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Lisa Rosenthal
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Selections from Full Length Plays
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Stephen's Psalm
Stephen’s Psalm is the journey of a father struggling to reconnect to his estranged son before his son goes off to war. The father journeys back to the source of his own grief—the site where he lost his brother in the Vietnam War when he was just 15—in search of the key to unlock his son’s heart to help keep his son safe during his deployment.
Requirements 2W (50 and late 20s) and 4M (1 50s, 1 60s, 2 20s)
Festivals Fresh Produce Festival of New Work,
Rivendell Ensemble Theatre, 2009
Readings Chicago Dramatists, 2009
The
Good Harvest
After their mother's death, triplets Henry, Molly and Jonathan are shocked by the appearance of their long-estranged father at her funeral. They struggled with the truth—or a new version of the truth—surrounding their birth. The play moves back and forth in time to tell the story of one family's origins and the desperation that surrounds their choice to use in vitro fertilization.
Requirements 2W (40s and mid-20s) and 3M (2 mid-20s, 1 late 40s)
Production Polarity Ensemble Theatre, March-May 2010
Festivals
Winner Best of the Fest. Polarity Ensemble Theatre,
Dionysos Cup 2008
Readings
Chicago Dramatists, 2008
Great Plains Theatre Conference, Short Play Lab 2007
The Politics of Brie
Celebrating
their
mother's 65th birthday, a family on opposite sides of the political
fence struggle
to peacefully coexist after the 2004 presidential election. The
occasion marks
the return of one sister who is prepared to confront the past she's
avoided
since the death of her grandmother. How can a family or country survive
great
divisions? This comedy negotiates the politics of family and country.
Requirements
5F actors (1
60s, 4 30s), 1M actor (30s); unit set
Readings American
Theater Company, Chicago, 2007; Chicago Dramatists, 2006
Retreat
Nick,
a hot new novelist, and his
sculptor wife Maya are invited to the Catskills cottage retreat
belonging to
Nick's literary agent Alfred and his wife Hillary. Alfred intends to
force Nick
to finish his latest novel no matter what it takes; Hillary intends to
help
make this happen. Maya comes to
the mountains seeking nothing but
inspiration for her sculpture and instead finds a truth named Charlie.
How do
people survive tragic events when these events expose the lies of their
lives?
Exploring making art, making love, and making money in the new world
order.
Requirements 3M
and 2F
actors, 30s to 40s; unit set
Awards
Selection,
Polarity Ensemble Theatre Dionysos Cup New Plays Festival, 2006
Selection,
Metropolis Performing Arts Centre New Play Festival, 2006
Finalist,
Seanachai Amarach Festival of New Plays
Readings Chicago
Dramatists
and American Theater Company (Chicago)
Just
the Sweet Stuff
Harriet
has played cards with Cookie, Mildred, and Sarah for
22 years. When illness, the other woman, and death enter her life,
Harriet
realizes they've shared more than just cards. Exploring the bonds of
friendship
and family and how forgiveness can enrich our lives.
"A
funny well-written vehicle for mature actresses." -Wheeling, WV review
Requirements
5 female actors with 4 over the age of 60 and
1 in her 40s to 50s; unit set
Productions Towngate
Theatre, West Virginia, 2003
Young
at Heart Players, Ohio, 2004
Heartland Stage,
Indiana,
2003
Plays-in-Progress
Theatre, California, 2002
Selected
monologue, Long Island City Arts Project, Springfest, 2001
Awards
Winner, 2002
Oglebay Institute Playwriting Contest, Wheeling, WV
Winner,
2001 Streisand Festival of New Jewish Plays, La Jolla, CA
Best
Monologues 2000, StagePlays.com
Publication Monologue,
Audition Monologs for Young Actors II, Meriwether
Publishing,
summer 2001 Monologue, Best Plays &
Monologues 2000, The Internet Theatre Bookshop, 2001
Under Our
Clothes
Six
women co-eds meet in college and have little in common except
for a shared love of alcohol. How their lives intersect and evolve is
the
journey of womanhood. Under Our Clothes
explores the common physical and emotional transformations that women
experience during a lifetime, yet rarely share, to reveal that we're
all the
same under our clothes.
Requirements 6 female actor(s) [may be
produced as a one-woman show], no set required
Productions Chicago
Women's Health Center, benefit, various Chicago theaters, 2004
Great
Beginnings New Plays Festival, Circle Theatre, Chicago, 2003
Women's
Fest 2003, Plays-in-Progress Theatre, California
Readings Women's
Projects &
Productions, Directors Forum, New
York,
2004; American Theatre Company (ATC), Chicago, 2003; Venus
Theatre, Washington, DC, 2003; Heartland Stage Theatre, 2002; DownStage
Left,
Stage Left, Chicago, 2001
Publication "Splendor (?) in
the
Grass" (one monologue) in Outrider Press anthology, 2001.
Selections
from
Short Plays
Milk
in China
Looking
at adoption from a male perspective with interwoven
monologues. Running time: 25 minutes.
Requirements 4 (male) actors
Production Vital Theatre's
Vital
Signs New Works Festival, New
York,
2003
Review
"Fiendishly
crafted. Clever narrative structure."-C. Battersby, Off-Off
Broadway Review
Play Ball
A
would-be
revolutionary awaits the battle cry from a tent on a basketball court
in DC
days after the 2004 presidential election. Someone in the neighborhood
wants to
play basketball. Can either of them get into the game?
Requirements
2 (male) actors, 20s
Production Abbie Hoffman
Died for Our Sins Theater Festival,
Chicago, 2005
Sex
Before War
Two
lovers embrace opposite sides of the same conflict as they struggle to
say
goodbye. Running time if performed once: 10 minutes; 20 minutes if
roles
reversed.
Requirements
1 female and 1 male actor
Readings
Big Shoulders, American Theater
Company, Chicago, 2004
Trapped
in a
Blast
Life
begins in archtypes with Barbie, G.I. Joe, and Ken being whipped into
shape by
Maude so they can be one of the chosen blastocysts implanted during a
woman's
IVF cycle. Things seem under control until Blanche DuBois arrives. Will
they
make it to the land of the living or spend eternity in a freezer?
Requirements
3 (female) actors, 2 (male) actors; no set
Readings
Deadline Workshop, Chicago
Dramatistss, 2006
Profiling
Looks
can be deceiving. Exploring original sin in a modern office
setting. Running time: 15 minutes.
Requirements 1 female (mid-40s) and 1
male (20s) actor; minimal set
Production Curan Repertory
Theatre, New
York,
2002
Perched
on a Delicate Balance
Beth
and Claire disagree on disclosing another friend's sexual indiscretion.
Running
time: 10 min.
Requirements
2 (female) actors, any age, minimal set
Production Femme
Fatalities Fest, Stockyards Theatre, Chicago, 2000
Other
Producer Lunchtime
play reading series, Chicago
Cultural Center, 2007
The
Playwrights Collective New Plays Festival, Chicago, 2001 and
2002
Chicago
Alliance of Playwrights, Celebration of Diversity on Stage, 1999
Affiliations Member,
The Dramatists Guild
Resident playwright, Chicago Dramatists
Founder,
The Playwrights Collective
Founding
board member, Fernwork Arts Incubator (FAI), 2005-2006
Member,
Women's Theatre Alliance
Member,
Chicago Alliance for Playwrights (CAP)
Honors Illinois Humanities Council Grant Recipient, Vet Art Project, 2009
Illinois Arts Council, Special Assistance Grant, 2007
Tremaine
Fellowship Recipient, 2002