On this page you will find a list of my completed works – or those works of which I am sufficiently proud as to consider them 1) “completed” and 2) worthy to publish on this website. I have arranged my plays in alphabetical order so as not to offend any of my plays by implying favoritism of any kind. Feel free to contact me for more information about any of the works below if you are interested.
“The Beggar of Bethesda”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“The Beggar of Bethesda” is a two-act Biblical drama (a retelling of John 5 in the Bible) about a lame, jaded, cynical beggar who, some two-thousand years ago, spends his days conning passersby out of money at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. This all changes when a mysterious man appears from out of nowhere and commands that the beggar rise and walk – and, lo, he is cured. This great miracle, however, is not as welcome as expected – not to the temple authorities, not even to the beggar himself – and so he is banished from the city and forced to wander aimlessly. Then, suddenly, a second chance at living comes the beggar’s way – perhaps the only chance he will ever have – but is he faithful enough to take it?”The Beggar of Bethesda” is a play about our relationship with God – the chances He gives us, the overtures we spurn, and the self-destructive role we play in our lives without the strength to believe in something greater than ourselves.
“A Cricket on the Hearth”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 1 hour, 45 minutes
“A Cricket on the Hearth” is a romantic comedy-drama adapted from a novella by Charles Dickens and set in New York’s Hudson Valley, 1840, concerning the unlikely couple of John and Dot Plekkenpoel – John well into his 40’s, huge and lumbering, and Dot in her early 20’s, petite and perky – and yet, both happily married. In comes Ernest Tackleton, the finicky, greedy owner of a toy company – well into middle age – who is aiming to sweep up a poor, orphaned 20-year-old as his wife and convince her the age distinction is no true barrier. Hoping John and Dot will set a good example, Tackleton invites them to a luncheon with his betrothed, alongside a strange, cloaked man, who the kind-hearted John Plekkenpoel rescued from a snowstorm – but when Dot shows this stranger an equally strange degree of attention, it soon appears that John and Dot’s marriage is not as sweet as one might think. “A Cricket On The Hearth” is a witty, tongue-in-cheek play – intermixed with poignant drama, colorful characters, charming repartee, and a glow of optimism – about the nature of true love and the sacrifices we are willing to make for that love.
“Dear Mr. Whitefield”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“Dear Mr. Whitefield” is a two-act historical drama about the cantankerous, troubled preacher George Whitefield, who swept the Anglican establishment by storm in the 1740’s, preaching the dignity of man in a very status-conscious society, and his personal and professional resurrection at the hands of the patrician, determined Countess of Huntingdon. The play follows the Countess’s quest – sometimes touching, sometimes troubled, but always inspiring – to defy the prejudices of her day and lead a religious revival in 18th century England. First, however, she must stop Whitefield from running away from his past, from his demons, but most ultimately from himself. “Dear Mr. Whitefield” is a poetic drama about faith and courage – faith in God, but also faith in each other, no matter the price, and the courage of a man and a woman who, scarred as they might be, bravely and stoically confront the norms of their time.
“Encore, Encore”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Tragicomedy
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes
“Encore Encore” is a bittersweet comedy-drama about the turbulent relationship between the famed literary wit Dorothy Parker and her first husband, Eddie Parker, in 1920’s America, just as Parker was beginning to rise to fame in New York dramatic circles. Her husband Eddie, however, suffers just as Dorothy flourishes, psychologically scarred and suffering from an addiction to morphine and alcohol due to his service in the First World War. The play traces Dorothy’s tense relationship with her husband and how she sheltered herself from the pain inflicted by that relationship through the meteoric rise of her career as a drama critic. The shelter, however, is a costly one, positioning Dorothy to live in public denial of her painful personal life and stapling her inexorably to a witty, unabashed, unashamed public persona that is not allowed the luxury of emotion. “Encore, Encore” presents an abrasive mixture of wit and tragedy, contrasting scenes of high hilarity with those of dramatic intensity.
