Facing Forward

This collection includes 34 one acts and monologues by notable American women playwrights. 67201 by Adele Edling Shank: Love and fantasy in the afternoon. THE BEST OF STRANGERS by Lee Hunkins: Two women sharing a hospital room cope with breast cancer, husbands, and racial barriers. BOARDERS by Constance Congdon: Three short plays about apartment dwellers, with an epilogue by their landlady. BREAKFAST SERIAL by Megan Terry: A child abuser meets his match. BRUSSELS SPROUTS by Janet Neipris: Former lovers meet under very different circumstances the second time around. THE CORD AND THE TRACK by Helen Duberstein: Two older men discuss younger women. CURTAIN CALL by Roma Greth: An actress balances on an emotional tightrope strung between approaching retirement and a fading career. THE DEATH OF HUEY NEWTON by Lynda Sturner: A couple reflect on the twists and turns their lives have taken since their 1960s glory days. DRY SMOKE by Adele Edling Shank: The story behind a fatal fire. FOOD by Neena Beber: Two women are starving for something, anything, that might provide fulfillment. THE GHOST STORY by Lenore Bensinger: The title hints at half of it; the other half involves a psychic advisor, a couple of children, a golden retriever, double fudge brownies, and the C.I.A. HAITI (A DREAM) by Karen Sunde: The plight of a Haitian family aboard a rickety boat seeking their dream of America. HALFWAY by Roma Greth: There is a question as to who is the inmate and who is the attendant in this halfway house for mental patients. HELEN MELON AT THE SIDESHOW by Katy Dierlam: The carnival "Fat Lady" delivers a monologue. IN THE BEGINNING by Rebecca Ritchie: Lilith shares with Eve a few eye-opening tidbits about Adam. JIM'S COMMUTER AIRLINES by Lavonne Mueller: Two pilots undergo trauma when one's mother decides to fly incognito on the rickety airline he owns. LIFE GAP by Y York: A story about a very poor family and the do-gooder who wants to help them. METAMORPHOSES by June Siegel: Life changes experienced by three women. THE NIP AND THE BITE by Judy GeBauer: A brief, explosive story of American violence on Mexican soil. OCEAN DREAM by Nancy Rhodes: A young woman recovers her childhood during an afternoon on the beach. ORIGAMI TEARS by D Lee Miller: The love/hate relationship of an older married couple coming to terms with the husband's death. PANICKED by Sally Ordway: A performance artist's witty examination of life turns into a howl of help to alien beings. A PERMANENT SIGNAL by Sherry Kramer: The famous Siren sisters step down from the heavens to harvest the sweetness they planted eons before. The crop is not what they expected. A PLACE WHERE LOVE IS by Sally Dixon Wiener: A terminally ill father and his daughters struggle to understand one another. POOF! By Lynn Nottage: The laws of the universe tumble when a meek woman finally speaks up. REPAIRS by Susan Miller: Finishing a basement is either a neurotic retreat from reality or a way of patching up the cracks. THE SLEEP SEEKER by Staci Swedeen: A woman struggles with unbearable memories. SPRINGTIME by María Irene Fornés: The eternal story of love and betrayal. STEPPING OFF A CLOUD by Christina Cocek: A comedy about getting it together. TRIPS by Sally Ordway: Two women pass their time on the porch of a retirement home by counting passing cars. WATCHING THE DOG by Sybille Pearson: A play within a play set in a veterinarian's office. WATER PLAY by Sally Nemeth: The rain will not stop. Rising seas reclaim the land. Scientist Evangeline tracks the deluge, while locked in a love triangle with fellow researchers Jack and Dresden. But this apocalyptic world holds its own logic, and Evangeline finds resolution in evolution: while drowning himself, Jack learns to breathe water. WELL DONE POETS by Laura Quinn: A math major, a biology major, and an economics major explore feminist poetry. WORKOUT by Wendy Wasserstein: A running commentary on, to, and about a woman's life and her exercise routine.