Playwriting Commons^™

Applying Girls' Studies To Contemporary Theatre And New Play Development, Sophia Menconi

Playwriting (MFA) Theses

Girls’ Studies is a relatively new academic field characterized by its focus on the complexity of girlhood experiences and understanding girl as a unique social identity separate from the notion of future women. In bringing Girls' Studies theory into the work of theatre scholarship and new play development, I present a framework for the interdisciplinary field of Girls' Theatre Studies. Chapter One is an exploration of girlhood presentations in contemporary theatre through a postfeminist lens. Examining the theatrical manifestations of the "female victim-hero” in contemporary presentations of girlhood, I argue that girl audiences are able to feel with and through …

Red Curtain Rivalry, Amy Lytle

Playwriting (MFA) Theses

Two community theaters in the same city are accidentally putting on the same musical at the same time due to a publishing company's error. The members of the dueling troupes have to untangle the mess--the show must go on, of course! Between big misunderstandings, a few shenanigans (or hijinks, as some may say), and a lot of lessons learned, watch as each company battles to win the Red Curtain Rivalry and prove themselves the best production of "A Doll's House: The Musical!" that the community theatre community has ever seen.

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 …