THEATRE ARTIST • PHOTOGRAPHER • OCCASIONAL SEWIST
PLAYWRITING
Find and read Ashleigh's work on The New Play Exchange
FULL LENGTHS
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THE NOT
Rural Missouri, 1994. Over the past thirty years, Sasha (they/them) has been stalked by an unnamable entity that moves and appears differently each time it is seen. Despite attempting to shield themself from the being, Sasha has been unable to escape its harassment and sits at a small kitchen table on a Friday night, recording their suicide note in a last ditch effort to convince others that the entity is real. The Not is an unsettling hour and a half during which the roots and effects of trauma, abuse, neglect, and self doubt are examined through the lens of psychological and paranormal horror. Drama. (1 non-binary)
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QUALIA
After intense heat triggers massive reactor explosions across the United States, Alex spends five years alone in a nuclear fallout shelter designed by both of her mothers - one a doctor, the other a robotics and AI scientist. Alex's only friend is Dom, a computer system, who wishes to be granted a body. When Alex's friend from college gets injured and accidentally finds the bunker, Alex agrees to help him but risks losing the one thing she can't live without. Drama. (2w, 1m)
* Recipient of a $5,000 playwriting grant from New Generation Theatrical for the 2019 Be Original Theater Festival.
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ELEFTHERIA
After descending into an afterlife for outcast female spirits, a young woman is called to participate in a horrifying ancient ritual involving blind submission to a higher power. A story of new mythology, an examination of shame culture, and an original language.
* Received a reading at the Rollins College Fred Stone theatre in July 2016.
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ONE ACTS
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GHOST
A strange coincidence of fate brings neurotic postal courier Lyle to the apartment of Petra - an emotionally unavailable woman who ghosted him after their spontaneous tryst at a wedding. Lyle stays to demand an apology from Petra, using every avenue available to him, including a male model named Sebastian. Soon, the tables turn, dignity is lost, and Lyle and Petra find themselves wondering if two impossibly flawed people might actually be good together. (Designed to be performed as a double bill with Funeral Party.) (One act. Comedy. 1w, 2m.)
* Performed at the ME Theatre in Feb 2018 with Funeral Party.
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FUNERAL PARTY
A drama about regret and revelations, finds Gwen and Trip sneaking into a crematorium to mourn the death of their best friend, Clay. Clay’s sudden suicide has Trip reeling with guilt but has left Gwen detached and distracted. They turn to a list they’ve compiled to keep them on track: drinks, Vietnamese food, dancing, coffee. When Gwen becomes reluctant to proceed with the evening’s planned events, a dark secret about her relationship with Clay is brought to light. (Designed to be performed as a double bill with Ghost.) (Drama. One act. 1f, 2m.)
* Performed at the ME Theatre in Feb 2018 with Ghost.
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HISS & HECKLE
It's 1937, and Faye and Edie have been vaudeville partners though most of the Depression. After a night of performing their double act, "Bliss & Bickle", the women are rudely (and clumsily) interrupted by Cliff, and gun-toting, washed-up, failed comedian who intends on taking their spot at the theatre, either by forcing the girls out...or shooting them.
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SHORTS
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"ORDER, CONTROL"
Two men at an undisclosed facility in Texas discuss the ethics of keeping things in cages. Accepted and included in the 2018 #theatreactionimmigration Protest Plays Project. (10 minute. Drama. 2m)
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"MILK, SUGAR, LEMON"
Political upheaval threatens the existence of a vast majority of the nation’s population. A daughter attempts to have a conversation with her mother about recent atrocities she has witnessed and been victim to. (10 minute. Drama. 2w)
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"THE NEGOTIATOR"
A couple tries to convince their drunk friend to go home. Performed by The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol in their Snack-Sized Plays series in January 2021. (10 minute. Comedy. 1w, 2m)
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"VINYL"
A wife who has hired a private investigator accuses her husband of infidelity. She has the photos to prove it. But his reasons are possibly justified. (10 minute. Drama. 1m , 1w)
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"THE LONG WALK"
After another alcohol-fueled romp in St. Louis, Ray is locked up for a drunk-and-disorderly and is again bailed out by Leo, his best friend. As Ray sits in Leo’s unheated car on the freeway, he considers the destruction he’s repeatedly caused and if he’s worth the trouble. (10 minute. Drama. 2m)
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"TIT FOR TAT"
Two barely-friends find out that their friendship isn’t as solid as they thought it was. (10 minute. Comedy. 2 gender-neutral or trans/non-binary performers.)
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"THE IDIOT"
Coworkers awkwardly flirt and then awkwardly set up their first date. (10-minute. Comedy. 2 gender neutral.)
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"SATURDAY(S)"
A couple has a conversation over coffee about the privilege of perpetrators of harassment and sexual assault. (10 minute. Drama. 1w, 1m.)
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"BURY THE LIVING"
A man attending the funeral of his murdered teenage sister tries to understand the sense behind western funeral practices while also coming to grips with her death. (Drama. Ten-minute monologue play, 1w voice, 1m identifying.)
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"CYCLE"
A woman engaging in an affair weighs the consequences of her actions, examining the reasons for her infidelity and her feelings toward both her partner and her lover. (10 minute. Drama. 1w,1m)