Melanie Greenhouse

Read My Shorts Melanie Greenhouse

Short plays challenge us to see how much character development, plot, irony, drama, and humor can be compressed into ten or fifteen minutes. The genre's recognized father, Jon Jory, called them "American theatre's haiku." Read My Shorts puts ordinary humans-a compulsive gambler, a sky diver in training, a woman living alone with her cat, couples in love and out of it-in situations that may strike us as absurd until they swallow us whole. Can a glass of water carry on a conversation? Can a bald eagle lure a newly wed woman away from her loser husband? It doesn't matter. What matters is how these brief dramas reveal us to ourselves and make us laugh, wince, and nod in agreement. These dozen "shorts" can be presented as full performances with all the bells and whistles or presented more sparely as reader's theater. Or offer them to dinner guests after conversation has waned. If enough refreshment has been imbibed, your guests might be willing to cast aside inhibitions and take on a role.