House, Divided
 La Tempestad
 The Ballad of John Wesley Reed
 Girl Science
 The Allure of Oriental Wisdom
 Memorial Day (formerly Varia)
 Pride of the Lion
 The Dostoyevsky Man


 Monica for Chanukah
 Angie and Arnie Sanguine
 Edward and Ellie Supine
 The Lion Eats His Lunch
 The Lion in His Lair
 The Lion Leaves His Mark
 Prayers


 But Who's Counting?
 Emma Goldman Imagines the Millenium


 Just Before the War Between the Plates
 I Can Handle That


 Talking  with Lee Blessing

...with Tom Coash
...with Mary Fengar Gail
...with Richard Kalinowsky
...with Jamie Pachino
...with David Rambo
...with Jason Sherman
...with Naomi Wallace
...with Tom Gibbons
...with Dick Goldberg

For performance rights, please contact Elaine Devlin, Elaine Devlin Literary Agency, at edevlinbei@aol.com

Synopsis:

Writing about her great aunt, who is an eminent biologist, a history professor/biographer confronts her own academic trajectory, issues of corporate greed and social responsibility, and the labyrinthine difficulties of interpreting intent in parental behavior and family history .

Characters:

DR. JOHANNA VERNON An eminent and distinguished working scientist on the verge of retirement, age 79, in 1990. DR. LOIS ALLEN Johanna's niece, an untenured history professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Johanna's prospective biographer; age 33. DR. PETER RUSH Lois' boyfriend, also a University of Pennsylvania History Professor; somewhat older than Lois. His accent, British or Australian, has faded. He has been in the US many years. YOUNG JOHANNA VERNON At age 14, in 1925. SAMUEL VERNON Johanna's Father, a coal broker with lucrative contracts with the City of Philadelphia; interested and active in progressive politics. WILL DAYTON Johanna's first beau, age 15. JACK MCGOWEN Will's best friend, age 15.

From WES SANDERS' article Eco-Drama: Is it here at last? "Girl Science ... is an excellent example of ... "embedded" eco-drama. In the panel on eco-drama, Loebell said, "Girl Science is "spaghetti" -- a play about the entanglement of people and ideas and inconsistencies as they overlap and twist around." continue reading...

Setting:

The lawn in front of JOHANNA VERNON'S 19th century house, which is on the east Bank of the Schuylkill River, just on city side of the city line which divides Philadelphia proper from the next town north, Miquon, PA. A large gazebo faces the water between the house and the riverbank.

Time:

Various times between 1925 and 1990.

Playing time:

Approximately 2 hours

Production History:

Girl Science was first written between early 1999 and late 2000, with several revisions following that. It has received a developmental reading as part of the Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey Roundtable Reading series "Gather Round", at the Ensemble Studio Theater/Sloan Founcation First Light Festival, in the Stages Festival at Philadelphia Theater Company, and at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference in Idaho. It is also a finalist in the Earth Matters On Stage Festival 2004 Ecodrama Festival. In 2005 it was awarded an Ensemble Studio Theater/Alfred Sloan Foundation rewrite commission, and was presented in a staged reading at Ensemble Studio Theater in April, 2005 featuring Cecelia Riddett, William Wise, Sarah Elliott, Thom Rivera, Maria Thayer, Gideon Glick, and Harley Adams.

SAMPLE SCENE:

Is someone there?

Johanna?

Who is that?

(Stepping out into view:) Johanna? It's me. Will Dayton.

Hello, Will Dayton. What are you doing here?

I was wondering...if I'm not disturbing you too much...if you might...if you want to...that is if I asked you...

What? Just say it! I won't bite.

I was wondering if you might want to go ice skating with me.

Ice skating?

Yea. I have my skates and...

Are you crazy or just colorblind?

What?

Can't you see the flags?

The flags?

The flags!

Oh, yea. I see them. So what?

WILL comes up right next to her. He picks up some snow that has blown onto the Gazebo floor and throws it into the air so it sprinkles down on YOUNG JOHANNA.

Hey!

Oh. Sorry.

Why'd you do that?

I don't know. No reason. So do you want to?

No. I mean yes. But I can't. We can't.

I can. Watch this.

Will. Don't. Will!

But he doesn't pay any attention. He begins by taking the stuttering steps a skater takes to get started, and then he glides off, in a circle near to the gazebo. He's more running on the ice than skating. YOUNG JOHANNA keeps calling and trying to get him to come in off the river.

Will! WILL

She is growing nervous, but he soon returns. Very full of himself.

What were you trying to do out there?

What was I trying to do?

Yes.

I wasn't trying to do anything.

Well just don't, okay?

Don't what?

I mean it.

Okay.

Having you here is nice.

It is?

Sure. So don't spoil it.

I won't spoil anything.

Promise.

I promise.

WILL grabs her and kisses her on the lips. We can see the ambivalence in her body language, resisting and simultaneously interested. After a moment he releases her.

Hey.

Hey what?

What was that?

What was what?

That! What you just did.

What did I do?

You promised.

You were talking about that?

When?

When you were telling me what I wasn't supposed to do?

No I was not.

So then that was okay.

No.

I thought it was.

For more detailed information about my professional history, or for writing-related inquiries, please contact me directly at Larry@Loebell.com.