Playwright Profile: Sandra McNiff is a speech-language pathologist, actress, and soprano who has a passion for writing. She has been involved in some aspect of theater or music for more than 40 years. During her career, she has produced and directed a children's summer theater, worked as a professional puppeteer, performed in musical and non-musical theatrical presentations, staged chancel dramas and pageants, and served in various technical capacities, from stage hand to sound technician. In addition, she has written grants and volunteered as an officer and board member of several artistic organizations.  Through JAC, you can enjoy Sandra's holiday favorite Christmas Pageants (a collection of Christmas pageants/plays perfect for stage or church settings), and her one-acts Final Notes (a touching testimonial from a drama teacher to his students), and Requiem (a student's surprise visit from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart).

A new playwright to JAC, Paul D. Hauck has a new one-man tour-de-force to which attention must be paid!  The Trials of Clarence Darrow traces the legal career of Clarence Darrow, arguably the most famous trial lawyer in American history.  It introduces him at the end of his career and briefly recaps his education and entry into the legal profession.  The first act reviews his work as the most effective legal advocate for workers rights and the union movement, as well as covering his gradual disillusionment with the legal and political system leading to his indictment for attempting to bribe jurors.  The second act covers his trial on these charges and his return to the practice of general law, including his handling of the Scopes trial, the Ossian Sweet murder trial, and the Leopold and Loeb murder trials.  ISBN #1-60513-085-0; JAC #2010-0025 - This title is also available via Amazon.com.

Another newcomer to JAC is Lon E. Rogers, whose full-length play, Losing Daniel, is the story of a playwright who has devoted his life to the smoke and mirrors of the stage only to become entangled in his own blurred inner narrative.  Matthew Shelton, a famous American playwright, loses his 17-year-old son Daniel to death in a tragic accident. In an attempt to assuage his grief, he writes a play about him but consents to its production only if he can choose the actor who plays the young Daniel. Tommy, the chosen actor, bears an uncanny resemblance to the deceased Daniel, which rekindles Matthew's mourning for his lost son. Gradually, in Matthew's mind Tommy becomes Daniel with disastrous consequences. Nora, the wife, attempts to intercede, but Matthew turns a deaf ear. In a concluding climactic scene, Tommy reveals to Nora a truth about Matthew and Daniel that alters relationships forever.  ISBN #1-60513-089-3; JAC #2010-0029 - This title is also available via Amazon.com.

And one more JAC debut is playwright J.C. Svec and his full-length play, The Home Front.  Three women, "Rosie the Riveters," are trapped in their Bronx factory during a blizzard. Lillian, Marion and Margaret, best friends since high school, come to the conclusion that they have not gotten through the trials and tribulations of war, together, as promised. Eventually they realize they have already moved on with their own personal lives without involving each other.  Three young women and two young men in this touching drama.  ISBN #1-60513-088-5; JAC #2010-0031.  This title is also available via Amazon.com.

For more information about these or any of JAC's play selections, visit us online, or drop us an email!

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