FATHER, male, with dementia, old enough to be Corey's father, appears in his own light in various places around the theater
CHARACTERS:(4) Male Chris, 25-70; Female Chris, 25-70, Male Friend, Female Friend (same age as Chrs)
CHARACTERS: (2) HAMID, a migrant from Syrian or Afghanistan, 25-45.
LEONA, a Jewish, lesbian, mother, immigration officer
STORE OWNER, any age, either sex
MARCHER, male, 20-65
MOOD: Dramatic Comedy
PLAYING TIME: 10 minutes
produced by City Theatre, Independence, MO, July, 2017. (contest)
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(In Volume XII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
19. "Carpe Diem Airlines"– A bisexual male tries very hard to convince an unseen passenger to join him in the Mile High Club.
MOOD: Comedy
CHARACTERS: (2) CASS, the bisexual male, reasonably attractive, any age; VOICE, over PA system
SETTING: An airplane seat, or a chair with arms
PLAYING TIME: 25 minutes
PRODUCED: NEW YORK NEW WORKS THEATRE FESTIVAL, NYC, August, 2015. Was Big Success, much praised.
Also part of Puppets Rule!
20. "Annie, Forget Your Gun" -- Big Bill Guvment tries to take away the gun of Not Bill, an avid guns rights defender
Mood: Satire
Characters: (2) Big Bill, male, any age; Not Bill, male, any age
Playing Time: 10 minutes
Published in Review of World Literature, November, 2015
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(In Volume XII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
21. "Mean Enough for Ya?" -- A white male playwright feels that there are discriminatory practices in play contests and enters his play under a false identify. It makes for cynical fun. Also beware the theater work shop!
Mood: Cynical Comedy
Characters: (6) Male Playwright, any age; Dramaturg, male or female, any age; Board Member #1, male or female, any age; Board Member #2, male or female, any age; Bad Actor, male, any age; Mother, female, old enough to be the Playwright's mother
Playing Time: About 50 minutes
CLICK ON LINK FOR SCRIPT:
(In Volume XII in COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
22. "In the Moment" -- Two people in a Meisner acting class act out
Mood: comedy drama
Characters: (2) A, any age, either sex; B, any age, either sex
Playing Time: 10 minutes
click link to script:
(in Volume XI of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
23. "Star Fucked" -- On an airplane a fan meets a Star he loves. He shouldn't have.
Mood: Comedy
Characters: (2) The female star, a woman of a certain age; the fan, male, any age
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume X of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
24. "The History of Art Criticism" -- one person plays over twenty parts in reacting to a chalk drawing on a sidewalk (with hats or acessories only)
Mood: Serious Comedy
Characters: (1) male or feamle, versatile
Playing Time: Ten Minutes
Winner: Play Contest, Northern Arizona University, Fall, 2012
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VIII of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
25. "A Play about a Wheelchair" -- A person named Chris goes out for an active day, only to find a mysterious "Helper" following him / her with a wheelchair.
Mood: Drama
Characters: (2) Chris, male or female, any age; the Helper, any age, male or female
Playing Time: 10-12 minutes
SEMI-FINALIST in 10 X 10 Festival, 2018
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume X of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
26. "More Oppressed Than Thou" -- Super serious talk show host Charlie Nose has three guests on to discuss the status of modern "minorities": a Black Man, a Gay Man, and a Zombie
Mood: Satirical Comedy
Characters: (4) (almost any age) Interviewer, Black Man, Gay Man, Zombie
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(In Volume X of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
27. "The Porn Star, the UPS Guy, and the President of the United States"
— three kids in their early teens consider a swim in a lake as they talk about their dreams of
future success, with varying grasps on reality.
Mood: Realistic comedy
Characters: (3) Willy, Billy, and Jilly, all in their early teens
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(In Volume X of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
28. "Butts on Seats" — A theater audience member gets the tables turned on him when two actors take a turn turning the tables.
The audience is in collusion.
Mood: Absurdist comedy
Characters: (3), Actor #1, male or female, any age; Actor #2, male or female, any age; Audience Member, male, any age
Playing Time: 15 minutes
CLICK ON LINK FOR SCRIPT:
(In Volume X of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
29. A Carny Side Show" — A barker at a carnival tries to force an exorcism on an innocent passerby.
Mood: Satire
Characters: (2) the male Exorcist, the Passerby (male or female)
Style: Broad Satire
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(In Volume IX of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
CLICK LINK to SCRIPT:
30. "The Noisy Nun" — A Catholic nun sets off an airport metal detector. Now why would that happen?
