Rane Arroyo - One Act Play Synopses

Rane Arroyo/One Act Plays

Amateur Virgin: Juanito is raised by grandparents determined to make him speak. He ends up as a ventriloquist who has never forgotten or forgiven his fragile past as a guest (in his own life). 1 Female 2 Males. Running Time: 30-35 minutes. Published: Xavier Review. Prize: George Houston Bass Award, Brown University. Last Production: New Immigrants Theater Festival, NYC.
Among Amigos: A Telenovela: A mysterious voice tells the story of a group of friends. The voice is interrupted by the amigos themselves who correct and/or complicate the narrative. This poetic drama attempts to name the cosmic forces that shape our lives. Voice + Chorus: 10 (with possible repeating roles). Running Time: 25-30 minutes.
Buddha and the Señorita: Prize-winning play about the chance meeting of the two title characters in the desert. This play has been often produced and most succinctly compared to a fierce tango of two passionate beings. Running Time: 30-40 minutes. Published in the anthology "Tough Acts to Follow", edited by Noreen C. Barnes and Nicholas Deutch (Alamo Square Press). Prize: Pittsburgh New Works Festival-Best Actress. Last Production: New Perspective Theater, NYC.
The Darkness After A Millennium Of Blondes: A couple waits for Christ's return when a neighbor shows up claiming that a blonde drowned in his pool earlier that day. This dark comedy is about a very new world order. 1 Female 2 Males. Running Time: 30-35 minutes. Honorable Mention: Crossroads 1999/Wharf Rat Theater.
Emily Dickinson in Bandages: Alice and Nicky are a couple who feel at a dead end in their relationship even as it bubbles with meaning and challenges. This prize-winning play challenges the audience to compare the private vs. the public. 2 Females 1 Male. Prize: Jane Chambers Playwriting Prize (when opened to all genders); 14th Annual New Plays Festival, Cleveland Public Theater. Last Production: Baliwick Theater's 6th Annual Directors' Festival, Chicago.
Goatees: Smokey ends up sleeping in the wrong roommates bed and Guy, who is gay, wakes up engaged to the perplexing young woman. This absurd comedy of manners emphasizes how perception often is reality. 2 Females 3 Males. Running Time: 35 minutes.
The House With Black Windows (co-written with the poet Glenn Sheldon): At the turn of the 19th century, a young woman is being diagnosed for madness because of her insistence that she remembers past lives. Within this dark house, a future suddenly seems possible. 2 Females 2 Males. Running Time: 35-40 minutes. Last Production: Polaris North Theater, New York City.
Horatio: An Inquisition: Prince Hamlet is dead and his dear friend Horatio has the mission to speak of the bloody events. His eye-witness account leads to his own obscure tragedy. 1 Female 5 Males. Running Time: 35 minutes.
A Lesson In Writing Love Letters: Frank's ghost returns to Polo, his brother, who is comforting Frank's girlfriend. This hilarious triangle gets complicated when a child is born-but who is the father? 2 Males 1 Female. Running Time: 25 minutes.
Moonlight Or Glory: A Love Letter To The Cosmos: Two angels come to collect the soul of the Messiah's stepfather, Joseph. This political play about the loveliness of being human tries to forgive God for being God. 2 Angels 1 Female 2 males. Running Time: 30 minutes.
The Planet Estrogen: Robert dresses for the funeral of his ex-lover, a girl he nicknamed Delirious. She talks while he talks and the two come to admit in their continuing links. Her death from breast cancer catapults Robert into a strange new world. 1 F 1M . Running Time: 30-40 minutes.
The Que Será Será Kid: A Latino is up for a part for the possible sequel to West Side Story Two. His monologue follows the long path towards a supporting role while he has a dark night of the soul even as he tries to sound tough. I Male. Running Time: 30 minutes. Last Production: Performed by the author at Oakland Arts Center.
Red House on Fire: A young woman learns that she was abducted by a couple at the mall when a baby. She tries to make sense of her past as it comes to claim her. 2 Females 1 Male and a fourth actor for many small roles. Running Time: 35-40 minutes. Prize: University of Toledo Summer Research Fellowship. Last Production: Ohio Latino Arts Association Fifth Annual Access and Equity Conference Opening Event.
Sex With The Man-In-The-Moon: Pony launches an affair with a European who reminds him of Homer, a lover during the Viet Nam draft. 4 Males. Running Time: 45 minutes. Published: Kenyon Review. Unproduced.
Tiara Tango: This mysterious play has a man hiring a hustler to act like his son in order to confess the father's affair with his daughter-in-law. The wages of secrets is, as always, tragic. 1 Female 2 Males. Running Time: 40 minutes. Last Production: Pittsburgh New Works Festival.
Touched: Alegra has to decide between the local tough and a foreigner-and then her brother becomes a strange and worthy competitor. This power struggle blurs the lines between love and violence. 1 Female 3 Males. Running Time: 35-40 minutes.

Short One-Act Plays (5 to 20 minutes)

As Naked As I Want To Be: An artist paints a rich patron's portrait and they both come to define themselves by this relationship. What happens after the portrait is done? Running Time: 8 minutes.
Lord Byron, The God: Zabeth and Jorge are interrupted in their lovemaking by the ghost of Lord Byron, the poet, who is still very in love with the world. Running Time: 10 minutes.
Lunch With Satan: Diego has the scoop of a lifetime: the chance to interview Satan at a local Taco Bell! Nothing exactly works out. Running Time: 15-20 minutes. Last Production: Moving Arts Festival, Los Angeles.
The Mirrored Sea: Sebastian is on shore leave and is caught up with memories of being landlocked in his youth in the Midwest. Running Time: 15 minutes.
Pedro and Snow: This monologue introduces Pedro who feels at war while up North, far from his tropics. Very little around him can be taken for granted. Running Time: 12-15 minutes.
Pillows of Stone: Mother visits Craig and neither one can escape their old games of disappointing each other. Running Time: 10-15 minutes.
Puppet Show For Young Americans: Cliff and Goods are broken up as a couple until their friend Rex's visit reminds them to value what is theirs under the ancient stars. Running Time: 15 minutes.
Tom-Tom Ends Up Alone In The Universe: While AIDS is a real scare, Tom-Tom's best friend is murdered-an unexpected fate. This monologue finds this leather man trying to make sense of chance fate. Running Time: 10 minutes.
Trying To Wake Up God: Two brothers come to reveal their own roles in their mother's suicide during the last stages of her cancer. Running Time: 15 minutes.
Widow Among Crows: This monologue offers a vision of a widow who does her best to remember her true love who over that first years feels more and more of a dream. Running Time: 15-20 minutes.