A Marriage Proposal
by Yussef El Guindi

This collection includes ten short plays: BRASS KNUCKLES, PICKING UP THE SCENT, THE TYRANT, THE BIRDS FLEW IN, THE MONOLOGIST SUFFERS HER MONOLOGUE, SO UNLIKE ME, THE SNIPER, A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL, THE REVIEW, and RADICAL DEPARTURE.

"PICKING UP THE SCENT is a heart-breaking opener about life in a war zone.

Archeologist Hisham discovers a lost perfume bottle.

His wife, Nisrin, a poet, begs him not to pursue its history further, what with the risk of the falling bombs and military advances.

What follows is a stripped-down, actor en actor tear jerker.

These are glorious moments: virtually no set, just black curtains, and a few actors giving it their all.

It's a zinger of a start."

—Clinton Stark, Stark Insider

"In THE TYRANT … excellence is established for the entire evening … The play itself is brilliant, dark, challenging and thoroughly believable … At the end of this 'short' play I felt like I'd spent a month with this man, and that the experience had entirely changed the way that I look at myself and the world.

Pretty much the definition of a 'complete,' fully-realized play."

—Jerry Kraft, SeattleActor.com

"Last night I saw one of the best short political plays I've ever seen, a fifteen-minute one-person play called SO UNLIKE ME about a veteran peace activist … wrestling with despair, bleakness, powerlessness, the appeal of violence, the strengths and limits of non-violence and a bunch of other tough issues.

It's funny, eloquent, disturbing and would make a great addition to some kind of cultural program that peace groups are putting on."

—Paul Loeb (author of Soul of a Citizen

) in a letter to a peace activist

"THE SNIPER [is] humor-filled but honest and riveting reflection on the deep psychological roots of militarism."

—Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian

"THE MONOLOGIST SUFFER HER MONOLOGUE is a witty and vibrant piece."

—Jeffrey R Smith, Jeffrey R Smith Reviews