About the Plays:

Two Hands Clapping features full-length, one act, and short scripts for two actors. The playwrights are Canadian and are working from coast to coast and most regions in between. Established writers appear in this collection, as well as voices that are just beginning to make their mark in Canadian theatre.

The plays in Two Hands Clapping have appeared on the main stage, in alternative theatres or non-traditional theatre spaces, at the fringe, and/or in professional workshops. Some of the plays have toured nationally and internationally.

This volume also includes in-depth interviews with playwrights, focusing on the challenges and satisfactions of writing a play for two actors. Two Two Hands Clapping is a goldmine for theatre students and teachers seeking two-person plays of varying lengths for production in festivals or other performance opportunities. It is also an excellent place to find two-actor scene work and – of course – to discover new voices, as well as work by some of your favourite Canadian playwrights.

Includes:

Poochwater is a one-act comedy by Mike McPhaden. A man finds a wallet in a park and tries to return it to its owner - who is suffering with amnesia. (Cast: 2 male)
The Dinner Party is a one-act comedy by Rose Cullis. It is about the tragic necessity of loss when we make choices in our lives. Two women in a common-law relationship grapple with lost opportunities and have an identity crisis, while waiting for their guests to arrive for a dinner party. Can love matter enough in the shadow of regret? (Cast: 2 female)
3… 2… 1 is a one-act dark comedy by Nathan Cuckow and Chris Craddock. Two guys, Clint and Kyle, armed with several cases of beer, Jack Daniels, a cornucopia of pharmaceuticals and broken dreams, lock themselves in a Wetaskiwin garage the day of their friend Danny's funeral. As the coke is snorted, the joints rolled and the booze chugged, the emotional walls, built up brick by brick over years come tumbling down as Clint and Kyle fumblingly begin to explore the emotions which have festered since childhood. (Cast: 2 male)
Jane's Thumb is a one-act comedy by Kelley Jo Burke. A pregnant librarian addicted to metaphor, has a conversation with her unborn child. (Cast: 2 female, doubling)
The File is a one-act drama by Greg Nelson. A woman travels to Ottawa after doing research on a Supreme Court Justice, and interviews his son. A timely piece about ethical principle and government surveillance and the proper or permissible limits of both. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male, doubling)
Lola Shuffles the Cards is a one-act drama by Kit Brennan.
The House Wife is a one-act drama by Sherry White and Ruth Lawrence. An analogy of for Newfoundland in Confederation and what happened in a very short time. Two sisters have to learn to live together after one returns from the West Coast and moves in. The politics of the day come out in ordinary housework. (Cast: 2 female)
Afterglow is a one-act drama by Peter Boychuk. One year after the impact of a meteor outside of Tagish Lake, in the Yukon wilderness, best friends Anna and Alex go into the woods to find the remains of the artifact. Along the way, their friendship is put to the ultimate test. (Cast: 1 female, 1 male)

About the Playwright:

Kit Brennan was born in Vancouver and grew up in Kingston, Ontario. She currently lives in Montréal, where she co-ordinates the playwriting program for the Concordia University Theatre Department and was the playwright in residence at the Centaur Theatre. Her plays include Tiger's Heart, winner of the Canadian National Playwrighting Award, and Spring Planting, winner of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild Literary Award. She also edited the anthologies Going it Alone and Three on the Boards .