his page features details and synopses of some of Simon's plays written for the stage, and provides a peek into his works that are currently in development. If you would like to obtain a copy of any of these scripts in digital form for reading and/or potential production, please contact Simon. Produced plays are listed alphabetically, with previously unproduced plays and plays in development listed at the bottom of the page.
Arpillera
Synopsis: | The September 11, 1973 coup in Chile was backed by the US government; one example in a long line of American interventions that caused thousands of deaths and immeasurable suffering. This docu-drama draws parallels between the Chilean 9/11 and the infamous 2001 attacks, while weaving a rich tapestry of life in Chile in 1973 and the years that follow.
| Style: | Docu-Drama
| Number of Acts: | One
| Length: | 70 mins
| Total actors required: | 9 (flexible)
| Men: | 4
| Women: | 5
| Production History: | First produced as part of the Graduate course in Directing at the University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004.
| Notes: | Casting is flexible and can be done with varying cast numbers and role allocations. |
Collaboration
Synopsis: | Theatre is supposed to be the ultimate collaborative art form, but when a young director finds herself having trouble working with the set designer on a production, she turns to the producer for help, only to find that the hierarchies of seniority, reputation and gender can get in the way of an ideal artistic process.
| Style: | Dark Comedy/Satire
| Number of Acts: | One
| Length: | 15 mins
| Total actors required: | 2
| Men: | 1
| Women: | 1
| Production History: | First produced by Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004. Subsequently produced by Downstage (Calgary, Alberta) as part of Theatre Junction's Random Acts festival in 2005.
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Cowtown
Synopsis: | When Luke is hit and killed by the C-Train, it's assumed to be an unfortunate accident. But in a stream of non-linear, rapid fire scenes, the real picture comes into view. Luke's sister Rose arrives from Toronto to unravel a tangled web of corruption, drugs, corporate conspiracies, deception and murder that will change the lives of everyone involved forever.
| Style: | Drama
| Number of Acts: | Two
| Length: | 120 mins
| Total actors required: | 10
| Men: | 6
| Women: | 4
| Production History: | First produced by Rogues Theatre (Calgary, Alberta) in 2008.
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Jack of Hearts
Synopsis: | Pearce is a card shark in every sense of the word, but he's not out to make his own fortune, but rather to buy his ailing father a kidney transplant on the black market. Not knowing how much time his father may have left, Pearce goes all-in against a group of dangerous and highly skilled players in a game that will make or break Pearce's chance to save his father.
| Style: | Drama
| Number of Acts: | One
| Length: | 60 mins
| Total actors required: | 6
| Men: | 4
| Women: | 2
| Production History: | First produced by Phantasmagoria Productions (Guelph, Ontario) in 2002. Subsequently produced by Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004 and by Sage Theatre (Calgary, Alberta) in 2005.
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The Lookout Trail
Synopsis: | When Principal Jennifer Murphy receives a mysterious message claiming to be from the future and predicting grave danger to her students, she and the Vice Principal try to determine the best course of action. But it soon becomes clear that something else in the message is more important to Jennifer than ensuring the safety of her students.
| Style: | Drama
| Number of Acts: | One
| Length: | 45 mins
| Total actors required: | 4
| Men: | 2
| Women: | 2
| Production History: | First produced by Phantasmagoria Productions (Guelph, Ontario) in 2001.
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Pulling the Wool
Synopsis: | Allen is a struggling writer who takes a job with the news network, turning dreary statistics into manipulative stories. Soon, Allen's growing distrust for the profit-driven network leads him to embark on a mission to expose its hypocrisy, despite the warnings of both his co-worker and his wife. But Allen doesn't anticipate the power of the dark forces that stand in his way.
| Style: | Dark Comedy/Satire
| Number of Acts: | One
| Length: | 60 mins
| Total actors required: | 4
| Men: | 2
| Women: | 2
| Production History: | First produced in a co-production by Downstage & Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2005. Subsequently produced by Downstage (Calgary, Alberta) as part of the Calgary One-Act Festival and the Edmonton International Fringe Festival in 2005.
| Notes: | Pulling the Wool won the award for 'Outstanding Original Script' at the 2005 Calgary One-Act Play Festival.
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Unproduced Plays & Plays in Development
E.O.M.: | A young girl who hates her job at a fast food restaurant finds herself the unlikely organizer of a union to protect the maltreated employees.
| The Green Fairy: | The 'absinthe murder' of 1905 serves as a historical reference point in a play about scapegoating the innocent to protect the wealthy and powerful.
| Heredity: | A young woman returns home for a family funeral and is forced to face her family's daunting health history while coming to terms with her loss.
| The Murder of Harry Houdini: | Inspired by several theories around the death of the greatest magician of all time, a play about how far some will go to keep people in the dark.
| Noon: | A ten-minute play in which an employee desperately tries to warn her boss and her bodyguard of an impending assassination attempt.
| Overdue: | A musical set in the not-too distant future where a greedy government controls all knowledge and seeks to eliminate the memories of the poor.
| Sanitarium: | A man wakes to find himself in an asylum and without memory. As he slowly regains it, will he be horrified by the crimes he has committed?
| Skeletons: | When a lawyer receives a desperate visit from a forgotten high-school friend, dark memories come rushing back that forever changed both men.
| Testament: | A woman finds a note with strange markings in her mailbox, and comes to realize that she is the target of someone's demented and dangerous game.
| Visiting Hours: | A death row inmate receives a visit from an anti-death penalty lawyer who claims that he can save him, but is the offer too good to be true?
| World's Worst Freak Show: | A macabre musical with a heavy Tom Waits influence set in a freak show where the featured acts are horrible, yet no one seems to notice or care. |
For more information on any of these plays, please contact Simon.
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