Play Scripts

I began writing plays when I was 12 years old and have written over 100 scripts, receiving my first professional production at the age of 19.

The scripts below are available as reading scripts upon request.

All are protected under copyright and not available for production without a union-approved contract.

To view a reading script, please click on the play title and await approval.

Please note that this is the beginning of this online archival process, and there may be some styling/formatting issues within the text.

So, please bear with me while I dig through, organize, and curate my life’s work.

Thank you for being a part of this process.

To learn more about me and my playwriting life, please check out my playwriting page on this site.

Full-LengtHS

Becoming Ingrid

Contests: 2002 Semi-Finalist Trustus Playwrights’ Festival

Production History: Rubicon Theatre Project, Stage Left Theatre, Chicago, November 2009

Synopsis (from Broadway World):

Set in the dank gray moors of Scotland, this fantastical excursion follows a loveable American woman named Christine and her obsessive quest to be close to her favorite author, Ingrid. While narrating with the fervor of an aspiring writer, the humorously skittish Christine attempts to appropriate Ingrid's character, and in the process is unwittingly forced to deconstruct her own illusions of love and happiness, unpredictably affirming the age-old proverb that you can't judge a book by its cover.

Chicago Critic Review:

Intriguing new work a discourse on creative passion

Rubicon Theatre Project presents a World Premiere of Liza Lentini’s drama, Becoming Ingrid that is a most intriguing adventure into the creative world of writing.  This is a smart, mysterious work that finds two characters–the lovable impressionistic Christine (the charming Meg Harkins) and her idol, Ingrid (April Pletcher) each striving to find their muse. This well written drama ambitiously weaves elements of mystery with character sketches on top of a discourse on the creative writing process and the search for a voice and a passionate force with which to create art.

Christine and her husband move to Scotland–him for work her to  be near her idol.  Christine is on an obsessive quest to be close to her novelist mentor. Christine needs to be taught and inspired by the famous Ingrid. Ingrid has writers’ block and is involved in a worthless relationship with a painter.  She escapes into teaching writing at a Scottish college. Christine enrolls in Ingrid’s class.

Christine narrates with the fervor of as aspiring writer throwing in tidbits of writing technique as she humorously channels her obsession with Ingrid. Christine’s determination motivates Ingrid in unique ways that seem to unclog Ingrid’s writing block.  This work slyly yet effectively unfolds as a mystery as we gradually see what haunts Ingrid. Christine learns more about herself and her marriage while pursuing her muse. Both Christine and Ingrid unwittingly are forced to deconstruct their views of love, happiness, and the creative process.

Becoming Ingrid is a funny, smart and most cleverly plotted work that smoothly unfolds on several levels. It is Christine’s story yet it is also Ingrid’s. The relationship between these two women sparks deep passions in both as each learn more than technique and inspiration from each other. This is a subtle, charming and uplifting work that deftly injects the influences from one’s muse.  We see that collaboration can lead to mutual lessons for both the teacher and the student. Liza Lentini has a refreshing take on passion and the creative process. She demonstrates her talent with Becoming Ingrid. Meg Harkins’ charm and genuine honesty wins us easily. April Pletcher most effectively guards her secret agony.  Becoming Ingrid grew on me as it slowly builds into an intelligent discourse. This show is a little gem that reinforces by belief that loads of fine theatre can be found in Chicago storefront productions.

Recommended

At Stage Left Theatre, 3408 N. Shefield, Chicago, IL, call773-466-`835, tickets $10 – $20, Thursdays thru Sundays at 7;30, running time is 2 hours, 10 minutes with intermission.

Blue Bird

Production History: Blue Bird received a workshop production at Francis Marion University in 2017. The production culminated with a weekend residency.

Playwright’s Note (in program):

I grew up seven miles outside Boston proper, my working class parents and extended family hail from South Boston and I spent a good part of my formative years there. Even though I moved to NYC straight out of graduate school, I will always be a Bostonian through and through. Boston is a community of loyal, solid shit-kicking survivors. Nothing is ever half-way, you love hard and fight hard. 

