PLAYS FOR PRODUCTION

• All works listed below are written by Michael Kearns (unless otherwise indicated).
• Two of the musicals are co-written with Darien Martus who shares ownership with Kearns.
• The work of James Carroll Pickett is owned by Kearns.

  Scripts are available for $15 each which includes postage within the U.S. and Canada. All plays listed are subject to royalty based on number of performances, number of seats in the space and ticket price. Please send all inquires to mkla@aol.com

Complications

PLAYS

COMPLICATIONS
9 characters (8 men, 1 woman)
Inspired by Schnitzler’s La Ronde, and told in a series of monologues, nine Los Angeles types desperately attempt to connect during a twenty-four hour period, exchanging bodily fluids and their troubled histories.

INTIMACIES
6 characters (can be cast with one-six actors of either gender)
Six individual monologues illuminating the AIDS crisis from different points of view in the early eighties; highly theatrical but rooted in reality.

MORE INTIMACIES
6 characters (can be cast with one-six actors of either gender)
A follow up to intimacies, six more individual monologues that explore various aspects of the plague; highly theatrical but rooted in reality.

ROBERT’S MEMORIAL
6 characters (4 men, 2 women)
A virtual memorial service for Robert with testimonials from his father, his nurse, and a host of friends, each of whom cherishes their own version of him.

OFF
6 characters (4 men, 1 woman, 1 transvestite, multi-ethnic)
A series of monologues by people who have killed; the work was favorably compared to John Osborne’s Look Back In Anger.

ROCK
4 characters (3 men, 1 woman, can be played by one actor or four)
A biography of Rock Hudson through the eyes of four characters, including Marilyn Monroe, that mixes myth, gossip, fact, and rumor to create a portrait of the gay movie star.

MIJO

MIJO
2 characters (1 woman, 1 man); one act
A black stud makes a surprise middle-of-the-night visit to the apartment of his regular sex partner who, unbeknownst to him, just died with his mother by his side. What ensues is a complex and tangled dance between the dead man’s mother and former trick (or is he an angel in disguise?). Raw, romantic, and charged.

TELL –TALE KISSES
3 characters, (all male, could be played by the same actor)
Three generations of men struggle with the relentlessness and restlessness of HIV/AIDS as the nineties unravel.

BARRIERS
6 characters (3 women, 3 men)
Depicting life on Skid Row in L.A., Barriers is comprised of juxtaposed monologues, revealing each individual’s response to a tragic suicide.

SOLO PIECES
(approx an hour in length unless otherwise indicated)

THE TRUTH IS BAD ENOUGH
A true-life monologue that documents the hero’s fall in Hollywood (as a result of a seventies hoax, The Happy Hustler) and his determination to turn his life around.

ATTACHMENTS
An autobiographical solo piece about one man’s desire to adopt a child in spite of the odds against him. While pursuing his heart’s desire, parallels to his own childhood are as unsettling as they are inevitable.

DREAM MAN by James Carroll Pickett
A night in the life of a phone sex hustler who battles one demon after another until the tour de force reaches its final climax. Poetic, brutal, and written for an actor with chops.

BATHHOUSE BENEDICTION by James Carroll Pickett
(a one-half hour curtain raiser)
A bartender faces the common themes of gay life as he hits forty: immortality, dad drama, and his cheeky narcissism.

 

FULL LENGTH MUSICALS

THE QUEEN OF ANGELS by James Carroll Pickett
8 characters (mostly men but open to gender variation) and a chorus of freaks
A play with music that uncovers the cynicism of AIDS and captures the seething anger that is masked by devastating wit as the plague enters its second decade. Inspired by various theatrical conceits—from commedia dell arte to burlesque—the plot is a classic love story between star-crossed lovers who aren’t afforded enough to do much more than torture each other.

HOMELESS by Kearns and Darien Martus
7 characters (4 men, 3 women and various chorus members)
Subtitled A STREET OPERA, this musical piece is inspired by San Francisco’s homeless population attempting to stay alive on the city streets, the stakes are high as the characters navigate life’s twists and turns employing their natural wit, inherent intelligence, and survival tactics.

BLESSINGS by Kearns and Darien Martus
10 characters (5 men, 5 women)
Based on true stories and almost entirely sung, BLESSINGS depicts life on Skid Row, dramatizing personal transformations that prove rehabilitation is possible. Challenging the stereotypical image of the homeless population, this musical theatre piece maintains a gritty reality but is loaded with hope.

 

WebPlays

MIJO by Michael Kearns - produced and directed by Karen Skinner -Circle Theatre, Chicago in the 1995/96 Season: Deanna Norman and Elliot Wimbush

MYRON by Michael Kearns - produced and directed by Karen Skinner-Circle Theatre, Chicago in the 1994/95 season: Todd McConville, Elliot Wimbush, Earl Fox

 

©2004 Michael Kearns

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