GRN


Guy Newsham's site


  • HOME
  • The Plays
  • Actor
  • Scientist
  • Volunteer

there are OVER THIRTY PLAYs OF VARIOUS LENGTHS: full-length one-acT, TEN-minute AND 1-minute playS, AND MONOLOGUEs



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, here, and here).


In 2023, Guy sponsored a new student 10-minute playwriting competition at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. A very successful second year followed in 2024.



BLANC (FULL LENGTH)





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.


Selected for the short list in the ATC Studios Playwrights Project (Clifton, NJ, USA), 2025.


View Sample

REception (FULL LENGTH)





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.



View Sample

RED, INK. (FULL LENGTH)





A play about work-life balance, about what a person thinks they want changes over time, about moving on, and about an escort as the only honest capitalist in the room.

A drama.

4 characters.



View Sample

green cheese (FULL LENGTH)





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. Performed in Tampa, FL, USA in January, 2025.


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.


photo: John Hooper as Mike, Erin Laugen as Nora, Mike Fasso as Phil, and Jessie Mease as Olive, Lab Theater Project 2025. Directed by Katie Calahan.


View Sample

making friends (one act)





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.​


View Sample

LAST RITES (one act)





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 Central Texas New Works Festival, performed in Temple, TX, USA in August, 2025


Selected for the Marshall Playwrights Showcase, Players Guild of Leonia, Performed in Leonia, NJ, USA in June, 2025


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)


View Sample

set in stone (one act)





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 Nomad Theatre's By the Fireside Plays (Bloomington, IL, USA)


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


View Sample

sPLIT (one act)





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.


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


Short listed The Theatre of Western Springs New Plays Workshop. Western Springs (IL, USA), May 2025


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


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


View Sample

JAM (20 MINS)





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 Nantucket Short Play Festival. Performed in Nantucket, MA, USA, May, 2025


Selected for the INK Festival. Performed in Halesworth, UK, April, 2025


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)


photo: Andrew Horton and Mark Anthony Tomsic. Columbus Black Theatre Festival, 2024. Directed by Sean Maycock.

Photography: DNGinc


View Sample

dances with wives (20 MINS)





Claire and Jordie are divorced, and watch on as their newly-married daughter takes her first dance with her husband. Claire and Jordie seem prickly at first, and take shots at each other's new partners. But as they recall their prior courtship, and the DJ plays "their song", perhaps there's reconciliation.

A drama.

2 characters.


Selected for Theatrical Shenanigans (Exeter, UK). To be performed (radio version) in 2026


View Sample

SECRET santa (10 mins)





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.


View Sample

the other side (10 mins)





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.


Selected for Shoestring Radio Theatre (San Francisco, CA, USA). Broadcast in March, 2025


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.


View Sample

alexa the liar (10 mins)





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. 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.



View Sample

it starts with a bang
(10 mins)





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)


View Sample

on the sidelines (10 mins)





A soccer Mom and a soccer Dad tackle their sons, their spouses, and each other.

A comedy.

2 or 4 characters (2 actors).​


Selected for the Magnus Theatre 10x10 Short Play Festival. Performed in Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, June 2025


A winning entry in the Thank You, 10! Ten-Minute Play Festival. Performed by Anacortes Community Theatre, WA, USA in August 2020


A semi-finalist in the Stage It! Ten-Minute Play Festival. Performed at the Center for the Performing Arts Bonita Springs, FL, USA in September 2020


photo: Tim McLaughlin as Jeff, and Willow McLaughlin as Steph, Anacortes Community Theatre, 2020.


View Sample

the OTHER GUY (10 mins)





What's in a name?

A comedy.

3 characters.​


A winning entry in the Orange County International Ten-Minute Play Festival (NY, USA). Performed in August 2020


A winning entry in the Crafton Hills College New Works Festival (CA, USA). Performed in May 2021


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


Selected for the long list in the Pint-sized Plays 2020 Competition (UK)


Selected for the short list for Schreiber Shorts, August, 2025 (New York, USA)


View Sample

waiting for hello (10 mins)





A conference call that never quite connects.

A tragicomedy.

3 characters.​


A winning entry for the LIGHTS UP! Season 2 podcast series, Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga. Performed in Chattanooga, TN, USA in May, 2021


A winning entry in the Twisted Tales Festival, Rainy Day Artistic Collective. Performed in Seattle, WA, USA in December, 2021


View Sample

DERBY LINE (10 mins)





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


View Sample

CHIN UP (10 mins)





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). 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


View Sample

skiP (10 mins)





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. Performed in Apex, NC, USA in March 2025


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.


View Sample

10...9...8... (10 mins)





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.​


Performed at Lake of Bays Curling Club fundraiser, Baysville, ON, Canada, May 2025


Tempest Productions Festival of Shorts. Performed in State College, PA, USA, October 2024


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


Chosen for 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. 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.


View Sample

the beautiful boats
(10 mins)





It’s the worst book club turnout ever, and has anyone read the book?

A comedy.

2 characters.​


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


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


Selected for the Rule of 7x7 series (New York, NY, USA). Performed in March 2021


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


View Sample

photo finish
(10 mins)





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

A comedy/drama.

2 characters.​


Selected for Peterborough Theatre Guild's 10-minute Play Festival. Performed in Peterborough, ON, Canada in August, 2025, and at Doors Open Peterborough in September, 2025.


