Playwriting Commons^™

Mothers And Daughters, Sean Mccord

Playwriting (MFA) Theses

Mothers & Daughters is my thesis play written after five years of coursework in the Hollins Playwrights Lab, from 2015 to 2019, and two years of writing over the course of four years, 2019 to 2023, due to some medical setbacks explained herein.

My first draft of the accompanying narrative essay was a (comparatively) compact 2000 words outlining the lessons I had learned about playwriting at Hollins and my process for writing this play. Todd Ristau, the Director of the Hollins Playwrights Lab and my first reader, wanted more and gave me both permission and motivation to do exactly what …

The Kids Are Driving The Bus, Kristin Lundberg

Playwriting (MFA) Theses

A full-length play with elements of music and audience participation. Ms. McShizzle has to decide how far she will go to challenge the educational system and empower her students to pursue their dreams. When confronting her nemesis, an audacious Clown with a harmful neurosis, McShizzle struggles to build the school community for good.

The Caregiver, Stephanie Goldman

Playwriting (MFA) Theses

The complicated relationship of a mother and daughter gets even more complicated in this twisted love story when what has been hidden in the closet is forced to come out.

The Velvet Ditch, Kate Leslie

Playwriting (MFA) Theses

At the party house, the door is always open.

Fiona finds herself living in her hometown after graduating from college. So she spends her weekends like everyone else: attending late night house parties after all the bars shut down. But no matter how much fun each party might be, Fiona eventually must face her past and her future.

A play about nostalgia and what it feels like to be lost.

The Sun, The Moon, And The Truth, Sarah Cosgrove Gaumond

Playwriting (MFA) Theses

The Sun, The Moon, and The Truth is a collection of two plays: North Wind and I Lived To Tell. Both plays explore the human condition through differing lenses.

In North Wind, a play deeply rooted in magical realism, a trio of characters search for freedom from the past in a snow-bound Midwestern bar. The dramatic question of North Wind is: How do you move forward when everything you see reminds you of what you’ve lost?

I Lived To Tell, a non-linear play, takes place in the character's imagination. The play's dramatic question is: How does a …

The Lab Report, Volume 12, Issue 02, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

Vol. 12, No. 02 (July, 2018)

• Summer 2018 Comes to a Close
• Student Spotlight: Ally Thomas
• Guest Profile: Erin Quinn Purcell and Jay Reiss
• Overnight Sensations
• Emma in Complexland
• Sean Abley Plays Open in Two Different Festivals
• Decision Height at New River Stage
• Jonathan G Galvez play in Planet Connections Fetivity
• Cabaret Workshop with Ruth Margraff
• Susie Young in Spring Awakening at MMT
• Dramaturgy Research Luncheon
• Song of Bernadette Jones at Fresh Fruit Festival
• Kevin D. Ferguson Wins Grant
• Neeley Gossett Recognition
• Kate Lowry Teaching in Texas
• Showcases for Advanced Performance, Directing, and Advanced Scene Study
• Playwright’s Festival
• Guest Respondent …

The Lab Report, Volume 12, Issue 01, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

Vol. 12, No. 01 (June, 2018)

• Focus on the Faculty: Art Borreca
• Student Spotlight: Bev Parsons
• Guest Profile: Annalisa Dias
• Kennedy Center Summer Playwriting Intensive
• Gender Equity in the American Theatre
• Gut by Megan Wheelock at CenterPieces
• Students of Hollins Playwright Publish Plays
• No Shame Theatre Returns
• Ben Jolivet, Dramaturg
• Lauren Ellis Leads Audition Workshop
• Unified Local Auditions
• From the Director: Welcome First year Students!

The Lab Report, Volume 06, Issue 03, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Rebecca Osborne's Monologue Performed in Manhattan
• Student Spotlight: Willett, Suzanne
• Guest Profile: Scott Bradley
• JAW Festival features Elizabeth Heffron
• The Girl With Her Hands in the Sand at NYI Fringe Festival
• War Bride by Samantha Macher
• Open Call for Submissions
• From the Director: Your Public Profile

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 12, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Decision Height produced as Hollins Senior Thesis
• Student Spotlight: Meredith Levy
• Report from the Iowa New Play Festival
• To The New Girl Read in Chicago
• May Graduate: Samantha Macher
• The Weatherman Project Read at Seattle Rep Writers Group Showcase
• May Graduate: Kris Knutsen Marushy
• May Graduate: Maura Campbell
• May Graduate: Neeley Gossett
• May Readings at SkyPilot Feature Hollins Playwrights
• May Graduate: Brandon DuMonde
• Dirty Pictures by Jeri Weiss Part of Asphalt Jungle Shorts in Ontario
• Purge by Jeri Weiss Produced at Studio 81
• If You Plan It, He Will Come by Neeley Gossett Produced by Working Title Playwrights
• From the …

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 08, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Darlene Fedele Teaching at Ferrum College
• We Have Achieved Our Fundraising Goal!
• Guest Profile: Lisa Schlesinger
• Guest Profile: Brett Neveu
• Formation of the New Works Advisory Board
• Plane Talk at SkyPilot Features Hollins Playwrights
• Shifting Gears by Jeri Weiss at Fronkensteen
• Young Actors Studio Commissions Samantha Macher
• Hollins Playwright Wins Monologue Competition
• The Muse Factory by Robert Plowman Workshopped
• Clinton Johnston Directs Night of the Iguana
• Sandbox Radio Features Work by Elizabeth Heffron
• Short Plays at SkyPilot Include Hollins Playwrights
• From the Director: Who's a Starving Artist?

