Two Cries and a Laugh: A Collection of Three One Act Plays

Two Cries and a Laugh is a collection of three one act plays - two dramas and a comedy. TO LOVE WRONGLY is a drama about four LGBTQ youth who are sent to a religious conversion camp. POST GRACE is a drama of three friends trying to deal with unwanted attention and sexual transgressions from men. CAMPFIRE is a comedy with a tinge of romance, about two writers that meet at a writing retreat.

SYNOPSIS: TO LOVE WRONGLY

Destiny is confused when she gets a text from her school that her bus stop has been changed. When her mother takes her to the new bus stop, she quickly realizes something is wrong, but not before she is drugged and kidnapped. She, and three other teenagers are sent to a religious conversion camp for LGBTQIA+ youth. Four teenagers, including one transgender male, one transgender female, and two cisgender females, are faced with camp staff trying to re-program their thinking, using religion to make the teens feel bad about who they are or who they love. All products of ultra-religious, and/or strict households, the four teens come to some hard realizations about themselves, their families, and how to support each other in the midst of damaging rhetoric and a shocking tragedy they never could have predicted.

*There are moments of laughter and levity throughout, despite the tension of the very real, and damaging consequences of attempted reprogramming of LGBTQIA+ youth.

SYNOPSIS: POST GRACE

The usually bubbly Alessia (known as Less to her friends), is not only quiet and unresponsive, but told her best friends, Nyla and Parker she changed her name to Grace. The confused, but supportive friends finally manage to get her to open up about a scary instance of sexual misconduct, which could have ended in assault. Each of the three grapple with the personal fallout of unwanted attention from men as well as the questions of what defines sexual assault, and how to reclaim one's power after being violated.

*While it is an intense subject matter, there are moments of humor interspersed throughout the play, and in the end, Grace is able to take steps to move forward and once again feel like Alessia.

SYNOPSIS: CAMPFIRE

Looking for new inspiration, Olive, Kahan, and Clyde are successful writers attending a writers' retreat run by best-selling author Brynne Mainard. Now retired, Brynne runs several retreats a year for aspiring and successful authors. Olive, an astrophysicist and author has been completely lost in her work. Having been divorced from her first husband and widowed by her second, she had thrown herself into her career, leaving no time for relationships. She was shocked to meet Kahan, a political cartoonist and columnist, who just happened to be widowed from his first wife but divorced from his second. What are the odds? Olive and Kahan hit it off instantly and fall quickly into deep conversation. In the meantime, struggling poet, Clyde provides comedic commentary on the couple, as well as serving up his share of snarky comments and slapstick humor.

Finally, Olive and Kahan are content with their past and ready to move forward. Maybe love is in the stars for them after all.

**THESE PLAYS ARE READ ONLY. INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORDERING SCRIPTS ARE INCLUDED IN THE BOOK, or you may contact the playwright at lwhallauthor@gmail.com