OLEANNA, HOME OF FREE
This play offers a contemporary response to Mamet’s controversial original. Deanna is a tenured professor at a tier 1 research university. During office hours, one of her students, Leo, accuses her of being biased against straight white males. Deanna isn’t thrown—she’s very good at her job—until she discovers that Leo’s grandfather provided all of the funds for the university’s football field. 2W, 3M
Developmental History:
Sparkfest, Amphibian Theater, reading

A WOMAN
Kim's church doesn't allow women to be elders. For nine years she's tried to get a woman eldership, and for nine years she's failed. This year, though, she's not taking "no" for an answer - regardless of the cost. But when the newly appointed pastor decides to call her bluff, Kim must decide what's most important to her as a Christian, as a progressive, and as a woman. 2W, 1M
Developmental History:
Summer Shorts at 59E59 (one-act version)
The Sheen Center reading (full-length version)
Semi-Finalist at Premiere Stage’s New Play Festival
Women’s Theater Festival (reading)
Baylor University (reading)
"Explores the cross section of religion, politics, and feminism." The New Yorker (Re. the one act version)
“Cragin-Day’s brainy, soulful drama places her well within the realm of Tom Stoppard and Michael Frayn, as two old friends wrangle with centuries-old sexism in the Presbyterian Church in America. Covering years of church history could have easily made A Woman dry, but its warm and lively wit and real emotional stakes prevent that.”
Indy Week, Byron Woods

FOSTER MOM
Leslie’s decision to adopt a child is complicated by two factors: a skeptical mother and an unexpected romance. As the relationship with the new man intensifies, so does her conviction about foster parenting. In the end, Leslie must choose between two things she wants desperately: the love of her life and the foster child she's never met. 3W, 1M
Developmental History:
Premiere Stages New Plays Festival Winner
Premiere Stages developmental production
"A story that will touch the hearts and minds of all who see it." Broadway World

MARTIN LUTHER ON TRIAL
Commissioned by and developed with Max McLean, this 6 actor play presents a re-trial of Martin Luther's soul with the Devil standing as prosecution, Katie Luther standing as defense, and Saint Peter presiding as judge. Witnesses include Adolf Hitler, MLK, Freud, and Pope Francis, among others. As the witnesses speak to the impact of Luther's life, the play transitions between the trial and glimpses of the events that shaped him.
Production History:
Lansburgh Theater, Washington DC
Off-Broadway, NYC
2 National Tours
Press/Reviews:
"Offers sensitive insight into Martin Luther's tussles with authority and scripture." The New Yorker
"A surprisingly watchable contest." The Village Voice
“Martin Luther on Trial joins the canon of great theatrical works about religious figures such as T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral about Thomas Becket and George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. Like those formidable forerunners, Martin Luther on Trial wrestles dramatically with heady matters of faith and ethics, of God and conscience. But this play goes them one better. Martin Luther on Trial is quite the divine comedy and it’s funny as hell. The compelling performance [of Martin Luther] captures each nuance and epic passion in a way that scales the character’s convictions and contradictions to Shakespearean dimensions. The scene when Luther comes upon the concept of grace and falls to his knees humbled and overcome was as powerful an epiphany as I’ve seen played onstage.”
John Stoltenberg, DC Metro Theater Arts
“The script is amusing and, to the extent you can say this about a play which has Hitler, Freud, Lucifer and Pope Francis talking to each other, historically accurate. The writing is good, too. All of this is tremendously dramatic stuff.” Tim Treanor, DC Theatre Scene

No One Owns Me (co-written with Pia Wilson)
Carla’s job is helping young women escape their pimps and the prison of sex trafficking so that they can rebuild a more empowered version of themselves and trajectory for their lives. Her own history as a survivor makes her perfect for the job. But when her own former pimp re-enters her life, we see how difficult it can be to truly start over. (2W)
DEVELOPMENTAL
World Premiere, AD Players at The George, Houston, TX Feb 2022
Reviews:
Broadway World
Audience Response Video

THE RARE BIOSPHERE
Sophie returns home from an ordinary day at high school to discover that her parents have been deported. Her plans to lay low, take care of her younger siblings, and try to go unnoticed are thwarted when a well-meaning church youth group friend stumbles upon her secret. 1W, 1M
Developmental History:
Luna Stage New Moon Festival
The Sheen Center reading
Baylor University reading
Sea Dog Theater, NYC developmental production
Reviews:
Picture This Post
Medium
Theater That Matters

OKC BOMBING
A look at the trial of Timothy McVeigh and the impact it had on the American justice system. (2W, 3M)
DEVELOPMENTAL:
New Threads Theater, reading

