They Don't Take Long

<p>Ten plays: Each play takes ten to fifteen minutes to perform. Each can be presented with minimal costumes and props and without theatrical scenery or lighting.</p><p><strong><em>Out of Time</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>A customer attempts to purchase a used watch. But the store’s proprietor is<strong><em> </em></strong>reluctant to sell a watch to someone who does not understand what time is.</p><p><strong><em>Widgets</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>In 1908 a newspaper reporter interviews the recently named Employee of the Year at<strong><em> </em></strong>the World Wide Widget Works.</p><p><strong><em>A Fond Farewell</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>Charlie Burns is dead. His wife and ex-wife do not agree about how<strong><em> </em></strong>Charlie’s fond farewell should proceed. Then Mr. Barber arrives.</p><p><strong><em>Do You Care Enough?</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>Three “diverse” greeting card executives have a mandate from their<strong><em> </em></strong>boss to devise a new imperative for consumers to purchase cards.</p><p><strong><em>Move the Car</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>A couple married for over thirty-five years hires an auto shop to refurbish a<strong><em> </em></strong>twenty-eight-year-old car and move it into their bedroom.</p><p><strong><em>Tee-shirt History</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>A novice entrepreneur sells souvenirs near Atlanta’s Piedmont Park as an<strong><em> </em></strong>event celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday begins.</p><p><strong><em>The Great Xmas Race</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>It’s reality television. It’s the second coming. Each contestant’s last<strong><em> </em></strong>name is King. Fame and fortune await the first three Kings to arrive in Bethlehem and present their gifts. The Kings prepare to board a flight at the world’s busiest airport.</p><p><strong><em>Silver Tongue</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>A political hopeful learns the secret to the father’s success while endeavoring to<strong><em> </em></strong>win the office held by the father for decades.</p><p><strong><em>Kin Ship</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>The Global Union of Nations is sending all the Black people to its Lunar Colony. The<strong><em> </em></strong>Racial Identity Determination Bureau decides who goes and who stays. Twin sisters have appealed the Bureau’s decision. The twin ordered to go wants to stay and the one ordered to stay wants to go.</p><p><strong><em>Our Dreams (Last Supper)</em></strong><strong>–<em> </em></strong>A Memphis café staff prepares supper for Dr. Martin Luther King<strong><em> </em></strong>Jr. on the eve of the historic march in support of sanitation workers.</p>