Jeff Bergman and Paul Baerman in “A Taxing Weekend”
A Taxing Weekend (3-minute comedy)*
A couple debate the importance of timely generosity vs. finishing their taxes (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, April 2001).
Ad Astra (3-minute children’s comedy)
A starship lands on a Unitarian Universalist planet and the crew wonders whether they should move on or share their arugula (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, February 2009).
ATM: Redistribution (3-minute comedy)
Normally, the ATM’s components work together smoothly, united in their zeal to make money for the bank. What if one of them started reading John Maynard Keynes? Carrboro (NC) Arts Center PlaySlam production featuring Sarah Donnell, Jeff Aguiar, Dan Oliver and Jillian Holmquist (November 2011).
Paul Baerman as Jesus’ barber
Barber to the Stars (5-minute dramatic monologue)*
Old-time Connecticut Yankee shares observations from his customers Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and Moses. It took him a few millennia to tithe (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, April 2003). The filmed version was shown at a 2012 stewardship conference in Akron, OH.
Bride Zero (3-minute drama)
When a man lets you down despite your totally hot gown, remember your girlfriend: she’s got your number (PlaySlam at The Arts Center, Carrboro, NC, November 2012).
Call Tackling (5-minute comedy)*
A giving-impaired gay couple argue over canapés after receiving a phone call from God. It’s all right, she’s a member of their congregation (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, March 2005). The filmed version was shown at a 2012 stewardship conference in Akron, OH.
Camelot Club (10-minute comedy)
Arthur is an African-American ball-boy who beats the tennis pro; Guinevere a nouveau riches naïf who wants to learn to, um, swing; and Lancelot a visiting tennis star in need of a sponsor. Meanwhile the vicious Morgan LeFay works her dark magic through a Twitter feed. Dramatists’ Playground, Greensboro City Arts, NC (August 2011). I facilitated collaborative script development and directed the production.
Chickens: A Romance (5 minute radio play)
Prairie Home Companion-type piece featuring hybrid-driving suburbanites and their backyard chickens.
Eno River Players public reading (March 2012). Broadcast forthcoming on Triangle Radio Reading Service featuring Kevin Dabro, Alicia Betancourt, Gerda Presson, Kati Redman, and Michele Hodgson, with sound effects by Mark Anderson.
Conversation Piece (12-minute drama)
Kay wants Jay to hang his hat at her place, but she has a little secret that may get in the way: she’s pregnant. Oh yeah, and they’re brother and sister. Workshop at Directors’ Laboratory hosted by Greensboro Playwrights Forum (September 2011).
Free Love (5-minute comedy)
An artist, an engineer, and a short-order cook debate capitalism in a diner, wrestling with a new way to think about getting and spending (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, March 2011).
He Said, He Said (5-minute comedy)
Game show participants compete to see who best understands accountability after their church has run a minister out of town (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, May 2009).
iPray (3 minute comedy)
God uses technology to reduce the glut of unanswered prayers. Developed in collaboration with The Ubuntu Players (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, August 2011).
Misssion: Possible (5-minute monologue)
“Pay off their mortgage?” challenges the banker. “What are they, un-American? Let me tell you something, Charlie, debt made this country great.” (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, January 2012).
Murphey School Radio Show (variety show)
Skits and jingles taped before a live audience, featuring Frank Stasio, Lee Smith, D.G. Martin, Georgann Eubanks, and others to raise funds for local charities (November 2011). The show is here: I was the primary writer for Lee Smith & D.G. Martin’s “Triangle News Update”, track 23.
Rendezvous on Park Place (30-minute drama)
A young couple meet their older selves with disastrous results. Utica College Drama Department (April 1978).
Bob Slentz-Kesler as Virgil welcoming newcomers to Hell
The First Circle (5-minute comedy)*
A busload of tourists visits Hell: it may be infernal, but we call it home. Don’t miss the banjo choir (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, January 2004).
The Fox and the Hedgehog (15-minute drama)
Vickie won the election all right, but her stratospheric rise is suddenly endangered by a shadowy figure who wants her to break the promises she’s made. To be true to herself, must she betray others? No productions to date.
Callie Justice in “The Jesus Christ Philanthropic Consultancy”
The Jesus Christ Philanthropic Consultancy (3-minute dramatic monologue)
“You must be Jesus. Nice tie.” A woman seeks tax advice from an unusual quarter (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, April 2002).*
The Lollipop Resolution (3 minute comedy)
From Torching Your Unwanted Business to Hitman-for-a-Day: an enthusiast and her bored husband make fun of service auction offerings (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, March 2010).
The Next Big Thing (10-minute comedy)
In a world where airlines charge by the pound, the fat guy wants your seat. No productions to date.
The Psychic (3-minute dramatic monologue)
He’s not here to tell the future; he just wants to read your mind (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, February 2010).
The Rainbow Project (10-minute comedy)
It takes a fool to reboot a dysfunctional board of directors. If your heart stops, the meeting’s over (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, February 2011).
Rainbow Round the Moon (10-minute drama)
What if the world’s first vampire had a teenage daughter (The Arts Center, Carrboro, October 2012)?
The Seven Hundred Percent Solution (5-minute comedy)
Is it species-ist for Spot to point out that Rover has no opposable thumb? Two dogs plot to train their owners (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, February 2008; adaptation spring 2012 at the UU congregation of Edmonds, WA). The script is included on the DVD Dramas to Provoke Generosity.
Shibboleth (3-minute drama)
A widower has had so many cats he can’t remember which one he used as his computer password (PlaySlam at The Arts Center, Carrboro, NC, November 2012).
The Universe and Stuff (5-minute monologue)
God’s parrot does the saints in different voices when he answers the phone. The truth, he says, is always bigger than the stories we’re able to tell about it (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, March 2007).
Jeff Bergman and Bob Slentz-Kesler in “The Vision Thing”
The Vision Thing (3-minute drama)*
Socrates gets a skeptical parent to admit that he wants his daughter to ask “the ethical question.” He might even attend coffee hour after church (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, March 2003). The filmed version was shown at a 2012 stewardship conference in Akron, OH.
Thinking the Unthinkable (3-minute comedy)
Omar Epinephrine is an artist: affairs of the world do not concern him—except when it comes to bidding on Punch and Judy Smithereen’s demolition service (Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, April 2010).
DVD: Dramas to Provoke Generosity: Six Short Examples of How Humor and Drama Can Evoke, Enhance and Extend Generosity for Fund-raising Efforts of Unitarian Universalists and Others (Turnip Video, 2010).
Six short comedies and monologues, adapted from the plays below and filmed in a black box, are used by churches and fellowships to prompt conversations about stewardship and giving. As the screenwriter and director, I offer production advice and also appear as an actor.* Bonus scripts. Trailer and purchase info here. Review here.
* Asterisked items are included on the DVD Dramas to Provoke Generosity.
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