Mark's Plays
Weeds of Sloth (Full Length Drama; 2 men, 3 women)
When a girl suffering from memory loss begins seeing apparitions from the past she confronts her overprotective older sister, who clearly knows more about the events leading up to her present conditions than she’s willing to let on, and the result is a shocking revelation about a blocked out past which will reopen old wounds for both of them.
Rations (15 minute Drama; 4 men)
Two sailors, making a cross country journey back to their ship prior to D-Day, are prevented from seeing their wives one last time as a result of OPA restrictions on gasoline. A chance encounter with the gas station owner, a gold star father from WWI, makes all three reflect on the true meaning of sacrifice, as they each resolve to practice one last random act of kindness for one another...
Published in Best American Short Plays: 2015-2016
You're Killing Me (10 minute Satire; 2 men, 1 boy)
As a father attempts to make a fishing expedition an object lesson on "rugged individualism", the son becomes increasingly disillusioned as the distance between them, and the realities of the world around them, lead him to a very different conclusion about the meaning of the American Dream.
Published in New Voices Playwrights Theatre Anthology of Short Plays- 2017
Thoughts and Prayers (10 minute Drama; 1 man, 2 women)
Two women, reacting differently to news of a mass shooting in their neighborhood, trade political barbs over their conflicting views on the matter before one of them has a terrifying encounter with a creepy visitor (who may or may not be the shooter) which makes her consider other reasons why people would do things like this and why America in the 21st century is so divided.
Not Something Else (15 minute Dark Comedy; 1 man, 1 woman)
A therapist follows her apparently suicidal patient out of her office window and onto the ledge of the 40th floor, where she conducts a final session for the patient displaying signs of multiple personality disorder. Her patient, however, is actually perfectly sane, and has a surprise in store for her...
Mr. Sam's Place (Full Length Drama; 5 men, 1 woman, 1 boy)
The night before its scheduled demolition, Councilman Willie Williams wanders into a diner in a small southern town looking for mementos. He is confronted by a journalist, Audrey Walker, who has followed him there for an interview. She wants to understand why Willie (the council’s lone African American representative and lone vote against the new development) is so attached to the place, and to a past that stinks so badly of Jim Crow. In telling his story, he shows us a series of flashbacks intended to paint a more accurate picture of this place’s past, and especially that of its enigmatic owner, with whom he had developed an unlikely friendship. He is determined to achieve some level of understanding from her regarding his nostalgia for the old-fashioned values that the newly dawning century is threatening. By the end of the night, we are left to wonder whether he has had any success.
Impossible Dreams (Full Length Drama; 5 men, 4 women, + gender neutral ensemble)
Boston, 1990: A homeless veteran has a drug induced hallucination (or is it?) of a visitation from his boyhood hero, Red Sox legend Tony Conigliaro, who has just died. Entering into this netherworld between life and death, he and the audience are then taken through a dreamlike journey through theirs and America's past. As he re-lives the missed opportunities and tragedies that have paralleled those of his hero (and his country) since the 60s, he is forced to reevaluate just what it is he wants out of life.