American Playwrights Banding Together to Present New Work for the Stage

Chicago, IL — October 16, 2020 — Theatre artists and playwrights from across the country joined together to assemble noteworthy, short theatrical pieces for an upcoming anthology of drama. Contributors include Baltimore actor Alexander Scally, Chicago writers Emma Rund and John Joseph Enright, and several other living playwrights. Edited by Shaun Vain, writer, actor, and thespian. Plays for this anthology were carefully selected by a review committee of theatre professionals from around the United States. Contributors plan to conduct interviews, virtual readings, and more.

The following excerpt is from the first play in this anthology, entitled To You & Me & the Ocean, written by Melanie Coffey:

LORE: (holding up her cup) To the sun. To everything she’s given us. Food and warmth and a little extra time.

SAOIRSE: Hear, hear! (grabbing the bottle) To the earth!

LORE: To the earth!

SAOIRSE: And the days we have left.

Melanie Coffey’s work in exploring female characters in theater, television, and film has been performed, read and/or screened in NYC, Chicago, San Diego, LA, Connecticut and London. John Joseph Enright is a Chicago playwright and theatre professional. Barbara Bryan was a finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and participated in the Kennedy Center Summer Playwriting Intensive. Dylan Kinnett is a writer, spoken word performance artist, and the founding editor of Infinity’s Kitchen; his work blends literary practice with new media, hypertext, and theater. Cameron Sheppard is a writer who’s finishing her English degree at Loyola University. Andre Thespies is a thespian playwright who wrote satiric plays for the stage, alongside actor and friend Matt Brown. Emma Rund is a playwright from Chicago who attended Ball University.

Theatre and short plays represent society’s struggles to redefine itself, so Future Publishing House assembled this first anthology in their new series to meet this order. In Volume 1, a collection of short plays and scenes are presented in easily digestible form. Theatre professionals growing tired of reproducing the same work in the classroom and on stage will delight to find new ideas, insights, and styles of the twenty-first century from living playwrights. Many of the contributors are prepared to talk about their work leading up to the release of American Theatre in the Twenty-First Century. Readers should prepare to dissect themes, genres, and concepts that are crucial to the evolution of theatre in the American culture.

For more information, visit or contact the publisher. Contact Future Publishing House by email: futurepublisher@gmail.com, or visit www.futurepublishinghouse.com for presale information. You may also visit FPH on Facebook.

Performers, teachers, and theatre enthusiasts will delight in this collection of short plays. Look out for upcoming events related to this title, and reserve your copy today.