The Overdramatic Slam of Everything Only Louder is a wild, self-aware performance poem that parodies slam poetry, modern activism, and internet culture. The performer is the sole character, an overcaffeinated truth-teller who oscillates between cosmic prophecy and emotional meltdown. Across the monologue, they journey from ranting about love and politics to war, feminism, poverty, and ultimately digital chaos, each topic exploding into exaggerated metaphors and absurd physicality. The "plot" is less a story than a spiraling performance of passion, collapse, and reboot. Thematically, it critiques how society sensationalizes everything, how meaning and authenticity dissolve into performance and noise. Emotionally, it’s intense, funny, and manic, moving from mock-serious to heartbreakingly real. A performer tackling this piece must balance parody with sincerity, channeling volcanic energy and brief moments of fragile truth beneath the chaos.
Burn Pit follows Staff Sergeant Lila Navarro, a soldier in Afghanistan who works beside a toxic burn pit, proving herself in a harsh, male-dominated world. The smoke, both literal and symbolic, follows her home, a reminder of what she survived and what it took from her. Struggling to rediscover her identity and softness, Lila finds hope in her pregnancy with her husband, Marco. That hope shatters when their baby is stillborn, and the loss destroys the fragile bond between them. Illness and grief consume Lila, and when she dies, Marco is left haunted and broken. Desperate for answers, he uncovers the widespread harm caused by burn pit exposure and the hollow silence of institutional denial. The story closes with his own quiet surrender, echoing the devastation of unseen wounds. It is a raw, emotional exploration of love, loss, duty, and the human cost of war long after the battlefield is gone.
The poem, Stones on the Empty Plains, follows a widowed settler surviving alone after losing his wife and son on the journey west. Surrounded by the vast, merciless prairie, he clings to his promise to build the life they dreamed of together. As seasons pass, his labor becomes ritual, stacking stones, battling storms, and facing hunger and loneliness. Memories of his family return in tender flashes, filling the silence with warmth and ache. The land mirrors his emptiness, testing his will to live. In the end, illness and winter bring a quiet surrender, a final reunion through memory and peace. The piece carries tones of grief, endurance, and gentle transcendence, an emotional meditation on love, loss, and belonging to the earth itself.
Letter of Survival is a tense and emotional short story about Lynn, a teenage girl who survives a terrifying night when her abusive ex-boyfriend, Weller, breaks into her home. After hearing him and his friend Peter enter through a shattered window, Lynn hides in the bathroom, haunted by memories of Weller’s possessive, manipulative behavior during their relationship. The story shifts between the immediate danger of the break-in and flashbacks showing how Weller’s emotional control and violent tendencies escalated over time. When he finally finds her, Lynn fights back, knocking him unconscious and carving an “S” into his chest, a raw act of defiance meaning “Stop.” She escapes, calls 911, and takes back her power. The story ends with Lynn realizing that the scarlet letter she’s chosen for herself stands not for shame but survival. Themes of abuse, trauma, empowerment, and reclaiming one’s voice drive the story’s emotional depth and cathartic resolution.
Don of Ci Cada is a comedic yet heartfelt short play about Don, a newly emerged cicada who believes he’s a heroic knight trapped in a dream. Mistaking his own molted shell for a monster, he sets out on a “quest” to defeat imaginary foes, joined by Sancho, an exuberant mayfly with only hours to live. Their friendship grows through absurd battles and songs celebrating Don’s exaggerated sense of heroism. Along the way, they meet Carmelita, a sharp-tongued cicada healer who grounds Don’s dramatics and repairs his injured wing. Eventually, Don realizes he is not dreaming at all; he truly is a cicada, and that his relationships are real. The story turns poignant as Sancho dies from his brief lifespan, leaving Don grieving but transformed. In the end, with Carmelita beside him, Don channels his sorrow into hope, taking flight toward a new beginning. The play balances humor and emotion, exploring themes of self-discovery, friendship, love, and the fleeting beauty of life.