PLAYS AND PLAYWRITING

KILLING DANTE by Shannon Michal Dow and Jan Henson Dow

• Samuel French, Inc. NY, published 2008
• New England Academy of Theatre, Special Edition, New Haven, 2001
• The Attic Ensemble, Summer Series, Original Play Search Reading Series Jersey City, NJ, 2001
• McLaren Comedy Festival, Midland, TX, finalist, 2000
• YES Festival of New Plays, Northern Kentucky University, finalist, 2001
• Julie Harris Playwright Competition – Beverly Hills Theatre Guild, L.A., CA, semi-finalist, 2000
• Ukiah Players New American Comedy Festival, CA, semi-finalist, 2000
• Writer’s Digest Competition, finalist, 1999

• Orlando Shakespeare New Plays Festival, FL, semi-finalist, 2007
• Utah Shakespeare Festival New American Playwrights Program, Utah, 2006
• Honorable Mention, Writer’s Digest Competition, Honorable Mention, 2005
• Playwrights Collective New Play Series, Brookfield Theatre for the Arts, CT, 2003
• The Dark Backward by Shannon Michal Dow
• Abingdon Theatre Company, New Play Series, Off-Broadway, NYC, 2002
• New England Academy of Theatre, New Play Series, New Haven, 2002
• Playwrights Collective New Play Series, Country Players of Brookfield, CT, 2002

• Theatre Americana National Competition, Altadena, CA, winner, 1995
• Playwrights First Playwriting Award for Outstanding Merit, The Players Club, NY, NY, finalist, 1994
• Popular Play Service, CT, published 1996

WRITING THE AWARD WINNING PLAY by Jan Henson Dow and Shannon Michal Dow

LINKS to PLAYS

KILLING DANTE

Fortune 500 business tycoon Roger Cabot has given up his power and possessions for a bohemian life in a loft in New York City to become the artist he always wanted to be. But not everyone is happy with Roger's new lifestyle. Richard Borman (Roger's business protégé) is convinced that Roger's surreal, erotic paintings, his frolics with female models, his cultivation of a Zen rock garden, and, worse, his development of a strange ability to see sounds amounts to evidence of insanity. Persuaded by Richard, Rebecca (Roger's only child and Richard's fiancée) agrees to a plan designed to return Roger to the man he once was. In the end, schemes and dreams are revealed, and everyone gets what they deserve in this farcical comedy that is fast and furious and great fun along the way. This play was a finalist in the McLaren Memorial Comedy Competition.

THE MOOR LARK

The Bronte sisters—Charlotte, Emily, and Anne—are famous for their romantic novels and poetry, but their lives were anything but enchanting. Sequestered in a lonely hamlet far from London, they and their brother play freely with the imagination until reality and the outside world intrude on their idyllic solitude, wreaking havoc with their lives. In their award-winning drama, The Moorlark, Jan Henson Dow and Shannon Michal Dow bring the Brontes to vibrant life, exposing the restrictive home life and dark environment that forbid them happiness and claimed them at early ages.

DARK PASSAGES

Where passions lead to obsessions . . . And secrets lead to murder . . . A two-act mystery thriller. Winner of the Theatre Americana National Competition and The Players Club Playwrights First Playwriting Award for Outstanding Merit. Grad student and artist Bret Conway has moved into an upstate New York apartment to take time off from her relationship with Mark. But this apartment hides many secrets. Sandy, the previous resident, has gone missing; the reclusive landlord likes to spy on his female tenants; and Mark may have known Sandy a little too well. While Mark tries desperately to win her back, Bret is enticed by her mysterious neighbor, Eric, who creates art out of things he finds in other people's garbage. Enter Detective Craig, a homicide detective whose haunted past now makes him obsessed with Sandy -- and with Bret. One of them is a killer who will strike again in order to satisfy an uncontrollable desire. “A taut, deftly written thriller.” —- James Ruocco, Waterbury Republican-American, CT “First rate! . . . a brilliant work that casts a spell over its audience, and doesn’t let up until a riveting and very revealing climax! Some of the best characters and plot development we have seen in a long, long time!” —- Harold Pantely, Director , Clockwork Repertory Theatre, CT “A very suspenseful, erotic, psychological thriller with a very tight script.” —- Ralph Maffongelli, Director, Sheboygan Theatre Company, WI “Terrific new murder mystery thriller. . . . a shattering web of suspicions and deceit.” —- New England Entertainment Digest

Review of 2014 Bowie Community Theatre Production

WRITING THE AWARD WINNING PLAY