I’m a playwright, composer of musicals and cabarets, and a stage director. My work is informed by decades of on-stage experience as a working actor and proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. My plays have seen readings in the Chicago area at Chicago Dramatists, Center Theatre, Skokie Theatre, Illinois Theatre Center, and The Artistic Home.
My original plays and musicals have enjoyed productions in the Chicago area at Illinois Theatre Center, Fake Shrubbery Theatre, The Artistic Home, Northwestern University, Morraine Valley Community College, and at Ohlone College near San Francisco. I’m a former Network Playwright with Chicago Dramatists, and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
Full-Length Plays
WORSE THINGS
Cast: 4 men, 1 woman Genre: drama
Dark secrets, strained relationships, and a weekend guys-only camping trip make for worse things than any one of these friends could imagine.
HONEST DISAGREEMENT
Cast: 2 men · Genre: drama
The ethics of negotiation and the effectiveness of argument are explored in mind-bending conversation, a tours-de-force for two former professors inhabiting an antique store.
AN ITALIAN FAMILY
Cast: 4 women, 2 men · Genre: comedy
Two generations of a Midwest family of Italian descent, facing the imminent loss of the family matriarch, strive to renew their lives through the prism of habit and tradition.
SUDDEN NATURE
Cast: 4 men, 1 woman · Genre: drama
Long before cell phones, funeral services are hawked by ambitious and desperate phone room salesmen whose work defines them. Their boss is a woman. Everyone is vulnerable.
MEN OF GLASS
Cast: 4 men, 1 woman · Genre: drama
Love and loss among social misfits in close quarters on a no-return expedition into deep space.
THE OTHER MAN
Cast: 13 men, 1 woman · Genre: drama
The romantic lives of several gay men tested by infidelity show that humor is often the best cure for “the other man dilemma” — along with style, grace, and a little revenge. Adapted from The Other Man, essays by Rob Byrnes, Lewis DeSimone, and Rodney Ross. (This three-act play may be separated into three one acts, and are described separately under “One Act Plays” below.)
GRANDPA’S CHRISTMAS
Cast: 8 men, 3 women · Genre: comedy
The adventures of a community theater group rehearsing a play entitled “Grandpa’s Christmas.”
Full-Length Musicals
PLAYING THE PALACE
Cast: 3 men, 3 women · Genre: comedy
A musical revue, set in the waning years of vaudeville.
GOOD NIGHT MY LOVE
Cast: 2 women, 1 man, and a mixed chorus of 8 · Genre: drama
The story of a woman struggling to accept her lover’s death.
One Act Plays
FRESHWATER ANGELS
Cast: 1 woman and 1 man · Genre: drama
Two friends share stories and discover what they need, among aquarium fish.
REGRETS ONLY
Cast: 1 man, 2 women · Genre: comedy
Facing death, a husband plans his exit strategy. His wife’s response to his plan is a once-in-a-lifetime farewell party, he counters with unanticipated additions to the guest list. Man and wife complete final negotiations for his departure.
TALKING PAST
Cast: 2 men, 2 women · Genre: comedy
Two couples reminisce and distract each other talking about the past–and talking past each other.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DIVORCE PARTY
Cast: 3 men, 1 woman · Genre: comedy
Humor is often the best cure for a gay relationship triangle — along with style, grace, and a little revenge. Adapted from an essay of the same name by Rob Byrnes that appears in The Other Man, a book of personal essays.
LAST TANGO IN CAMBRIDGE
Cast: 2 men · Genre: comedy
Explores the enduring and wistful nature of a first love. Adapted from an essay of the same name by Lewis DeSimone that appears in The Other Man, a book of personal essays.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
Cast: 8 men · Genre: comedy
While other unions dissolve around them, one couple becomes a stable, unchanging presence in their friends’ lives. Adapted from an essay of the same name by Rodney Ross that appears in The Other Man, a book of personal essays.
Shorter Plays
ORBITS
Cast: 2 men, 1 woman · Genre: comedy · 35 min.
A poet and dreamer whose relationship with his career-oriented wife is threatened by her predatory employer makes a surprise move to help himself, his wife, and his rival discover their destinies.
IN A WAITING ROOM
Cast: 3 · Genre: comedy · 25 min.
Patients in a Doctor’s waiting room engage in conversation. The doctor never arrives.
GRAY BAR
Cast: 2 women · Genre: comedy · 15 min.
A woman makes a first-time visit to a gay bar. Another woman engages her in conversation, which takes an unexpected turn.
AT A BUS STOP
Cast: 1 woman, 3 men · Genre: comedy · 10 Min
A woman converses with men at a bus stop. She never gets on the bus.
SLUMPY
Cast: 2 · Genre: farce · 10 min.
In a trailer on the set of a major motion picture, an intruder inserts himself into the action and confronts the film’s director.
GOOD IDEAS
Cast: 2 · Genre: drama · 5 min.
Two product designers have ideas. One reflects on the consequences of ideas he developed and acted on in the past, while the other develops and acts on ideas moving forward in time toward an uncertain future.
PICK A CARD
Cast: 2 · Genre: comedy · 5 min.
Two men encounter each other in an audition waiting room for a stage adaptation of Rod Serling’s “To Serve Man.”
THE WORST THING
Cast: 2 men · Genre: drama · 10 min.
Genre: drama
A weekend guys-only camping trip makes for worse things than either of these friends could imagine. (WORSE THINGS is a full-length version.)
Email Bernard-Rice@att.net to request scripts.