jane and Luna run into each other in the grocery store on Thanksgiving in 1973 and discover they have much in common: they’re both 23, recent Asian immigrants, homesick and lonely with hardworking absentee husbands, and adjusting to a new country surprisingly filled with as much political uncertainty as the places they’ve left. Over a […]

Wet

Four survivors of a storm-sunken pirate ship—the legendary Isabella, Neptune’s bastard daughter; pirates Jenny (a runaway whore) and Sally (an electrified girl); and the Viscountess Marlene (a drag queen)—seize a half-wrecked ship crewed only by Captain Joppa and two sailors, young Jack and ex-slave Horatio. Joppa is determined to get back to the war. Isabella […]