List of Plays
To inquire about my work, please contact:
Leah Hamos
The Gersh Agency
41 Madison Ave, 33rd Floor
New York NY 10010
lhamos@gersh.com | 212.634.8153
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FULL LENGTH PLAYS & MUSICALS
THE WORLD IS NOT SILENT
2M, 1F (Full Length Comedy/Drama)
Don, an astrophotographer, returns home to reconnect with his estranged Vietnamese father only to discover that the communication gap between them has grown even wider in the wake of his father’s recent deafness. Hoping that sign language will provide a bridge to overcome that distance, Don begins taking lessons. But the closer he gets to being able to communicate with his father, the further he seems to get from actually understanding the man, leaving Don to realize that mastering a language means very little if you’re not willing to speak from the heart. Performed in English, Vietnamese and Sign Language, The World is Not Silent is a multilingual play that explores how language simultaneously divides and unites us.
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THE SUPREME LEADER
3M, 1F (Full Length Comedy)
THE SUPREME LEADER is a coming of age story centered on Kim Jong-Un’s early days at an international school in Switzerland. While in school, North Korea’s heir apparent learns how to become a dictator by spying on his classmate Sophie under the guise of friendship. To his dismay, the more he spies on her, the more he discovers the genuine friendship they share together. This ninety minute political comedy compares Eastern and Western cultures through the snow globe lens of neutral Switzerland and explores the folly of two clashing cultures as Kim Jong-Un learns what it takes to become the next Supreme Leader of North Korea.
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THE GOLDEN SPIKE
4F, 6M (Full Length Musical – Libretto)
Listen
The Golden Spike is an epic love story set against the backdrop of the Transcontinental Railroad and the Chinese Exclusion Act.Molly, questioning where she fits in the world with her half-Chinese, half-Irish background, discovers a long lost journal written by her third great grandfather, Sun Wu.Through the journal, Molly learns of Sun Wu’s life on the railroad, his struggles assimilating and how that all connects to her. The show explores themes of race, identity, the American Dream, who gets to pursue it and who is excluded from it. And all of this is powered by the music of The Lobbyists, a folk rock back based in NYC.
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RED FLAMBOYANT
4F, 1M (Full Length Drama)
Mrs. Hue lives in present day Viet Nam with a small group of women who all suffer from a mysterious health condition. It affects their minds, their emotions and their dreams. Bricks smash the windows of her small house. The locals fear they will be infected by this mystery condition. Mrs Hue is forced to seek help from a stubborn government official to protect and support her group. Unlikely heroes emerge both in this world and the next as these poor women reach new heights of courage.
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THE MAN FROM SAIGON
1F, 4M (Full Length Drama)
As Saigon nears collapse in 1975, Dau Nguyen, a South Vietnamese Naval officer races against time to find the man who killed his father by enlisting the help of an American advisor, a charismatic man who would later become George W. Bush’s Deputy Secretary of State. This political thriller is based on experiences of the playwright’s father set against the backdrop of the spectacular and heart wrenching climax of the Vietnam War.
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HELLO, FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH
2F, 2M (Full Length Comedy/Drama)
Friends William and Betsy haven’t seen each other since high school. They’ve both followed their dreams, but something is missing: his all-consuming job at NASA doesn’t leave time for a family, and she can’t bear another unsuccessful round of IVF with her partner Shoshana. When Betsy texts William out the blue and asks him to be her sperm donor, both friends are forced to make decisions that will shape the rest of their lives.
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THE COMMENCEMENT OF WILLIAM TAN
3F, 3M (Full Length Drama)
William, a well-liked student athlete at Lincoln High School and who happens to be Asian, plans to cruise through his senior year at what’s considered the most diverse high school in Nebraska until racial tensions arise between some of William’s friends, who are on the football team and a gang of FOB Asian kids. These turn of events forces William to come to terms with his thoughts on race, and how he identifies, or doesn’t identify with his own ethnicity as the entire school, including the staff turns to William to make peace between the two groups.