I started writing Bluebird over 10 years ago [2006]. A lot has happened in our world since then. There was a brief period where I felt the play might grow to become obsolete, a timepiece, that there was no longer a need to tell this story. And, of course, I was fine with that. But now it's more relevant than ever. I hope it speaks to everyone who feels their their voice has been stolen, and serve as a reminder that there are many ways to harness your power. 

Ever since I started writing plays my work has reflected the journey of the underdog, the everyday hero. The theatre has a long tradition of influence, and I take that responsibility very seriously. Blue Bird is the story of a woman finding her voice, in the figurative and literal sense, and in doing so, she harnesses the power of silence. If you change the details, it could be set in any past century. I hope in the future this theme becomes obsolete. Until it does, I'll keep writing.

Synopsis (from Francis Marion University):

An amiable, unexpected stranger arrives one afternoon to visit three specific women with his agenda in tow — but what is it exactly? Surrounded by secrets of past, present and future, imbedded in the aftershock of both war and the broken American Dream, Blue Bird takes its audience on a thoroughly absurd tour of this broad slice of life, both frightening and heroic, with an all too real message and an unforgettable twist.

This play contains mature subject matter and language.

Brain Children

Production History: Rubicon Theatre Project (Chicago), March 2006.

Synopsis (From Theatre Mania):

The play introduces four child geniuses who are selected to participate in an experimental education program from 1981-84. As they are held under a microscope by obtuse educators, they experience an arsenal of growing pains.

Daniel

Synopsis:

A child prodigy attempts to break generational trauma and escape her toxic family.

Note: This play contains a scene simulating live sex.

Drowning In Euphoria

Production History: Off-Broadway’s McGinc/Cazale Theatre, NYC, May 13, 1999 (opening). This production received an extended run.

Synopsis (from Playbill.com):

In a peaceful New England beach house on the anniversary of her aunt's drowning, Caroline returns home to confront a cousin's past indiscretions, her uncle's deceit, and a lover's unnatural obsession.

The Euthanasist

Production History:

Synopsis (from Playbill.com):

A solo performer portrays The Euthanasist, a socio-political American nurse turned suicide bomber, in a desperate cry to provoke change.

The Handle (Script Coming Soon)

Production History: Playwrights’ workshop developmental series, CAP21, NYC,

Synopsis:

Immaculate Heart

Synopsis:

Life in Exodus

Production History: Off-Off Broadway’s Milagro Theatre, NYC, Summer 2001.

Synopsis:

Set during the end of WWII, four brothers' lives are forever transformed when the eldest marries a woman with a mysterious secret.

Little Switzerland

Production History: Expanded Arts, NYC, 1998 (?)

Synopsis:

The Meantime

Synopsis:

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Othello, this story explores the tragedy within America’s modern classism: jealousy, manipulation, betrayal, and loss.

Note: This play contains a scene simulating sexual assault.

Pants

Synopsis:

Arrogant and charismatic, Liam Hunter is a one of America’s leading inspirational speakers and life coaches.

He seems indestructible — until he meets a woman immune to his bullshit.

PoP

Production History: Manhattan Repertory Theatre, Spring 2006.

Inspiration: This story is inspired by true events. In Boston in the late-‘70s, a major drug heist went completely bust when two young drug dealers screwed it up at the last minute.

Otherwise, the characterizations, details, dialogue and story are all fictionalized.

History: The play received a sold-out run in the spring of 2006 at 42nd Street’s Manhattan Ensemble Theatre..

I turned it into a novel in 2010.

Synopsis:

It’s 1979, and charming drug dealer Patrick O’Shannahan (“Pop” to his friends) is down on his luck.  Arrested for dealing cocaine the morning of his high school graduation, Pop has an epiphany: he’ll never get out of the slums of South Boston if he doesn’t strike it rich.  Once his uncle busts him out of jail early, he decides he’ll do one more deal, and this one’s going to be big.  The biggest drug heist Boston has ever seen.