Earth, Too
Alex, an environmentalist, is being recruited to join the first human colony on another planet. Sam, her husband, believes Earth can still be saved and wants her to stay. (1W, 2M)

THE RIVER NUN
While the entire village attends a masquerade, Lysa, a Niger Delta fisherwoman, sits alone in her boat, determined to catch a fish. But the loud rumble of the gas flaring and the toxic fumes from the oil-polluted water have left the water barren.  Enraged and reckless, Lysa abruptly ends the music and dancing by donning the mask of her dead father and, in disguise, cursing the villagers for celebrating while the oil company continues to devastate their livelihood. She returns home to find two women prepared to stand against the oil giant, once and for all.(4W 2M)
DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY:
The Public Theater NYC—Spotlight Series Reading (directed by Tea Alagic)
Burning Coal Theater—Reading (directed by Tea Alagic)

EMILY, An Amethyst Remembrance
This play tells the story of Emily Dickinson's journey into a mysterious world of isolation in reverse time, beginning with her life boarded up inside the New England Dickinson home and working backwards to her return home from Mt. Holyoke College. It incorporates many of her poems. (3W 3M)
DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY:
Firebone Theatre (NYC)—Showcase Production (Elizabeth Davis, won the Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role New York Innovative Theater Award for her performance of Emily.)
Acacia Theater—Production
OBU, college production
Reviews/Awards:
"Deeply moving...lyrical script...captures the essence of the artist via her work...We witness poetry as biography, charting the trajectory of Dickinson's momentary joys, as well as the themes that occupied much of her work: immortality and death. ..She is an intriguing, albeit troubled character, and this marvelously spare effort, thanks to a beautifully calibrated cast, makes audiences want to read her anew. Emily gives us a rare treat: It lets us peak behind the door." The Huffington PostTORNADO
Tornado is a 3 woman play set in the aftermath of the devastating 2012 Oklahoma tornado. Jade, a college student at Oklahoma Baptist University, and Becca, a NYC corporate lawyer, have come to volunteer in the clean up efforts.  When a Chick-fil-A lunch truck arrives to offer free lunch to the volunteers, their vastly different cultural perspectives clash head on, and they must struggle to set aside their differences for the good of the tornado victim they hope to serve. 
Developmental History:
Luna Stage workshop production

A WAR IN A MANGER
Inspired by the real historical siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, 2002, A WAR IN A MANGER explores what might have gone on inside that church during the thirty day standoff between two hundred Palestian gunmen trapped inside and the Israeli military outside. How would a single Palestinian Christian Priest, a secular Palestinian diplomat, and a secular American Jew work together to save the lives of hundreds of extremist Palestinian terrorists? Or would they even want to? (5M 1W)
DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY:
Art Within Theater (Atlanta)—workshop production

DEADHEADING ROSES
The story of a rose gardener's search for healing after she is abandoned by her meth addicted husband, inspired by both the biblical story of Hagar and the true story of a dear friend. (3W 1M) 
DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY:
Firebone Theatre at The Lamb’s Little Theater (NYC)—Production
Acacia Theater--Production
Published by Original Works Publications (OWP)

ONE-ACT PLAYS:
Sister Rosetta (play with music)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, "god-mother of Rock'n'Roll", returns from the afterlife to prep Elvis to meet his maker. (1W, 1M)
Productions:
Starlight Art Night, The King's College

They Know Something We Don’t
A young single mother goes to a gun store to buy mace, and keeps getting up-sold by the gun store owner until she realizes that the only thing that will allow her to protect herself and her child from an aggressive attacker is an oozie. (1M 1W) 
Productions:
No Passport Gun Control Festival, Washington DC and Balitmore
Azusa Pacific University

Port Authority
Romance happens even in the most unromantic places. (1M 2W comedy) 
Productions/Presentations:
Nuyorican Poets Café Ghostlights
The Public Theater Emerging Writer's Group Retreat

Milking Success
Once you've tasted success, how can you be sure you'll ever eat it again? (2M comedy) 
Productions:
Keller Theater, Germany
Gardner Web University New Plays Festival

Dig
Based on a Russian Folk Tale, and woman returns to help her fragile but stubborn husband bury her body. (1M 1W fairy tale) 
Productions
The Public Theater EWG retreat

Peanut Butter or Soy
Two young college students get lost back-packing through Europe, Comedy (2W)
Productions
ATWAS Theater (NYC)
Baylor University

Pankhurst
Inspired by the historical Pankhurst sisters of the Suffrage Movement, drama (3W) 
Productions
Baylor University

To request scripts for any of the above, please contact Elaine Devlin: edevlinlit@aol.com, 212-842-9030