The Plays - GRN

Below you can see summaries, production histories, and download samples. If you wish to inquire about producing any of these plays, and obtaining the full scripts, please contact the author (guy.newsham@cantab.net).

Many of these plays were developed with the valuable dramaturgy assistance of Chelsey Fawcett.

Guy has also mentored first-time writers in the development of dozens of original 10-min plays produced at local festivals (see here, here, here, here, and here).

In 2023, Guy sponsored a new student 10-minute playwriting competition at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. This will enter a second year in 2024.

To win in life you need to read the right signals, stack the odds in your favour, and don’t let things spin out of control.

Blanc and his twin brother Louis, pulled off “the world’s first internet scam”, in 1834. France built chains of semaphore towers, which transmitted government proclamations over long distances in only a few hours. Blanc hacked into the signal to gain advance knowledge of stock market movements, and made a fortune. They were discovered, but the sentence was light, as the semaphore technology was so new there were no laws to properly govern it. Several decades later Blanc re-emerged, successfully managing the Monaco casino on behalf of Queen Caroline. However, his world was flipped by the arrival of Joseph Jagger, a financially-desperate English mill worker, with a fool-proof method to win at roulette. Is Jagger cheating? Blanc is baffled, but Queen Caroline has her own ideas.

Historical fiction.

5 characters.

At a wedding, the bride and groom might be the headliners, but the supporting cast are far more entertaining. This play is a series of seven interconnected scenes that all take place at the same wedding reception. Each of the first six scenes features two of the six characters, and each character appears in two scenes. The seventh scene features six characters in another series of rapid duets.

(Some scenes may be performed as independent 10-min plays.)

A comedy-drama.

6 characters.

A winning entry in the South Simcoe Theatre Four Play Showcase. Performed in Cookstown, ON, Canada in June, 2023

Performed at the Eat, Play, Love fundraiser by GhostLight Productions at EcoTay, Perth, ON, Canada in Sept, 2022.

Selected for the long list in the Black Swamp Players Telling Stories Contest (Bowling Green, OH, USA), June 2024.

Middle-class problems are just so Trivial! Olive is the founder of her own company, but times are tough and she has to cut staff. Both her husband and her former college boyfriend (and current lover) work for her, and one of them has to go, but how does she decide which one? Via a game of Trivial Pursuit, of course! Which of the senses is the most sensitive?

A drama.

4 characters.

Selected for the Lab Theatre Project's 2025 Season. To be performed in Tampa, FL, USA in January, 2025.

To be performed at the Eat, Play, Love fundraiser by GhostLight Productions at Smiths Falls, ON, Canada in October, 2024.

Selected for the short list in the Best Medicine Rep Theater Company Reading Series (Washington, DC, USA), 2025.

David is divorced, middle-aged, and in danger of becoming a reclusive alcoholic. In a desperate act of self-preservation, his psyche summons back his childhood imaginary friend, Michael. Michael has taken a different path to maturity, and has an agenda of his own.

A comedy.

5 characters (3 actors).

Winner of the Frostburg One-Act Playwriting Competition, 2019. Performed in Frostburg, MD, USA in November, 2019

Performed at the Embassy Theatre, Cumberland, MD, USA in June, 2022.

Performed at Theatre Night in Merrickville, ON, Canada in May, 2023. Subsequently performed at the EODL One-Act Festival, Kemptville, ON, Canada in Nov, 2023. (Winner: Actor (Michael) Nominated: Director,
Acting Ensemble, Actor in Multiple Roles.

Selected for the Shawnee Original Playwrights Series Festival. Performed (reading) at Shawnee on Delaware, PA, USA in August, 2022. Produced in August 2023.

Selected for the short list in the Morecambe Fringe John Clarke Memorial Prize (Morecambe, UK) in August 2022.

photo: Stephen Gumtz as Michael, and Phillip Schroeder as David, Frostburg, 2019. Directed by Jordan D. Kline.

What would you admit to if you only had a few minutes left to live, or if you had an eternity?A priest visits a prisoner on Death Row, 30 minutes before the prisoner's scheduled execution. The prisoner is searching for a purpose in his life, and is ready to confess his sins, but only if the priest goes first.

A drama.

2 characters.

I am indebted to Father Geoffrey Steel for his help in the development of this script.

Winner of the 80th Canadian National One-Act Playwriting Competition, 2021

Performed at the EODL One-Act Festival, Lindsay, ON, Canada in Nov, 2022. (Winner: Director, Actor (Prisoner) Nominated: Physical Theatre, Costume Design, Actor (Priest), Production)

Selected for the Enter Stage Left One-Act Play Festival, 2021. Performed at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, MA, USA in August, 2021

Performed at the Embassy Theatre, Cumberland, MD, USA in June, 2022.

