Mitchell P. Ganem has written and directed for both stage and screen. He is co-writer of Elvis Has Left the Building, starring Academy Award winner Kim Basinger. His screenplay Kinky Grace has won several film festival awards. Mitch’s short film Killing Dinner has played in festivals from here to Turkey. He is currently in pre-production to direct his original screenplays…
Romney Humphrey is a former media writer/producer, award-winning screenwriter, and nationally produced playwright with recent productions in California, Florida, and Connecticut. Her play The Bench is being made into a short film this spring. She is the author of three books, including the best-selling How I Learned I’m Old, a humor/memoir.
G.A. Milnthorpe is an author, playwright, and comedian. His latest novel, Archibald Mountbank and the Miniscule Miracles, is his best, and shortest, to date. He lives in Bury St. Edmunds, UK. You can find him on Facebook and X/Twitter.
Gianfranco Lentini is an NYC-based queer playwright, teacher, journalist, and First Generation Italian American. Gianfranco’s work has been developed and produced by Torrent Theatre, UNDER St. Marks Theatre, A Night of Play, Theatrical Response Team, Burlington County Footlighters, and the inspiraTO Festival (Canada’s largest short play festival). His work has been published by Molecule Literary Magazine and The Coachella Review. He is currently an Adjunct Professor…
Daniil Lebedev is a writer and filmmaker. Born in Novosibirsk, Russia, he studied literature and cinema in Paris. He is the author of experimental and documentary films, as well as several works for theatre. He currently lives in Strasbourg. danlebedev.com
Kerry Muir’s prose has appeared in Kenyon Review, Crazyhorse, Fourth Genre and elsewhere. Her essay “The Bridge” was named as a notable in Best American Essays 2016, edited by Edwidge Danticat, as was her essay “Blur” in Best American Essays 2018, edited by Hilton Als. Her plays have received awards and honors from Nantucket Short Play Festival & Competition, Gibraltar International Drama Festival, The…
Sean Dance Fannin is a queer dramatist born and raised in Kentucky and writes plays aimed at dismantling cynicism and apathy as an antidote to fascism. Sean’s play Dead Wait received its premiere in Kentucky, followed by the development of The Airplane Game with Derby City Playwrights in Louisville. After moving to Chicago in 2021, he began producing and hosting…
A 10-Minute Play
Cast of Characters
BLUE A Blue Hydrangea
PINK A Pink Hydrangea
CAROLE The Great Gardener (optional voiceover)
GEORGE The Great Gardener’s Husband (optional voiceover)
Scene
A backyard garden.
Time
Late spring/early summer.
Lights up on a garden. A hydrangea bush with multiple heads of blossoms is seen center stage, all of them pink except one, which is blue. The blossoms are asleep. The sun rises at start of play waking the blossoms from their slumber.
PINK
Good morning world.
BLUE
Good morning sun.
PINK
Good morning dirt.
BLUE
Good morning butterfly.
PINK
Good morning little ants.
BLUE
Good morning Lilies and Roses and Jasmine.
PINK
Good morning Cherry Tree, good morning Kale!
BLUE
Good morning family.
PINK
(turning toward BLUE) Good morning – OH MY GROVE!
BLUE
What is it?
PINK
What happened to you?!
CAST
Max Anderson, Age 43
Jack Hensley, Age 72
Jenny Anderson, Age 41
SETTING
The Andersons’ dining room table.
Four chairs surround the table; a place is set at each.
TIME
Present day
(Lights up on Jenny, Max enters and kisses her on her forehead).
MAX: You’re sure you don’t mind company.
JENNY: Not at all honey. It’s been a while since we had someone to dinner. It was…
(She stops herself and furrows her brow.).
MAX: Dad. We can talk about it. I want to talk about it. It isn’t like someone just disappears when they die.
Roles:
Place: A convenience store in an American city.
Time: Just before midnight
Night. A convenience store. Empty. Except for the CLERK.
A big clock with a clock face – the hands show it is ten minutes to 12.
At Rise: The CLERK is behind the counter, ritualistically wiping cans in a display, using a long feather duster. Wiping clean and counting familiar places in his circuit.
(Outside, a THIEF walks back & forth, fighting a temptation to go in, rob the store. Finally he goes to the unlocked door – but sees a CLOSED sign.
(The THIEF enters the store. Lots of pockets in what he wears.)
(CLERK continues to dust cans. Watches for the big clock to release him.)
(CLERK counts out each can he dusts.)
(THIEF watches him until the menace of his presence registers. . .)
CLERK: Forty-nine. . .
THIEF: (Menacingly:) Would be no problem to blow the back of your head off, would it?
CLERK: (Matter-of-factly:) Did you find what you need?