Plays by Marcia Cebulska
TOUCHED: The Last 2,000 Heartbeats of William Inge
Commissioned for the 25th anniversary of the William Inge Theatre Festival, TOUCHED explores the life of theatre icon Inge, the most produced playwright of the 1950s. Male actor plays Inge; female actor plays the characters of his life including Tennessee Williams, family members, the woman he almost married, Josh Logan, others. Lovely tinges of humor and beautiful imagery in this story of an artist's life, touched by madness, touched by genius. Premiered before an audience of theatre professionals, Inge scholars and hometown folk and received an instant standing ovation.
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- Cast: 1 male, 60; 1 female, 35.
- Production requirements: single set; projection equipment.
- Production history: premiered at William Inge Theatre Festival, 2006
Visions of Right
Written as a response to the anti-gay ministry of Rev. Fred Phelps, VISIONS OF RIGHT tells the story of a woman's increasing resistance to a minister who preaches hate until she discovers her own darker side.
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- Length: 90 minutes, one intermission
- Cast: 1 female; 3 males
- Production Requirements: single set, projection equipment
- Production History: Winner of the Dorothy Silver Award and the Stage Three Festival of New Plays, VISIONS OF RIGHT has received readings at Chicago Dramatists, Stage Three, Halle Theatre, Phoenix Theatre, and Beth Shalom Temple of Topeka, Kansas. No full productions.
Now Let Me Fly
It is 1950 and Thurgood Marshall is exuberant in his enthusiasm to fly in the face of tradition and overthrow the United States Supreme Court doctrine of "Separate But Equal." But when the ghost of his mentor, Charles Houston, visits him, he is stricken with doubt. Houston takes Marshall on a journey, looking in on the lives and losses of the men and women working in the grassroots struggle against segregation. Together they visit Washington D.C., Farmville, Virginia, Hockessin, Delaware, Somerton, South Carolina, and Topeka, Kansas. They collect the thumbprints of the ordinary people who became activists in all five of the cases that went to the Supreme Court. Together, the thumbprints form a picture of determination, dignity and success. NOW LET ME FLY is the story of the unsung heroes and heroines behind the struggle to end legalized segregation in America.
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- Length: 90 minutes, no intermission
- Cast: 7 or more people. Two main characters run throughout the play. The other parts, many of which only have 2 or 3 lines, can be distributed among 5 or more other actors.
- Production Requirements: single set, projection equipment
- Production History: Topeka Performing Arts Center, Gem Theater (Kansas City, Missouri) and numerous readings around the United States
- Version Note: in addition to the full version, a youth version recommended for middle and high school students (running approximately 45 minutes) and an easier youth version suitable for elementary school audiences, special education classes, classroom readings with young student actors, and those needing an abbreviated version (running approximately 25-30 minutes) is available.
Flight
A woman, wishing to encourage a more adventurous spirit in her husband, lures him out on the wing of an in-flight airplane.
- Length: 10 minutes
- Cast: 2 males; 2 females
- Production Requirements: simple single set
- Production History: Written and produced at the William Inge Theatre Festival 24-Hour Plays
Florida (aka Dreaming In Polish)
This realistic drama in the tradition of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller explores the Floridian dreams and exploding passions of a Polish-American baker's family in the 1950s. FLORIDA is a favorite of theatre professionals and audiences alike.
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- Length: 93 minutes, one intermission
- Cast: 3 males; 3 females, various ages
- Production requirements: Single set
- Production History: Chosen by Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and Sundance Playlab; Developed at O'Neill Conference.
- Full productions at The Georgia Repertory Theatre and the Phoenix Theatre.
Dear John
Letters from the heart of a gay man and the woman he loves.
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- Length: 85 minutes, one intermission
- Cast: 1 male, 1 female.
- Production requirements: very simple single set
- Production History: Received the Jane Chambers Award; both one-act version and full-length version performed numerous times (see Resume)
...and when the bough breaks
How much are you willing to do for someone you love? A woman asks her sister to bear a child for her. Received stunning reviews when it premiered.
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- Length: 90 minutes; one intermission
- Cast: 2 females, 2 males; in their 30s
- Production requirements: single set
- Production History: Premiered at the Phoenix Theatre; other full productions at Bloomington Playwrights Project, Repertory People of Evansville, and Frontera at Hyde Park
Centaurs
The last cowboy saves the life of a woman who is the last nun in her order, this is a tale of endangered species and love.
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- Cast: 1 male, 1 female plus some very small parts and a voice-over.
- Production requirements: single set, scrim recommended
- Production History: Developmental reading at Victory Gardens; premiered at the Phoenix Theatre.
Belongings
Three homeless women wait in a park. One of them is lying still, silent. The two others discuss James Joyce, bubble dancing and food. When they discover the third to have died, they go through her belongings, uncovering her past. They bury the dead woman, like an Egyptian queen, surrounded by her belongings, covered in newspaper.
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