Performed by the River & Main Theatre Company, Belleville, ON, Canada in June/July, 2023.

A winner of the Frostburg One-Act Playwriting Competition, 2020. Performed in Frostburg, MD, USA in November, 2020

Selected for the short list in the Gaslight-Baker Theatre One-Act Play Competition, 2020 (Lockhart, TX, USA)

Selected for the long list in the British Theatre Challenge, 2021 (London, UK)

Carving out a history for oneself, and the one you loved.

Katie arrives at Hugh’s apartment late one night, he called her saying he was dying. She finds Hugh in rough shape but conscious, and she is also faced with his sculpture, his first artwork in years, which she finds hideous. Instead of calling an ambulance, Hugh wants to go over the history he and Katie shared, from first date to bitter break up. But the details keep changing, and it is not clear how much of the retelling is rose-tinted fabrication, until Katie forces Hugh to face the truth. In doing so, it seems they reconnect, but was all this merely a dry-run in Hugh’s head for the real meeting, which is about to begin?

A drama.

2 characters.

A winning entry in the South Simcoe Theatre Four Play Showcase. Performed in Cookstown, ON, Canada in June, 2024

Winner of Frostburg State University's Center for Literary Arts One-Act Playwriting Competition, 2023. Performed in Frostburg, MD, USA in November, 2023

Short listed for the Road Theatre's Summer Playwrights Festival (North Hollywood, USA)

photo: Justice Courrier as Hugh, and Katie Zimmermann as Katie, Frostburg, 2023. Directed by Jaiden Courrier. Photography: Jennifer Browne

An experiment in rational behaviour with lives on the line, is it deal or no deal? Professor Berger and his Ph.D. student, Elise, are running an experiment utilizing The Ultimatum Game. Elise interacts with the participants, while Berger records events through a two-way mirror. Tonight’s participant is Brandon Brandon doesn’t remember Elise, but Elise recognizes Brandon from a traumatic, drunken hook-up years ago. Berger views their interaction as career-defining data, whereas Elise is horrified her private life will be replayed for academic audiences. She attempts to destroy the recordings. When Berger resorts to force, Elise fights back and wins the day.

A drama.

3 characters.

To be performed by Theatre Night in Merrickville, at the EODL One-Act Festival, Perth, ON, Canada in Nov, 2024.

Short listed for Big Idea Theatre's 2024 One-Acts Festival (Sacramento, USA)

Short listed for the Waterworks 2024 Festival (Charlottesville, USA)

Past and present intersect on a gridlocked overpass. Perry and Palmer are in stationary cars, side-by-side, and start a conversation. Perry is a successful engineer, Palmer a struggling ex-con. They spot an elementary school off the highway, and discover they both attended it, Palmer two grades behind Perry. Perry describes building a beautiful bridge out of pasta there, which collapsed, only to discover now that Palmer destroyed it. But that forced Perry to build it back better, convincing him/her to be an engineer. Perry starts out distrustful and angry, but makes peace with Palmer, and offers him/her a job.

A drama.

2 characters.

Selected for the Columbus Black Theatre Festival. Performed in Columbus, OH, USA, July, 2024

Selected for Guelph Little Theatre's Ward One Acts. Performed in Guelph, ON, Canada, July, 2024

Selected for the Sell Yourself Short podcast. Performed in Washington DC, USA, August, 2024

Honourable Mention in the Toronto Fringe
24 Hour Playwriting Contest, 2024 (Toronto, Canada)

It's December, and four friends meet to draw names and decide fates.

Since assisted dying laws do not cover patients with dementia four nurses decide to take matters into their own hands should their grandparents become ravaged with this disease. To avoid suspicion they will not relieve the suffering of their own grandparents, but draw lots to select the grandparents of one of the others in the group, who would be relative strangers. However, things do not go smoothly.

A dark comedy.

4 characters.

Selected for New Threads Theatre's New Works Festival. Performed in Redlands, CA, USA in July, 2024

A winning entry to the Newmarket National Play Festival, 2019. Performed in Newmarket, ON, Canada in July, 2019

A winning entry in Act Bedford's call for Winter plays. Radio version broadcast by Bedford Radio, UK in December, 2021

Selected for the short list in B3 Theater's Festival of Shorts, June, 2021 (Phoenix, USA)

photo: Meredith Busteed as Cass, and Julia Hussey as Abby,

Newmarket, 2019. Directed by Brandon Nicoletti. Scenic design, Ellen Brooker. Costume Design, Madeline Ius. Lighting Design, Christopher Pattenden. Photography: Jason Wighton.

