Plays by Donald E. Baker
Thank you for visiting. I write naturalistic dramas that shine light into the dark corners of American society--homophobia, racism, misogyny, extremism. Oh, and I've written some comedies, too. My work has been performed all over the country. If you want more information about me, click here.
Perusal copies of these scripts are available for the asking unless they are published. For licensing and royalty information for Baker's Dozen, Trade With Klan, and Grand Dragon in Power contact Next Stage Press. For all other titles contact the playwright directly, or members of New Play Exchange can download them from there.
Copyright Notice: By receiving scripts or samples from any source, you thereby acknowledge that Donald E. Baker is the sole copyright owner for these plays. None of them may be produced or reproduced in whole or in part unless permission is granted by the playwright or his designated agents.
Collection
Published by Next Stage Press, 2023. For copies or to inquire about licensing Baker's Dozen, click below:
13 SHORT COMEDIES AND DRAMAS. The pieces may be performed separately or together as one evening of theater.
Individual pieces require 1, 2, or 3 actors. When performed together, they can be done with as few as 6 actors, 4M, 2F, ages 20's to 70's.
For a more detailed description, click here.
Full-Length and One-Act Plays
Published by Next Stage Press, 2021. For copies or to inquire about licensing Trade With Klan, click below:
FULL LENGTH. Resist or collaborate? Risk everything or lie low? Go along or get out? A young preacher and a motherly café owner face life-altering choices in the face of extremism abetted by militant religious fundamentalism. The world of the play is all-white rural Indiana in the 1920’s, when the Ku Klux Klan pitted Protestants against Catholics, but the religious prejudice and xenophobia of a century ago still echo in contemporary American society.
3M, 4W ages 20's-60's, plus pre-recorded voice of a male radio announcer.
Produced by Southwest Theatre Productions, Austin TX, Jan.-Feb. 2020.
Trade With Klan is worthy of large audiences and should be seen all over this country.
--Broadway World Austin
Trade With Klan sits in your soul the way the best of art does.
--Austin Chronicle
For a more detailed description, full reviews, and recommendations, click here.
Published by Next Stage Press, 2022. For copies or to inquire about licensing Grand Dragon in Power, click below:
FULL LENGTH. When the Grand Dragon takes charge, nothing is sacred and no woman is safe. D.C. Stephenson, Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, rules Indiana until he is convicted of murder and rape. This play, set in the 1920's and inspired by a true story, contains startling parallels to the society and politics of contemporary America.
4M, 3W ages 20's-50's, doubling.
Staged reading by Panglossian Productions, Williamsburg VA, Nov. 2020.
Radio adaptation produced by Radio Theatre Project, St. Petersburg FL, March 2018. (Available on SoundCloud.)
For a more detailed description and recommendations, click here.
FULL LENGTH (60 minutes). Eddie and Danny are small-town blue-collar guys who in high school engaged in a little sexual exploration together before they started dating girls. In Act I (1975), Eddie fearfully questions his sexuality after an encounter in a public restroom. When he turns to his best friend Danny for help, the toxic nature of their lifelong relationship is revealed. In Act II (1985), both men discover they may have been infected with HIV/AIDS. Are they capable of confronting that devastating new reality together?
Act I can stand alone as a one-act play.
2M age 25 in Act I, age 35 in Act II.
For a more detailed description and recommendations, click here.
25-30 MINUTE TWO-HANDER. A man confronts his abuser 27 years after the fact. Issues of sexual trauma and white power emerge as the two men hurl conflicting memories at each other, and the tension builds to a shattering conclusion.
2M (1 Black male age 40, 1 White male age 67).
FINALIST, Waterworks 2024 New Play Festival, Live Arts, Charlottesville VA
For a more detailed description and recommendations, click here.
Short Plays
For more detailed information and recommendations, click here.
Titles in purple are included in Baker's Dozen: 13 Gay Plays and Monologues.
Aunt Nellie's Two-Cents' Worth
10-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 2W. Flo’s son has not only rejected his parents’ plans for his future, he just might end up marrying outside his religion. Whether Flo likes it or not, she’ll get Aunt Nellie’s two cents worth of advice on the situation.
Coming Out to Uncle Jake
1-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 1M, 1W. Robert tells his mother he has finally had enough of Uncle Jake's Thanksgiving rants about "people like him."
Feeling Devilish
5-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 1M, 1Any. Roger's best friend is very concerned when they discover Roger met a demon on an online dating site. They're even more concerned when the demon turns out to be a personal injury lawyer. Included in Baker's Dozen.