Because “the only way to win big is to play big”, Pop calls in every favor and puts everything on the line to make it happen.  He’s involved his anorexic 16-year-old sister, his nitwit best friend Jimmy Nuts, and the scariest drug lord in town.

Everything seems perfectly in place.  Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?  Better not, because if it does, Pop will go away for a really long time.

But as the date approaches, something isn’t right.  Even though he prides himself on having razor sharp instincts, Pop’s distracted by his girlfriend’s mysterious pregnancy.  And wouldn’t you know, the day of the heist is the same as his mother’s electric shock treatments, in a constantly failed effort to cure her “nervousness”.  

Who, then, is Pop’s downfall?

Pop was inspired by a true life, Boston-based drug heist gone wrong.  Having known the real-life “Pop” her whole life, author Liza Lentini creates a first-person, slice-of-life, comedic drama of betrayal, tainted love, 1970’s Boston, and the root of all evil: money.  It will warm your heart, win you over, and leave you begging for more of this self-professed superstar.  If Holden Caulfield was raised poor in South Boston in 1979, this is the story he would have told.   

The Proxy (Script Coming Soon)

Psychotic & Weird (But Enough About Me)

Production History: This play received an extended run at the Canal Cafe Theatre, London’s West End, March 2000.

Synopsis: A trilogy about the ups and downs of three different pairs of gun-wielding, throat-cutting, soup-poisoning lovers.

Roxy Font

Production History: This script was workshop during a residency with Silk Road Theatre Company in Sun Valley, Idaho in 1999.

It was first produced at the Cherry Lane Theatre during the 2007 NYC Fringe Festival during a sold-out run and critical acclaim. (This production received a Broadway option.)

Synopsis: (Via BroadwayWorld.com):

Roxy Font sets out to prove that no matter where you come from or where you've been, everyone deserves a shot! Roxy Font has found a way for the world to know her name, whether she wants it to or not. Sometimes you find fame…sometimes it finds you. While searching for Rascal - her one true love - Roxy Font sets off a domino effect of accidents, incidents and sycophants, which sends her down the path to become the world's most infamous, murdering, dancing, three-footed prostitute.

Inspired by Voltaire’s Candide.

White May (Script Coming Soon)

Woodhull

Production History: This play was first produced as part of my MFA thesis in the summer of 1996.

It was later produced as part of the 2008 NYC Fringe Festival.

Synopsis:

It’s 1872.  Grant is in the White House, Queen Victoria’s on the throne, and conservatism rules the nation.  Then along comes Victoria Woodhull, a swindler’s daughter who comes to New York City by way of hustling and prostitution.  And now she decides to run for President.

With her delightful, dim-witted sister Tennessee by her side, Victoria cuts her hair and refuses her corset, starting on a controversial campaign which preaches free love, abolition of the death penalty, and legalized prostitution.  She’s ruthless, she’s outspoken, she’s even prostituting her sister to a Vanderbilt to fund her campaign. 

But before long, everyone is trying to shut Victoria down.  Officials alert the community not to listen to a person with such crazy ideas as “women having the right to vote”.  She’s even too much for Susan B. Anthony and her gang, who despise her enough to write her out of The History of Women Suffrage.

Despite her tough exterior, Victoria’s plagued by a haunting and mysterious past, and the conflicts and weaknesses known to any extraordinary visionary in their time. 

Based on a very true story, Woodhull shows the downfall of Victoria Woodhull’s campaign, and the events that led her to imprisonment on election night.  Her story exemplifies the American Dream, illuminating the corruption of politics, and the hardships of womanhood in any century.  It’s a timeless and important story about a woman who took a risk to be the first woman President, at a time when women couldn’t even cast a ballot. 

