Darlene struggles to find her place in tumultuous times.
We’re so excited to be featuring one of our good friends, Dallas Dorsett. Read by Megan Morrison.
Author
Dallas Dorsett
Dallas was first published at the age of eight. Her short story about two young girls, who dig in the dirt on a treasure hunt at their family farm in Oklahoma and discover a thick black goo that turns out to be oil, appeared in the “Weekly Reader”, a National publication for children, circa 1953.
She didn’t grasp the significance of this, however, and went on to pursue a career in graphic design, using her writing skill to create ad or business copy, now and then.
In San Francisco, 1975, Dallas met her late husband, James Mathers, an actor, who inspired and supported her as she tried her hand at playwriting. Since then she has written numerous full-length and one- act plays, many of which have received productions and staged readings. Most notable are the following:
| Glass Walls | Stella Adler “Sundays at Seven” new play reading series. Winner of “Plays for a Better World” international contest. Produced, Fight Club Theater, LA 2007 |
| The Light Shall Not be Clear | Workshop production, Working Stage, LA |
| Play Dead | One Act. Produced, “Can Festival of New One Act Plays”, Avery Schreiber Theater, NoHo Arts District, LA |
| Chamber Games | One Act. Produced, Manhattan Class Company One Act Festival, NY; Actors Outlet One Act Marathon, NY; “Quartet”, Evening of One Acts, Two Roads Theater, LA |
| Opening Night | Theater Performance Piece. Manhattan Class Company Summer Lab, NY. “Quartet” Evening of One Acts, Two Roads Theater, LA |
| Sharon | Monologue. Workshop Manhattan Class Company Marathon, Long Island, NY. Produced, “Winterfest ’94”, EST West, LA. “Playwrights’ Express Short Play Festival”, First Stage, LA |
| Hallways | “Playwrights’ Express Short Play Festival”, First Stage, LA |
| Moira and Monica Dine Out | One Act. Produced, “Can Festival Of New One Act Plays – Covid Edition” Virtual Zoom 2020 |
Dallas and James moved to New York in the 80’s where she continued to write plays, and work as a graphic artist for Merrill Lynch.
In 1990, she and James moved to Los Angeles where they decided to collaborate on screenplays with some success – as in “money”.
| Flight of the Raven | Dramatic Period Feature, co-written with James Mathers, Optioned, Deal– Fox Searchlight (as “Flight of the Raven”). |
| Ten Days in a Madhouse | Dramatic Period Feature, co-written with James Mathers, optioned. |
| Red Tom | Action Period Drama, co-written with James Mathers, Optioned. |
Dallas was able to combine her graphic design and writing talents as she and James ventured into the world of new media, adapting some of their ideas as web series.
| Glove Puppet Playhouse | Three 4-minute, animated screenplay pitch movies |
| LA Nightmares | Six web series, with 3-minute serialized episodes |
| Hollywood Cabby | Web series about the adventures of a 60’s Hollywood cab driver. |
Dallas considers herself as a writer of scripts as opposed to prose which she believes requires the ability to describe feelings and behaviors that can thankfully be left to the actors in a screenplay or play. She has not written many short stories, but has had one published recently. Firstborn appears in The Storytellers, a book of stories written by veterans and their family members, 2017.
Dallas is delighted to be selected by Nobody Reads Short Stories for her submission, All is Calm in the House on “O” and is looking forward to the reading.
Actor
Megan Morrison
You can find more info about our wonderful co-host here.