Selected for Off Main Stage's Union Shorts. Performed in London, UK in April, 2025


Selected for Theatrical Shenanigans (Exeter, UK). 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)


View Sample

first data
(10 mins)





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.​


Selected for Shoestring Radio Theatre (San Francisco, CA, USA). Broadcast in June, 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


View Sample

a perfect two
(10 mins)





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.​


Tempest Productions Festival of Shorts. Performed in State College, PA, USA, October 2024


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)


View Sample

IT'S TIME TO COME OUT NOW
(10 mins)





Sam hasn’t left the house in thirty years, and it’s Robbie’s job to convince Sam to come out.

A drama.

2 characters.​


A winning entry in the UpStage Napa Valley PlayFest 2022. Performed in St. Helena, CA, USA, Oct/Nov 2022


Chosen for the City Lights Theater Company Lights Up! 2022 podcast program. Performed in San Jose, CA, USA.


Selected for the long list in the Wexford Literary Arts Festival, Billy Roche International Short Play Competition, 2022 (Wexford, Ireland)


View Sample

CHANGING ROOM
(10 mins)





A husband and wife go shopping, but which habit fits them best?

A (romantic/supernatural) comedy/drama.

3 characters.​


Chosen for the Gemco Players Take Ten Festival. Performed in Emerald, Australia, May 2023


Chosen for The Theatre of Western Springs Shorts for a Summer’s Evening. Performed in Western Springs (IL, USA) June 2024


A winning entry in the Crafton Hills College New Works Festival (CA, USA). Performed in 2024


View Sample

snow clue
(10 mins)





There’s a killer in the ski lodge, but is the motive lust for power, lust for money, or lust for love?

A murder mystery (with an unapologetic tip of the hat to Agatha Christie)

4 characters.​


Selected for Shoestring Radio Theatre (San Francisco, CA, USA). Broadcast in June, 2025


View Sample

the wakers
(10 mins)





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.​


Selected for The Best 10-Minute Plays 2024 (Smith & Kraus)


Selected for Have We Met Productions' Anthologies Short Play Festival. To be performed in Atlanta, GA, USA, in November, 2025


Selected for Otherworld Theatre's Paragon Festival. Performed in Chicago, IL, USA, in April, 2025


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


Selected for SUNY Brockport's Festival of Ten. Performed in Brockport, NY, USA, in October, 2024 (Audience Favorite 3rd Place)


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


photo: Lou McGinnis and Sydney Johnson, Brockport Festival of Ten, 2024. Directed by Samantha Marchant. Photography Zachariah Lyman.


View Sample

ESCAPE?
(10 mins)





Do you like pina coladas? Really?

It's many years since they connected through an ad in the personals column of the newspaper, and a couple meets to review their relationship status.

2 characters.​


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


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


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


View Sample

CHECK, PLEASE
(10 mins)





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.​


Selected for the Canadian National 10-minute Play Festival, River & Main Theatre Company. To be performed in Belleville, ON, Canada in September, 2025


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


photo: Maria Colonescu and Kalene Tickner-Malton, Asphalt Jungle Shorts, 2024. Directed by Paddy Gillard-Bentley. Photography Carlos Parada.


View Sample

chute!
(10 mins)





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 Studio Theatre Perth's Evening of One Act Plays. To be performed in Perth, ON, Canada in October, 2025


Selected for Off Main Stage's Union Shorts. Performed in London, UK in February, 2025, and at the Greenwich Theatre in October, 2025


Selected for Bite-Size Plays' Big Breakfast at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Performed in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2024
(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


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


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


Selected for the short list in the Short+Sweet Essex Festival, June, 2024 (Billericay, UK), the Short+Sweet Yorkshire Festival, Jun-Jul, 2024 (Harrogate, UK), and the Short+Sweet Sydney Festival, Feb-May, 2025 (Sydney, Australia),


photo: Thomas Willshire as Man and Liv Koplick as Woman, Bite-Size Plays, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2024.
Directed by
David Frias-Robles


View Sample

A FLICKER
(10 mins)





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

(Audience Choice Award Winner)


A winning entry in the UpStage Napa Valley PlayFest 2025. To be performed in St. Helena, CA, USA, March 2026


Chosen for 8x8x8 at Ilkley Playhouse. To be performed in Ilkley, UK, in September 2025


Chosen for Remarkable Theatre's Pint-Sized Plays. Performed in Queenstown, New Zealand, in May 2025


Chosen for Cannon Theatre's 10-minute Play Festival. Performed in Devens, MA USA, in June 2025


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


Chosen for Ridgefield Theater Barn's Evening of One Acts. Performed in Ridgefield, CT, USA, March 2025


photo: Ryan Jason Cook and Zane Barker, Fusion The Seven, 2024. Directed by Wendy Barker.


View Sample

bump
(1 min)





If you don't look where you're going, who knows what might happen.

2 characters.​


Selected for Gi60 Houston. Performed in Houston, TX, USA, July 2022



ARROWS
(1-3 min)





Sometimes it’s love at first sight, sometimes it takes a minute.

2 characters.​


Selected for WRiTEON’s Mini Plays. To be performed in Cambridge, UK, June 2025


A winning entry in the Scriptwriters & Co. Winter Scratch Night, January, 2025


Selected for Gi60 UK Live. Performed in Leeds, UK, September 2023



Platypus
(1 min)





Do you need a safeword?.

2 characters.​


Selected for WRiTEON’s 60-Second Plays. Performed in Cambridge, UK, September 2023



REWILDING (MONOLOGUE)





Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, a bus driver is viewed as a health risk by his family, and seeks escape.​


A winning entry in Raze The Space's 2020 International Play Festival (Los Angeles, CA, USA). Performed in March, 2021


Selected for the short list for Invisible Theatre's Going it Alone collection, Tucson, AZ, USA, 2025


View Sample

guy.newsham@cantab.net