"So excellent, so important, so needed."

THE PLAYS


For Live Readings that we can adapt
to fit your group's needs,
please select from the following list:

Homelessness
Socrates Gone Mad - Sleeping in the stoa with Greek philosopher Diogenes
Chin’s Tears - Jutting Chin Deanawash and the Trail of Tears

Aging
The Last Tragedy - Voltaire changes direction at 67

Grief
Master Kung and the Dragon - Confucius and Lao Tzu meet
Sentiment and Slapstick - Charlie Chaplin grieves his lost child

Disaster and Famine
From Fire - Mother Jones and the trauma that made her

Childhood Abuse
Mother of a Thousand Children - Yvette Pierpaoli learns that children need her
The Women on the Floor - Dorothea Dix finds her cause  

Shame
Moses the Coward - Israel's leader meets his future wife

War
The Disasters of War - Goya's deafness and the art it made
Sherman's Private March - the Civil War general faces PTSD

Activism
The Apologetic Summary - Bartolome de Las Casas fights slavery

Incarceration
King Arthur and the Knight Prisoner - The creation of Malory's Morte d'Arthur
Thankful One Who Struggles - Assata Shakur and the choice to leave
The Destroyed People - Dostoevsky survives a firing squad and Siberia

Gangs
At the Edge of the Great Erie - Jigonsaseh and the Iroquois Confederacy
 
Plague and Genocide
Memories of the Dead - Elie Wiesel breaks his silence

Domestic Violence
Rimbaud’s Choice - The poet gives up writing to save himself

Battle Fatigue
A Frantic Deed of Lunatic Benevolence - Rudolf Hess meets his match

Impending Death
The Consolations of Boethius - A 6th Century philosopher awaits execution

Betrayal
The Harlot of Jericho - A Canaanite prostitute aids the Israelites

And, of course ...
There's the play we write for your group!

See them on Zoom!  Go to the PRODUCTS Page for more information!

What Audiences Are Saying:

Poignant, thoughtful, moving, and well-read.
   Highland Park, IL

The readings are alive!
   Rockford, IL  

I really enjoyed both pieces immensely.
   Seattle, WA

Well-constructed and tightly focused plays that, by exploring the lives of historical figures, allow viewers to examine their own crises with both objectivity and imagination.
     Huntsville AL 

Tim Anstett's creations are brilliant and thought-provoking.
   Mount Pleasant, MI 

Extraordinarily powerful!
   Stamford, CT
  
The play was written and performed very well!
   Bloomington IN   

Chilling and lyrical.
   Philadelphia Inquirer

A wonderful author... a fantastic job of live acting...
    Chicago, IL



We Present Choices

 

By dramatizing the single heroic moment when real people overcame their traumas and misfortunes, we present choices for those looking at the challenges of today. The sadness and fear, shame and joy and anger that people experience today is different only in circumstance from what occurred in the past. The effects of homelessness were profound in ancient Greece, and they are profound today. The limited choices made by incarceration in medieval times are not much different than the choices available today. Being old in 18th Century France offers many of the same challenges as being old in 21st Century America. Facing imminent death during the end of the Roman Empire is very alike to facing death today.



We Bring History Alive

In presenting real people, we serve as teacher and example for today’s audience. Each story is as germane to today’s situations as they were to those in their own day. War is still traumatic, great loss is still devastating, death is still baffling. Hearing of others’ problems, seeing others come out of trauma to succeed, and feeling a connection to these challenges is at the center of each of these brief dramas.



We do the people of history the honor of naming after them
the creations of our own minds.
J.W. von Goethe 

Contact Melissa Anne Marie