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 07, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Tesseract Theatre Calls for Submissions
• Student Spotlight: Taylor Gruenloh
• Guest Profile: Gina Kaufmann
• Last Hope for Twenty Miles by Ricky Steven Young
• War Bride Read at SkyPilot
• No Shame Central Coast Celebrates First Anniversary
• Fast N' Loose #40 Includes Hollins Playwright
• Mary’s Dream by Yulia Gray
• 12 Plays of Christmas at SkyPilot
• The Perfect Gift by Wendy-Marie Foerster at Secret Rose Theatre
• Clarissa's Cat by Darlene Fedele at James River Conference Center
• After Hours at the Dead Legend at University of Great Falls
• Consider a Year End Gift to the New Works Initiative
• From the Director: What's in Your Manifesto?

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 06, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• No Shame Theatre Turns 25 in Iowa and 8 in Roanoke.
• Guest Profile: Mead Hunter
• Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America
• Hollins Playwright at Playwrights Theatre Center Colony
• Nicole B. Adkins Plays in Indiana and Utah
• National Playwriting Month
• Brown Paper Tickets
• Earthbound: An Electronica Musical
• A Woman of Independent Means Returns Hollins Playwright to Campus
• Passing of Professor Klaus Phillips
• Film Features MFA Playwright Chad Runyon
• From the Director: Big Theatres Can Be Big Tents for Small Organizations

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 05, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Guest Profile: Peter Ullian
• Student Spotlight: Avis Gray
• Confirmed Faculty and Guests for 2012
• Mitzi's Abortion at Infinite Abyss in Miami
• Fronkensteen Announces Open Play Submissions
• Yulia Gray Opens Breast Cancer Play
• Best of No Shame Returns to the Waldron
• Luis and the Great Field Trip Adventure by Wendy-Marie Foerster and Jason Miller
• Sandbox Radio 2 Features Elizabeth Heffron
• October graduate Sunny da Silva
• October graduate: Adam Hahn
• Samantha Macher's LA Success Story
• From the Director: Get Practical Experience in the Medium You're Writing For

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 04, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• YouthPLAYS to Publish New Play By Jeri Weiss
• Student Spotlight: Jeri Weiss
• Guest Profile: Todd London
• Outrageous Fortune
• Uncertainty Theory By Maura Campbell Published
• Kenley Smith Named Resident Playwright
• Roanoke Community High School Performance Space Opens with No Shame
• Ruth's Story by Marshall Opie produced in Washington DC
• MFA Students Initiate 10-Minute Play Workshops
• Taylor Gruenloh in The Pillowman
• Directing Workshop with Bob Moss
• Lab Playwrights Present Drama Camp in Los Angeles
• From the Director: Our Students Work and their Work Gets Done

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 03, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Guest Profile: Sandra Hosking
• Student Spotlight: Ricky Steven Young
• To The New Girl, by Samantha Macher, opens in Los Angeles
• Professional Reading and Another Published Play for Neeley Gossett
• Man with Wings by Ben R. Williams at Studio Roanoke
• The Aesop Project at SkyPilot Theatre Features Hollins Playwrights
• MFA Playwright Adam Hahn Wed In Wyndham Robertson Library
• No Shame on the Move Again
• Robert Plowman Completes MacDowell Colony Residency
• Hollins Graduate Gives $1000 Gift to New Works Initiative Fund!
• The Terrorism of Everyday Life by Hamell on Trial at Hollins
• From the Director: Playwriting for Dummies

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 02, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Student Spotlight: Marshall Opie
• Messages to You by Sunny da Silva at Studio Roanoke
• Guest Profile: W. David Hancock
• Reading of Hancock's SECONDS at Mill Mountain Theatre
• Elizabeth Heffron's Radio Play in SANDBOX RADIO Live!
• Overnight Sensations at Mill Mountain Theatre
• Adam Hahn's Adaptation of King Kong at Studio Roanoke
• Performance by Café Antarsia Ensemble
• Guest Profile: John Bergman
• 2011 Festival of Student Readings
• From the Director: Summer Session Recap