Mood: Bawdy Comedy, a fabliau
Characters: (4), Sister #1; Sister #2; Security Guard; Male Voice
Style: Broad Comedy
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(In Volume IX of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
31. "An Arranged Marriage" — A mother and father have picked out a fiancé for their daughter to marry. She is not having it!
Mood: Raunchy Comedy
Characters: (4) Father, Mother; Daughter; Potential Son-in-Law
Style: Broad
Playing Time: 20 minutes
CLICK LINK TO
(in Volume VIII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
32. "Hell" — A man is called before a woman judge and charged with all sorts of things that he is not guilty of.
The woman judge is a mean, large, ugly puppet named Judy
Mood: Satirical comedy
Characters: (2) The Man, any age; the Woman Judge Puppet
(Played with a vocal actor and possibly separate puppeteer)
Style: Broad Comedy; update of the Punch and Judy Show
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK FOR SCRIPT:
(in VIII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
33. "Reality Check" — Two male roommates are watching a TV reality program and household tensions
and larger frictions emerge.
Mood: Dramedy
Characters: (2) Millard, in his twenties; Brad, in his twenties
Style: Realistic; a gay play without gay characters
Playing Time: 10 Minutes
CLICK LINK FOR SCRIPT:
(in Volume VIII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
34. "Void: Where Prohibited" — Six plane-wreck survivors try to figure out where they are and where they are going; existentialist quest
Mood: Absurdist Comedy
Characters: (6), identified as #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6
Playing Time: 25 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in VIII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
35."Liars" — A lie-detector has finally been invented that gives absolutely reliable results. Oh, no! Where can we hide?
Mood: Dramedy
Characters: (2) The Examiner; the Examinee
Style: Absurdist
Playing Time: 10 minutes
(in Volume VIII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
36. "Hard to Swallow" — A man and a woman friend visit Capistrano to see the swallows return, before one of them dies.
Mood: Drama
Characters: (2) Dan, over 50; Ann, younger
Playing Time: 10 minutes
Winner: Chameleon Theatre Contest, Minneapolis, Feb., 2007
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
37. "The Importance of Being P.C." -- A haughty mother from Berkeley interviews her daughter's
prospective fiance to see if he has the "proper" opinions for our day.
Mood: Satirical Comedy
Characters: (2) Mrs. Berkeley, over 40; Jack Wirthliss, 20-30
Playing Time: 10 minutes
Produced by the Actors Theater of Santa Cruz, 2008
(in Volume VII of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
38. "That Cro-Magnon Ping" — A take-off on "Antiques Road Show."
Is your priceless antique safe in the hands of the appraiser? Hmm?
Mood: Comedy
Characters: (2) Appraiser, older person; Appraiser, a younger person
Style: Broad COMEDY
Playing Time: 10 minutes or so
Winner: Fourth New Works Play Festival, Stagecrafters, Royal Oak, Mich.,
June, 2008 ("The audience LOVED it." – Kathleen L, the director )
(In Volume VIII of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
39. "A-Holes Anonymous" — It is a meeting of A-Holes Anonymous, who have been sent against their will to get cured. Yeah, right.
Mood: Satire
Characters: (5) Group Leader; 4 A-Holes, male or female, since A-Holism crosses all genders.
Playing Time: 10 minutes or so
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
40. "A Streetcar Named Viagra" — It’s 1946 and a playwright named Tennessee encounters a drag queen named Desiree in auditions for the out-of-town workshop of his Broadway-bound play, inspiring him to make certain alterations in the role of the original "Lance" DuBois.
Mood: Revisionist History Comedy
Characters: (3) The Director (male) any age; The Playwright
(male in his thirties); Desiree (male, any age, a drag role)
Playing Time: around 25 minutes
Produced by Ringwald Theater, Ferndale, Michigan, Spring, 2012
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
41. "A Celebrity Stalking" — A self-important writer on a flight to collect a famous prize encounters a sympathetic ear and a dead body.
