More One-Act Plays

‘Becoming Maggie’ is an ordinary love story, set in extraordinary times between 1938 and 1948 in Ayrshire. Maggie and Robert were two working class young people who met and fell in love, at a time when horizons were limited and life stories could well be played out in a familiar but confined landscape. The connecting link with the wider world was alluring and mysterious for Maggie and Robert, he seduced by it, and she fearful of it. Events of the time capsized their small world and each struggled to adjust and survive. In the end, the connecting and enduring link was their love.

First Production – Winner of five Festival trophies in 2010.

Published by Brown, Son & Ferguson

The wildlife in a Scottish country park are treated to an interesting spat among the humans at large in their habitat one feeding time. Andy and Senga Robertson have evolved bickering into a way of life with which they are both content. Their exchanges as they set up their picnic give rise to a good deal of humour. When Melanie and Philip Austen arrive on the scene, the dominant Senga encourages the downtrodden Melanie to assert herself. Sparks fly as years of frustration explode across the picnic tables and the pompous Philip tries in vain to establish control.

The formidable Senga, having stirred things up, emerges unscathed and triumphant.
However, life will never be the same for the Austens after this brief encounter.

First Production – Winner of five trophies in SCDA Festival 1988.

Published by Cresselles Publishing

Four very different women, meet up in the changing room of the Secret Sanctuary Health Spa. Each has her own problems and needs – Pauline is overwhelmed by the pressures of family life, Hilary has too much money and not enough love, Denise is consumed by executive stress and Grace is a bit of an enigmatic loner. Sonya, the overbearing Pilates teacher and Tiffany, the dreamy Beauty Therapist, seem to exacerbate their problems rather than provide the therapy they obviously need. The play builds to a very funny, stressful climax as they each reach the limit of tolerance. However there is a release of tension which allows them to look at each other differently – in particular the quiet enigma, Grace, helps them to bond with each other and they unite in pursuit of a simpler coping strategy.

This play was first presented as part of an all female production called ‘Here Come The Girls’ along with the play below, ‘Mamie McCall’s French Fancy’ in May 2011. The show was performed over three nights to large audiences, with all the proceeds from tickets – £6000 – going to the Ayrshire Hospice.

Winner of EK Rep One-Act Play Festival May 2012 and winner of trophy for best staging.
Winner of SCDA Ayrshire District One-Act Festival, February 2013, and winner of Best Acting trophy.
Winner of the SCDA Western Divisional One-Act Festival, April 2013 and winner of best staging.
3rd in the Scottish Final of the SCDA One-Act Festival, April 2013

Reading copy available from author. Please contact if interested.

Two retired ladies meet up in a Coffee Bar. They discover that they share a nostalgia for a more genteel type of afternoon tea experience. Gentle humour arises from the fact that they are obviously out of place in this environment. However, underneath this humour, it is poignant to observe that what they share most is their loneliness. They are each unable to break out of the barriers which prevent them from savouring a more eventful life. In the end, they settle for a less exciting, but acceptable substitute for the real thing.

This play was first presented as part of an all female production called ‘Here Come The Girls’ along with the play above, ‘Excess Baggage’ in May 2011. The show was performed over three nights to large audiences, with all the proceeds from tickets – £6000 – going to the Ayrshire Hospice.

Reading copy available from author. Please contact if interested.