Kareem, a Black teen, waits for the bus, at night, in a suburban White neighborhood. He is approached by O’Donald, a White police officer. They struggle. A shot rings out. Kareem is dead. O’Donald says he feared for his life. The Police Union’s representative defends the shooting as self-defense. Kareem’s Aunt Janice protests her nephew’s death as racial profiling. There are no witnesses, but the truth will not die. Kareem’s spirit haunts Officer O’Donald, demanding to know why he was killed.
Genre: Drama
TRW Presents: Short Plays, Vol. 1
TRW is pleased to publish this sparkling new collection of ten short plays – comedies and dramas, absurdist and naturalistic – from a wide-ranging group of exciting playwrights. All of the titles below are included in the collection and are available for licensing worldwide.
Two Degrees
Emma Phelps is a paleoclimatologist, focusing on ice in Greenland. In drilling and studying ice core samples, she sees first hand the symptoms of our changing planet, which makes the need to act all the more crucial and urgent. In addition, Emma, as a recent widow, experiences grief that compounds itself with each passing month. Now she’s been asked to testify in Washington D.C. in a senate committee regarding climate change legislation, and in this intersection of science and politics, of politics and the personal, she finds more than just a little is breaking up under the strain of change.
The Two Kids That Blow Shit Up
Diana and Max meet at 9 years old, the day their parents start having an affair. In the ensuing decades, they see each other through highs and lows, trying not to make the same mistakes their parents did. A play about trying not to fall in love with your best friend so you end up hating them.
The Smuggler
WINNER of the Best Playwright Award at Origin Theatre’s 1st Irish Festival
THE SMUGGLER is a Thriller in Rhyme. It’s 2023. Tim Finnegan is an Irish immigrant trying to make it as a writer on Amity, an affluent summer colony in Massachusetts, where tensions flare between the migrant and local communities after a fatal car crash. When he loses his job as a bartender, Tim gets drawn into the dark underbelly of the island. THE SMUGGLER examines how far one man will go to restore his self-respect and asks the question, “What does it mean to be an American citizen today?”
TRW Presents: Short Plays, Vol. 2
TRW is pleased to publish this sparkling new collection of ten short plays – comedies and dramas, absurdist and naturalistic – from a wide-ranging group of exciting playwrights. All of the titles below are included in the collection and will are available to read and license.
twenty50
In the year 2050, Latinx people have been assimilated into the (white) majority of the United States, but race issues are far from resolved. In this tricky political environment, Andres Salazar is running for office and must decide whether losing some of his own identity is worth the potential social benefits. When a mysterious stranger appears at his house, Andres’s family must rally around him to save his imperiled campaign.
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear
The notorious and as-yet undiscovered genius, Vincent Van Gogh, presents Sherlock Holmes with a most unusual case. Aided by his partner Dr. Watson and his paramour Irene Adler, the trio embark on a rousing adventure and find themselves confronting the evil daughter of Professor Moriarty. With a helping hand from Oscar Wilde, the world’s greatest detective attempts to solve one of the most audacious crimes of the Victorian era and uncover a Post-Impressionist conspiracy.
17 Minutes
17 MINUTES is the length of time Sheriff’s Deputy Andy Rubens stood outside of a school while a shooter was inside. The play 17 MINUTES explores the communal and residual effects of a shooting through Andy, a man who struggles with his own complicity in the tragedy, and who seeks meaning in the wake of the shooting.
Three Sisters
Raised in Moscow, Ólga, Másha, and Irína are stuck in a rural town they hate. Ólga is a schoolteacher, Másha is in a loveless marriage, and today is Irína’s 22nd birthday and the first anniversary of their father’s death. Friends visit, including Colonel Vershínin, the new dashing army base commander. Soon, the married colonel and Másha begin a passionate affair. Irína, meanwhile, has two suitors, but loves neither. The situation is like a dry forest waiting for a spark. When the smoke clears, one of Irina’s suitors has killed the other, and Vershinin must leave Másha when the army closes the base. The siblings are left to wonder what their suffering means and if there’s any reason to still hope.