Identical Twins

Synopsis: Martha arrives at a scenic and well-loved lakeside cabin and discovers her boyfriend, Damian, dead. His identical twin, Janus, claims they were confronted with a break-in that turned deadly. However, something doesn’t add up to Martha. She perceives details such as a mole on the wrong side of Janus’s face, and she suspects his sketchy explanations and strange behaviour.

Tension rises, and Janus confesses to impersonating Damian in the past. He even shares the fact that he secretly dated Martha to experience what his quieter brother seemed to have to attract her. He is jealous of his brother and possessive of Martha, and the truth finally emerges: the brothers had a confrontation that ended with Janus fatally striking Damian and staging the scene as a robbery.

Realizing that her own life is in danger, while they wait for the police, Martha needs to convince Janus she will go along with his scheme. As soon as the police arrive, in a final twist, she exposes Janus, revealing both his deception and the murder. The audience is left to understand that although twins can be identical on the outside, they may be totally different emotionally and morally.

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The Cards Lied

Synopsis: The Cards Lied is a 30–minute historical fictional murder mystery set in 1920 Bootle, England, just after The Great War. Based on intense research, the plot of this play is believable in a historical context. As men returned from the war, women were pushed out of the jobs they held to keep the country and the war running. Many of these women turned to spiritualism to help themselves and others stay connected to the loved ones they lost.

In this play, three women who once worked side-by-side at the Cunard Shell Works find themselves embroiled in a disturbing scenario. One of them is dead, and her daughter is determined to search for the truth of how her loved one passed on. One who supervised production at Cunard now bitterly finds herself without a job and social standing. The third reads cards for a living, but at times, the cards lie. A man with deep ties to nature helps to carry out a plan to catch a murderer.

The Cards Lied poses an interesting reconsideration of responsibility, pressure and guilt.

Footnote: I am currently working on a second act, The Canary Girls’ Secrets, which takes place two years later.

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