Mood: Comedy
Characters: (3) The Writer, male or female, any age, should be eccentric;
Dale, male or female, gracious, any age but over fifty might be better;
Voice of flight attendant, male or female
Playing Time: about 10 minutes
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
42. "A Comedy of Terrors" — "Al" Queada himself has been captured by a bounty hunter and is being brought back on a plane for a sex change. (three chairs required)
Mood: Comedy
Characters: (4) Bubba, a man between 25-50, macho, in Western clothes, Al, a man, almost any age,
wearing Islamic women’s traditional garb (the all-encompassing burqa);
Skippy, a man, between 25-60, nerdy, in a nice business suit and tie;
Airplane Voice, male or female (can be pre-recorded)
Playing Time: About 12 minutes. Performed at American Science Theater Festival, Los Angeles, 2011
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
43. "Don’t Open This Box Whatever You Do" — A young man discovers a box left for him by his dead father containing information he may not want to know.
Mood: Serious, Fantasy
Characters: (2) Narrator; the Son (or Daughter), early 20’s
Playing Time: 20 minutes
Produced by the California Travel Troupe, Edinburgh Festival, August, 2001
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
44. "Beastly Fables" — A collection of 25+ beast fables in the tradition of Aesop but with new examples and new morals (the Cat and the Hummingbird, The Monkeys and the Gun, the Anaconda and the Opossum, the Wildebeest and the Lioness, etc.)
Mood: Comedy; some of them biting comedy
Characters: Narrator plus one, two, or three beasts
(only minimal costuming required)
Playing Time: They vary from one minute to five minutes each; can be used separately
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
ALSO "The Wildebeast and the Lioness" published in Contemporary One Minute Plays (Fall, 2022)
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
45. "Batman and Robin: Cute Meat" — Batman and Robin meet on an airplane and develop a rapport.
(Just two chairs required)
Mood: Comedy
Characters: (3) Batman; Robin; Flight Attendant's Voice
(Also available as "Batperson and Robbie")
Playing Time: 13 minutes
Staged Reading: Actors Theatre of Santa Cruz, April, 2002
(Runner-Up in contest)
Also Staged Reading at First Stage, Los Angeles, June, 2002
Winner: Contest GPS at Ringwald Theatre, Michigan, June, 2013
Also produced by F.A.C.T. in conjunction with Jorian Productions in bill
called "GAY-licious," 260 W. 36th St, NYC, Sept., 2010
An alternate version of this "At a Funeral" was PRODUCED in a bill called ECHOES OF
by 906 Theatre in Chicago, August, 2015
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VII of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)
46. "Nun of the Above" — A Catholic nun who is a nurse encounters a representative of the Devil, who knows a terrible secret she is carrying.
(Just two chairs needed)
Mood: Dark Comedy
Characters: (3) Sister Romina, any age; Man,mature, a sinister, devilish man
Playing Time: 10 minutes
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
47. "A Fool’s Audition" — A man is auditioning for the job of Fool at
the court of a king who beheads those who don’t get the job.
Mood: Comedy
Characters: (3) The Fool, any age; the King, any age; the Advisor, any age.
Playing Time: 20 minutes
PRIZE WINNER: Produced at the Great Platte River Playwrights’ Festival, U of Nebraska — Kearney, Summer, 2001
Published separately by Samuel French
Also performed at Green Run High School, Alexandria, Virginia, Feb., 2009.
Also performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, by Sherbourne School, August, 2010.
48. "Peni: A Post-Feminist Morality Play" — Two guys (played by women with three-foot-long penises)
have big needs. What if you had a penis?
Mood: Comedy
Character: (2) Casey, played by a woman, any age; Jackie, played by a woman, any age. Needed are two three-foot-long "penises," made of Styrofoam, that can be strapped on. It the penises can be made to move all the better.
Playing Time: About 25 minutes
Performed as part of an MFA class, directed by Gamaliel Valle, at the New School for Drama, NYC, Spring, 2010
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
49. "Air Rage" — A high school teacher on an airplane encounters a former student to whom he once gave a D. There are resentments on both sides.
(Just two chairs needed)
Mood: drama
Characters: (3) Mr. Brown, high school teacher, any age between 40-70;
Jeremy, the less-than-stellar former student, between 20-35;
Flight Attendant, any age, either sex (with just a few lines)
Playing Time: 12-15 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
50. "So Middle Class" — An answer to "Zoo Story," wherein a middle-class man who merely wants to read a book on a park bench winds up having a tension-filled afternoon with a "homeless" person and a lot gets said and done that has been bottled for too long.
