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 one of three finalists for Windsor, UK Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing 2020. It was one of 14 plays on the shortlist (out of 294 submissions) for the Carnon Downs Drama Group UK One-Act Play Competition in the U.K.
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. It is available for viewing on my youtube channel:
Touch The Moon zoom reading Walking Shadow Readers Theatre 2021
It also received an audio-only reading in 2021 by Deans Productions Theatre Company, Los Angeles, as part of their Premiere The Play series.
Premiere the Play audio reading of Touch The Moon
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, postponed from March 2020 to 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, 2021 Headwaters New Play Festival at Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado, and a 2021 top ten finalist for the Todd McNerney National Playwriting Award. Top 4 finalist for a production at Black Swamp Players in Ohio.
It also received Honorable Mention in the Panndora’s Box 2020 New Play Festival, Long Beach CA, out of 237 submissions, and was a Semi-Finalist in the Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival, 2020, Los Angeles CA.
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.
TOUCH THE MOON (full-length version) has not yet had a production. 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
If not, please fill out and submit the form below.
For more information about TOUCH THE MOON, to request a perusal copy or inquire about performance rights, please fill out the form below and submit: