New 10-minute dark comedy play for 2 actors: Alfred and Lily and Their Marvelous Tank in the Forest

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If you like dark comedies (cringe and laugh, laugh and cringe—then pause to think seriously for a minute…), check out my new 10-minute play, Alfred and Lily and Their Marvelous Tank in the Forest. Yes, it has two frogs in it who jump around, chew on sticks, and get jealous of pond creatures with purple scarves—but this allegory doesn’t only provide fun entertainment; it’s thought provoking and generates great discussion. Does a horror have to affect you personally for you to notice something is wrong? How long will you accept happy lies until you’re willing to see what is in front of you? How can two individuals have such contrasting views of reality?…

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New comedic monologue for women: Freshly Squeezed

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If you’re looking for a free, new (let’s say, um, “fresh”) comedic monologue for a female actor, check out Freshly Squeezed below. It’s a 1940s version of a someone who might sound a little stuck on herself, hence the comedy as she compares her “noble” qualities to the “poor” girls around her. But if you read the entire 10-minute piece from which it comes, Ruth and Harry & The Dinner Party, you see Ruth reveals a huge insecurity about her inability to become a mother, and strength despite society’s pressure, and her character takes on a much deeper note. This monologue runs about 1.5 minutes.

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New 5-minute Children's Comedic Reader's Theater Play: The Shipwreck Solution

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What do a box jellyfish, a mako shark, an anglerfish and a tiger shark have in common? They all want to live in the same abandonned shipwreck on the ocean floor—and no one wants to share! Check out The Shipwreck Solution to discover if these four, very different creatures, can find a way to work it out!

This is a 5-7 minute children’s comedic play, also appropriate for Reader’s Theater, for 4 actors (gender neutral)….

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Christmas Plays: talking reindeer, mistletoe melancholy, Christmas tree blood and more!

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As we sled into December, first, a very warm Happy Hannukah or Happy Chanukah (or use one of the other 14 spellings!)! And second, the Christmas Theater season is upon us! Is there a classic holiday play you see every year? Or a new Christmas show you are looking forward to this season? For me, I recently enjoyed A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live On Stage followed by one of those crazy milkshakes shared by 4 of us (check out the pic!)! Nothing says Christmas like tons of sweets, right (Okay, yes, lots of things say Christmas other than sweets! But one must exert some sugar will power around the holidays!)? Next weekend, I’m looking forward to nestling into an historic Dutch church in legendary Sleepy Hollow to watch a one-man show of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. The following weekend, I’ll enjoy a one-hour version of The Nutcracker. I love to suppor theater year-round, but there is something special about seeing a warm holiday show in December!

As much as I love seeing Christmas Drama, I also love writing it! So check out some of my Christmas theater below (a one-act play, a 5-minute one-man show, and several monologues for kids to adults)! Click on the links to read excerpts from all of the holiday monologues or holiday plays or to get the full versions. Enjoy the holiday season!…

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Black Friday Deal on Tara Meddaugh plays: 20% off all purchases!

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Whoohoo! Yes, even my plays are on sale for Black Friday - as my thank you to YOU—my loyal patrons, fellow artists, actors, directors, writers, friends, teachers, designers, students…I’m grateful for all of you! So enjoy 20% off your purchase now through November 25! Just use coupon code BLACKFRIDAYPLAYS at the checkout. Happy shopping and Happy Creating!

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Now Available - 5 Minute Children's Play: My Best Myself

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If you’re looking for a short play for children, check out this fun and poignant 5-minute comedic play for 2 female actors. While Megan and Kel are waiting for their school bus to arrive, Megan challenges Kel to prove how she received her latest Girl Scouts badge. But revelations soon afford the girls an opportunity to put down their rivalry and consider maybe, just maybe, becoming friends…

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Great Plays for Halloween

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If you’re looking for an eerie, creepy or thriller play in the spirit of Halloween, check out these plays that just might give you a chill or two! From the witch in that gingerbread house, to a mysterious heart, a domineering bingo chip, a lust for human hair—and more—enjoy these uniquely dark (and sometimes comedic) plays by Tara Meddaugh…

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New Free Dramatic Monologue for Female or Male actor: No Release

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Check out my new dramatic monologue, "No Release," about a woman and her failed attempts at a cleansing cry.

MELINDA: Everyone keeps telling me to cry like it’s some kind of, some kind of miracle cure or something. I’ll feel better, I’ll feel this, I don’t know, this release, and—I don’t even know what a release feels like.  What—suddenly I’ll have no tightness in my chest? Cause you know, I’m wearing this tightness inside of me like some kind of old fashioned girdle, you know? And, it’s like...

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Beverly Hills 90210, The Musical: The Peach Pit Takes Center Stage

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If watching musical (parody) remakes of your favorite, or not-so-favorite, guilty-pleasure tv shows appeals to you, then you're in for another treat. Yes, that's right. Beverly Hills 90210, the (gulp) musical is hitting Off-Broadway this September.  Bob and Tobly McSmith strike again in pulling at those kitsch ole heartstrings...

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Carnegie Mellon University and The Tony Awards

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This year's Tony Awards brought out a lot of pride for CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) alumni and students, when two alumni each received one of theatre's most prestigious recognitions. Leslie Odom, Jr. won his first Tony for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical (he plays Aaron Burr in the huge huge huge hit, "Hamilton.")....

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Shrews Taming Shrews: All female cast of this classic for The Public's "Shakespeare in the Park"

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Okay, using the word "shrew" makes my 21st Century self cringe for some reason.  Other than the mouse-like mammal, a shrew is defined as "a bad-tempered or aggressively assertive woman" which is certainly not most women, and certainly not just women who don't want to get married. But Shakespeare used it, and so do I.  Is Katherina a shrew? Is female-Petruchio a shrew? Well, now you can judge for yourself in a month or so...

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New Dramatic Monologue: The Nicest Worst Club

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Here is a new dramatic monologue, for a female (or male) actor. The monologue is suitable for a female (could be worked for a male) actor ages 18+. In "The Nicest Worst Club," Julie, a married woman with children, speaks to her friend, Jan, about not wanting to be part of a club of very nice women (who have all lost a husband).

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Lee Harper will never see Aaron Sorkin's stage adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbir

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How many of us were blown away by Lee Harper's To Kill A Mockingbird in our very young school lives? Oh my gosh--I loved that book. I even just loved saying the words "Boo Radley." It has probably been a few decades since I read it, and after recently hearing Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, The West Wing) is writing a stage adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird, I put a good re-read of this classic on my "to do" list...

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Consider My Monologues and 10-minute Plays for Your Competition

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'Tis the season for competitions of all sorts! I've been getting a lot of emails about Forensics Competitions, Acting Tournaments, Speech Days, Thespians Festivals and more. If your competition requires a 10-minute play or a monologue, consider my repertoire for a memorable piece that is fun to perform...

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