Mood: Serious drama
Characters: (2) Thomas, who is middle-class and between thirty-five and seventy years old; Tobey, who is of any age, disheveled, annoying, with some dignity as well.
Playing Time: 35 minutes
FIRST PRIZE, in ATTIC THEATRE ONE-ACT CONTEST
Produced: Attic Theatre, Los Angeles, June-July, 1998
Produced: California Travel Troupe, San Francisco, February, 2001
Also performed at The Marsh, San Francisco, 1994
(in Volume VI of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
link to live performance on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y_ot3p0o-Q
51. "The Hit"— Four producer/playwrights have their bill of short plays picked up by an outside producer, at which time the power plays (to say nothing of the slashing and burning) begin.
Mood: Satirical comedy
Character: (4) Don, who’s needy, sour; Patty, who’s overly enthusiastic; Bea, who’s very sociable but changeable; Neil, who’s temperamental and crabby.
Playing Time: 20 minutes
WINNER: ATTIC THEATRE PLAY CONTEST (one of 12 out of 200 selected)
Produced: Attic Theatre, Los Angeles, Feb.- March, 1997.
Produced by Calif. Travel Troupe, San Francisco, Summer, 2004 at Exit Theatre.
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VI of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
52. "The Murder of Gonzago — a Comedy" (one-act version)
A group of eccentric playwrights meets for its regular play reading session.
Only this time a playwright, although she has connived to win their support, goes berserk when critiqued and reveals "horrible" secrets about the others. Backstage dirt and a play within a play within a play!
Mood: Comedy.
Characters: (4): Annabelle, hyper lead; a Maternal Female; Macho Stud; Gay Man.
Playing Time: 45 minutes. Also in three-act 2-hour version
Produced by Theatre Rhinoceros, 1986 (one-act)
Produced by Above Board Theatre, San Fran, May, 1993 (one-act)
Published by Dialogus Play Service (out of print) (one-act)
ALSO IN THREE-ACT VERSION with four characters. See above.
(in Volume III of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
53. "Last Call" — A handsome man and an un-handsome man cruise but
barely speak in a gay bar, though what they’re thinking becomes clear in its ironies and disappointments.
Mood: Amusing and touching.
Characters: (2) one handsome gay man; one not so much
Playing Time: 20 minutes
Produced: The One-Act Theater Company, San Fran, 1980
Radio adaptation, NEA grant, 1982
Broadcast KQED and KPFA radio
Published by Dialogus Play Service in Homosexual Acts
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume I of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
54. "Animal Farm" — Adaptation of Orwell novel.
Mood: Satirical comedy.
Characters: (10) to play multiple roles.
Playing Time: 1 hour
First produced: The New Conservatory Theatre Co., San Fran, 1984.
Also produced by the California Travel Troupe, San Francisco Fringe Festival, 2003
(in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
55. "One Man’s Opinion" — A killer of homosexuals explains himself in hate-filled terms.
Mood: Drama.
Characters: 1
Playing Time: 12 minutes
Performed in Homosexual Acts, Theater Off Square, NYC, 1991
Published by Dialogus Play Service (in Homosexual Acts) (out of print)
(in Volume IV of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
56. "S &M" — A sadist does a scene with a masochist, who turns out to be Jesus
Mood: Strong satire
Characters: (2) S, a burly male; M, a sensitive male
Playing Time:Time: 5 minutes
Produced in Homosexual Acts, Theatre Off -Square, NYC, 1991
(in Volume IV of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
57. "Immortality" — A gay man meets with his lesbian friend to discuss the baby they are planning, only to learn she has changed her mind about him as a donor because of AIDS.
Mood: Drama.
Characters:
Playing Time: 11 minutes
Produced in bill of one-acts by Theater Rhinoceros, 1986.
Published by Dialogus Play Service (in Homosexual Acts) (out of print)
(in Volume III of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
58. "Rev. What’s His Name" — A Christian minister, full of Christian love, teaches a Bible study class of children about AIDS as a punishment from God.
Mood: Satirical comedy.
Characters: (1) the Reverend (as monologue) speaking to unseen kids in Bible school.
