DODGING BULLETS
Carla: You do date complicated women.
Miles: Is there any other kind?
Single, 30-something Miles is exploring the wretched state of his love life with his therapist, Carla. In the course of two sessions, as Miles describes the women in his life, the same actress portrays not just his therapist, but four of his girlfriends… and his mother. This one-act play delves into the complex, emotional relationships between a man, his lovers, his history and his therapist. People have described it as a cross between Neil Simon and Woody Allen.
Dodging Bullets was first performed in February 2003 as part of The Theatre Coop (Somerville, Mass.) New Play Series. It was beautifully and sensitively directed by my friend Bob Stachel, a co-founder of the Shadow Boxing Theatre Workshop. Bob cast the very talented Jason Beals to play Miles, who brought a depth to the role I never imagined. Part of my motivation for writing Dodging Bullets was to create a really good part for a woman; but it was through her portrayals of Carla, Annika, Livinia and so on that “The Six Faces of” Eve Passeltiner turned those parts into people.
To read the play, click here. Theater companies may produce Dodging Bullets for free, with permission. Please e-mail me for permission.
To watch the video, click here.
Dodging Bullets
A romantic comedy by Brett M. Rhyne
Directed by Bob Stachel
Carla… Eve Passeltiner
Miles… Jason Beals
LOVE SLASH HATE
This 10-minute comedy/drama is about a highly disfunctional married couple, Tony and Maya. Tony’s inability to take anything seriously infuriates Maya; Maya’s hair-trigger reactivity forces Tony to make jokes constantly. Like Dodging Bullets, Love Slash Hate is psychologically minded and painfully funny.
Love Slash Hate was first performed in March 2003 as part of the Double Play Festival, a night of four 10-minute plays, each of which was performed twice, with different casts and directors. The Double Play Festival was the brainchild of Shadow Boxing Theatre Workshop’s co-organizer, Lisa Burdick, who also deserves credit for spelling out the “slash” of the title. Lisa also directed the Act I version of the play.
To read the play, click here. Theater companies may produce Love Slash Hate for free, with permission. Please e-mail me for permission.
Love Slash Hate
A comedy/drama by Brett M. Rhyne
Act I version
Directed by Lisa Burdick
Maya…Eve Passeltiner
Tony… John Guerin
To watch the video, click here.
Act II version
Directed by Andrew Sarno
Maya…Sharifa Atkins
Tony…Michael Nurse
To watch the video, click here.
THE CHEESE SCULPTOR
My directorial debut, also part of the Double Play Festival, a night of four 10-minute plays, each of which was performed twice, with different casts and directors. This piece, written by Shadow Boxing Theatre Workshop co-organizer Lisa Burdick, features a sculptor, Alex, faced with an artistic crisis. Her lover, a musician, is also faced with an artistic crisis. As written, Alex’s lover is Eric, a man; in my version, Eric becomes Erica, and the dynamic of the show changes significantly.
The Cheese Sculptor
By Lisa Burdick
Directed by Brett M. Rhyne
Alex…Eve Passeltiner
Erica… Kate Frederic
To watch the video, click here.
MY WORST AUDITION EVER
I wrote this 10-minute piece as the concluding vignette in a 12-play evening, the Partridge in a Pear Tree Festival. Also the creation of Shadow Boxing’s Lisa Burdick, the Pear Tree Festival followed the form of the Christmas song: the first playwright introduced one prop; the next playwright used that prop and added a second; and so on, until the twelth. I, of course, had to take on the challenge of going last, and so had to include (1) a table, (2) an empty wine bottle, (3) a heart-shaped box, (4) a piece of cloth, (5) a hand-held sewing machine, (6) the Riverside Shakespeare, (7) a spring-loaded telescoping umbrella, (8) a walkie-talkie, (9) a chair, (10) a filled trash bag and (11) a small suitcase. I added the prop of a banana.
The Pear Tree Festival went up in December 2002, and so was my first production with Shadow Boxing, which I had joined earlier that year. Since no self-respecting theater festival should be without a self-reflexive piece about theater itself, My Worst Audition Ever features such lovable stereotypes as the neurotic producer, the prissy director, the egotistical playwright and the poor, set-upon actress. The role of the playwright is only slightly autobiographical; I wrote the role of the actress, whose only dialogue is Shakesperean and who mostly clowns around, for my friend and fellow Shadow Boxing member, the physical improvisational comedienne Jackie Therieau.
To read the play, click here. Theater companies may produce My Worst Audition Ever for free, with permission. Please e-mail me for permission. Sorry, there’s no video of this production.
My Worst Audition Ever
A theatrical satire by Brett M. Rhyne
Directed by Lisa Burdick
The Actress…Jacquelyn Therieau
The Producer…Jacquelyn Maher
The Director…Mike Manship
The Playwright…Jayk Gallagher