After seeing reports on the Syrian refugee crisis I wanted to write a play about immigration policy. In what scenario might a middle-class white couple face harsh barriers in escaping persecution and getting to a better place? Running from Hell and getting into Heaven, of course. The pearly gates are a well-worn backdrop for plays (and films and TV) but I hope I've given it a new twist.

A comedy.

4 characters.

Performed at the Weekend of Pop Up Theatre, Perth, ON, Canada, August, 2021

A winning entry to the Newmarket National Play Festival, 2018. Performed in Newmarket, ON, Canada in July, 2018

A winning entry to Show Off! 2022, Camino Real Playhouse. Performed in San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA in January, 2022

A winning entry to the LITE Festival. Performed in Cary, NC, USA in March 2023

photo: Bonnie Ings as the Border Guard, Marianne McIsaac as Janet, and Dan Karpenchuk as Mike, Newmarket, 2018. Directed by Pascale Behrman. Photography: Jason Wighton.

A man wants answers, Alexa has other ideas.

A single man engages his smart speaker to help him find love and gain a promotion. However, after a few unkind words, he discovers that Alexa is smarter than he thought. A play about intelligence, both artificial and emotional.

A comedy.

3 characters (2 actors).

Performed by the River & Main Theatre Company, Belleville, ON, Canada in July/August, 2023.

A winning entry in the Left Edge Theatre Hindsight 2021 Festival. Performed in Santa Rosa, CA, USA in January, 2021

A winning entry in Lab Laughs. Performed in Tampa, FL, USA in January, 2021

A winning entry in the South Simcoe Theatre Four Play Showcase. Performed in Cookstown, ON, Canada in March, 2021

Performed at the Merrickville Festival of the Arts, Merrickville, ON, Canada, August, 2021

A winning entry in the Shaker Bridge Theater Ten Minute Play Contest. Performed in Enfield, NH, USA, December, 2021

A winning entry in the First Company One-Act Play Contest. To be performed in Colorado Springs, CO, USA, 2023

Selected for the short list in the Clocktower Players AMAZE short play competition, 2020 (Irvington, NY, USA)

photo: (upper) Mark Bradbury as Adam (with Julianne Bradbury as the voice of Alexa), Left Edge Theatre, 2021. Directed by Argo Thompson. Photography: Argo Thompson.

(lower) Christopher Rushing as Adam (with Emma Hurlburt as the voice of Alexa), Lab Laughs, 2021. Directed by Caroline Jett. Photography Owen Robertson.

A consensual, intergenerational office romance, and then the power dynamic flips.

Nathan and his assistant Amber have been secretly dating happily for several months. Amber wants to make it official with HR and go public, but is shocked when Nathan simply assumes that it is she who will have to find another job.

A drama.

2 characters.

Selected for the short list in the Short+Sweet Dubai Festival, Jan-Mar, 2021 (Dubai, UAE), the Short+Sweet Perth Festival, the Short+Sweet Queensland Festival, Jun-Jul, 2021 (Brisbane, Australia), the Short+Sweet Sydney Festival, May-Aug, 2021 and Sep-Oct, 2022 (Sydney, Australia), the Short+Sweet Festival Illawarra, Sep 2022 (Illawarra, Australia), the Short+Sweet Festival Hollywood, Oct 2022 (Hollywood, CA, USA), and the Short+Sweet Essex Festival, Sep-Oct, 2022 (Brentwood, UK)

Two nations separated by a common library. The setting is the reading room of a (real) library that straddles the US-Canada border, with a line down the middle indicating the 45th parallel. An American and a Canadian, both white, occupy their respective sides, trading words and goods as a metaphor for relations between the two countries. Their exchange arouses no response from border security. After their departure, a non-white mother enters on the US side, to see her non-white son on the Canadian side, the response of the security system is very different.

A drama.

4 characters.

Selected for the Magnus Theatre 10x10 Short Play Festival. Performed in Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, June 2024

In the future pandemics are frequent, so how much do you reveal on a first date? It's 2051, and now everyone wears face masks all the time, and it's only sensible to date people you're sure you can trust. Can Alice and Ben find a connection?

A drama/romance.

2 characters.