Playing Time: 5 minutes
First performed as part of The AIDS Show, Theater Rhinoceros,
San Francisco, 1984. Also national tour of the United States
Performed in acting class of American Conservatory Theater,
San Francisco, 1986
Winner of special award from Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, 1984)
Published in West Coast Plays as part of The AIDS Show, 1985
(in Volume III of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
59. "Sour Grapes" — Members of a critics circle encounter a director/producer who has received bad reviews and hence tries to poison them, thus highlighting the eternal conflict between the artist and the critic. Conflicts between the critics emerge along with deathbed "confessions."
Mood: Comedy.
Characters: (6) the director/producer; a jaded critic; a nice critic; a push-over critic; a hypocritical critic; a foolish critic.
Playing Time: 50 minutes
One of three winners of play contest, Actors Theatre of Santa Cruz, 1997
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume VI of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
60. "The Tasteful Transvestite and the Three Bullies" —
Claudette Camembert is a straight man who simply wants to wear tasteful
frocks, but three bullies don’t want him to do. So what is one to do but teach such bullies a lesson, no?
Mood: Comedy
Characters : (4) Claudette (a transvestite with a French accent); Three Bullies
Playing Time: 10 minutes
First produced: Absolute Theatre Company, San Francisco, February, 1994
Also produced by The New Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, Spring, 1994
Published by Dialogus Play Service (in Homosexual Acts) (out of print)
(in Volume V of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
61. "A Christmas Miracle at the Open Mess" — Two gay officers, recently become lovers, decide to risk the military’s wrath by slow dancing together in an officers club on Christmas Eve, before the repeal of Don't Ask
Mood: Touching drama
Characters: (3) Chet, who’s new to gay life; Graham, older, more cynical; Major Sullins, a coarse, drunken homophobe
Playing Time: 18 minutes
First produced by the Absolute Theatre Company, San Francisco, 2/1994.
Also produced by The New Conservatory Theatre, Spring, 1994.
Also produced by Frank Calo in "Men In and Out of Clothes: Four One-Act Plays," The Raw Space, 529 West 42nd St., NYC, Winter, 2000.
— "a very fine play" (Andres J. Wrath, online rev.)
Published by Dialogus Play Service (in Homosexual Acts) (out of print)
(in Volume V of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
62. "Producing with Poppy" — a self-aggrandizing, self-deceived woman producer maneuvers herself through a theater company.
Mood: Satirical comedy
Characters: One female
Playing Time: 15 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume V of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
63. "In a Five-and-Ten-Cent Store"— A lonely man and a sex doll.
Mood: Touching drama
Characters: (2) Claude, who is a bit odd; a sex doll, male or female depending on the company
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume V of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
64. "Body and Soul" in Sex Show— a man argues with his penis, who argues back.
Also available in a Christmas version-- really! )
Mood: Naughty Comedy
Character: (2) Body, a male; Soul, a male
Playing Time: 6 minutes; can vbew used alone
(included in "Sexy Shorts," Produced by the New Conservatory Theatre,
San Francisco, May-June, 1996
(in Volume I of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon, as part of Sex Show)
62. "Celebrities in Hell" – with Eddie Murphy and the Pope in Hell with AIDS Broadcast on KPFA radio, 1982; included in Homosexual Acts, NYC, 1991
Mood: Satire
Characters: (3) Eddie Murphy; the Pope; Guard
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
(in Volume IV of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
63. "Your Town" — Through life with a typical couple, from courtship to marriage
to kids to caring for aging parents to old age, all in eighteen minutes.
Mood: Biting satire on traditional "family" values.
Characters: (5) Woman; Man; Son; Daughter; Narrator.
Playing Time: 18 minutes
Produced by Earnest Players, in bill of one-acts, San Fran, 1978
(in Volume I of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
64. "I Married the Nightstalker" (skit) – a woman wants the notorious serial murderer as her husband. Go figure.
Mood: biting comedy about the "sanctity" of marriage
Characters: (3) Wifey, the Nightstalker, Minister
Playing Time: 10 minutes
CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:
65. one-act of THE BLASPHEMER (LAST FIFTEEN MINUTES):CLICK HERE FOR SCRIPT
(in V of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)
For Production Rights for any play:
Tel: 415-297-9220
After my death, people may produce any script of mine as long as some form of royalty is paid to my estate or heirs, preferably the prevailing rate for theater royalties -- DC
Professor Alfonso Caballos Munoz of the University of Cadiz in Spain is in charge of editing and publishing my plays.
