*Yes, those — are em dashes. No, AI didn’t write this. Who do you think AI learned to use em dashes from? Also, you can pry my em dashs (along with my oxford commas) from my cold, dead hands.

Update: (much over due!) We made it to the Finals!

As I write this the Festival is now over, and Perseids took home a number of honors:

• crew takeover award for “Best Drama”
• Festival award for “Best Playwright”

Update: We made it to the Semi-Finals! This team did a great job, I couldn’t be happier.  You have one more chance to catch this short piece along with the other semifinalists.

Saturday
November 15 2025,
7:00 PM
The Victory Theatre
3326 W Victory Blvd

Tickets (part of the Brando Group): https://shortsweethollywood.stagey.net/projects/12987 

I’m headed back to the Short+Sweet Festival Hollywood again this year, this time with my short piece Perseids. It’s being directed by Kaylin Saur, whose background is eclectic and wonderful in the best possible way.  We got a nice write up in “Broadway World” acknowledged new and returning artists to the festival.

Perseids is another piece I wrote for a Theatre Unleashed 24 hour show (really, I should just do that all the time – the weirdest and and most interesting things come out when I’m on a deadline and my butt is glued to  the chair). For the uninitiated, 24-hour shows are exactly as advertised: literally produced in 24 hours. Writers (usually 6-8 of them) get prompts Friday evening, have to turn in 10-minute-ish scripts by Saturday morning, when directors and actors arrive to rehearse, tech starts sometime midafternoon, and by 8:00 pm the audience arrives and the curtain goes up. They are a blast.

Sometimes the writers get a prompt, sometimes a theme, sometimes a prop or a setting, and often  we will be told what actors (gender/age range) we’ll need to incorporate. How exactly those suggestions are incorporated is up to the playwright. For Perseids I was given a quote, and told I needed to write for two men. Left to my own devices (always a bad idea) I will opt to write female characters. I feel more comfortable understanding their life experience and want to tell our stories, and as a performer myself, I have an interest in adding to the canon of roles available for women. So this prompt forced me to write something I might not have come up with on my own and, truthfully, I really do love the dudes in Perseids. I hope you will too.

Perseids 
Written by Wendy Gough Soroka
Directed by Kaylin Saur
starring Benedict Heaps and Steve Smith

Saturday, November 1, 7:00 PM
Sunday, November 2, 6:00 PM

The Victory Theatre Center
3326 W. Victory Blvd.
Burbank, CA

Tickets available as part of the “Marx” group: https://shortsweethollywood.stagey.net/projects/12882

Perseids is a two-man speed-run of the consequences of making assumptions when it comes to love. Despite their differences, Alan and Hank find themselves irreversibly altering each other’s lives one starlit evening as their romantic ideals collide in what the playwright calls “a play for women that just happens to have men in it.”

Tickets: https://shortsweethollywood.stagey.net/projects/12882

I’m thrilled to share that my short play Thunder was selected from over 350+ submissions to be a part of The A Chronicles 10 Minute Play Festival.  This festival takes place in Connecticut, so I likely won’t be able to get out there, (you’ll know I’ve won the lottery when I can jet off to wherever to see plays whenever I like). The A Chronicles Festival focuses on plays about reproductive rights.

I generally don’t set out to write plays about “issues.” No criticism about issue-centered theatre, I grew up with (and adored) agit-prop companies like the San Francisco Mime Troupe. But usually, it’s not what I set out to do. When a company calls for submissions on a particular issue, I will submit if I feel something I’ve already written might fit their request.  I remember reading somewhere (back when I was endlessly studying this stuff) that all plays are inherently political, and I suppose that is true. What you write is going to be informed by your moral compass, which should align with how you feel about social issues and your political beliefs. As a writer I like to take care that I write with a mindfulness about that connection.

Thunder is about two sisters, facing a heartbreakingly difficult decision unique to those who can bear children. I wrote it before Roe v. Wade was overturned, when all of us in the United States could make decisions about our bodies without government interference. I did not change the script much after the overturn, though there was a line or two I did have to adjust slightly to reflect our new reality.

Info below for anyone who is in this neck of the woods.

A Chronicles Presents:
Winners of its Annual 10-Minute Play Festival
Visionary, Absurd, Heartbreaking.
Nine Playwrights on Reproductive Rights

November 19, 2025
2-3:30 PM & 7-8:30 PM
MoCA\\\\CT
19 Newtown Turnpike
Westport, CT 06880

More info & Tickets: https://www.achronicles.org/10-minute-play-festival-2025

One of the perks of living in a city with a vibrant theatre scene (and yes, Los Angeles has had a vibrant theatre scene for many years now) is that you find talented folks who are willing to spend an afternoon to help you develop your play. When writing, I find there is always a point beyond which I can’t go until I hear the play out loud, hear how people are responding to it, and hear what they thought about it. Theatre is a collaborative art, and there just isn’t any substitute for that kind of input. 

This Sunday, April 27, we’re doing a read & discuss of a new full length I’ve been working on.  If you are in the area and want to join us, you are welcome.  Details are below. 

Please Join us for a Reading & Discussion of a New Play. 

Imago

By Wendy Gough Soroka

Katherine is a mid-career struggling artist hell-bent on pursuing her passion. But her independent life is threatened by challenges she cannot overcome without facing down the demons of her past.

Sunday,
April 27, 2025
Doors open 12:30 pm
Reading to start 1:00 pm
Discussion to follow

Persistence Gymnastics
1133 Mission St.
South Pasadena 91030
Enter & Park from
1126 El Centro (behind building)

*We love kids, but the subject matter of this play is not suitable for young children.

Don’t call me Friday, November 8 after 5pm.  I’ll be busy writing.

I’ve been invited to participate in Theatre Unleashed’s latest 24-hour theatre event as a playwright. 24-hour shows are produced entirely, as advertised, within 24 hours.  The clock starts Friday night, when the writers get their prompts. Actors and Directors receive the brand new scripts Saturday morning and curtain goes up at 8:00 pm Saturday night.  There’s usually 5-8 writers, and each “play” is short, around 10 minutes, and while a theme for the evening is suggested, there’s no telling how each writer will interpret it.

It is raw, messy, uncensored, and wildly creative. And everyone has a wonderful time.

Information to get tickets is below (or to live stream for those of you far away.)   This one is for a cause – we’re helping our theatre kin in Asheville rebuild.

With Hope in Our Hearts

A Fundraiser for the Asheville Theatre Alliance
Join us for two nights of live music, laughs, and new plays as we rally support for our friends at the Asheville Theater Alliance in Asheville, NC. The arts have been devastated along with the local community in Asheville, and the ATA is working to help local arts organizations recover. All proceeds and donations from both nights will be going directly to the ATA as they rebuild their community spaces.

November  9 – 8PM
November 10 – 5PM

In-person at the
Hobgoblin Playhouse
6440 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, 90038

And Live Streaming!

In true Theatre Unleashed style, we’re gathering some of our best writers, directors, and actors to write, rehearse, and perform half a dozen brand new one acts within a 24-hour period. It’s fun, spontaneous, raw, and you never know quite what is going to happen, but it’s always a great night! Combined with musical interludes and stories directly from the Asheville arts community, our hope is to raise awareness and funds in an effort to lift the arts up in areas affected by the recent hurricane.

Both performances will be live-streamed so that you can watch and donate from anywhere!  Tickets are available here: https://events.thestagecrafts.com/projects/11432

Can’t make the show or catch the stream, but still want to support? Contribute via Venmo by scanning our QR code on the left. Include “Asheville” in the description and we’ll make sure they get it.

Learn More at ashevilletheateralliance.org