Skulls

Synopsis:

Yorick kidnaps an audience attending a production of Cymbeline and tries to reinstate himself as a king of the stage by revealing the shame of his slighted position in theatrical history and the circumstances surrounding his murder at Elsinore.

Actors: monologue excerpts from this play are posted on this site.

Character List:

Yorick (M, 30s - 40s)
Claudius / Ghost (M 50s)
Lady Macbeth (F, 30s)
Ophelia (F, 20s)
Juliet (F, 20s)

Setting & Requirements:

Set in a theatre at the end of an evening; it can be played off a bare stage or another show's set, requires some props and costuming, and runs around 13 minutes.

A staged Reading at the Old Opera House, West Virginia

Production History:

Skulls received a staged reading as part of the Ten Minute Play Lab at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Alaska, in June 2002.

In August 2002, it received another staged reading as part of the Three Wise Monkeys Short Leaps Series. In both readings the part of Yorick was read by Dawson Moore (who has a lovely head for it!)

Also in 2002, Skulls won "Special Mention" in the Fifteen Minute Play Division of the Sonoma Repertory Theatre's New Play Contest.

Skulls was selected for the 2003 Newtown Theatre Short and Sweet Festival, but was not produced. It was also short-listed for their 2004 Festival

The Woodstock Guild and the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony presented a staged reading of Skulls as part of a festival of new work held in the beautiful historic Byrdcliffe theatre in June 2004. This reading resulted in script revisions.

It received The Spotlight Award (3rd Place) and a staged reading for the Old Opera House Theatre Company's New Play Festival in June 2005.

Sample Dialogue:

available on request, or see monologues page.