Repeat Hero

Drama 2M, various extras or video one set One act

A man returns a missing child and is praised as a hero. A detective suspects this is a repeated action of a laborer looking for job offers as rewards.

In an El Centro, California town, a hero is claimed for finding a lost boy. He is showered with words of praise and other financial rewards. It’s a windfall and the hero accepts all praise readily. His favorite form of praise is the offering of jobs. A Native-American detective suspects something strange about this event. He remembers a similar occurrence in another town. He then takes the hero to his office and interrogates him about the finding of the boy.

Reading in Seattle with Northwest Playwrights Guild and at Borders Book Store, Beaverton, OR 1996.

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Squeezed Avocados

Tragic-comedy 2F, 1M unit Full-length

As soon as Margorie gets engaged, the fiancé dies. She’s worried the same will happen with Tim. After an auto accident, Tim doesn’t die, but is mentally disabled and cannot remember her. However, it appears he remembers a previous girlfriend.

1987. Margorie is convinced she is a jinx. Her first two fiancés died in freak car accidents. She then escapes to Yuma, Arizona and attempts to start her life over. Then she meets her third fiancé, Tim. An aging surfer dude who despite his confirmed bachelor-ness, tosses it all aside to propose to Margorie. Then, on the way back from San Diego, Tim loses control and crashes into a ditch. He is found by a snowbird-retired couple. In the hospital it is determined that Tim has lost vital mental functions. Linda, a physical therapist and a long time friend of Tim’s, volunteers to help him recuperate and regain his memory. However, the only memory he seems to regain is the memory of when she and he were together in the 60s. Margorie is then pushed aside until she finds out the truth. Based on a true story.

Staged reading at Chicago Dramatists Workshop, stage reading at Associated Artists of Central Oregon

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T (for Torture)

Drama simple set/2M One act

How does one survive torture? Anyway he can. A man uses comedy, his charming personality, and fond memories to withstand his torture.

A man is held captive in an undisclosed room. He has lost everything: time, family, and all his wealth. All he has left is his dignity, and his name. Unfortunately for him, that is what the torturer is trying to extract. In abstract motions and in the form of ballet, the torturer delivers his assault on the victim. With time, and the victim’s constant discussion of his happier moments of life, the torturer discovers that there is only one thing that will break the victim. The face of a woman with blue eye shadow and ruby red lips.

Staged Reading at Amnesty International charter meeting, and Produced in English and Spanish by Aguijon II Theater company (1992)

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The Migrant Farmworker’s Son

migrantTragic-comedy 1F, 3M, a young girl and extras Unit set Full lengthThe horror of losing a child throws a family into silent turmoil with all the pressures of American assimilation.1984. Henry, a well-adjusted Mexican-American teen, lives in a small Arizona town with his parents. His mother encourages Henry to assimilate, but his dad has a harder time learning the language and customs. Since the death of the young daughter, he feels haunted, isolated, and cut off from the rest of his family. Henry’s abysmal command of Spanish fuels these feelings and his father is often abusive. Through the play, Blue Mexican peasants appear representing migrant life and the demand of a dual culture existence. Oliverio, a warm and funny old farmworker, embeds messages in his poetry to help Henry understand something of his father’s feelings of pain and guilt.

Whitfield Cook Award 1997, Workshop at Chicago Dramatists, staged reading at the University of Texas, Borderlands Theatre, and the Bilingual Foundation on the Arts.

SCRIPT AVAILABLE AT www.dramaticpublishing.com

The Migrant Farmworker's Son“This play reminded some audience members of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, but with a migrant experience.” – David Acevedo / Director Teatro Unido (San Francisco)

“This play by Silvia Gonzalez S. depicts the familiar situation of the immigrant family living in two worlds… The production’s excellent tension is generated by the strength of the actors. Ramon Busto’s Papa is autocratic, romantic, and out of control. He cannot display his vulnerability and instead plays the macho man and risks everything he loves most.  5 Stars” – San Francisco Examiner

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The Narcissistic Personality Disorder Radio Show

Comedy, 2F one act play

Who is crazy?

Natasha Woods is the host of The Narsissistic Personality Disorder Radio Show. She is not a licensed therapist, but a family member has the disorder–her mother. When her mother calls into the show to declare her innocence, the boundaries of medical health become blurred.

Produced by Stockyard Theatre Project in September 2001, and presented at the Arlington Center for the Arts, Massachuttes November 2,3, 2001. ****I don’t ask for royalties on this play.

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