“Few Thy Voice”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“Few Thy Voice” is a two-act Hitchcockian drama about a former movie actress of delicate mental state whose guilt at the abandonment of her now-deceased father leads her to take care of elderly, senile men abandoned by their families in rundown nursing homes. A guilt-ridden, well-meaning husband, coupled with a sleazy nursing home proprietor and a sharp-tongued social-climber, enable the actress’s caretaking needs to be met (or, perhaps, “enabled”). The story quickly turns more than eerie, however, when the newest fatherly focus of the actress’s affection, in random and rather odd moments of lucidity, begins to reveal a story of murder in the family – but is his ranting the liberating cry of a male Cassandra or an invention on the part of his mentally delicate caretaker? “Few Thy Voice” is a play about the past deeds that haunt us and how we try to liberate ourselves from them, embrace them, or else fall prey to them.
“Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Full-Length One-Act Tragedy
Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes
“Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” is a full-length, one-act drama detailing the events surrounding the presidential nomination of Warren G. Harding at the Republican National Convention of 1920. A simple, good man, Harding could care less about being president and longs for the day when he can return to life as a small-town newspaper editor – but that option appears increasingly remote when the Republican Party looks for a savior after reaching a convention deadlock. Hounded by an ambitious campaign manager, a paralyzingly superstitious wife, and a starstruck young mistress, Harding appears doomed to be president… or is he? “Fifteen Men In A Smoke-Filled Room” is a neo-classic Greek tragedy that explores the extent to which fate controls our lives and the self-defeating role we play in our own destinies.
“A Flower of the Field”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Full-Length One-Act Drama
Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes
“A Flower of the Field” is a drama set in 1349 Ireland when the Black Death is stalking the land and all signs of hope have been cruelly ripped from the world. In the city of Kilkenny, however, there shines a gleam of hope, courtesy of a gentle friar named John Clyn, who single-handedly takes care of the infected and the dying in his abbey. One night, however, a sinister woman and her traumatized maidservant come calling and violently turn John Clyn’s world upside down, threatening to destroy the hope and faith he has worked so very hard to build. Haunted by this sinister woman, as well as a mysterious mendicant and a vengeful bishop – and faced with what appears to be pure evil – how can Clyn possibly emerge triumphant… and who and where is the real John Clyn? “A Flower of the Field” is a fast-paced, thoughtful, yet ultimately inspiring story of redemption and hope amid the accusing finger of evil.
“The Footsteps of God”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“The Footsteps of God” is a historical drama concerning the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and the precarious nature of their early existence, focusing especially on the close relationship between Governor William Bradford and the native Squanto. Having recently arrived in the New World, the Pilgrims are in a sorry state, until they find friends in the Pokanoket tribe, chief among them Squanto, who teaches the English how to navigate the local soil and wildlife. However, Squanto is just as much an emotional crutch for the lonely Governor of the colony, whose wife died during the voyage to the New World. Together, Bradford and Squanto form a strong bond, until accusations against Squanto turn the Pilgrims’ world upside down and potentially mean the demise of everything they have built. “The Footsteps of God” is a story about faith, broadly defined – faith in God, faith in man – and the strength of that faith in the face of adversity.
“Harriman-Baines”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“Harriman-Baines” is a psychological tragedy about a painfully reclusive composer (Carter Harriman) who writes modern classical music to the lyrics of the mysterious poet Melody Baines. Alas, Melody is dead, leaving her caustic spirit to haunt the Harriman household – but for Harriman, Melody is still very much alive. That’s because Minnie Baines, the meek, psychic sister of the poet, can communicate with her dead sister and thereby allow the worshipful Harriman to speak to his collaborator from beyond the grave. Soon, this ménage a trois is complicated by a Pulitzer-hunting journalist, who, over the course of a single night, exposes the lies and truths surrounding Melody and Minnie Baines with brutal and unbearable honesty. “Harriman-Baines” is an eerie, sometimes comic, more often disturbing journey into the causes, consequences, and desperations of loneliness and the lengths to which human beings will go to protect themselves from isolation.
“I and the Emperor”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“I and the Emperor” is a two-hour historical drama about the unlikely relationship between the 16-year-old Betsy Balcombe and the aging Napoleon Bonaparte during the latter’s exile on the island of St. Helena following his final defeat at Waterloo. The curious and headstrong Betsy makes it a point to meet the Emperor and know him personally – first as a harmless, petulant child and second as a misunderstood man of heart and soul. Then, one day, a stranger arrives on the island who makes Betsy wonder whether the Emperor really could be the monster everyone claims and whether truth is quite as simple as she imagined it. “I and the Emperor” is a dramatic, droll, but ultimately touching and thoughtful coming-of-age tale – and more specifically, the story of Betsy herself, who comes to understand life, with all its peaks and valleys, through understanding the complexity and tragedy of the exiled Emperor in her backyard.
