This volume Chris Earle: Two Plays contains Democrats Abroad and Radio: 30, a pair of award-winning one-act plays from Chris Earle, one of Canada's most slyly provocative playwrights. Especially recommended for Fringe Festival use.

Democrats Abroad is set in the near future. A right-wing crackdown sends thousands of U.S. liberals fleeing north across the Canadian border for asylum. As a long hot summer drags on, a cynical Toronto actor becomes involved with the American refugees – with disastrous results. Part dark satire, part political thriller, Democrats Abroad is a chilling exploration of identity, betrayal, and the treacherous line between the personal and political. (Premiered in 2005 at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace in Toronto during the SummerWorks Festival. It was remounted for a four-week run at the Factory Studio Theatre in Toronto and played the New York International Fringe Festival in 2006; Cast: 1 man)

What people say about Democrats Abroad:

"Democrats Abroad provides a unique perspective on the American experience, reaffirming our perpetual optimism. It simply took an outsider to point it out." — Backstage (New York)

"Alternately funny, engrossing, and chilling. Here's political theatre, ironic, and moving, that makes as much of its theatre as of its politics." — NOW Magazine (Toronto)

Radio: 30, which refers to a 30-second commercial, shows how advertising works, through a hotshot voice talent's emotional collapse while he's recording a 30-second radio spot for a burger joint. In the claustrophobic confines of a recording studio, Ron, king of the radio voice-overs, records a thirty-second ad for a fast food restaurant. Between takes, Ron reveals the tricks of his trade, jokes around with his unseen recording engineer, and gradually reveals how the polished dishonesty of his profession has infected his personal life. As he struggles to reconcile his public and private personae, Ron's tongue begins to betray him, and what began as just another effortless pitch becomes a darkly comic study in crumbling confidence. (Premiered at the Toronto Fringe in 1990 and continues to play festivals all over North America; Cast: 2 men)

What people say Radio: 30:

"Mr. Earle's Ron is a 21st century Willy Loman ... a powerful tale of betrayal and deceit." — The New York Times

"Radio: 30 is 60 minutes of wracked sympathy and schadenfreude that we can't recommend highly enough.." — The Austin Chronicle

About the Playwright:

Chris Earle is a Canadian writer, performer, and director in Toronto's theatre and comedy scene. His work as a playwright includes Democrats Abroad (New York Fringe Excellence Award) and Radio: 30 (Dora Mavor Moore Award, Chalmers Play Award, Canadian Comedy Award). As an actor, he's worked at Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Columbus, Crow's Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille and the Blyth Festival.