PLAYS
AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION
Each works with a minimal set. Each are dramas which also feature comedy.
TWO JUNES & NO JULY - full length, 6 characters / one doubled
GOODNIGHT, ANNABELLE - one act, 2 characters
UNDER THE ONE-TIME SKY – one act, 2 characters
SUICIDE BY WIFE – one act, 2 characters
SECRET SUNDAYS – full length, 6 characters
SECRET SUNDAYS: THE MONOLOGUES - one person show
KLAUS’ CLOSET - full length, 3 characters
Inquire Here
SOCIAL JUSTICE & ADVOCACY THROUGH ART
Two Junes & No July
Full length
cast size: 6
genre: drama, period
In the summer of 1951, a Bronx born and bred, newly drafted GI and his young wife, Angie, arrive in Augusta, Georgia to live with a local family while he trains at a nearby army base. The Korean War is raging, and the Italian American immigrant couple are in unfamiliar territory, living with an eccentric Southern woman and her domineering husband. While the country is on the brink of women's liberation and a civil rights breakthrough, Angie is brought into a world in which morals are questioned and secrecy is a must. The Bronx is far behind her, as she is challenged to confront not only her personal truth, but danger itself.
Play History:
Two Junes & No July had its world premiere in September 2025. The production was produced by State of Play Productions and You Might Rabbit Productions and directed by Michelle Concha.
Press:
VIP Spotlight Interview: Susan Jennifer Polese
Best Film Awards
Theater Company Comes Home to Westchester After a Decade in New York City
Yonkers Times
Longtime Creative Partners Bring Collaborative Theater to Armonk With Two Junes and No July
The Examiner News
Goodnight, Annabelle
one act
cast size: 2
genre: drama, period
What if you could get another life, another chance? In 1965 Bea and Eileen are thrown together trying to get through their lives, one wants to be a famous singer while the other needs to make ends meet, while a shared life from the past comes back to them. Do we get a second chance at love? This one act appeared as part of Glass Ceiling Breakers 3 a festival of female identifying playwrights and filmmakers. Please write back if you have any questions.What if you could get another life, another chance? In 1965 Bea and Eileen are thrown together trying to get through their lives, one wants to be a famous singer while the other needs to make ends meet, while a shared life from the past comes back to them. Do we get a second chance at love? This one act appeared as part of Glass Ceiling Breakers 3 a festival of female identifying playwrights and filmmakers. Please write back if you have any questions.
Play History:
Good Night, Annabelle was produced as part of the 3rd Annual Glass Ceiling Breakers One Act Festival of Women and Female Identifying Playwrights.
Under the One-Time Sky
one act
cast size: 2
genre: dark comedy, drama
Under swaying trees, two childhood friends careen into a past that has long been preserved in a tiny backyard. One has traveled the world. One has never left this town. Together, they will learn something today: How long can a moment stay with you? It may be just as long as you hide from it.
On Under the One Time Sky:
"Susan Jennifer Polese asks us to consider what responsibility memory plays in the border between childhood innocence and adulthood. Is saving a living being arbitrary? Perhaps by revisiting the trauma together we finally cast light?
— Catherine Filloux, an award-winning playwright who has been writing about human rights and social justice for over twenty years
Play History:
Under the One-Time Sky was selected as a finalist for "Best Play" in the 4th Annual Aery Theatre Company 20/20 One-Act Competition.
Press:
Review Fix Interviews Under the One-Time Sky Playwright Susan Jennifer Polese
Adam LaFaci and Michelle Concha in Under the One-Time Sky at the Midtown International Theatre Festival.
Suicide by Wife
one act
cast size: 2
genre: dark comedy, drama
An officer responding to a domestic violence call tries to explain to the victim how to get free of her abuser, while the victim shows the officer how we are all more trapped than we think.
On Suicide by Wife:
“Deeply disturbing and profound. Susan Jennifer Polese writes with unexpected witty humor, creating skilled dialogue, clear believability and theatricality. This important two-hander needs to be heard.”
— Catherine Filloux
Play History:
Suicide by Wife has been nominated for Planet Connections Festivity awards in these categories: Outstanding Production of a Staged Reading, Outstanding Playwriting of a Staged Reading, Outstanding Actress in a Staged Reading. Neil Pritchard won for Outstanding Actor in a Staged Reading.
Suicide by Wife has had a full production in Glass Ceiling Breakers: A Festival of Women Playwrights. The play is being used as a teaching tool to aid the public in understanding the complex issue of interpersonal violence.
Secret Sundays
full length
cast size: 5
genre: dark comedy, drama
A full-length play about childhood innocence lost at the hands of an abusive uncle and the way in which imagination and resilience can help a child through - all the way to adulthood. It follows a famous, female identifying novelist's journey from having a typical book reading event to revealing her authentic self through courage and honesty.
Secret Sundays: The Monologues
one person show
cast size: 1
genre: dark comedy, drama
Secret Sundays: The Monologues are the monologue excerpts from Secret Sundays, a one-female identifying person's memory play about childhood innocence lost at the hands of an abusive uncle and the way in which imagination and resilience can help a child through - all the way to adulthood. It follows a famous novelist's journey from having a typical book reading event to revealing her authentic self through courage and honesty. This version featuring the monologues creates a stream of consciousness theatrical experience.
Play History
Secret Sundays: The Monologues, a hybrid of the play Secret Sundays, was developed and performed at the culmination of a creative residency at Bethany Arts Center in Ossining, NY in 2020.
Klaus' Closet
full length
cast size: 3
genre: dark comedy, drama, fantasy
Sometimes spirituality is as natural as thinking and as uninhibited as laughing. This is how it is for Klaus, a 34-year-old mentally challenged man who lives with his overbearing uncle. Klaus connects with God in his own way, on his own beautiful and simple terms. But “Unc” has other plans for Klaus and is set to have him receive communion and to join the Catholic Church. Unc’s girlfriend, Candace, sees in Klaus something she strives for, but can never seem to achieve…true peace and an enduring sense of self. The three collide within a little apartment in downtown New York City. The collision leaves Klaus forever changed.
Play History
James Jennings produced and directed Klaus' Closet at the American Theatre for Actors in NYC. It went on for a one-night-only performance at the Westbest Artists' Residency, NYC.
SOCIAL JUSTICE & ADVOCACY THROUGH ART
Susan's plays focus on social justice awareness and are often performed as fundraisers for nonprofits. There is a long history of advocacy around and fighting for Social Justice through live theatre. To learn more visit these websites:
Planet Connections Theatre Festivity
365 Women a Year: A Playwriting Project
You Might, Rabbit Productions supports My Sister's Place and Joyful Heart Foundation