“The Last Flight of the Electra”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Full-Length One-Act Drama
Runtime: 1 hour, 45 minutes
“The Last Flight of the Electra” is a full-length, one-act play set in December, 1968 about the self-contented, intensely private millionaire Aileen Craigmore, whose life is turned upside down when her obsessive secretary, Sandra Houser, accuses her of being Amelia Earhart, the famous aviatrix who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in July, 1937. Obsessed by Earhart, Sandra has long been a fan of the aviatrix and, to Craigmore’s increasing horror, like a magician pulling rabbits out of a hat, produces more and more “evidence” that Craigmore is really the living, breathing Earhart, freed from Japanese captivity after World War II by the United States government. A tense, manic game of cat-and-mouse follows as the increasingly determined Sandra seeks to corner the increasingly desperate Craigmore into admitting her “real” identity… whatever that may be. “The Last Flight of the Electra” is an exciting, even haunting play about the nature of identity – who we truly are and who we choose to be – and, indeed, the extent to which there is any difference between the two.
“Leave It To Ms. Minor”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“Leave It to Ms. Minor” is a two-act drama about the odd relationship between an aging, has-been sitcom star, Radley Chappin, and his ambiguous, headstrong, extremely controversial companion, Caitlyn Minor. After a chance encounter, Minor quickly becomes a constant presence in Chappin’s life, taking over every aspect of his existence, to the chagrin, amazement, or downright befuddlement of passersby. A few of these observers serve as narrators of our story, recounting the tale of Minor’s reign, from its sudden beginning, to its golden climax, to its tragic end, and leaving us to arrange in our minds the pieces of life she leaves scattered in her shadow. Ultimately, we must ask – is Caitlyn Minor sinner or saint… mastermind or manipulator… advocate or abuser? “Leave It To Ms. Minor” is a story of how our perspectives determinate how we see the nuances of life and the difficulty of finding truth when human emotions are involved.
“Life of Mahler”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Full-Length One-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“Life of Mahler” is a full-length, one-act drama that follows a young journalist in 1912 (Franz Kurtzman) who has been invited to write an authorized biography of the great composer Gustav Mahler – courtesy of Mahler’s widow, the beautiful and captivating Alma. Franz leaps wholeheartedly into his assignment, combing through boxes of Mahler’s letters and growing closer to Alma in the process… until one day, Franz discovers a hidden box… or two… or three… with letters that portray a Gustav Mahler who is strikingly different from what Alma has described. As Franz wrestles with this deception and confronts Alma, he must ask the question – what does it really mean to write the life of Mahler – and which Mahler’s life is he really writing about? “Life of Mahler” is ultimately a story about the nature of deception and the sometimes hazy interplay between deception and truth, complemented with poetic dialogue, wry humor, rich characters, and a surprise ending.
“The Man From Morone”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Full-length Historical Drama
Runtime: 2 hours, 30 minutes
“The Man From Morone” is a full-length screenplay about the hermetic mystic Peter of Morone, who, in the late 13th century, was elected and briefly served as Pope of Christendom. The screenplay details the brief and tumultuous papacy of the old man as he tries to steer his booby-trapped way between the Scylla and Charybdis of an unscrupulous king and a crafty prelate. The new Pope soon finds himself drowning in a political whirlpool and serving as the meek pawn of unscrupulous others – until he finally stands up for what he knows is right… but, by then, is it too late? “The Man From Morone” is a story about the tragic timidity of the good and the just when they are confronted by the unrelenting forces of evil and ambition – and the human consequences that follow from that timidity.
“Margo Asher Died Here”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“Margo Asher Died Here” is a two-hour drama about the controversy and chaos that ensues when two elderly residents of a nursing home engage in a sexual relationship. As the relationship deepens, it quickly impacts those around the couple, creating a civil war among the nursing home’s staff and tearing asunder the romantic relationship between the old man’s son and the old woman’s daughter. Over time, the controversy grows greater and greater, the battle lines grow deeper and deeper, and the questions become ever starker… Are the old man and the old woman using sex to express some great burst of freedom and life – or is this something darker? Could it be rape – and if so, what role does the head nurse really play in all of this and what might be her motivations? “Margo Asher” is a moving, sometimes droll, sometimes bitter, more often reflective look at how human beings grapple with powerlessness – those who are powerless themselves or who witness powerlessness in others.
