Full-Length

Real Estate

Dark comedy · Two acts

REAL ESTATE examines the increasing precarity of life under late-stage capitalism. Sandy, a sunny academic who finds solace in the Wood Wide Web and the ethics of trees, and Henry, her depressed philosopher husband, inherit his father’s Manhattan co-op—only to find the co-op board has other ideas. When Sandy’s mother Ethel, an aging actress and rabble-rousing activist who has become homeless, arrives on their doorstep, matters grow considerably more complicated. It’s all very funny if it weren’t so sad.

Cast: 4 women, 3 men (with doubling)
Setting: Manhattan, 2018
Production History Burnished Collective, Chicago — zoom reading, December 2025

One-Act Plays

Water Without Berries

One-act · Two scenes

★ Ellie Award 2019

Two brothers—a school teacher and a Shakespearean actor—return to Harlem to persuade their ailing grandmother to leave the tenement where they grew up. In this bittersweet drama, yearning, art, rivalry, and hope struggle against the relentless forces of reality.

Cast: 3
Setting: Upper Manhattan, summer 2002
Production History Workshop and staged reading — Ivoryton Playhouse, Connecticut
Women Playwrights Initiative Ellie Award for Excellence in Playwriting, 2019

Disco

One-act · Two scenes

Inspired by Katherine Brush’s short story “Night Club.” Mrs. Brady is just starting her late Saturday night shift. All she wants are some decent tips and a bit of peace and quiet to read the paper. Not a chance. One after another of life’s big and little dramas unfold in the intimate confines of her workstation.

Setting: A disco, late Saturday night
Production History Staged reading — Play Market, NYC

Green Tea

One-act

Lois pays an unannounced visit to her daughter Meagan’s new apartment. She has a surprise and big plans. Meagan has revelations of her own, which come as a considerable shock. Insults fly, tears flow, insights are gained, and conflicts—if not resolved—are at least aired, over green tea.

Cast: 2 women
Setting: A New York apartment
Production History Staged reading — Play Market, NYC

Noise & Trash

One-act · Three scenes

What is the higher calling—helping others or working to perfect your unique talent? Rick, an English teacher deeply in love with Anna, persuades her to move in with him to escape the noise of her building. Anna, a published poet with acute sensitivities to sound and face recognition, finds the new arrangement has complications of its own.

Cast: 1 woman, 1 man
Setting: Two Manhattan apartments, the present

Ten-Minute Plays

Passage

Ten-minute · Two scenes

Helen has been moved to a different wing of her retirement home. Something strange is happening: she hears voices from the closet and stops eating. Her daughter Lilly can get no answers from the staff. When she returns from a wedding out of town, she finds her mother has met with a gruesome fate.

Ibsen at the Urban O

Ten-minute

Can you afford morals in show business? Three ambitious people attempt to manipulate their way to success and face unexpected results.

Mill versus Mill

Ten-minute · Tragic comedy

The mayor prepares to meet the press and defend his decision to cut funding for a museum exhibiting a painting he considers obscene. His harassed PR man feeds him quotes from John Stuart Mill, while Ruthie prepares his coffee just so. If only he could keep his mind from wandering to his latest drag outfit.

By the River

Ten-minute

An aging, Trump-hating actress who considers herself homeless finds her park bench occupied by a real homeless man—and learns a few things.

Cast: 1 woman, 1 man

Production History

2025

Real Estate

Burnished Collective — Chicago (zoom reading)

2025

Is This The End by Lionelle Hamanaka

Crossways Theatre, New York — as Emma Lazarus (PAGES)

2019

Water Without Berries — ★ Ellie Award for Excellence in Playwriting

Ivoryton Playhouse, Connecticut — workshop and staged reading

1995

Green Tea

Play Market, New York — staged reading

1995

Disco

Play Market, New York — staged reading, directed by Waltrudis Buck

1994

Enoch by Erich Maria Remarque, translated by Waltrudis Buck

Play Market on Theatre Row, New York — staged reading, directed by Waltrudis Buck

Pages & Naked Angels

PAGES

PAGES is a New York playwrights organization committed to the development and production of new plays. Waltrudis Buck has been an active member, participating in readings and workshops of new work.

Naked Angels

Naked Angels—the legendary New York theatre company that launched careers and championed daring new work—was part of Buck’s artistic formation. She appeared in their 1990 production of Büchner’s Woyzeck, directed by Brian Mertes.