New Plays Festival: New One-Act Plays by Emerging American Playwrights

The one-act plays in this collection were first performed in the inaugural presentation of the New Plays Festival at Gardner-Webb University in 2003. The Festival is an initiative of the theater program at GWU dedicated to developing new plays and encouraging early-career playwrights. DUELality is an historical parody of the famous Hamilton-Burr duel. Milking Success details the eccentricities of two success-ridden filmmakers. The Cure is a riotous "battle of the sexes" where nirvana reigns over reason. Social Etiquette is an absurd farce about a dysfunctional family living in a closet. The End of the Road is an existential comedy about two travelers who have been everywhere and seen everything. Six Soldier Junction (the editor's own play) is a serious exploration of the experiences of six American soldiers in the first Gulf War. The mounting of this postmodern play corresponded with the American invasion of Iraq, proving its timeliness.