Awarded “Outstanding Play for Young People” by the National Theatre for the Deaf

Denied music because of an injury that destroyed her hearing, Shelby decides to enter a high school music contest.  Her hearing friend, Lindsey, agrees to help her. Encouraged by Lindsey’s support, Shelby tries to enlist her Deaf friends at school. They all laugh at her idea except for a shy young poet, MaryBeth, who has written an ASL poem Shelby can use. Her small performance group then begins to turn MaryBeth’s poem into music for both the Deaf and hearing.

While they practice in the park, Rod, a bully, throws a soccer ball to Shelby. The ball’s owner, Cole, and his two friends rush on to reclaim the ball. They grow curious about what Shelby is doing. Once of Cole’s friends, Jeff, is a good drummer. Through a little coercion and some poorly done ASL, Cole convinces his friends to join the group.

After Cole and his friends join the performance group, more Deaf and hearing teens also decide to participate. Soon Shelby has her hands full – teaching ASL to the unsure hearing youth while keeping her Deaf friends from resenting the hearing kids involvement! Frustrated, several kids nearly quit, but Cole encourages them to stick it out to the first performance. They agree.

The date of the district contest soon comes. Shelby’s group, The Finger Dancers, win – paving the way for their trip to the regional contest! However, one Deaf girl, Lizzie, complains that they won more out of sympathy than out of ability. This causes a massive argument, upsetting Shelby terribly. Hurt, she decides to break up the group. She wants to win honestly, not out of sympathy.

When Rod, the bully, appears with cake, he tells Shelby how disappointed he is that The Finger Dancers had broken up. Rod had caused Shelby’s accident, and ever since he’s felt guilty about taking Shelby’s music from her. Her dream re-ignites, and The Finger Dancers, (now including Rod!) win the regional contest. They all travel to Washington D.C., where they perform their visual mix of dance, ASL poetry, rhythm and music.

The Benevolent Women's Craft Society

When Jason, a gay Gender Studies professor, joins a small town craft group to gather research on rural women, both comic and near tragic disaster results.

Winner of the 2003 Grindstone Award, Mountain Playhouse

On a forced sabbatical because of an academic infraction with a female student, Jason Beck finds little success researching his new “Rural Women of Today” class in this Minnesota town. Good with needle and glue, the openly gay professor tries to access the Benevolent Women’s Craft Society. Loraine’s craft group has set a goal to make enough crafts so that the Arton Group Home can purchase a used mini-van. With the Pioneer Days craft sale looming three months away, Loraine agrees to let him join—hoping that she can both orchestrate a romance between Jason and the eccentric Fiona while still making her fundraising target.

Lillian, her irrepressible, longtime friend, objects to Loraine’s scheme. Lillian convinces Emily, a very conservative and very pregnant pastor’s wife, to help her thwart Loraine’s plans. Despite Emily’s moral discomfort and her soon-to-be-born triplets, she tries to welcome Jason into the community. Unfortunately, Emily resembles the female student Jason had accused of plagiary. The uncomfortable Jason alienates Emily through some fake barbs and crass antics.

Although Loraine’s matchmaking has little effect on the solidly gay Jason, Fiona has fallen into metaphysical love with the glib professor. Jason does not want to be the cause of yet another setback for the dangerously insecure Fiona. He agrees to “date” Fiona – hoping to let her desire down slowly while still building up her confidence.

When Fiona tries to take their date to the biblical extreme, Jason and Loraine are forced into revealing their ruse to her. Fiona is crushed. With her hope gone and her depression intense, Fiona decides to join her great-great grandmother in existential karma by jumping off her roof.  Jason, Loraine, and the rest of the Craft Society rescue Fiona and help restore her spirit. Facades now shattered, the Benevolent Women’s Craft Society becomes truly benevolent. By summer’s end they have a huge mound of crafts to sell at Pioneer Days. Including Lillian’s wooden toads.