Running Time: 90-100 minutes

Cast Breakdown: 8W (+), 6M (+)

Unit Set, Limited Props/Possibly None Depending on Concept

One-Acts

The C ZonE

Production History: This play was first produced at Wheaton College in 1991 and later revived as part of LizaFest—a series of collected early works, produced by Manhattan Repertory Theatre—in 2009.

Synopsis:

Written at age 19, this play tells the story of two young women, trapped in a twisted fate of walking in a circle for eternity – unless they can, somehow, break the cycle.

CALAMITY

Synopsis:

A silly historical play about Calamity Jane.

Eating Mimi

Production History: Manhattan Repertory Theatre, NYC, 2006.

Synopsis:

Stacie and Alisa have a deviant little secret; something they've done that's just so horrendous, so unspeakable, made most delicious if they can tell Brad in person.  There's only one big problem: the women are so bound by their own relentless cycle of insanity, that their world spins backwards—and, occasionally forwards—in spite of their varying tactics of lunacy, making it tough to reveal the delectable details of exactly what they did with Mimi.

Casting Requirements: 2 W, 1 M

Running Time: 45 minutes.

Set Requirements: 3 stools.

Lighting: Minimal.

Fig’s Last Wish (SCRIPT COMING SOON)

Production History:

Synopsis:

The Gift

Synopsis:

Sadie, a dispirited young woman, discovers her likeness on a rocky cliff, alone and injured.  Claiming to be a bird fallen from her nest, the injured woman sets out to restore Sadie's faith through a surreal adventure of dance, movement, and magic realism.  Can the "bird" convince Sadie that she too can fly?  Or will they both be confined to the woods, lost for a lifetime?

Ninon & The School of Gallantry

Synopsis:

The Low Road to Phoenix

Synopsis:

The Nose

Synopsis:

Adapted from the Gogol short story, The Nose tells the absurd tale of a guy who wakes up one day as a giant nose.

The Red Hands

Synopsis:

Kristina, a hotshot lawyer, is a last resort for admitted murderess Maria.  Despite the ticking clock, Maria is less interested in her own case, more so in Kristina’s dark, confusing past, provoking an unexpected power switch, and forcing both women contemplate the consequences of what they did and—more importantly—didn’t do. 

Through Kristina’s unexpected self-reflection, The Red Hands questions the meaning of justice and its system, as well the true meaning of faith, love, and dedication, especially to ones self.   

Running time:                       40 minutes

Casting:                                 2 W, any ages

Development History:         Reading, Stockyards Theatre Project, Chicago, 6/05

The Wicked Quarter Mile

Running time: 30 Min (approx)

Production History

Synopsis:

Ah, springtime.  The flowers are blooming.  The birds are singing.  It’s the perfect setting for a loving young couple to reunite at a trendy outdoor café.  Yes, he royally fucked up.  True, she still holds a grudge.  But if he can say those magic little words all will be forgotten.  But what are those magic words?  How dire are the consequences?  Why is that waiter so weird?  And who’s got what tricks up their sleeve that could change the fate of the other for the rest of their life? 

Shorts

Beat the Sun

Production History:

Synopsis:

Bells

Synopsis:

Blue Bronto

Synopsis:

Cathleen

Synopsis:

Christiana & the Doctor’s Wife

Production History

Synopsis:

Based on the true story of a young woman who made endless attempts at murdering her doctor's wife so that she could marry him.

Garden Party

Production History:

Synopsis:

A woman brings her new love—who happens to be a garden gnome—to a wedding.

The Gentleman Caller

Production History:

Synopsis:

Hoedown

Synopsis:

M5

Production History:

To be honest, this play has been produced so many times I’ve lost track. It’s been in multiple festivals

Synopsis:

Two strangers with a penchant for wild stories, spontaneous sex, and small handguns meet at an urban bus stop.  But are their psychotic tendencies real, or simply a product of their unique, combustible simpatico?  Will they kill each other in a jolt of fiery passion, or simply take the M5 to their unknown, common destination?  And, more importantly, where have they met before?