For a Man Your Age
10-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 2M. With their elevator not working, older gay couple Michael and Will find themselves trapped in their high-rise condo, discussing aging, flirtatious baristas, and The National Geographic. Included in Baker's Dozen.
Getting It In
1-MINUTE TWO-HANDER AUDIO PLAY. 2M Two guys try to fit something large into something small.
Getting to Know You
6-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 2M A straight(?) man suggests he and a gay co-worker share a hotel room at a business conference so they can “get to know each other a little better.” They may have different ideas about just what that means.
Guilt by Association
20-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 2M. In 1950, a pleasant father-son evening of window shopping for cars turns serious when the son mentions his best friend is considering suicide. Included in Baker's Dozen.
I Invited Your Mother for Thanksgiving
10-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 2M. One half of a gay couple is not pleased to find out his estranged mother is coming for Thanksgiving. Included in Baker's Dozen.
Produced by Chapin Theatre Company, Chapin SC, in Nov. 2022 as part of their Second Annual 10-Minute-ish Play Festival.
Life Support
10-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 1M, 1W. Ben, who never appears in the play, is in the hospital on life support following an accident. His lover of five years, James, and Ben's homophobic sister, Sandra, meet for the first time to discuss what happens next. Included in Baker's Dozen.
The Long and Short of It
10-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 1M, 1W. Gina and Dick discuss their son’s—and Dick’s—anxiety about not measuring up “down there.” Does size really matter?
Marvin and the Muses
5-MINUTE PLAY. 2M, 1W. Marvin fires his Muse and finds a replacement who may well be more distraction than inspiration. Included in Baker's Dozen.
Mutual Attraction
1-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 2M. Two men meet and flirt in a Gay bar.
What Happened This Time?
2-MINUTE TWO-HANDER. 2 actors, any gender expression. The “Klutz of All Klutzes” explains to their spouse why an attempt to take a box to the trash means a trip to the ER and the pet cemetery. Included in Baker's Dozen.
Published in print and on line in Fresh Words Magazine's anthology Contemporary One-Minute Plays--Volume 3, 2022.
Monologues
For more detailed information and recommendations, click here.
Titles in purple are included in Baker's Dozen: 13 Gay Plays and Monologues.
Ice Box Cake and the Man from Lima
10-MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1W, White, senior. In the 1950's, while preparing to host her ladies’ bunco club, a White woman of a certain age is shocked to see a person of color walking down her street. The play uses humor to illustrate the casual racism of the time and to demonstrate that fear of young Black men is nothing new in American society.
Produced on Facebook and Vimeo by Stage Left Theater, Spokane WA, October, 2021.
Illustration by Jeremy Whittington
After It Stopped
5-MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1M, Age 38. Adapted from Everyday Monsters. A man describes the after effects of the sexual abuse he suffered as a child. Included in Baker's Dozen.
The Boys Across the Street
2-MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1W, White, senior. An older white woman discovers an interracial same-sex couple is moving in across the street. She isn't pleased.
Produced on Facebook by Stage Left Theater of Spokane, March, 2022. Included in Baker's Dozen.
Dad and Uncle Mark
7-MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1M, Senior. An older man remembers what he saw spying through a knothole when he was thirteen. Included in Baker's Dozen.
The First Time
5-MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1M, Age 25. Adapted from Best Friends. A man fearfully questions his sexual identity. Included in Baker's Dozen.
Intestate: A COVID-19 Monologue
7-8-MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1M, Age 50. Fifty-year-old Richard is angry that he has lost his partner David and everything else to the pandemic. And afraid he may have given David the virus that killed him. Included in Baker's Dozen.
Produced by Talking Horse Productions of Columbia MO, May 2021, and by Magnolia Arts Center, Greenville NC, Feb. 2022.
Published by some scripts literary magazine, 2021.
A Lynch Mob Foiled
5-6-MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1M, Age 50 or older. A mob attempted to lynch a Negro prisoner in 1880 when Julius August “Gus” Lemcke (pronounced “LEM-key”) was sheriff of Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Adapted from Lemcke’s own account of this episode in his 1905 published memoir.
My Summer of Cypress Gardens
9-10 MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1M, Age 70+. James, a man in his seventies, recalls the childhood trip to Florida when the “saw” Black people for the first time. Included in Baker's Dozen.
Sins of Emission
3-4 MINUTE MONOLOGUE. A teenager fears God will punish him for his masturbatory fantasies and the contents of his sex dreams.
Yeah, I Have Regrets
2-3 MINUTE MONOLOGUE. 1 older actor, any gender expression. Musings from a life of experience.