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SOUND
4F, 4M, with additional ensemble
(Bi-lingual ASL/Spoken English Full Length Drama)
In the idyllic setting of Martha’s Vineyard, a fiercely protective deaf man and his hearing ex-wife battle over the morality of an impending cochlear implant surgery for their daughter, which will restore her hearing. The conflict is exacerbated by the girl’s torn desires – caught between her parents’ deep-seated betrayals. Woven between the scenes a parallel story emerges, where we discover Alexander Graham Bell, 130 years earlier, whose obsession to find a cure for deafness in the same location leaves loss and betrayal of another kind. SOUND is a deeply theatrical exploration into the worlds of both hearing and deaf cultures to reveal the complex relationship the Deaf world has with the hearing.
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THREE TO BEAM UP
3F, 5M (Full Length Comedy)
It’s the twenty-third century and Captain John Wisher of the USS Valkyries finds his ship and crew stuck in the middle of a nexus that has suddenly appeared in the gamma quadrant. Captain Wisher hears an alien voice that suddenly compels him to follow it into the mysterious nexus, risking the safety of his ship and crew. Meanwhile in the present day, Sam and Jules Wisher looks for their father John Wisher, who has gone missing…again. Three to Beam Up is about a man who believes he is the captain of a federation starship wildly trekking around in space and the children that fight to keep their father’s feet firmly planted on Earth.
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SHORT PLAYS
MAN. KIND
Ten Minute Comedy
1M, 1F
A cave man on a plateau. He invents fire. A cavewoman arrives. She invented fire yesterday. She wants his help. But he knows bad things happen when people start to band together.
Streaming online as part of the Alley Theatre Digital Season 2021
“Man. Kind. is fast and fascinating, and I loved it.” – Doni Wilson, Houstonia
Houston Chronicle Critic’s Pick
Published in The Best American Short Plays 2015-2016, Applause Books, ed. Bill Demastes
Alley Theatre Digital Season 2021
Directed by Brandon Weinbrenner
Credo……………………………Shawn Hamilton
Dalfede………………………….Melissa Pritchett
The Working Theater Director’s Project “TO SERVE AND PROTECT”, New York
Directed by Nathaniel Claridad
Credo……………………………Bradley Anderson
Dalfede………………………….Lucy DeVito
RACE DAY
Ten Minute Comedy
3F
Three sisters discover their own path to victory at the annual dragon boat festival.
“Don Nguyen’s terrific mini-comedy “Race Day,” in which Maddie (a delightfully acerbic Dominque Brillon) and Leah (Jo Mei) come to watch their younger sister, Kara, leader perennially disastrous team to, surely, yet another humiliation. This surprisingly moving play is the apex of the program’s first half.” Laura Collins-Hughes, New York Times
Produced by Queens Theatre for The Park Plays
Directed by Mary Hodges
LEAH……………………………..Jo Mei
MADDIE………………………….Dominque Brillon
KARA……………………………..Precious Sipin
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- Precious Sipin in Don Nguyen’s “Race Day.” photo by Dominick Totino
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- Precious Sipin in Don Nguyen’s “Race Day.” photo by Dominick Totino
TOMMY VOLT AND THE LIGHTNING GIRL
Ten Minute Comedy
1M, 1F
Tommy Volt, world famous rockstar is forced to do battle with Lightning Girl in order to keep his super mysterious rock and roll powers.
Performed as part of The 52nd Street Project’s Nobody’s Perfect, Plays with Tragic Flaws, New York
Directed by Natalie Martin
Lightning Girl…………………………..Stasia Bree Quinones
Tommy Volt…………………………….Gerardo Escamilla
SEXT THERAPY (formerly LOVE 160)
Ten Minute Comedy
1M, 2F
Dan and Christina seek help from Dr. Scott, a sex therapist, but soon finds out she’s a different kind of doctor.
Performed as part of Tiny Rhino’s February Drinking Show, Brooklyn, New York
Directed by Sherri Barber
Dr. Scott…………………………..Charise Greene
Christina………………………….Aurea Tomeski
Dan…………………………………Ryan Feyk
Performed as part of The Pack Lounge Series 3: Mistaken Identity at The Robert Moss Theater, New York
Directed by Scott Ebersold
Dr. Scott…………………………..Gayton Scott
Christina………………………….Christina Shipp
Dan…………………………………Simon Kendall
FAT UGLY VAMPIRE
Ten Minute Comedy
1M, 2F
Philip and Megan are friends with benefits. When Philip professes his love for Megan, she points out certain physical aspects of Phil that are less than desirable to her. Also, he’s a Vampire.
