Monday, December 19, 2016

Monologue THE ELF'S PROMOTION read in Los Angeles

Short holiday monologue THE ELF'S PROMOTION was read at Los Angeles Female Playwright's Initiative's Micro-Reads "Femme Fest," December 2017.

SYNOPSIS:  A disgruntled elf in Santa's workshop wants a promotion.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Short drama UNLUCKY to be produced in London

Short drama UNLUCKY will be produced at the Hackney Attic Picturehouse in London, England in January 2017.

SYNOPSIS: Mickey and Lou, two former flatmates, have a lot of catching up to do, including the revelation that one of them is HIV-positive.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

New one-act play by Martha Patterson - GOING OVERBOARD

Just completed writing a new one-act romantic comedy (revised and developed from a much shorter version I wrote a few years ago) - GOING OVERBOARD.  I'm always nostalgic for New York and this is a very New York-centric story.

SYNOPSIS: Depressed Miranda and easygoing Arthur, two middle-aged people dumped by their exes, meet by accident on the Staten Island Ferry.

Friday, September 9, 2016

New "Brexit" monologue - LEAVING THE E.U.

Written specifically for English theatres on the theme of Britain's political separation from the rest of Europe, LEAVING THE E.U. is a short comic monologue, spoken by a 20-something British girl who has just been woken up by her nagging vegan sister.  While brushing her teeth, she wonders what good will come of the Brexit.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Short comedy HASHING IT OVER to be produced in NYC, Oct. 2016

My short comedy HASHING IT OVER will be produced by AlphaNYC / Thalia Festival in NYC, Oct. 2016. It will be a world premiere. SYNOPSIS: A short play about sexism, feminism, and classism. Mindy and Imelda, two professional women dining in a burger joint, argue about the value of men and their own hard-won careers. Finally, their southern, working class waitress offers some insight and a different point of view. And then “The Boss” enters.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

IN RECOVERY produced in New York City by Thalia Festival

Short comedy IN RECOVERY opened July 9th, 2016 in New York City for a two-week run at Thalia Festival / AlphaNYC, New York City.

SYNOPSIS:  What’s more important – shoes or a spouse?  Samantha tries to help her friend Georgette get over her ex-husband.

SCENE FROM A STREET CORNER to be published by Smith & Kraus

Smith & Kraus will be publishing my play SCENE FROM A STREET CORNER in their Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2017 anthology.  This is their annual collection for which your play must have been produced in the past year.  The play uses both Spanish and English.

SYNOPSIS:  Upon meeting on a street corner, teenager Carlos tries to prove to Mona that she's finally met a real man.    

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Smith & Kraus to publish two monologues by Martha Patterson

Theatre publishers Smith & Kraus will publish two of my monologues in 222 More Comedy Monologues in August 2016.

SYNOPSIS of THE BIG HAT:  A bar in Kansas City.  MARNIE is in her 20s.  She talks to the audience and holds a shot glass full of whisky.  She is talking about how she always wanted to be like her sexy, long-lost aunt.

SYNOPSIS of A PLACE TO CRASH:  Ron, in his 30s-40s, visits a woman he hasn’t seen in a while and thinks he can win her over.  With chatter about the sandblasted masks he's made of his own face, and the inexpensive bean sprouts he grows for food in the trunk of his car, he tries unsuccessfully to seduce her.  

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Short comedy SCENE FROM A STREET CORNER to be produced in Waltham, Mass, spring 2016

SCENE FROM A STREET CORNER is about Latino teenager Carlos, who meets a girl named Mona and tries to prove to her that he's the first real man she's ever met.  The play uses both English and Spanish.  It will be produced by the Hovey Players in Waltham, Massachusetts in 2016.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

AMBER - A RECOGNITION OF BIRDS to be produced in Canada, March 2016

My monologue on memory and death, AMBER - A RECOGNITION OF BIRDS, will be produced by She Speaks/Flush Ink in Canada. The dates for She Speaks are March 19th (in Kitchener) and 20th (in Cambridge), 2016.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Production of AMARILIS at Duke University, North Carolina in 2016

Nehanda Loiseau, the producer of the Border of Lights Festival in New York City several years ago, is resurrecting my dramatic monologue, AMARILIS at Duke University in North Carolina in the spring of 2016.  This revival of my monologue will support and augment the full-length show BLUE ISLAND, about the Haiti/Dominican Republic border.  A panel discussion will follow the performance.    

SYNOPSIS: Elderly Amarilis, living in New Orleans, recalls her husband's murder and the massacre on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the 1930s.