The Taming, by Lauren Gunderson

Tweetering, pandashrews, and undying giddiness for James Madison -- what else could you expect to find at a Miss America pageant? In this hilarious, raucous, all-female "power-play" inspired by Shakespeare's Shrew, contestant Katherine has political aspirations to match her beauty pageant ambitions. All she needs to revolutionize the American government is the help of one ultra-conservative senator's aide on the cusp of a career breakthrough, and one bleeding-heart liberal blogger who will do anything for her cause. Well, that and a semi-historically-accurate ether trip. Here's lookin' at you, America.

"So many hysterical lines in the play that you'd hardly finish laughing at one before the next hit you."

KQED Arts

"Gunderson's Taming is a laugh riot with some timely food for thought."

Rob Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

Charlie Cox Runs With Scissors, by Michael McKeever

When Charlie Cox, a middle-aged editor, learns that he has the incurable, degenerative condition known as Lou Gehrig's disease, he gets in his car and starts driving. He soon finds himself in the Arizona desert, where he uncharacteristically picks up a hitchhiker, a sarcastic, impatient guy named Wally, who happens to be his own personal death emissary. As Wally urges him to get it over with, lovely, sexy Kiki enters the picture wearing dark glasses since "love is blind." Wally is infuriated when love blossoms between Charlie and the widow Nell, and the ensuing battle between Death and Love teaches Charlie the importance of living life to the fullest.

"The playwright seems to have been influenced by the Ingmar Bergman film The Seventh Seal, but rather than make this a heavy drama, he has turned it into a romantic comedy fantasy." -TalkinBroadway.com