The Lab Report, Volume 05, Issue 01, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Summer Event Schedule
• Guest Profile: Mac Wellman
• Frogger by Adam Hahn at Studio Roanoke
• Guest Profile: Cheryl Snodgrass on Directing New Plays
• Two Short Plays by Samantha Macher Featured in Happening at Hell-Tro Theatre Collective in Brooklyn
• Hollywood Fringe Festival Features Clinton Johnston's Am I Black Enough Yet?
• Dramatists Guild Conference
• From the Director: Excitement about the summer session

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 12, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Guest Profile: Branko Dimitrijevic
• Guest Profile: Christopher Jones
• This is My Office by Andy Bragen
• Wendy-Marie Foerster's adaptation of NO EXIT
• Ernie Zulia Receives Perry F. Kendig Award
• From the Director: New Expanded Format Coming Next Month

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 11, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Theatrical Gems and the Broadway for Broke People Cabaret
• Student Spotlight: Rebecca Quirk
• To The New Girl From the Former Mrs... by Samantha Macher at Manhattan Rep
• The White Door by Royal Shiree read at Randolph College
• Nicole B. Adkins wins National Playwriting Workshop Award
• Book Roots
• From the Director: Controversial Work and the Writer's Responsibility

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 10, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Summer 2011 Course Offerings
• Student Spotlight: Yulia Gray
• BOOTH by W. David Hancock
• SETC 2011
• From the Director: Backtalk, Navigating Post Show Discussions

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 09, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• The (Brand) New Testament by Kenley Smith
• Student Spotlight: Anne G’Fellers-Mason
• Guest Profile: Ken Dingledine
• Out of Control,Two One-Act Plays by Maura Campbell
• SkyPilot's Showcase of Short Plays Features Hollins Playwrights
• Neeley Gossett to Participate in Ethel Woolson Lab
• Royal Shiree's dun been thru it
• From the Director: Are there really too many theatres?

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 08, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• New No Shame in San Luis Obispo
• Student Spotlight: Wendy-Marie Foerster
• Guest Profile: David Gothard
• Fast & Loose Features Hollins Playwright and Faculty Member
• Nicole B. Adkins Published and Named Children's Programming Director at SkyPilot Theatre
• From the Director: Passing of Ellen Stewart

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 07, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Mitzi’s Abortion Published by Original Works Publishing
• Student Spotlight: Kevin Ferguson
• Guest Profile: Jason Aaron Goldberg
• Open Me Last, Three Short Plays by Maura Campbell
• Un-Holy Nite: 5 Short and Charmingly Irreverent Christmas Plays for High Schoolers by Samantha Macher
• From the Director: Think of the Arts When Thinking About Year End Giving

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 06, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Krum Fits In, by Darlene Fedele
• Student Spotlight: Scott Ramsburg
• Guest Profile: Jonathan Price
• Am I Black Enough Yet? by Clinton Johnston
• Jeff Goode launches Resident Playwright Program at Skypilot
• Kong: A Goddamn 30-Foot Gorilla by Adam Hahn
• From the Director: NaPlaWriMo (National Playwriting Month)

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 05, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• 12 Stations of the Cross, by Kenley Smith
• Breadcrumb Sins at Manhattan Repertory Theatre
• Guest Profile: Tanya Saracho
• Best of No Shame
• The Poe Plays by Sean Engard at STAGES in Fullerton
• From the Director: Update on New Works Initiative

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 04, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Her Mother Was Imagination by Elizabeth Heffron given world premiere at Annex Theatre in Seattle
• Student Spotlight: Elizabeth Heffron
• Guest Profile: Performers Exchange Project
• Flower Duet by Maura Campbell
• Living Between the Lines, by Todd Ristau and Joan Ruelle
• From the Director: The Importance of Keeping a Portfolio

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 03, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• ·Up From the Lunar Surface by Nicole B. Adkins
• ·Student Spotlight: Anna Gardner
• Guest Profile: Joe Gilford
• Student readings in New York (David Schwingle, Sean Engard, Royal Shiree)
• Kenley Smith and Sunny da Silva featured at Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights
• A Christmas Carol, by Clinton Johnston, Read at Hamner Theatre
• From the Director: Actor and Director Database

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 02, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Guest Faculty Profile: Kate Bredeson
• Robert Plowman’s The Common: for as long as you have so far
• Overnight Sensations at Mill Mountain Theatre
• Festival of Student Readings
• Guest Profile: Naomi Wallace
• From the Director: Summer Session Recap

The Lab Report, Volume 04, Issue 01, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• Feeback Loop, by Adam Hahn at Studio Roanoke
• No Shame Returns to Mill Mountain Theatre
• New Submission Opportunities at Studio Roanoke
• Devil Sedan, by Kenley Smith
• From the Director: Welcoming the summer students

The Lab Report, Volume 03, Issue 12, Todd Ristau

Lab Reports

• 2010 Guest Speaker Series
• Course Listings for Summer 2010
• Neeley Gossett Breadcrumb Sins at Coastal Empire New Plays Festival
• Under a Banner of Shadow, by Todd Ristau at Studio Roanoke
• From the Director: Leaving Studio Roanoke