HER TERMS: A Female Perspective of the Male Gaze

Comedic Scripts about social sexual dynamics and female agency therein.

Note: Echo Reads is programmed for adult audiences.

 

APRIL 15, 2025 | ELEVATOR GIRL

by Donna Hoke

Finalist, O'Neill National Play Conference

Finalist, Princess Grace Fellowship

Finalist, Austin Film Festival

Genre: comedy | Length 60-90 minutes | Cast Size 4

Age of Intended Audience ages 14-17, ages 18 and up

Elevator Girl was never meant to be more than an urban legend, a sexual revenge fantasy created by Vanessa and her graphic illustrator boyfriend. But when the comic superhero unleashes her boyfriend’s darkest fantasies and a flesh-and-blood copycat appears, Vanessa must stop Elevator Girl in her tracks—with the truth.

 

MAY 20, 2025 | A PLAY ABOUT DAVID MAMET WRITING A PLAY

ABOUT HARVEY WEINSTEIN

by Mathilde Dratwa

Genre: comedy, dark comedy, parody/spoof, satire | Length 60-90 minutes

Cast Size 4 - 8

Age of Intended Audience ages 18 and up

A searingly funny, powerful, smart, violent, intelligent, and brave play about gender semantics and the artistically misogynistic world that is both our past and our present. This satire about playwriting turns the creation of theatre on its head and effortlessly treads the line between comedy and drama.

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JUNE 17, 2025 | THIS IS HOW YOU GOT ME NAKED or MY SEXY FAIRYTALE

by Catherine Weingarten

Genre: adventure, comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, political 

Length 60-90 minutes | Cast Size 3 | Age of Intended Audience ages 14-17, ages 18+

A college freshman is determined to get her BFF to notice her "in a hot way" at her hipster college's annual "Dress to Get Laid Party." When he finally does things don't turn out exactly as she had hoped. This dark comedy explores the pressure of hookup culture and reminds us that friends are there to catch us when we fall...even if it's not in a hot way.

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>> FEEDBACK ABOUT THESE SHOWS <<

 

Elevator Girl

Recommended by:

Emmet L.F. Cameron: “ The layers in this play are like one of those massive jawbreakers that cut your tongue. You’ve got men taking an idea from a woman for a 'woman who seeks revenge on men for violating women,' twisted into a male sexual fantasy & simultaneously producing female copycats, all written from a woman’s perspective. The interplay between fantasy as in superheroes & fantasy as in how the human mind processes our wildest hopes & fears makes for a fresh take on these issues. ”

 

James Binz: “ A wonder-filled dark comedy with a female lead that shows complexity and nuance. Realism and fantasy mix to create a stew of many flavors and textures. Donna Hoke is a master storyteller whose dialogue is done with machine precision. I would recommend this to any producer looking for a story to tell that is timely and timeless. Brava. ”

 

Tom Erb: “ Donna Hoke's play 'Elevator Girl' introduces us to Vanessa, Peter, and Richard. Vanessa and her boyfriend, Peter, create a comic superhero called Elevator Girl as a sexual revenge fantasy. The play weaves graphic elements with realistic scenes, using an elevator as a central frame. As the story unfolds, secrets and consequences emerge, challenging the characters' beliefs and relationships. It's a cool premise and a good read.”

 

A Play about David Mamet Writing a Play about Harvey Weinstein

Recommended by:

Nathan Short: “ Why hasn't this play been produced yet? Funny, biting, clever, HONEST. ”

 

Paris Crayton III: “ As I was looking up past writers from the Ojai Playwrights Conference, I ran across Mathilde's play and decided to read based on the title. I am so glad that I did. What an extremely funny and heart-breaking theatrical experience! It's a work that you can see clearly on stage as you read it and, unfortunately, I'm not at all surprised that this hasn't had a production. Just like the play "teaches", plays of this magnitude by women are rarely produced and that's a real shame. This work deserves to be seen! ”

 

James Binz: “ Quite a roller-coaster of a work! As a fan and student of the Mamet Masterclass in playwriting, I have often been confronted with the challenge this piece examines - especially that 'theater must entertain, not educate.' I can also see both the cis white male problem vs the everyone else problem. Sadly, the final scene shouts the fact that women, bipoc, LGBTQ+ and more have a place in the professional theater world and the rage expressed might be a bit misplaced? All in all, this had much funny and much poignant and much Wonderful and much horrible. ”

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This is How You Got Me Naked...

Recommended by:

Steven Strafford: “ If you want to drop into another world, a world where getting to have sex with that hot boy at the party is the be-all and end-all, stop into this world of kids who want to have sex and make art, and they're all out of art... Catherine Weingarten has built a world with a language all its own that lives deep in the awkward place between childhood and adult life. ”

 

Allyson Dwyer: “ A modernly funny play, but also incredibly theatrical, and wondrous, and full of surprises. Catherine does an incredible job of ruminating not just on how painful it is for young women to navigate their sexuality, but also how absurd, especially with the added complicated layer of detached, millennial irony that seems to now permeate all of our communications. It's hard not to shiver at how real some of this is, but that makes it that much more powerful! ”

 

Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn: “ An absurdist descent into youth and their desire to connect. In poetic textspeak, the characters take us on a journey through an evening of hook-ups and self-discovery. Scene 7 is a delightful, almost operatically staged sex scene. I could almost hear the lines sung from the characters' individual spotlights. This would be a fun show to "mount" and even more fun to watch. ”