Shorts & Shorters II

By Thomas M. Kelly

A collage of One Act Plays and Monologues:
Too Late to Waken, Garage Sale and I Heard That!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas M. Kelly
• Release date: Mar 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476338521

Thomas M. Kelly

Résumé: Thomas M. Kelly EDUCATION: Mr. Kelly was born and raised in Muscatine, Iowa. He is a graduate of Hayes Catholic High School, a graduate of Orange County Community College, Middletown, NY. and went on to attend two years at the University of California, Davis and is a graduate of Lincoln Law School, Sacramento, California. "Once a Marine, always a Marine" ('57 - '60). PUBLISHED: A monologue, “Sara”, from his play “...smile, and smile, and be a villain.”, is included in Young Women's Monologs From Contemporary Plays: Professional Auditions For Aspiring Actresses, edited byGerald Lee Ratliff, State University New York, Potsdam and published in 2004 by Meriwether Publishing, Ltd. A monologue, “Zhev”, from his play “Fana!” will be published by Smith & Kraus Inc. in an anthology: 221 One-Minute Monologues From Literature. JAC Publishing, Burlington, MA, has published interJACtions: Monologues at the Heart of Human Nature contains three of Mr. Kelly's monologues. HONORS: “The Butterfly Within” is included in the Eileen Heckart's Senior Drama Archives in the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute at Ohio State University. LOCAL THEATRE AWARDS: Several Elly Nominations and Elly Awards including Best Overall Production, for “A Shayna Madel” by Barbara Lebow, and Best Set, for “Nighthawks and Night Café” by Edward Evan Blake, based on the painting “Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper. “Wake up, Jay! It’s Christmas!”, winner of four Elly Awards for Young Peoples Theatre, including Best Overall Production. OTHER WORKS: "Mixville" (Jubal 'Tom Mix' McCabe is a happy-go-lucky, wanna-be cowboy movie star. As a youngster he was a "little Tom Mix", cleaning out a nest of imaginary outlaws in the family backyard in typical Tom Mix fashion. Those were the days of the popular dream: to grow up to be like Tom Mix.), “Extreme Unction”; “The Timekeeper”; “Zen and the Art of Making Par”; “The Butterfly Within” (A heartwarming story of culture clash as an old Jewish gentleman and a young Korean girl discover the meaning of the rest of their lives atop a Lower East Side tenement); “Fana!”, (The ordeal of three trapped survivors of suicide bomb blasts spend their last hours justifying their lives and religions: two very honestly, the third very deceitfully. In a mental duel the three argue the rationale of murder/suicide bombings using the Qur’an, Hindu philosophy and the Torah as authority.); and “smile, and smile, and be a villain.”; (A frightening glimpse at the life of a victim of Borderline Personality Disorder); “Ba-Bang!” (An analytic political cartoon caricature of “Dubya”); "The (Mis)Adventures of Charlie & Jay": a montage of four short children's plays, including "Stop Snoring, Jay! I’m Dreaming of Christmas!"; "Wake Up, Jay! It’s Christmas!"; "This is Not our Backyard, Charlie!"; and "You’re in Trouble Now, Charlie!". “Ba-Bang!, The Musical”; “Waiting for Mahmoud”; “How To Improve Your Life in Four Easy Moves”; "Yuyustu" (part of the 'Mixville' series); "It's'a comin' inta' bein' ", co-authored with Paul Hauck; and “Pádraig’s Aibhistear”. “Ole’ Gimlet Eye” is a biographical play about Major Smedley Darlington Butler, U.S.M.C. General Butler was a man who defied the powers that were, to wage a war against war in the days before World War II: “War is a racket! I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.”; “Frankie and Johnny Were Schweethawts”; "Liza!"; "Pawns are but Poor Men"; "Save yer pennies, kids." (part of the 'Mixville' series); "Sacred Ground" (part of the 'Mixville' series); "Hey Mom, tell Rod..."; and "On the Line", are more recent full-length plays, with more in premature flight. He has written and produced many children’s plays. They feature Charlie, a French Briard puppy, and Jay, a Persian Red Point feline. In 1994 Mr. Kelly founded the award winning Thistle Dew Theatre in Sacramento and is founder of the highly successful Thistle Dew Playwright’s Workshop in 2005. In 2012 Mr. Kelly founded the Super Political Action Comedy (Super PAC) Theatre and it's blog: http://superpoliticalactioncomedy.blogspot.com/ , and other blogs; http:/thistledewtheatre.blogspot.com/ ; http://thistledewcenterforliteraryart.blogspot.com/ ; http://wordstreetsmarts.blogspot.com/ ; & http://californiaplaywrightstheirplays.blogspot.com/ .

