2f per play / Drama / Unit set Award-winning new playwright Jane Shepard comes to print with four powerful short plays for women. Edgy, original, and with a darkly funny humanity, here are four pieces that give new muscle to actresses, providing roles of exceptional range. All successfully produced on the New York stage, each play features two-woman casts, with age-open roles, in work that explores our tender, brave, and sometimes brutal search for meaning. Includes both comedy and drama, with a variety of settings and running times. An excellent introduction to the playwright, KickAss Plays For Women is a vital text for actresses of any age, or anyone hungry for compelling new plays. Nine (2f) Two women held in a life-threatening situation and the mind games they play to keep one another alive. Held in a cell and chained apart, their only currency is words, and balance of power is everything when a single word becomes the hanging point between life and death. Commencing (2f) The beautiful Kelli can't wait for the blind date her friends have set her up on. Until it turns out to be one very disappointed lesbian named Arlin. Mutually appalled, yet appallingly intrigued, they proceed to pull the screws loose on both straight and gay women's culture, to find the common ground beneath in the search for love & self. Friend of the Deceased (2f) An embittered widow lies in wait at her husband's grave for the appearance his mistress, and encounters a soulful teen. Unable to extract a confession from the girl, the widow offers to buy one, and finds that she has purchased a deeper truth. The Last Nickel (2f and 2 pupeteers) Theatrical, funny & touching, It's another long night for Jamie, with an obnoxious sister & a trio of sardonic puppets to keep her awake. Tinged with fun & sisterly nostalgia, the merriment comes inevitably to focus on the cause of Jamie's self destruction, and the loss that has brought her to the edge.