The Return

Production History:

Synopsis:

A woman comes to an upscale jewelry store to make a return – of sorts.  Eager to accommodate, the shop attendant placates the woman’s roundabout, seemingly random tales of a heartbreaking love-gone-wrong, and little by little, the women’s collective past spins into a familiar, absurd, and somewhat shockingly comic realization. 

Small Talk

Production History:

Synopsis:

A Strange Request (SCRIPT COMING SOON)

Synopsis:

Tiny

Production History:

Synopsis:

CHILDREN’S THEATER

In 2006 I founded a children’s theater company called Elephant Ensemble Theater. From 2007 - 2010 I wrote three scripts — Thumbelina, The Pirate & The Squid and The Busy Little Bee — and toured those plays From 2007 - 2010 I toured ones script each year around all major NYC hospitals and the surrounding area. For two years we were in residence at Bellevue Pediatric.

The Busy Little Bee

Production History:

Synopsis: 2009 tour, Elephant Ensemble Theater.

The Busy Little Bee is an environmental, educational play that teaches children simple words in five different languages.

The Busy Little Bee tells the story of a lazy young worker bee who is forced to venture out of her hive to pollinate a flower.

As her quest is not as easy as it sounds, she enlists the help of some friends: a Chinese ladybug, a Spanish fly, a French Poodle, a German garden gnome, and an Italian chef, all of whom teach the little bee how speak in their native language, while helping her on her way.

Through the little bee’s journey, children learn the important of honey bees for the environment, and interesting facts about her fellow insect friends. The Busy Little Bee emphasizes the importance of work ethic, good friends, and how small efforts make a big difference in the world at large.

The Pirate & The Squid

Production History:

Synopsis: 2008 tour, Elephant Ensemble Theater.

The Pirate and the Squid is a sea-faring adventure between a swashbuckling Pirate, and the gentle squid who helps him find his way to shore.

A ne’er-do-well Pirate and his faithful Parrot fall off of their ship and into the depths of the deep blue sea.  Just when it seems all hope is lost, they’re saved by a gentle Squid, who, in her efforts to get them back to safe ground, takes the Pirate and his Parrot on an underwater adventure, where they meet and learn fun facts about the ocean’s curious creatures, such as the deep-sea crab, and a friendly seahorse, and a big, scary shark.

What ensues is an unusual friendship between two unsuspecting creatures, as its audience is able to learn about their oceanic friends, as well as a lesson about love.

The running time for The Pirate and the Squid is about 30 minutes.

Thumbelina

Production History: 2007 tour, Elephant Ensemble Theater.

2008 NYC Fringe Festival, Cherry Lane Studio.

This play have since been published and widely produced as a result.

Publication: www.TYAscripts.com

Synopsis:

Thumbelina: The Story of a Brave Little Girl is an updated version of the lovable classic.

When Thumbelina gets separated from her mother, she follows her heart all the way back home, despite her impending obstacles. What emerges is a 21st century heroine who reinforces the importance of loyalty, friendship, and believing in yourself.

Our show requires a cast of 4-5 actors, minimal space and set, and runs about 30 minutes.

Reviews:

EDGE
Thursday Aug 21, 2008
Reviewed by Rob Lester
EDGE Contributor

A very small show (a few actors, a few props, some simple costume pieces); a very small script (it is over in about thirty minutes); very small characters (a thumb-sized little girl and others creatures of similar stature like a bird and a couple of frogs) all come together to create a children’s show that has a pretty big heart.

The unpretentious production of Thumbelina: The Story of a Brave Little Girl tells the well-known children’s story about a miniature girl born to normal-sized parents (we just see her mother) who hangs out on a lily pad, and whose adventures form a celebration of small but brave creatures. Thumbelina won’t take being height-challenged as she faces various obstacles including a forced marriage to an amphibian, and almost becoming the meal for a spider.