Book preview

Shorts & Shorters II

by Thomas M. Kelly

Copyright Thomas M. Kelly, 2012

Published by Thistle Dew Publishing at Smashwords

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Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Royalty Notification

All performances before an audience are subject to royalty. All producing groups MUST submit a completed royalty application, purchase a cast quantity of scripts, obtain written permission, provide performance information, and submit a completed application (if royalties are not quoted).

Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized alteration, reproduction, distribution, or exhibition of copyrighted materials. Photocopying of materials is strictly prohibited.

Performance rights are subject to restriction and availability limitations. No one is authorized to quote or receive royalties for my plays other than myself and/or my representatives.

Royalty, Billing and Credit Requirements: Royalty Fees are due ten (10) days prior to your first performance. All producers of Waiting for Mahmoud, must give me, the author, credit as 'Author of the Play' in all programs distributed in connection with performances of Waiting for Mahmoud, and in all instances in which the title of the Play appears for purposes of advertising, publicizing or otherwise exploiting the Play and/or a production. My name must also appear on a separate line, on which no other name appears, immediately following the title, and must appear in size of type not less than fifty percent the size of the title type. On all programs this notice should appear:

"Produced by special arrangement with

Thomas M. Kelly and

Thistle Dew Publishing Company

of Sacramento, California."

Licensing of Shorts & Shorters

The production rights to the works of Thomas M. Kelly, listed herein, are controlled exclusively by Thomas M. Kelly.

{A playwright's income is based on the fee charged to produce his or her play. A theatre company's income is based on the ticket price charged. Both entity's survival is based on sharing that income.}

Without the permission of Thomas M. Kelly, in writing, no performance of his plays may be produced, performed or read, before an audience, whether an admission fee is charged or not. A royalty fee must be paid, in advance, for every performance. Royalty fees, for amateur productions, are listed with each play. Professional productions must receive a Professional Royalty Quote from Thomas M. Kelly. Production of all of his plays by high schools or less are royalty free.

Restrictions:

No videotaping or recording by internet, electronic or mechanical device is permitted, without the permission, in writing, of Thomas M. Kelly.

No photocopying or duplication of scripts in any form is permitted without the permission, in writing, of Thomas M. Kelly.

The play must be presented as it appears in the script: no alterations, interpretations or deletions in the text, title or gender of the characters or changing of the time and place or setting of the play is permitted unless with the express permission, in writing, by Thomas M. Kelly.

For Performance License and Royalty Schedule please contact Thomas M. Kelly at: [e-mail]

Monologues and Plays

For an evening of entertainment.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Too Late to Waken

Garage Sale

I Heard That!

Too Late to Waken by Thomas M. Kelly

A story told by Margaret and Patrick Sullivan and their sons Michael, Danny,

The failure to communicate creates a dysfunctional family.

Scene

(The stage is a black box with a kitchen table and four chairs, and a side set for vignettes. We open with Margaret and Patrick Sullivan and their sons Michael, Danny. They are seated at the table. The characters never talk to each other. Their eyes could be closed until they turn to talk to the audience. Are they dead or just lifeless?)

MICHAEL: (Turns in his chair to the audience.) Ya' know, I, ah, didn’t know until I was sixteen that my younger brother Danny was gay, a homol, a fag. I mean, I, kinda’ guessed earlier: I had a feeling that he was different. He was fifteen at the time. Different. (Pause.) Different. He didn’t quite fit. Well, he fit in some places, but not in others. The girls ‘liked’ him, the boys, well, he was last to be chosen for the sports teams. Not because he was skinny or anything like that. He was just not a sports kid... like me. Finally he just didn’t even try to join in. No humiliation in that. (Pause.) We were Catholic. My family. I’m not anymore. Vietnam