Published in TAKE TEN: New 10 Minute Plays by Random House
FERRIS WHEEL is the unlikely love story of two lonely people who are forced to ride together on an old country Ferris wheel. She's afraid of heights. He's afraid to give up smoking. They are both afraid of each other. Funny and touching it's a perfect romantic comedy. See PLAYS
THINGS I LEARNED IN ISOLATION is a recollection of events that happened during the COVID-19 lockdown from March 18th - June 11th, 2020. "Finding myself in isolation way too long, I decided to make the most of it by writing about what I learned and how I handled it!?!" Mary Miller.
Inspired by true stories "What I Learned in Isolation" is a funny, honest, and moving account of things that happened when the world went into lockdown. The unique nature of the story is that it's something everyone can identify with because we all lived through it together! A tour de force for any actress!!
"In the Brunswick Actors Theatre production of Death Defying One Acts, we were thoroughly entertained by the first [Ferris Wheel] and third acts [Patterson's.] The actors were hilarious. But I am really writing to thank Mary Miller for her play "Things I Learned in Isolation." We certainly could relate to all the COVID references. However, for out-of-towners like myself the ending was forever memorable. Kudos to your theatre group and Mary Miller for so forthrightly addressing this contentious happening at this moment in history." An Audience Member - Hubbard, TX
Manuscript available upon request.
PATTERSON'S an award-winning comedy that takes place in the parking lot outside Patterson's, an old fashioned funeral home, where two old high school sweethearts find making amends now ... may require at least one of them to give up the shirt off their back! See PLAYS
NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS CITY CORP GRANT Recipient
ARTS MINISTRY MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH PRESENTATION New York City, NY. Directed Pat Golden
EUGENE O'NEILL NATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE
Semifinalist
Using the backdrop of the Rodney King beating in 1991 to mirror events happening today WITNESS has a ripped from the headlines intensity as it explores the divisions within a white American family living in Detroit, MI, and an African-American family living in Harlem, NY.
By combining these two stories through two different families, one white and one black; WITNESS cuts to the core of the humanity of both as the overlapping dialogue exposes the pervasive nature of poverty and the desperation that comes with it.
The genius of the play is the melding of the two stories into one, expanding the way we have a conversation about race, class, and social justice today.
Dedicated to Gordon Parks
WITNESS: YouTube Video Trailer (1:29)
CONGRATULATIONS ON A BRILLIANT PLAY. Arts Ministry at Marble Collegiate Church, New York City, NY
"On Thursday, October 28, 2021 at the Historic Marble Collegiate Church in New York City there was a staged reading of this powerful and timely play WITNESS written by Mary Miller. It was directed by Pat Golden and sponsored by The Theatre Upstairs - Downstairs at Marble. WITNESS is an important and necessary play in this era of divisiveness. Mary Miller's narrative technique is genius and something I will never forget."
Arts Ministry at Marble Collegiate Church
Picture Credit: Douglas Powers
EUGENE O'NEILL NATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE
Semifinalist
In April 2020 Mary Miller's play WITNESS was honored as a semifinalist in the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, where her voice as a writer was given a "full-throated endorsement" by the O'Neill committee and her ideas recognized as "vital to the continual evolution of American Theater."
Wendy C. Goldberg - Artistic Director
Lexy Leuszler - Literary Manager
In a world where modern medicine and improved lifestyle has raised our life expectancy, the question of what to do with an aging population is one of the fastest most pervasive problem facing the world today.
IN THE KITCHEN: Thoughts on Love, Sex, and Aging is a comedy that revolves around the lives of a mother and her three daughters who suddenly find themselves forced to navigate the pitfalls of old age when the girls discover their mother has left the gas stove burning all night.
Mixing current events with childhood memories plus a healthy fear of the future puts the women at odds with one another. Often sending them on a collision course that is as heartbreaking as it is hysterical as they grapple with the nature of aging and what to do if you are lucky enough to get old!
"Why the kitchen? Because that's where life unfolds...in the kitchen!"
Ferris Wheel