"Conflict" a One Act Play by Wade Bradford

My friend Joshua and I, when we were struggling artists (unlike now -- ha, ha), lived in Orange County without a car and without very much money to entertain ourselves. But we did have our roommate's video camera. So we would often make these strange yet funny videos.

One of them involved us just wandering the video store and using the produce for our prop comedy. We made up a Headless Horseman character who used a cantaloupe instead of a pumpkin -- and ever since then (even though I hate the taste) I've had an affinity for the fruit.

So -- if you've ever seen my play "Conflict" and wondered why the playwright created a story about a young man who is obsessed with a cantaloupe -- the source of his inner and outer conflicts -- now you know why. No symbolism or anything. Just a fruit I admire.

"Conflict" was a script I wrote specifically for the Repertory East Playhouse. I entered their Page 2 Stage competition -- and happily the script won! "Conflict" was produce and directed by a top-notch crew -- and performed by a cast of talented actors. It was a joy to watch. "Conflict" runs about 25 minutes, and like some of my other shorter plays, it has done quite well at drama student competitions.

"Conflict" is available at Heuer Plays.  

"Banana Nut Split" - Wade's First One-Act Comedy (Circa 1987)

Way back in high school, 10th grade to be specific, we had this glorious thing called Mini-Term.  Our second semester ended in early May.  Then, students would experience Mini-term, a collection of fun elective classes allowed students to explore their specific interests.  (You could also make-up a class.)
Anyway, during Mini-term the drama club put on a series of One Acts.  (My favorite show by the way was I.T. -- Improvisational Theater, by fellow drama buddies Ryan, Joelle, and other talented thespians.)  I decided that I wanted to write and direct my own show.  So I wrote: BananaNutSplit -- all one word to be cool.  It's a pretty silly show with a rather sitcomish premise:

A young man is meeting his girlfriend at a fancy restaurant. He is going to propose to her.  The problem? He secretly has split personalities, and whenever he gets nervous, those multi-personalities burst out of him.  Wackiness ensues.

Yes, quite silly.  But I had a great deal of fun directing the show.  The drama students voted it Best Play -- so that was an ego boost.  And something else happened with it.  Around 1988 when I was working at the Grand Cinemas, a smart, sexy manager named Cheri wanted to do a comedy for her college class.  I suggested Banana Nut Split, she directed the play, and I got to watch adult actors perform the work.

Now here's where I turn into Paul Harvey:

That sexy smart manager named Cheri, the woman who directed my first-ever play, married me in 1995 -- and we've been living happily ever after ever since.

A few years ago, I found an old copy of the play.  I dusted it off -- updated some of the jokes -- tightened things up... and then sent it to Big Dog Plays.  And now, Banana Nut Split is a published one act play.

You can read this article about a senior getting to direct her first theater one-act... and she chose Banana Nut Split.  (I hope she didn't regret her choice!)




<h3><a href="http://www.wadebradford.com/plays.html">Learn more about Wade's plays.</a></h3>
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