One Act and full length Theater Plays

Below are synopsis of various plays written by Michael Zittel. A few have received full productions. All have received readings. Currently, these works are being formatted into HTML. If you would like to read the plays when they are available online, please use the contact page and we will notify you when the online versions are available.

One Acts | Full Length | Lost Plays


One Act Plays:

A Man And His Ego
A man struggles with his ego about returning to a woman he walked out on. After a realization of genuine love, Man makes his decision, much to Ego's hilarious dismay.

Length: 10 minutes.
Players: 2 men.
History: Full production
Wray Theater, Whittier CA.
Tribune, Fullerton,, CA
Publication in Insomnia Magazine
Finalist Louisville Ten Minute Play Contest.

*Note A Man and His Ego is royalty free. Anyone may produce it anytime. Please just let us know when and where it was produced.

In The Play Ground
Set in an abandonded play ground of an Orwellian future, a soldier interrogates a runaway youth because she spoke with God. This is a crime as his science based society. Her revelations lead to a startling end.

Length: 20 minutes.
Players: 1 man, 1 woman.
History:
Full production, Wray Theater, Whittier CA.
Full production, Tribune Theater, Fullerton, CA

 Velveeta Deluxe
Literally trapped in a B-movie trailer for a film called "Cheesy Icarus", the lead actress decides to leave the film to pursue Zen. Unfortunately, the other actors are obsessed with fame and fortune, not matter the absurdity and degradation involved. They go to extreme lengths to keep her in the trailer. Though they win, her attempt inspires an extra to escape and save his dignity before it's to late.

Length: 40 minutes.
Players: 3 men, 2 women.
History:
Reading at Imago Theater, Portland Oregon

Rat King Art
(a performance art poem - play)
Min and Terra, like Adam and Eve, lived contentedly with nature as the care takers of the world. Tricked into searching for lost Angels in a far away land, Min returns to find his home land destroyed by industry and Terra fled to hide in the moon. Distraught at loosing Terra, Min makes a pact with a rat infected with industrial greed. For reasons unknown, the Rat orchestrated Min's original demise and now forces him to create demonic art from the Angels he hunts every night.

Length: 20 minutes.
Players: 2 people. Gender not specific.
History:
Full production at the Whittier Art Festival
Numerous reading in an around Los Angeles.



One Acts | Full Length | Lost Plays


Full Length Plays

The Queens Spider Volume I (A verse play)
In the rebuilt ruins of the world, a Queen seduces a servant to be a surrogate father. When the King discovers her betrayal, he hides her crime and contrives to execute the servant through a mock trial. The Queens integrity forces her to confess. The Elders, unwilling to break archaic laws, "rescue" the fetus from her womb and sentence her and the King to death. From her death tomb, she prophesies the Elders ruin as her "stolen child" will be the catalyst for people to discover their own divinity and create a world of true self government void of hierarchy, war and archaic law.

Length 2 hours.
Players: 4-10 men, 4-10 womyn.
History:
3 readings at Group Repertory Theater, North Hollywood, CA.

Christian Mace
After a Chiropractic Doctor permanently handicaps a patient, Christian Mace, a victims right activist, kidnaps the Doctor and forces him to experience a similar handicap. Christian knows he is wrong, but is driven by the demons of his mothers handicap, which not-so-coincidentally, the Doctors father caused. Christian also knows he will be caught eventually, and manipulates the media to televise his cause, "Chiropractors are NOT real doctors."

Length 2 hours.
Players: 2 men, 2 womyn
History:
Reading at private residence.

Dream Traveler
A man from an alternate reality address the United Nations.  He explains how the corruption of our world is destroying his. To prove his point, he shows us his journey.   At the end of his story, he pleads for his worlds life, by asking us to amend our ways.

Length 2 hours.
Players: 4 men, 4 womyn
History:
Reading at West LA Public Park, West Los Angeles.


One Acts | Full Length | Lost Plays

LOST PLAYS
Michael has written two other plays which received full productions. The two in question are :

On The Billboard
Three teenage boys full of angst climb a billboard and drink beer.  In this urban right of passage, we discover one of the boys may have killed his abusive father only a few hours ago.  The other boys, from decent homes, flee.  This leaves the third contemplating how to cope with his actions.  Suicide is strong temptation.

Length 2 hours.
Players: 3 men.
History:
Full production at Wray Theater, Whittier CA.


Peace Peas
While hanging out in a music store, Race and John, skirt around the accidental homosexual moment from the night before.  Though both are heterosexual, they feel a platonic love for each other that is blighted by the accident.  A homeless lunatic named Door happens into the music shop. John is appalled when Race apparently takes advantage of the lunatic and sells him an expensive guitar.  John tries to intervene, but Door threatens violence, and practices his new instrument.  The music he produces is very good and drives the confrontation between Race and John. In the climax of their argument, Door belts out a rift from his song, "Gonna die someday, speak the love you know." This, subconsciously inspires the friends to accept and acknowledge their platonic love. Door calls their achievement a "Peace Pea" and marches into the street with a mad lunacy of rock-n-roll triumph. 

Length 1 hour.
Players: 3 men.
History:
Full production at Wray Theater, Whittier CA.  

If any of the actors who performed in these works happen to have a copy, it would be greatly appreciated if you could send Michael a copy. 

To do so, please use the contact page.

One Acts | Full Length | Lost Plays