{"title":"New Plays August 2026","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"american-devotion-by-franca-miraglia","title":"American Devotion by Franca Miraglia","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmerican Devotion\u003c\/em\u003e takes audiences back to 1957 to the Connecticut farmhouse shared by Marilyn Monroe and her celebrated playwright husband, Arthur Miller. In this fictional version of events, novelist Norman Mailer has successfully wangled a coveted invitation for cocktails with the reclusive couple shortly after Miller has been called to testify before McCarthy's House of Un-American Activities Committee. Adding further strain to an already besieged marriage, Mailer storms into this delicate situation ready to do battle and claim his prize at any cost, but Monroe, who is both stronger and more fragile than imaginable, has plans of her own for the evening's festivities. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeywords: political, McCarthyism, Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller, Norman Mailer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorld Premiere, By the Word Productions, Toronto ON, June 2026 at The Studio, Crow's Theatre\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGenre: Drama, Historical\u003cbr\u003eActs: 1\u003cbr\u003eRun time: 95 minutes\u003cbr\u003eContent notes: Scenes include depiction of smoking, addictive and self-harming behaviour. \u003cem\u003eAmerican Devotion\u003c\/em\u003e is a work of pure fiction. While it aims to reflect a realistic context of time and place, the characters and events depicted are the product of the playwright's imagination or are used fictitiously. There is no attempt at a strict adherence to historical accuracy. Instead, the dramatic structure of the play dictates condensing time frames, altering the order of real events and inventing characters and details over the course of a fictional evening.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCast size: 3 actors\u003cbr\u003eMale roles: 2\u003cbr\u003eFemale roles: 1\u003cbr\u003eList of Characters:\u003cbr\u003eArthur MILLER, The playwright at 41\u003cbr\u003eMarilyn MONROE, The actress at 31\u003cbr\u003eNorman MAILER, The writer at 40\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"American Devotion delves into the ravages of celebrity culture that’s reliant on fickle fans, the expectations placed on art while exploring political paranoia and the personal cost of public loyalty.\"\u003cbr\u003e-- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/doreenn.substack.com\/p\/the-toll-of-american-devotion?r=2658v9\u0026amp;utm_campaign=post-expanded-share\u0026amp;utm_medium=web\u0026amp;triedRedirect=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eDoreen Nicoll\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PGC","offers":[{"title":"Digital (PDF)","offer_id":47104974848173,"sku":"SRS-FM-AMDE","price":14.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2362\/0235\/files\/Untitled.jpg?v=1785426100"},{"product_id":"a-deal-is-a-deal-by-daniel-p-hoddinott-janice-hoddinott","title":"A Deal Is A Deal by Daniel P. Hoddinott \u0026 Janice Hoddinott","description":"\u003cp\u003eOkay, so irreverent behaviour at the wake for their mother Elaine might have set tongues a-wagging and even a few ripples of scandal around town. Survivable, one could reasonably suppose, if that was the end of it. But the real shock waves are yet to come, and it will be newly orphaned adult siblings Jared and Tiffany Dove themselves who will be left reeling. A stunning revelation at the reading of the will threatens to change both the nature of life as they know it and the course of a future they’d presumed would automatically unfold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eZella Baines, a set-in-her-ways “virtuous” aunt, and Sonja Dove, an ex-wife who never quite left the family orbit, turn out to be the adults in the room. They take charge of what quickly descends into a sorry situation, regardless of whether their individual pursuits of personal-agenda fulfillment are real or imagined. And given this blueprint for a story of animus and resentment, you’ll have to wade through the airing of dirty family laundry, longstanding family tensions and unrealistic expectations to determine whether there is any hope of it developing also into a story of redemption.