Performed as part of NEVER DISCONNECTED 2 at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, New York
Directed by Don Nguyen
Phlip Feru…………………………..Chris Van Strander
Megan Megan………………………….Christina Shipp
Narrator…………………………….Bonna Tek
THE IMAGINARY ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
The Imaginary Association of Flight Attendants is a collection of monologues and vignettes examining the public and private lives of high altitude airline attendants and their attempt at navigating the not so friendly skies.
Workshop – January 16-18 2014
Directed by Sherri Barber
Actors……………………………………Charise Greene, Meryl Williams, Margaret Hee, Evelyn Spahr
Choreographer………………………….Caitlin Bailey
Sound Designer/Composer………….Mark Van Hare
Fight Choreography…………………..Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum
Performed as part of NEVER DISCONNECTED at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, New York
Directed by Jess Chayes
Ida………………………………Emily Perkins
Naomi………………………….Alicia Blasingame
Samantha……………………..Bonna Tek
THE ROCKET BOYS
Ten Minute Comedy
2M
Franky and Barry are two brothers needing a change of scenery. Living in their parents basement and playing video games is the norm for them, until one day they decide to build a rocket to Mars.
Performed as part of YOU ARE HERE: PLAYS FOR NEW PLACES at The 52nd Street Project, New York
Directed by Jason Hare
Franky………………………..Emmett Goodman-Boyd
Barry………………………….Marcus Quinones
THE ROCKET BOYS (52nd Street Project)
A DECISION OF EXTRAORDINARY MAGNITUDE
Ten Minute Comedy
4M
A playwright, bound to a chair, is forced to come to terms with his cultural identity, at the hands of his not so smart captors.
GIRL, REFLECTED
One Act Comedy (5 min)
2M, 1F
A short one act inspired by Aesop’s Fable “The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey”
This was written for the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group inaugaral retreat.
Performed at the Black Box Theater at 440 Studios
440 Lafayette Street, New York, NY
Directed by May Adrales
Catherine Barricklow (Stage Manager)
Girl………………………………Nana Mensah
Boy, Reflection………………………….Nixon Cesar
Ayn Rand, Father, Florence Nightingale, Expectant Mother…………………….Clayton Apgar
LOOK, A LION
One Act Comedy (5min)
1M, 2F
A short one act written in the tradition of Sienfeld
This was written for the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group fall retreat.
Performed at the Shiva Theater/Public Theater
440 Lafayette Street, New York, NY
Directed by Andy Donald
Catherine Barricklow (Stage Manager)
Rebecca……………………………….Rebecca Hart
Clea………………………………………..Clea Alsip
Jon…………………………………….Jon Levenson
TANBOU SILAN
A response to the earthquake in Haiti
Performed as part of NOU SE ZANME a benefit for Partners in Health, Joe’s Pub, New York
Directed by Laura Savia
Cast:
Elizabeth Olsen, Stephanie Dimaggio, Claire Wilmoth, and Roger Lirtsman Music provided by La Troupe Makandal’s Drumming workshop
GIRL STRUCK
Performed in a workshop for The Living Newspaper, Manhattan Theatre Club Studio, New York
Directed by Laura Savia
Cast:Elizabeth Olsen, Joanna Simmons, Claire Wilmoth, John Dixon, DeWanda Wise, Satya Bhabha and Roger Lirtsman
DA BEH
Performed in a workshop for The Living Newspaper, Manhattan Theatre Club Studio, New York
Directed by Laura Savia
Cast: Satya Bhabha
MJ/G8
Performed in a workshop for The Living Newspaper, Manhattan Theatre Club Studio, New York
Directed by Laura Savia
Cast:Elizabeth Olsen, Joanna Simmons, Claire Wilmoth, John Dixon, DeWanda Wise, Satya Bhabha and Roger Lirtsman
THE HARLEQUIN MANEUVRE
One Act Comedy (10 min)
2M, 2F
A man enters the romance novel that he’s been reading and forces the two harlequin characters Fabreze and Jezebel to act out his own break up with his girlfriend, in order to gain some closure.