Audience participation, a staple of children’s theater, requires that we be encouraged to call things out, clap, and blow the clouds around. Still, there’s some originality here as well as humor that comes along just when we need it. There’s even a running joke about the Beatles because there is a beetle (the insect kind) in the play. However, unlike some kiddie theater, there isn’t a lot of humor aimed at adults to keep them interested at the expense of the kids who’d find such material frustrating and incomprehensible. Sarcasm is used very little; it’s a warm-spirited but not syrupy show.

…There’s a genuine love and respect for children that comes through this production, and real warmth.

Thumbelina herself is portrayed as feisty and a bit feminist without getting modern and political, her mom doubles as storyteller, and the numerous other characters have a nice variety of personalities. Imagination is stimulated nicely and nothing is heavy-handed..."Thumbelina" is a gentle and genial half hour of old-fashioned children’s story theatre with a little modern twist or three.

Backstage
August 14, 2008
Reviewed by Leonard Jacobs

Although Thumbelina: The Story of a Brave Little Girl is geared primarily to youngsters, there are solid reasons for adults to see this spirited Elephant Ensemble Theater production.

Thumbelina (Mollie Lohinski), barely bigger than her dear mother's thumb, is kidnapped by a lady frog (Cheri Haller) who abandons Thumbelina overnight on a lily pad in the middle of a lake after telling her that she must marry her son Frog Boy (Christopher Van Jura) the next morning or die. Thumbelina cleverly gets herself free, but getting back home to Mom (Christine Seisler) is very complicated, involving interactions with a beetle, a goldfish, a sparrow, a spider, and threatening clouds — all played by Haller and Van Jura.

That writer-director Liza Lentini opts for the actors to make their costume changes before the audience smartly demystifies theatre for young folks and provides unexpected charms for the adults who might join them. At 30 minutes, the piece is a summer breeze spiced with bits of adult parody, such as when the sparrow offers Thumbelina part of her food supply — "regurgitated maggot mix with earthworm heads."

NYtheatre.com
Reviewed by Matthew Trumbull
Aug 12, 2008

Elephant Ensemble Theater brings free theatre to children in New York City hospitals, but their current adaptation of a Hans Christian Andersen fable, Thumbelina: The Story of A Brave Little Girl, can be caught by children of all ages as part of the FringeJR series at this year's festival. And it should—everybody has a good time in this little audience participatory nugget. In fact, I was far and away the youngest child in the audience at Tuesday afternoon's show, and Reagan was president when I was last able to count my age on two hands. Kudos to the cast for their determination to keep the audience young that afternoon by insisting on audience participation anyway—Christine Seisler, the managing director of the company playing Mama and the narrator, led most of this, and she got us tired New Yorkers to scream "Quiet Down!!" at creepy-crawly noisemakers in the swamp, and clap for Thumbelina's dance until a super-giant French spider was outwitted. It was an adorable and completely heroic achievement on her part.

Thumbelina is a simple tale, even by children's theatre standards, but it's a winner in the hands of this ensemble. The eponymous heroine (Mollie Lohinski), the tiny adopted daughter of Mama, takes a rest one day on a leaf able to hold her daintiness quite comfortably. She is suddenly kidnapped by the hilarious Froggy Mom, who sounds like a Brooklyn yenta (Cheri Haller), for marriage to her dimwitted son Frog Boy (the rubber-faced, delightfully goofy Christopher Van Jura), and her escape sets her on an intrepid journey through a woods full of peril and new friends who help her find her home and Mama's arms again.

The petite Lohinski is a plucky jewel as Thumbelina, a little heroine who truly can inspire children in all the best ways…Director/writer Liza Lentini has crafted a production of Andersen's tale that engages youngsters without condescension, and it's a great, humorous story about staying positive and believing in yourself—good advice at any age.