Alison Blake

What Every Theater Needs, Two Short Plays: Acting Edition Alison Blake

The First Play is SAN DIEGO DATE, a two character play for a man and woman; a sailor and a hooker. It is set in Anita's apartment. The sailor, Jerry, claims he is just in from West Pac, an exciting time in San Diego, which is a big navy town. The local hookers are doing a booming business. Jerry seems a bit naïve. Anita, the hooker, actually seems protective of him. But it turns out that Jerry has an agenda of his own, and so does Anita. The play runs, depending on production values, anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five minutes. SAN DIEGO DATE has been produced at Yale University; off-Broadway in New York; in San Francisco; San Diego and in several other cities around the country. The second play is THE PINT, set in a Dublin pub. It is a play for three Irish men and one American woman; all in their late twenties and early thirties. Two friends and the bartender are watching a soccer match on TV when in wanders Anna; so out of her element that it's a wonder she has the nerve to enter a pub. Only something horrific could have caused her to act so out of character. Anna and Tommy, one of the men at the bar, shyly begin to connect; then the event that drove Anna into the pub is uncovered. The question is, just how necessary has that tentative connection become to both of them? The play runs, depending on production values, anywhere from twenty to thirty minutes. THE PINT has been produced in San Francisco, San Diego, Missoula and New Haven.