The Rut

  • a full-length play

  • 2 women, 1 man

  • O’Neill National Play Conference semifinalist

  • Awarded 10-week workshop at Royal Court Theatre


After struggling for years with infertility, Moira asks Rini, her brilliant and intimidating best friend from childhood, to carry her baby. But as Moira and her husband, Vincent, plan for the birth, the political and emotional complications of surrogacy open up old wounds in Moira and Rini's friendship, forcing them both to confront the complexities of their relationship. The Rut explores female friendship, class, and the harrowing and sometimes devastating decisions faced by women today.

“We found the play to be a gripping, nuanced look at pregnancy, bodily autonomy and privilege. It does an impressing job at exploring the dynamics of jealousy and ownership of body, while critiquing the models of nuclear family we exist with. It’s a fascinating, nuanced work, with a strong narrative grasp.”

  • Royal Court Theatre

This Side of Michigan

  • a ten-minute play

  • 1 woman; 1 octopus

  • Performed at 8 Tens @ 8 Short Play Festival Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre, January 16-February 15, 2026

    • Director: Denise Keplinger

    • Lois: Stephany Buswell

    • Octopus: Laney Correa

Lois wakes up one morning to find an octopus in her apartment. In the ten minutes that follow, she confronts past and present struggles while interacting with the new creature that's inhabiting her home. This Side of Michigan is an allegorical, surreal, dramatic work that attempts to understand class, grief, and survival in 21st-century America.

“A woman down on her luck is convinced there is an octopus living in her apartment, and from that delightfully odd premise emerges a surprisingly touching story.”