Full-length plays by Ginger Lazarus:
The Embryos
(3 W, 2 M) Mommy and Daddy have tried desperately to have a baby, but nothing has worked, not even high-tech in vitro fertilization. When Dr. Kaganda informs them that Mommy's "degraded uterus" offers no chance of successful implantation for their two remaining frozen embryos, Mommy and Daddy have an epiphany: rather than discard their embryos, or donate them to another couple, they will take the little blastocysts home and care for them like children. All might be well, except that the embryos, Leggo and Eggo, have voracious appetites and uncanny abilities beyond their developmental stage. Soon the libidinous offspring get out of hand and devour an innocent pizza delivery gal. Confined to the den, Leggo and Eggo simmer with resentment and unfulfilled ambition, and decide to embark on an epic crime spree. They are caught and thrown into federal prison. Bewildered Mommy and Daddy are interrogated by the ruthless Attorney General Kandi Bean, who is hell-bent on making an example of the embryos by trying them as adults, even though their crimes were committed prenatally. The poor would-be parents are faced with a choice: save their embryos from the world, or save the world from their embryos.
Matter Familias
(4 W, 3 M) When single, thirty-something Katherine announces to her parents that she's going to adopt, their reactions are mixed. When she tells them her future son is William, a forty-year-old accountant, their reaction is abject horror. Katherine and William try to settle down to a nice, normal family life, in spite of Mother and Dad's violent protests and the curiosity of William's coworker Claude, who just happens to be Katherine's ex-boyfriend. Meanwhile, Katherine's sister Lisa and her partner Lisa are thrilled to find out they are pregnant…but when Lisa P. insists that the baby is the product of her partner's own "potent eggs," Lisa M. is seriously confused. As Mother schemes to get Katherine married and pregnant and Lisa M. grows increasingly suspicious about her partner's truthfulness, secrets are revealed, relationships explode, and the ties that bind get tied in tighter and tighter knots. But everything is relative in this hysterical comedy, and in the end, only family matters.
Nonprofit
(4 W, 2 M) It's an exciting time for the Urban Arts Center, as the prospect of a hot new grant promises to put its street musicians, muralists, and theater guerillas on the map. Most optimistic of all is Fred, an aspiring glass-painter, who dreams of rising above her entry-level job and making her mark on the Center's famous window (and perhaps even winning the heart of a handsome juggler). Neurotic coworkers, rebellious artists, and capricious sponsors aside, Fred throws her support behind Louise, the charismatic Executive Director, to carry out the Center's vision of art for art's sake. But when disaster strikes, the foundations of idealism begin to creak under the weight of market potential. How long can Fred hold on to her dream-and her job-without giving up everything else?
MOCKBA: a play about Moscow
(5 W, 4 M) In the fall of 1993, while post-Communist Russia is in the midst of massive social, cultural, and political change, five American college students come to Moscow to study with artists from the renowned Moscow Art Theater. Bogachov, a prominent director who heads the program, dazzles them with his insight, while Laskin, a renowned master teacher, displays his exuberant energy and affection as he leads them in scene study of Chekhov's Three Sisters. But cross-cultural misunderstandings, interpersonal conflicts, and trouble with classes soon divide the group, while outside the classroom, a tense standoff between President Yeltsin and rebellious Communist hardliners escalates. As the city itself comes under siege, the students are forced to question why they came, and what they will really learn in Moscow.
Signs
(2 W, 2 M) Sign o' the Times is a nothing-fancy sign shop, run by all-business Rachel with the help of Jean-Marie, a young woman with a strange gift for wordplay, and Troy, an enthusiastic hanger-on with a passion for feeding people. In comes Aaron, a young man who "sees things" and has come searching for a sign at—where else? —a sign shop. Rachel has little patience for visions, but as Troy is fascinated and Jean-Marie seems to warm to the newcomer's attentions, Rachel is finally persuaded to let Aaron stay and help out at the shop. Their intimate world is nearly shattered when Aaron foresees—or fails to foresee—a devastating explosion. Now each of them has to find the signs that point to home.