Young Lindy

While Charles Lindbergh prepares to take off on his famous flight, he wonders if he really has the right stuff to fly to Paris.

Charles Lindbergh is struggling over a difficult decision. The twenty-five year old pilot, sitting in his single engine plane on a rainy, muddy runway, tries to decide if he should fly across the Atlantic to Paris. He questions his younger, twelve-year-old self if he really can make it.

Young Lindy and the Chorus take Charles back to his boyhood in Little Falls, MN. While there, Young Lindy swims with his two best friends in the cold Mississippi River. The other boys want Lindy to stay in Little Falls and hunt geese with them. But Young Lindy has to go with his parents to Washington DC, as his father is a member of the House of Representatives. The chorus becomes a train, and takes Young Lindy out East.

Unable to make any friends, Young Lindy hates living in Washington. Because his parents are now married in name only, Young Lindy lives with his mother in a series of small apartments. Saddened by these difficult memories, the older Charles wonders if he really is brave enough to fly across the Atlantic.

Then the chorus reminds him of a great trip he took to the new country of Panama. There he watches the Panama Canal being carved out of a mountain, and he marvels at the amazing feats that people can do. The chorus also turns into a snowstorm, reenacting how Charles survived nearly freezing to death. Finally the Chorus announces his success in the Army Flight School, where he graduated first out of 212 students.

His confidence restored, Charles puts on his goggles and starts to taxi the Spirit of St. Louis down the runway. The ruts and mud puddles dragging down his wheels, Charles fights to get his fuel-laden plane off the ground. Nearing the end of the runway, Lucky Lindy finally gets the heavy ship into the air. After he clears a telephone line by just twenty feet, Lindbergh is on his way to Paris and his place in history.

Independency

With war imminent, Governor William Franklin must choose between Father Benjamin and Father Britain. Fearing that the rebels will hang, he sides with Britain – and destroys his life.

William Franklin’s career is on target.  Thanks to his exemplary military service during the French and Indian War and his famous father’s connections, he has become the Royal Governor of New Jersey.  He is also married to Elizabeth, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy plantation owner.  And perhaps best of all, he is a partner in his father’s ambition to wrest control of Pennsylvania from the Penn family.

Then Parliament passes the Stamp Act.  Despite Ben’s assertions that the colonies should bear this burden, open rebellion nearly breaks out.  William skillfully keeps New Jersey out of the fray, but privately feels that the Stamp Act rebels are selfish fools.  Back in London, however, Ben gradually grows disgusted with British rule.  When he is publicly humiliated in Parliament, Benjamin becomes a Patriot and sails home.

Ben tries to convince William to join the rebels, but the governor refuses to help a cause that would shatter the British Empire.  On July 4^th, 1776, the rebels imprison William.  While in jail, his beloved Elizabeth dies.  Upon his release, William becomes the President of the Loyalists, a group that leads guerilla raids against the rebel army.  But when Benjamin signs the Treaty of Paris, William’s power base crumbles.  Cut out of Ben’s will and forced to flee America, William lives out his life as a poor loyalist exile.

The Monkey Play

Workshop January 14-15
Public Reading - Friday, January 15th, 12:30pm

Rejected as being a quack scientist by her colleagues, Dr. Rona Captus quit her position at a scientific institute to film an independent documentary about the apes on Monachus Island. All goes well until a rogue ape destroys the twin tree branches the ape clan worships. Rona is forced to join the apes on an odyssey of peril, as the ape leaders try to eliminate all their enemies – both inside and outside the clan.

Workshop January 14-15
Public Reading - Friday, January 15th, 12:30pm

Rejected as being a quack scientist by her colleagues, Dr. Rona Captus quit her position at a scientific institute to film an independent documentary about the apes on Monachus Island. All goes well until a rogue ape destroys the twin tree branches the ape clan worships. Rona is forced to join the apes on an odyssey of peril, as the ape leaders try to eliminate all their enemies – both inside and outside the clan.

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