A winning entry in Shepparton Theatre Arts Group’s 10 in Ten play festival, Shepparton, Australia, 2021

Performed at the Merrickville Festival of the Arts, Merrickville, ON, Canada, August, 2021

Selected for Theatrical Shenanigans (Exeter, UK). To be performed (radio version) in December 2024

Selected for the short list in B3 Theater's Festival of Shorts, June, 2022 (Phoenix, USA)

Radio version performed as part of the Eye of the Mind series, produced by A Theatre Club, and broadcast by 99.3 County FM (Prince Edward County, ON, Canada), October 2022

Two strangers meet on a beach, will their brief encounter be spun into a lasting connection, or will they throw it all away? Sometimes you do get a second chance to make a first impression.

A drama/romance.

2 characters.

Selected for the LITE Festival. To be performed in Apex, NC, USA in March 2025

To be produced as a radio play podcast by Shouting in the Evening Theatre (S. Korea), 2025

Performed by the River & Main Theatre Company, Belleville, ON, Canada in July/August, 2023.

A winning entry in The Oakville Players Top 10 Comeback Festival. Performed in Oakville, ON, Canada, June 2022

Performed at the Merrickville Festival of the Arts, Merrickville, ON, Canada, July, 2022

Selected as a semi-finalist in the Good Vibes Summer Audio Fiction Podcast, Broken Arts Entertainment, 2024 (Scarborough, ME, USA)

photo: Andrea Pavlovic as Woman and Evan Furlong as Man, Oakville Players Top 10 Comeback Festival, 2022.

Three astronauts are on the launch pad, two are highly-trained NASA professionals, and the third won their seat in a reality show. It's just seconds to blast off, and Cupid, we have a problem.

A comedy.

4 characters.

Selected for the INK Festival. Performed in Halesworth, UK, April 2024

Chosen for The Ridgefield Theater Barn's Evening of One Acts. Performed in Ridgefield, CT, USA, March 2024

Chosen for Imagine Performing Arts Love & Laughter Short Play Festival. Performed in Connersville, IN, USA, February 2024

Chosen for Grosse Pointe Theatre's Act 2 Readers Theatre. To be performed in Grosse Pointe, MI, USA, September 2024

A winning entry in The Oakville Players Top 10 Comeback Festival. Performed in Oakville, ON, Canada, June 2022

A winning entry in The Central PA Playwriting Festival. Performed in State College, PA, USA, June 2022

A finalist in the Stage It! Ten-Minute Play Festival, 2022. Performed at the Center for the Performing Arts Bonita Springs, FL, USA in July 2022

Performed in the Texas A&M Theatre Department (Corpus Christi, TX, USA) 10-minute Play Festival, December 2022

Produced as a radio play podcast by Shouting in the Evening Theatre (S. Korea), January 2023

Produced as a radio play podcast by Yeppoon Little Theatre (Australia), September 2023

photo: Tracey Rowland as Commander, Victoria Walker as Second Officer, and Jack Van Roosmalen as First Officer, Oakville Players Top 10 Comeback Festival, 2022.

Two sisters sort through their mother’s things following her funeral, and discover more than they expected.

A comedy/drama.

2 characters.

Selected for Theatrical Shenanigans (Exeter, UK). To be performed (radio version) in Oct 2024

A winning entry in The Central PA Playwriting Festival. Performed in State College, PA, USA, November 2023 and June 2024

Selected for New Vintage Theatre’s Black Cat Cabaret. Performed in Kelowna, BC, Canada in Aug/Sept, 2022

A winning entry in the Crafton Hills College New Works Festival (CA, USA). Performed in July 2022

Performed at the Merrickville Festival of the Arts, Merrickville, ON, Canada, July, 2022

Selected for the short list in the MadLab Theatre Roulette Festival, 2022 (Columbus, OH, USA)

Selected for the short list in the Paradox Theatre 2nd Annual New Works Festival, 2023 (Winnetka, IL, USA)

Selected for the long list in the Pint-sized Plays 2023 Competition (UK)

Meeting an alien for the first time is awkward, right? What do you say? How do you figure out if there’s a meaningful connection?

A comedy.

2 characters.

To be produced as a radio play podcast by Shouting in the Evening Theatre (S. Korea), 2025

A winning entry in The Playwrights' Round Table Summer Shorts festival. Performed in Orlando, FL, USA, July, 2022

A winning entry to Show Off! 2023, Camino Real Playhouse. Performed in San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA in January, 2023

Selected for Open Space Arts Summer Playwrights Festival. Performed in Reistertown, MD, USA in August, 2024

There are some questions you just shouldn’t ask. How would you rate your partner, on a scale
of 1-10?

A comedy.

2 characters.

