FULL LENGTH PLAYS
Dark at the Center
Drama. 100 minutes. 2W, 3M.
The wife of a philosophy professor at an Ivy League school learns from a reporter that her husband has been arrested for molesting a boy he tutored and for trading in child pornography. The play deals with the horror and complexities of facing a serious allegation against someone you love and trust. The play tacitly invites the audience to choose sides a number of times as it unfolds. Cast of 3 men and 2 women, minimal set requirement.
“My South Coast Repertory colleagues and I admired the way the play delivers the full horror of Jane’s series of experiences – first that her husband would be so accused, then that she would begin to believe that he might have done it, third that she is forced to choose between custody of her son and her marriage, and finally that she might have chosen a pedophile as a spouse. The play twists in the reader’s guts, and never makes the mistake of coming out and telling the reader whether Oliver is guilty.”
—Megan Monaghan, Literary Manager, South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California
“I was truly haunted by it....It's quite a striking play....All kinds of original dramaturgical techniques focus us on perception. The scenes early on, for instance, between Jane and Oliver that virtually repeat themselves. Very exciting. And then the last few pages, where the truth starts to become so much more ambiguous, are really shocking.”
—Austin Pendleton, Actor, Playwright, Director, New York City
“It is a compelling, disturbing, well-written play...A helluva play.”
—Eric Peterson, Artistic Director, Oldcastle Theatre Company, Bennington, Vermont
Winner: The John Golden Playwrighting Prize; Playwrights First Award; NJ TheatreFest Regional Playwriting Contest.
Finalist: The Susan Glaspell Prize; The Woodward/Newman Prize.
Reading: Julia Miles’ Reading Room at Schreiber Studio (Director: John Howard Swain); Centenary Theatre.
Production: Montclair TheatreFest, Montclair, NJ. Director: John Wooten.
The Dog in the Dressing Room
Romantic Comedy. 85 minutes. 1W, 2M.
In this backstage, romantic comedy, Kira plays an actor who receives the gift of an adorable dog from Joel, the manager of the theatre where she is rehearsing. The unexpected gift upends her relationship with BFF Kevin, who thinks Joel is weird. As Kira grows fonder of Dog, she begins to question her co-dependent relationship with Kevin. Jealousies, games and secrets are uncorked along with the champagne. Guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.
The Dog in the Dressing Room was developed at Playwrights Gallery.
"Games, secrets, old wounds, stalking, a canine, and love play their parts in this smashing comedy....The Dog in the Dressing Room makes for a lovely summer surprise." Glenda Frank, New York Theatre Wire
Premiere: The Schoolhouse Theatre, Croton Falls, NY. 2018. Director: Bram Lewis.
Publication: Monologue in Best Men's Monologues of 2018, Smith & Kraus
Falling Hard
Drama. 90 minutes. 3W, 2M.
Mr. D, a charismatic high school history teacher, is in trouble with Fran Royce, the principal, for playing favorites and for being “too friendly” with some of his students. Ignoring Dr. Royce’s warnings, he attempts to help Katie, a cheerleader, who has a crush on him and needs to escape an abusive relationship at home. The senior class Washington trip reveals secrets and lies. Who will fall hard on Prom Night? And who's in for a hard fall?
Falling Hard was developed at Playwrights Gallery. It had an invitational reading last summer for States of Play.
Everything I’ve Got
Drama. 100 minutes. 3W, 1M.
A modern Gaslight. Lacey, a vulnerable young woman, lives with her wealthy grandmother in a Manhattan townhouse. She falls in love with Jahar, who rouses Nana’s suspicions. Jahar is well served by Rika, who agrees to pose as his sister. Is Jahar slowly poisoning Nana? Jahar’s cons seem about to unravel when he and Rika abscond. Lacey’s pursuit of Jahar reveals a secret closer to home.
Everything I've Got was developed at Playwrights Gallery.
Reading: Betsy’s Place, New York City.
Addis Tarkington
Drama. 95 minutes. 2W, 2M.
Addis Tarkington is a successful historian. He is also a plagiarist and a fraud who cheats his way to success. The play centers on his relationship with his daughter, Cress, who learns of his transgressions and faces a decision: Should she expose her father or be part of a cover-up?
The play begins with Cress Tarkington, daughter of famous Viet Nam War historian, Dr. Addis Tarkingon, speaking to an audience about her father. In flashback, we meet Addis, who is as much of a rock star as a scholar/historian can be. In scenes with his daughter and his assistant, he is revealed to be a plagiarist. Blumenson, Nadal and Kelegian are three minor historians from whom he has, as he says, “borrowed.” Slate, The New Yorker and NPR, in turn, out him, and we watch the effect this has on him and on his family. Daughter Cress and assistant, Jared, take up with one another and join forces to thwart Addis’ efforts to portray his offenses as “editing errors.” His wife, Nora, for years his best ally, leaves him. Jared and Cress produce a memoir that portrays Addis as both a charmer and a word thief. Cress and Jared’s direct addresses are revealed to be presentations to an audience of book buyers. Although the newly successful young authors attempt to make up with Addis, he snubs them. Addis spirals downward. In a flashback, Addis is shown as a Phd. candidate, pleading with an academic committee for lenience, after being caught in an act of plagiarism. Nora and Cress embrace at a memorial service for Addis.