Omaha Production Photos | New York Production Photos
- Harrison Festival of the Arts, Harrison Hot Springs, BC – July 2016
- Riant Theatre’s Lovers, Strangers and What Some People Call Family, Aug 2015
- Performed at the University College of the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack, BC Apr 2008
- Shelterbelt Theatre, January 2003
- Finalist – Strawberry One Act Festival Winter 2003 – Riant Theatre, NYC
- 2003 TAG nomination for outstanding new script
- 2003 TAG nomination for outstanding one act play
The Harlequin Maneuvre is now published!
THE DRAGON LORD AND THE FAIRY QUEEN
A short ten minute one act which explores the ancient Vietnamese legend of the Dragon Lord and the Fairy Queen and the heroics and sacrifices of both.
Commissioned by The Lincoln Community Playhouse, June 2004
Lincoln Children’s Museum traveling fall exhibit EXPLORING VIETNAM THROUGH FOLKTALES.
IRON CHEF: BATTLE OF THE GLOBAL CUISINE
Comic satire of the popular Japanese cooking show, with a surprise visit from Julia Child herself. Written as somewhat of a sequel to “Cooking With Julia”
Performed at the Shelterbelt Theatre, October 2001
THE WOMAN IN THE BLUE DRESS
A reaccurring dream of a woman in a blue dress being stalked, comes true as Sarah, discovers who the real killers are.
Performed at the Shelterbelt Theatre, October 2000 for Shelterskelter 5
COOKING WITH JULIA
The episode that never aired, Julia Child introduces cannibalistic dishes to world.
Performed at the Shelterbelt Theatre, October 2000 for Shelterskelter 5
- 2001 TAG nomination for outstanding new script
SOULMATES
Soulmates are meant to be together, even after death. Steven finds this out the hard way as he is revisited by the spirit of his dead girlfriend.
Performed at the Shelterbelt Theatre, October 2000 for Shelterskelter 5
- 2001 TAG nomination for outstanding new script
BLOODSUCKER
Five men held captive by the beautiful and blood thirsty succubus, devise a plan to escape her clutches, which ends in a hilarious song and dance number.
Performed at the Shelterbelt Theatre, October 2000 for Shelterskelter 5
- 2001 TAG nomination for outstanding one act play
TORTURE
After running into a woman with his car, Dr. Frankincense decides to bring her back to life and take her as his wife, thinking that we will now have a woman who will slave over him and answer to his beck and call. Little does he know, that she really does have a mind of her own.
Performed at the Shelterbelt Theatre, October 2000 for Shelterskelter 5
SURVIVOR DOWN UNDER
Down in the outback, the snake bitten Steve Irwin, famous crocodile hunter from Animal Planet, discovers that the cast of Survivor 2 have eaten the entire crew of the popular reality series. Steve then encounters a greater force. Will he survive this one?
Performed at the Shelterbelt Theatre, October 2000 for Shelterskelter 5
THE HAND OF FATHER
A man in a secluded cabin unravels the mysteries of his family.
Public Reading, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1991
Has been rewritten as The Man From Saigon
MONOLOGUES
CELLO, GOODBYE
Monologue Comedy 1M
A monologue about Avner Grey’s last chance to win the Golden Maple Leaf Trophy from the Saskatoon Saskatchewan Vaudeville Extravaganza, by playing the cello…with one arm.
Performed as part of 2G’s 14: Instant Vaudeville at HERE, New York
Directed by Ralph Pena
Performed by Mason Lee
SEXUAL CHOCOLATE
Noami talks about sex and chocolate and how the two are interrelated.
First performed by Alicia Blasingame as part of “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll Meltdown” at the Secret Theatre, NY March 2008
This monologue now appears in The Imaginary Association of Flight Attendants
SHORT STORIES
COME WITH ME
A historical romantic fantasy set in Italy, where a mysterious man comes to town in search of his long lost love.
FORGET ME NOT
A sci-fi story about a man in the future, haunted by painful memories of his past, decides to undergo an operation that will erase the memories of his life.
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