Abstract-black comedy 3F, 3M one set one act

A dysfunctional family on Father’s Day subconsciously want to kill each other and do, several times.

It’s Father’s day and everyone gathers to give presents to grandpa and dad. Grandma has an anger-thing going towards grandpa. Grandpa retaliates by shooting her. In that moment of frenzy, all are shocked. Then the action picks up as if nothing happened. This continues with a conflict between dad and mom, and the son and daughter. Then the daughter, has had enough. She puts the gun to head to kill herself. The family tries to talk her out of it, but their heart isn’t really not into it. A play with an anti-gun message.

Produced at Mid Michigan College (1995), and a staged reading a Chicago Dramatists Workshop.

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.

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

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)

Tragic-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

“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

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.

Tragic-Comedy 2F, 1M unit Full length

Sex is more important to Van Nuys than ever before now that he is healthy again. However, his wife is weakening in health due to natural aging. A kind neighbor becomes the target of his obsession.

After a coronary bypass, Van is ready to live the life he once led when he was in his younger days. However, Mabel cannot keep up with his pace because while he was healing, she started failing in health. Van, somewhat accepting his wife’s inability to perform, starts to flirt with an unsuspecting neighbor fifty years his junior. This neighbor, Ana Cabrillo-Sherman, is new to the area, having escaped the big city with her doctor husband for a rural, calmer life. As Ana misinterprets Van’s ‘craziness’ Mabel appears to be shrinking from being ignored and pushed aside.

Staged reading with Mutt Rep at the Producer’s Club in New York, staged reading at Chicago Dramatists Workshop

Comedy 3M, 2F one set one act

The corporate office mandates the English-Only rule and suddenly, the executives have forgotten English and are speaking in other languages.

Executives meet and discuss the matters of the day. A discussion ensues on how they do not want the custodian to speak any other language but English. Despite protests from another executive, they mandate an English-Only rule. Then, the executives cannot understand each other. They have lost the ability to speak English and are speaking in languages they hate.

Staged reading at the Strawdog Theatre’s Crossing Borders Festival (1995)

Synopsis of U Got the Look

It is Rich’s dream to be the perfect actor for every role, but as a new actor in Los Angeles, is he better off changing his name to fit the mold? What about his look? Is he not Latino looking, or is he too Latino looking? He doesn’t even speak Spanish, so is that creating some acting road blocks? He meets Manilla who gives him a special power to be the perfect look to fit roles. All is wonderful for awhile, but it comes with a huge price. He must find a way to return to who he was, or lose all that he had prior to the spell.

Quick Blurb:

Rich Gomez, an inspiring Latino actor, meets a Palm Reader who gives him a potion to be the perfect actor for every role, even roles he doesn’t want

U GOT THE LOOK

Cast:
Rich Gomez…………… Light Skin Latino, 20’s
Manilla/can be ensemble.. African-Cuban Palm Reader
Cindy/can be ensemble…. Rich’s agent, 30-38
Juan/can be ensemble….. Latino actor. 25-35
Tiffany/can be ensemble.. Rich’s girlfriend, 20-25
Ensemble to play various characters…. Any ages and races

Ensemble characters:
Man in Charge, Lupe (Latino guy), Ray Bradbury (Latino), Darth, Tech (Latino), Other Tech (Latino), Casting director#1, Casting director #2, Director, Rich’s Mom (Latina), Message voices #1, #2, #3, Assistant Director, Producer, Actor #1, Actor #2, Eager Beaver Actor, Fan(Girl), Director #2, Director #3, Director #4, News Person, Entertainment Tonight Anchor, Josh Winthrow, Policeman, Director A, Director B, Director C, Director D, Director Z, Playwright (girl)

Cast ratio: M 5+, F 5+, any gender 20+

Play History:

The play has had a living room reading in Los Angeles, a table reading at New Dramatists in New York, and a workshop at Cerritos College in Southern California. That’s it for history, but not for my dedication to make this play resonate.

Comedy 9F, 2M unit Full lengthPearl Hart recounts her life as the notorious ‘Bandit Girl’ in the style of a Wild West Show. True accounts.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show is the platform where the notorious Pearl Hart begins to tell of her magnificent life as the ‘Bandit girl.’ She takes us through her earlier life as a miner, and to a stage coach robbery she herself planned which resulted in an unbelievable celebrity trial. She’s then confined to the Yuma Territorial Prison with cell mates of color. While in prison, she is constantly pursued by newspaper reporters who give her fine things for photograph opportunities. Pearl’s many liberties in the prison creates havoc. Also creating havoc is that Manuela, another cell mate, came to prison pregnant. The townspeople do their best to get Manuela a pardon, but they fail in the attempt. A baby is then born in the prison. Pearl suspects Manuela’s lack of release was due to racism. This play is a whirl wind of fun and actual portrayals of women of the west.

World Premiere at Mutt Repp May 1997, workshop production at Chicago Dramatists, Texas Hispanic playwrights Festival.

‘…good roles for women and actors of color…accomplishes this goal brilliantly.’Off-Off Broadway Review

Waiting Women to be produced by HANFORD MULTICULTURAL THEATER COMPANY in 2018