“Philosophus”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Farce
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes
“Philosophus” is a screwball comedy set in 1753 about the wonderfully self-righteous philosopher Voltaire and the bizarre escapades surrounding his flight from the court of Frederick II, King of Prussia, from whom he stole a sensitive, personal manuscript of poems. Determined to embarrass the monarch in revenge for an unfortunate falling-out, Voltaire finds his journey to France rudely halted in the city of Frankfurt by the intriguingly Hitlerian Baron von Freytag, representative of the Prussian King. Before too long, the Baron’s over-eagerness to obey his master’s wishes and the enormity of Voltaire’s ego combine to create a purely comedic kind of chaos, which becomes all the more ludicrous by the addition of a money-hungry German shrew, two slightly dim-witted, look-a-like servants, and Voltaire’s buxom, sex-obsessed niece, who fancies herself an ingénue. “Philosophus” is mayhem from start to finish, with a little bit of Kaufman and Hart, Oscar Wilde, Benny Hill, and Monty Python all rolled into one.
“Respectfully Yours, Julia Sand”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Full-Length Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“Respectfully, Yours, Julia Sand” is a brisk-paced, two-act drama about President Chester Alan Arthur and the most unlikeliest of penpals. Set in 1880’s America, the play centers on Chester Alan Arthur, who has just been elected Vice-President of the United States. A creature of the New York political machine and a participant in the rankest corruption – and a devotee of soirees above all – Arthur is content to remain in his new, largely ceremonial role – until, that is, the actual President is shot and killed. Propelled into history, Arthur must choose between feeding the corrupt impulses of his friends and doing what is right for the country. He waffles, he wavers – and then suddenly he receives an inspiring letter from a mysterious woman who gives him the courage to stand up for himself and for what he knows is right. “Respectfully Yours, Julia Sand” is an epic drama – funny in parts, heartfelt in others, and even tragic in some – about hope and redemption – and specifically, the hope and redemption of the unlikeliest people from the unlikeliest sources.
“Shadows of Men”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Drama
Runtime: 2 hours
“Shadows of Men” is a two-hour historical drama about the novelist John Dos Passos and his determined search for his friend José Robles, who mysteriously vanished one night while working for the Spanish Republican government during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Dos Passos pledges to find out what happened to his dear friend and puts aside the political aspects of a high-profile sojourn in Spain to get to the bottom of his friend’s disappearance. This passionate dedication to humanity puts the novelist at odds with more ideologically inclined individuals around him – especially the great Ernest Hemingway – who finds Dos Passos’s focus on friendship rather pedestrian when democracy itself is at stake. Dos Passos, however, remains single-minded in pursuit of his friend, despite the all-encompassing, ever-maddening clarion call of ideology – but the end of his journey may take him to a destination he never wanted to visit. “Shadows of Men” is a story about the inherent dignity of the individual and the centrality of human beings in a world dominated by ideologies, abstractions, and political polarization.
“Whit(e)man”
Script by Colin Speer Crowley
Type: Two-Act Satire
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes
“Whit(e)man” is a satirical comedy about Wally Whitman, a good-looking, professional African-American male who, despite all appearances, insists that he is, and has always been, a white man. Born into the wrong race, Wally relates to us his prolonged journey of self-discovery, aided by a flashy, transgender girlfriend, a Delhi-based customer service representative from Time Warner Cable, a crass, ambulance-chasing trial attorney, a white hobo with blond dreadlocks and abstruse wisdom, and a kooky white psychiatrist, who, like Wally, was born into the wrong race (she is, in fact, Mongolian). A contemporary, quirky satire, “Whit(e)man” puts a whimsical, comedic spin on over-used stereotypes (especially of a racial nature) and pokes fun at various aspects of a politically correct society. More than that, it is a story about identity and about what makes us who we are – what we can change about it, what we can’t – and what we perhaps shouldn’t.