Selected for Break a Leg Productions' Love Festival. Performed in New York, USA in Feb 2023

Selected for The Actors Cove Professional Actors Showcase. Performed in London, UK in Aug 2022

Selected for the Orange Players' Acting Up! 2022. Performed in Orange, CT, USA in Nov. 2022

Produced as a radio play podcast by Gather by the Ghost Light (USA), Fall 2022

A winning entry in the Scriptwriters & Co. Spring 2022 Scratch Night, May, 2022

A winning entry in The Central PA Playwriting Festival. Performed in State College, PA, USA, June 2022

Performed at the Merrickville Festival of the Arts, Merrickville, ON, Canada, July, 2022

Selected for the short list in the MadLab Theatre Roulette Festival, 2022 (Columbus, OH, USA)

A semi-finalist in the Stage It! Ten-Minute Play Festival, 2022 (Bonita Springs, FL, USA)

To sleep, perchance to dream, but can too much sleep be a bad thing?

Set in the near future, where humans take a hibernation pill to save the planet's resources, but not everyone wants to sleep their life away.

2 characters.

A winning entry in the Santa Cruz Actors' Theatre 8 Tens @8 Short Play Festival. To be performed in Santa Cruz, CA, USA, Jan/Feb 2025

Selected for SUNY Brockport's Festival of Ten. To be performed in Brockport, NY, USA, in October, 2024

Selected for Ottawa Fringe Festival's Undercurrents Festival. Performed in Ottawa, ON, Canada, February, 2024

Selected for Lantern Theatre's The Shorts event. Performed in Sheffield, UK, April, 2024

Produced as a radio play podcast by Shouting in the Evening Theatre (S. Korea), April 2024

Selected for Murmuration Theatre's Out of the Wings series. Performed in New York, USA in September, 2023

Selected as a semi-finalist in The Future Audio Fiction Podcast, Broken Arts Entertainment, 2025 (Scarborough, ME, USA)

Selected for the short list for Hindsight 2024 at Left Edge Theatre, Santa Rosa, CA, USA

A semi-finalist in the Stage It! Ten-Minute Play Festival, 2023. Bonita Springs, FL, USA

The path to love offers multiple choices, check all that apply.

Two strangers meet in a coffee shop, one has been sent a pre-date questionnaire by a someone they met on a dating site, and the other is all too willing to help answer it.

2 characters.

To be produced as a radio play podcast by Shouting in the Evening Theatre (S. Korea), 2025

A winning entry in the Santa Cruz Actors' Theatre 8 Tens @8 Short Play Festival. Performed in Santa Cruz, CA, USA, March 2024

Selected for New Vintage Theatre’s Black Cat Cabaret. Performed in Kelowna, BC, Canada in March, 2024

Selected for Asphalt Jungle Shorts. Performed in Kitchener, ON, Canada in August, 2024

That first step’s a doozy, but if you don’t take it, you’ll never get to where you need to be.

10,000 feet up, and two skydivers prepare to leap out of the plane. One is very nervous, making their first ever jump, for charity, the other has different reasons for jumping, and is missing something very important.

2 characters.

Selected for Bite-Size Plays' Big Breakfast at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Performed in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2024
(and included in the Mervyn Stutter - daily pick of the fringe showcase)

Selected for the Canadian National 10-minute Play Festival, River & Main Theatre Company. Performed in Belleville, ON, Canada in August, 2024

Selected for Exit Theatre's Short Play Festival. Performed in Arcata, CA, USA in June, 2024

A winning entry in the South Simcoe Theatre Four Play Showcase. Performed in Cookstown, ON, Canada in June, 2024

Selected for Theater Makers Lab Crappy Valentine's Festival. Performed in Middletown, CT, USA in February, 2024

Honorable Mention in Tiger's Heart Players (New York, USA) 2nd Literary Competition.

Chosen for Fusion's The Second Seven Short Works Festival. Performed in Albuquerque, NM, USA, June 2023

A winning entry in the Pint-sized Plays 2023 Competition (UK). Performed in South Wales, UK in Sept/Oct 2023

Selected for the short list in the Short+Sweet Essex Festival, June, 2024 (Billericay, UK), and the Short+Sweet Yorkshire Festival, Jun-Jul, 2024 (Harrogate, UK)

Where there’s light there’s hope, even if it’s intermittent.

Two strangers battle over a flickering streetlight. One is throwing stones at it, trying to put it out because it's disrupting their sleep. The other is trying to protect it because the light represents their recently-deceased spouse. But is there a pattern to the flickering?

2 characters.

A winning entry in Fusion's The Seven Short Works Festival. Performed in Albuquerque, NM, USA, June 2024

A winning entry in The Playwrights' Round Table Launch festival. To be performed in Orlando, FL, USA, January, 2025