Jean H. Klein
Jean Klein has been a semi-finalist in the O’Neill competition; A one-act play Snapshots was a winner in the Kernodle Play competition at the University of Arkansas. Her play Lifeswap was produced at The Venue on 35th in Norfolk, Virginia in 2012 and at The Edge Theater in Belle Haven, Virginia.
A full-length play, The Refraction Of Light was produced by the Norfolk Summer Playfest in 2012 and numerous other short plays (Heritage; Planned Parenthood; In and Out; Finals) have been produced at theaters across the country.
She holds an MA in English and an MFA in Fiction from the University of Iowa, and currently teaches in the MA/MFA Program in Creative Writing, a model low-residency program, at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania.
Showing all 10 results
- $7.97 – $35.00
A Dish Best Served Cold – A Revenge Fantasy in 10 Minutes
- 10 minutes
- 2M; Max/Min 2
Auditions, Classroom Use, Mental Health Issues, 2-Character, Colleges, Competitions, Highly Theatrrical
A man is lied to when he volunteers for a psychological experiment on the role of pain in learning. His experience leaves him scarred. Twenty years later, he confronts the psychologist who conducted the experiment. To inflict revenge? T0 get an apology? Does he even know why? Do we?
Read More - $9.00 – $60.00
Refraction of Light
- 100 minutes
- 2 Males, 2 Females, Min/Max 4
Drama, Professional, Simple Set
On the day World War II ends, another war begins. Joe Taylor, an African-American veteran decides he wants to marry Nettie French, a childhood sweetheart, and buy the house belonging to Rose Beauchamp. Rose is a white teacher who has befriended both Nettie and Joe and encouraged their friendship and academic aspirations. Rose’s prejudice rears its head and her reluctance to sell her house to Joe sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to destroy all their futures. Harry Rosen, a Jewish immigrant from Nazi Germany, enters their lives and helps them find their way home.
Read More - $7.99 – $30.00
Inside and Out
- 10 minutes
- 1 Male, 1 Female. 1 M or F. Max 3, Min 3
Competitions, Fantasy, Simple Set
This 10-minute poetic play dramatizes a mother’s attempt to reach inside the autistic mind of her young son. Characters include Jonah, the boy, his mother, Jonah’s mind. The play is a great change of pace in an evening of short plays and as an introduction to discussion groups and classes in social work and mental health settings.
Read More - $9.00 – $75.00
The Quest of the Yellow Pearl
- 50 Minutes
- 12 Male, 5 Female, Min/Max 17
In ancient times, Eldad, a gem merchant hears rumors of a magnificent pearl. He spends his life seeking for this marvelous jewel. Throughout his travels——and travails——he encounters both the splendor and the baseness of humanity. When his riches and health, and even his sight are finally gone, he discovers that the rumored pearl is, in fact, a man named Jesus, the true pearl beyond price.
Read More - $7.97 – $95.00
The Chimes
- 90 Minutes
- 8 Male, 3 Female, 11 Min, 19 Max
Comedy, Simple Set
Give Scrooge a break for the winter holiday production! THE CHIMES is a full-length comedy and large-cast adaptation of another Dickens’ classic Christmas/New Years tale. Toby Veck, an impoverished London porter wants to bless his daughter’s marriage by New Year’s Day. Alas, he doesn’t have even a shilling in his pocket. Surely, the wealthy families he carries packages for will find enough work for him to do before the New Year comes and he must break a promise made on his late wife’s deathbed.
This Dickens’ comedy is a great Christmas change-of-pace for schools, communities, and regional theaters.
Read More - $7.00 – $50.00
Snapshots
- 45 Minutes
- 2 Male, 1 Female, Min/Max 2
Competitions, Simple Props, Simple Set
Snapshots is a three-actor touching comedy that captures the high and low points of a 30-year marriage. Maggie ages from 27 to 60’s and Sy, her husband, ages 32 to 60’s. The Man represents various pivotal figures in their lives. Great for competitions, high schools, community theaters. Simple set: 3 cubes and a coat rack.
Read More - $7.00 – $70.00
The Pinch Hitter
- 30 minutes
- 3 Males, 2 Females, Min/Max 5
A one-act family comedy for 5 actors. A woman is pushed to the limits by the needs of her family. Her husband is overwhelmed by a new business venture, two of her children are self-absorbed, and her eldest son copes, with her help, with mild mental retardation. What will they do when she goes on strike?
Great for middle school, high school, community theater, school competitions, and groups for women. Downloadable, printable PDF available.
Read More - $7.00 – $60.00
The Best Is Yet To Be
- 30 minutes
- 3 Males, 3 Females, Min/Max 6
Emily Mason returns home to live with her son and his family–a wife and 2 grandchildren. They have her rocking chair ready for her. The problem is, she isn’t ready for it. Will her family come around and let her continue the kind of life she is used to leading?
Read More - $11.00 – $95.00
An Enemy of the People
- 100 minutes
- 8 Males 4 Females Max 15+ Min 12 (Doubling Possible)
Community, environmental satire, Flexible Casting
Cut but uncensored! This full-length play by Jean Klein is true to the original text which savages corrupt institutions, greedy corporations, arrogant politicians, and our disdain for protecting the environment. This large-cast play can be performed by 10+ actors and plays well for high school, colleges, universities, community and professional theaters.
Read More - $7.00 – $75.00
The Devil’s Due
- 45 Minutes
- 2 Males 2 Females Max 4 Min 4
Choices, Competitions, Depression, Mania
In The Devil’s Due, a one-act drama/comedy, an artist, Eric Talmadge, confronts the decline of his aesthetic powers and the possible dissolution of his marriage. In a satiric tour de force, a visitor—possibly a neighboring psychiatrist and possibly a more fearsome presence—offers him a possible way out of his dilemma. Is M. Boudreaux really an unorthodox psychiatrist practicing from his apartment in NYC or does he represent a power other than the mind? And what choice does he give Eric in order to regain his peace of mind and his artistic abilities?
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