TOUCH THE MOON. A full length 5 character drama by Arianna Rose

SYNOPSIS

Spring Break, 1995, on an island far from teenage Miranda’s home.  Her mysterious disappearance lays bare a mess of secrets and lies.  Her mother Becca frantically searches for Miranda and the truth of what happened that night from the only people who might know – Miranda’s best friend Emily, and Stefan, a young man who is the last person to have seen her.

 Through an ever-widening circle of past, present and future vignettes, a fuller picture of Miranda emerges, showing a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, healing from a broken family dynamic and exploring the boundaries of her sexuality.  Stefan’s father Dirk wearily protects his son, and a guilt-ridden Emily is haunted by the thought it may be her fault. A play about the need to know, and of motherly love and determination in the face of the unthinkable.

CHARACTERS

MIRANDA     female, 18, white, American high school student, visitor to the island.  An innocent yearning to step into her life.

 BECCA           female,  any race or ethnicity, anywhere from late 30’s to 50’s,  American, Miranda’s mother. Tightly wound and religious.

 STEFAN         male, European, 17-21, student on the island. Charismatic and troubled. 

 DIRK              male, European, 40s, Stefan’s father.  Businessman. Barely holding it together.

 EMILY           female, 18, any race or ethnicity, Miranda’s best friend. Free, open, happy.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY AND AWARDS

Touch The Moon was developed out of a 15-minute play I wrote called A BIG OCEAN with three characters (Mother, Daughter, Boy).  It was selected for the Know Theatre’s Artists and Playwrights Festival in 2019 and won the Artistic Merit Award. Since writing that short play, I’ve expanded and rewritten it into both a one-act play with three characters (Becca, Miranda, Stefan), and a full length five-character play (Becca, Miranda, Stefan, Emily, Dirk).  These last two incarnations have the new title TOUCH THE MOON. 

The  One-Act version was selected for a reading at the 2022 William Inge New Play Lab Festival), and was a winner for the UK Windsor Fringe Festival 2020 (changed from live production to filmed streaming production due to Covid) , and was one of three finalists for their Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing 2020. 

The full-length version had a workshop production of two performances in July 2025 as part of the Cincinnati Lab Theatre New Works Festival, in Cincinnati OH at the Evendale Cultural Arts Center.

An earlier draft of the full-length version was selected by Walking Shadow Reader’s Theatre in Washington D.C. (www.walkingshadowrt.com) for an online reading in April 2021. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArOyFf1A79M&list=PLa_TWHxG_6-S9py4izjyUnzWCW_oCwxxL&index=8

It also received an audio-only reading in 2021 by Deans Productions Theatre Company, Los Angeles, as part of their Premiere The Play series.

https://anchor.fm/dptc/episodes/Touch-the-Moon-by-Arianna-Rose-e17vnkl/a-a6kgckf

The full length version was selected for a staged reading by the New Works New Year! Series produced by Fantasy Theatre Factory in Miami Florida, in April 2022.

It was also selected by the HRC Showcase Theatre in Hudson, NY, for a staged reading, in July 2022.  One of five plays selected from 167 submissions.

The full-length version was the Third Place winner in the Mixing It Up Productions 2020 Playwright Competition (one of three scripts from over 900 submissions).

It was a finalist for the 2024 Live Arts Virginia Waterworks Festival (out of 600 submissions), the 2021 Headwaters New Play Festival at Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado, and a 2021 Top Ten Finalist for the Todd McNerney National Playwriting Award.

It also received Honorable Mention in the Panndora’s Box 2020 New Play Festival, Long Beach CA, out of 237 submissions, and reached Semi-Finalist status in both the Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival, 2020, Los Angeles CA, and the 2022 New Works Festival at Hippodrome Theatre, FL. It was a 2024 shortlisted play for The Epiphanies Festival produced by Wild Imaginings Theatre Company.

The full-length version has been partially developed within the Miami Dade Council of Cultural Affairs Playwright Development Program.  I was one of the four playwrights selected for the 2019-2021 cycle, moderated by playwright Kia Corthron. I am continuing to develop the piece.

A perusal copy is available on New Play Exchange. If you are a member, click on the link below to download the script:

Touch the Moon full length play

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