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir self-centred natures aside, you’ll probably empathize just a little with Jared and Tiffany once you realize their plight. But rivalries are wont to reveal. In the ensuing knock-‘em-down, drag-‘em-out battle of wills among an eternally-broke brother and a righteously-intolerant sister who can barely stand each other, a do-gooding aunt who might not be all that good, and a helpful ex whose motivations may mystify — and where family treasure is at stake, no less — villains and heroes may not be so readily recognized.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeywords: death, drama, estate settling, family dynamics, family dysfunction, family values, heritage, karma, reaping what one sows, relationships, sibling rivalry, tradeoffs \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGenre: Comedic Drama\u003cbr\u003eActs: 2\u003cbr\u003eRun time: 90 minutes\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCast size: 6 actors\u003cbr\u003eMale roles: 3\u003cbr\u003eFemale roles: 3\u003cbr\u003eOther roles: 4\u003cbr\u003eCasting notes: In addition to the six primary speaking roles, there is provision for incidental restaurant patrons (gender and ages at your discretion) in ACT I Scene 2 and in ACT II Scenes 7 and 8. Voiceover for the deceased Elaine appears in ACT I Scenes 2 and 3, plus voiceovers or pre-recorded voices to represent the younger Dove family (four persons) in ACT II Scene 6. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PGC","offers":[{"title":"Digital (PDF)","offer_id":47105001652397,"sku":"SRS-DHJH-DIAD","price":14.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2362\/0235\/files\/adealisadeal.png?v=1785418071"},{"product_id":"six-days-in-the-life-of-mom-2126-by-rick-butts","title":"Six Days in the Life of Mom 2126 by Rick Butts","description":"\u003cp\u003eOver six days in 2126, brother and sister Mats and Thena figure out what to do with Mom. Once her youngest child Mats turns twenty-one in less than a week, Nora Mai will be taken out of service, ‘deregistered’ and put out for recycling. Nora Mai is a maternal autonomous interface (MAI), an artificial life form, and the only mother they have ever known.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey can keep her alive if they ask the government for an exemption (there is the ‘exemption directive’ available to them). The only problem is that Mom must move in with one of them to meet the requirements of the exemption. Mats is a fabulously rich professional basketball player with the means to provide for her but not sure he can take her. Thena has a side gig as Autofus, a mega-celebrity superhero who fights super villains around the galaxy and feels her work’s not conducive to having Mom underfoot. A sympathetic bureaucrat who is a fan of superheroes pulls some strings and the exemption is granted just in time. However Nora Mai has other plans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeywords: Childcare in the future, maternal love, parenthood, aging, siblings, artificial intelligence, big tech, superhero, surveillance culture, liberal authoritarianism. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinalist, The Future, season three, Broken Arts Entertainment, 2026. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGenre: Drama, Science Fiction, Tragedy, Political\u003cbr\u003eActs: 1\u003cbr\u003eRun time: 35 minutes\u003cbr\u003eSuitable for students 14+ \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCast size: 4 actors\u003cbr\u003eMale roles: 1\u003cbr\u003eFemale roles: 2\u003cbr\u003eTrans\/Non-Binary\/Gender Non-Conforming roles: 1\u003cbr\u003eProduction note: playing Nora Mai as an artificial life form.\u003cbr\u003eNora Mai is a maternal autonomous interface, a MAI, an artificial human who presents as a mid-forties woman that is virtually indistinguishable from a human mom. Her programming directs her to perform the maternal duties of a loving but overbearing mother dedicated to managing every aspect of the lives of her children Thena and Mats until they reach the age of twenty-one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVisit the playwright's website, \u003ca href=\"www.rickbutts.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003ewww.rickbutts.ca \u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PGC","offers":[{"title":"Digital (PDF)","offer_id":47105051852973,"sku":"SRS-RB-SDLM","price":14.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2362\/0235\/files\/Six-Days-in-the-Life-of-Mom-2126-Cover.jpg?v=1785419504"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2362\/0235\/collections\/pexels-photo-421759_fc89b1e7-f902-4785-b6d2-8b4e9b19856b.jpg?v=1785850272","url":"https:\/\/www.canadianplayoutlet.com\/collections\/new-plays-august-2026.oembed","provider":"Canadian Play Outlet","version":"1.0","type":"link"}