Readings: Manhattan Theatre Club Studios; The Drilling Company; Julia Miles’ Reading Room.
Calling the Tune
Darkly Comic Drama. 89 minutes. 2W, 1M.
Greed. Loss. Envy. Aging. Family. Brother and sister clash over custody of JJ, their elderly mother…and her money. Based on an actual custody dispute between the son and daughter of an elderly, Philadelphia-area woman, Calling the Tune is a darkly comic drama of sibling rivalry.
Michael wants to help JJ stay in her home in Medford, New Jersey. When Myra brings her mother to assisted living in Houston, Texas, a battle ensues. Both would like to inherit a tidy sum. JJ has her own ideas, but by favoring her son over her daughter, she inflames an already fraught situation. And are her memory problems, ordinary age markers? Or is she sliding toward dementia?
Calling the Tune was developed at Playwrights Gallery.
Readings: Julia Miles’ Reading Room; Center Stage, New York City; Playing With Food, Penguin Rep (Director: Joe Brancato); NuVoices; Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, Pittsfield, Mass; and others.
The Puppets’ Kitchen
Comic-Drama. 93 minutes. 2W, 1M.
Quinn, a struggling actor and stand-up comedian, and his wife, Lily, a fledgling television chef, meet Mia, an agent who seems at first to be their fairy godmother. Mia conflates clients with family, driving a wedge between husband and wife. The young couple is further threatened by the arrival of a new housemate. Puppets Kitchen, takes on the uses and misuses of power, love and loyalty, and the strains of being an artist. Puppets – real and imagined – take part.
"The Puppets' Kitchen has the added Wow factor of its puppets—which can be elaborate or simple, but however they are fashioned, they will add surprise and theatricality to a surprising and theatrical script."
—Janice Maffei, Literary Manager, The Schoolhouse Theater
“This is a wonderful play!”
—Lawrence Harbison, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle
"Fine work. A captivating read. A page-turner. As with [Savadge's] previous work, we were compelled by the uniquely drawn characters and the ease with which [Savadge] intoxicates us into entering [her] world. The puppets provided an added and intriguing layer of theatricality."
—John Wooten, Producing Artistic Director, Premiere Stages
Reading: Shetler Penthouse Theatre, NYC
Death's Door
Thriller. 99 minutes. 3W, 3M.
Jeanna and her attorney huband, Gil, are awaiting the birth of their first child when they discover that their across-the-hall neighbor has been murdered. Did the killer intend to kill Gil? They escape to the country, but they are pursued.
Reading: Miranda Theatre Company.
Proposed Workshop: Resonance Theatre Company.
State of the Art
A Stylish Backstage Comedy. 99 minutes. 2W, 2M.
Four actors go on the road: One on a high horse. One on the fast track. One on the wagon. One hanging on for the ride. Will Boy get Girl? Will the show move to Broadway? Will the glamorous leading lady find happiness...as a character actress? In a comic love letter to the theatre, actors seek love and find work.
Readings: Tri-State Actors Theatre of New Jersey, Resonance Theatre Company.
Publication: Monologue in Best Women's Monologues, Smith & Kraus
When Danny Comes Back for Us
An End-of-the-World Comic Drama. 97 minutes. 2W, 2M.
Two New York couples are weekending on an island off the coast of Maine in the shadow of lurking calamity. The play begins at the end of their holiday when the foursome discovers that something is terribly wrong. Flashback: to their arrival and to explore the ways in which they squander their emotional and physical resources in the days and nights that follow. Secrets are revealed.
When Danny Comes Back For Us was developed at Playwrights Gallery in New York City.
Readings: The Drilling Company for the League of Professional Theatre Women’s 30 Plays for 30 Years Festival (Director: Elaine Molinaro); The Cell Theatre (Director: Kira Simring).
Love and Work
Comedy. 90 minutes. 2W, 2M.
A collection of a dozen short inter-connected comedies for a cast of four.
Production: Woodstock Theatre Company (Cast: Melissa Hurst, Stephen Bradbury, Susan Greenhill and Jed Peterson, directed by Richard Harden).
Exit Wounds
Interconnected One-Acts. 80 minutes. 1M, 1W of middle age.
The Great Man
The Fall
Couple of Geckos
The Other Part
Grapes Business
For Old Times’ Sake
In the Game
What Next?