Overview

FOREWORD by Lawrence Harbison Lisa Soland, teacher, actress and a fine playwright herself, has here assembled a wonderful collection of short plays. Some are comic (laughs), some are dramatic (no laughs), some are somewhere in between. A few of the playwrights whose work is represented here are ones whose work I have published in the anthologies I have edited for Smith and Kraus and Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, such as Don Nigro, Debbie Lamedman, Stephanie Hutchinson, Gary Garrison and Craig Pospisil and Ms. Soland herself, but most are new to me. It never ceases to amaze me when I contemplate the huge number of really fine playwrights. I don't think there has ever been such a wealth of writing for the theatre. If you're a passionate actor, a teacher or a director looking for a play to do, you won't find a better place to start looking than this book.

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9780996572132

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Reviews

What industry professionals are saying about 30 SHORT PLAYS FOR PASSIONATE ACTORS Lisa Soland, teacher, actress and a fine playwright herself, has here assembled a wonderful collection of short plays. It never ceases to amaze me when I contemplate the huge number of really fine playwrights. I don't think there has ever been such a wealth of writing for the theatre. If you're a passionate actor, a teacher or a director looking for a play to do, you won't find a better place to start looking than this book. (Lawrence Harbison, Senior Editor, Smith and Kraus, Inc. and Applause Theatre & Cinema Books) Lisa Soland's amazing collection of 30 excellent, sooo entertaining short plays is a must for any would-be playwright, actor or acting group! A total delight to read and, I'm sure, to see performed. A treasure, it's like a primer for keeping it short - and audience-grabbing-and-holding. (Tom Sawyer, bestselling novelist, playwright, screenwriter. His memoir: The Adventures of the REAL Tom Sawyer - www.ThomasBSawyer.com) This collection of plays is as varied and eclectic as the human mind itself: they are funny, dramatic, poignant, shocking, outrageous, satirical, imaginative and all well worth the read. I know I shall revisit my favorites from time to time, in fact I already have. It's amazing to realize how much talent is out there just waiting to be discovered - although a few of the playwrights in this collection have already been discovered - and this book may bring much-deserved attention to the others. It's a must-have for writers of short plays, and a great resource for theatres that produce them. (Peter Colley, playwright, screenwriter, librettist) 30 Short Plays for Passionate Actors is chock full of characters whose voices can be heard every day and all around us. Their lives of desperation, whether quiet or otherwise, depict the tapestry of our times. For strictly selfish reasons, I can't wait to indulge them in my classes and eventually watch them spring to life in theaters across America. (John D'Aquino, actor, writer, teacher) Lisa Soland's work as a playwright has given this collection of short plays its keen eye. She's chosen not only plays to read, but more importantly, to perform. Actors are sure to find what they are looking for. These short plays will entertain. (Rick Najera, author of hit Broadway play Latinolouges, and director of the CBS Diversity Showcase)

Author Information

Lisa Soland received her BFA in acting from Florida State University and her Actors' Equity card serving as an apprentice at the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre in Florida. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting, she began to write her first play while in acting class with master teacher Charles Nelson Reilly. With his support, and guidance from her mentor, playwright William Luce, she continued to write plays for the theatre. With over 40 international publications, her plays Waiting, The Name Game, Truth be Told, Cabo San Lucas and The Man in the Gray Suit & Other Short Plays can be found through publisher Samuel French, Inc. Thread Count, Spatial Disorientation, The Corporate Ladder, and countless 10-minute plays, can be found in ""best of"" anthologies published by Smith & Kraus, Applause Books and Dramatic Publishing. Her newest works include full-lengths The Ladder Plays, The Hand on the Plough, The Sniper's Nest, and the one-man play Sgt. Alvin York, WWI Hero, which is scheduled to open in October of 2017 in Pall Mall, Tennessee, the home of Alvin York, and then tour throughout the duration of the 100th anniversary of WWI. Ms. Soland created and led The All Original Playwright Workshop in Los Angeles for ten years, and during that time awarded dramatists 19 AOPW Fellowship Awards, which included a cash stipend and a fully produced public reading of their new works. She has directed and/or produced over 80 plays and playreadings, 55 of which were original. She has taught playwriting at Florida State University, Pellissippi State College, Lincoln Memorial University and Maryville College. Ms. Soland continues to lead workshops throughout the country and privately consults playwrights online. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, as well as AEA, AFTRA and SAG. Ms. Soland owns and is Senior Editor of the children's publishing company Climbing Angel Publishing with titles The Christmas Tree Angel, The Unmade Moose, Thump, and Somebunny to Love. She currently launched the play publishing company All Original Play Publishing with the anthology 30 SHORT PLAYS FOR PASSIONATE ACTORS and is producing a Web series highlighting young artists entitled ILLUSTRATE THIS! www.LisaSoland.com Don Nigro is one of the most widely published and produced playwrights in the world. Of his more than 400 plays, Samuel French has published 194 in 57 volumes, and those not yet published are available in manuscript at the Samuel French website. Three new volumes, Nights At The Stray Dog Café, A Snowfall In Berlin and Traven And Other Plays were published in the summer of 2016. His work has been translated into many languages and produced all over the world. Recent productions include The Chaplin Plays: A Double Feature, in New York; Don Giovanni in Moscow; City Of Dreadful Night in Los Angeles; Animal Tales in Ukraine; A History Of The Devil in Mexico City; and a film of The Weird Sisters, produced in Berlin. D.W. Gregory writes in a variety of styles and genres, but a recurring theme is the exploration of political issues through a personal lens. The New York Times called her a ""playwright with a talent to enlighten and provoke"" for her most produced work, Radium Girls, which has received more than 500 productions worldwide since its premiere at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey. Her drama, The Good Daughter, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the drama critic for Variety when it premiered at New Jersey Rep, where Gregory is a resident playwright. Other plays include Molumby's Million, Salvation Road, October 1962, and a musical, Yellow Stockings.

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