Full-Length Musicals
Mythos
Book & lyrics by Sonya Hayden
Music by Kristoffer Bjarke
A new musical
Mythos
Book and lyrics by Sonya Hayden
Music by Kristoffer Bjarke
Full-length, drama, 8 actors (4M, 4F)
In mythological Ancient Greece, teenage Princess Andromeda is busy planning her sweet sixteen, obsessively tracking the personal lives of heroes splashed across trashy magazine scrolls (did you know Hercules ditched that gorgeous Libyan queen for some super young hottie??), and itching to leave her boring island to move to Athens where all the excitement is. But when she learns that a god is coming to claim her soul in three days due to a bargain her parents made (seriously?!), she sets off on an adventure with an A-team of heroes to figure out a way to survive. Along the way, she discovers that she’s far more capable than she thought and realizes she herself might just be the hero she’s been looking for. The show explores themes of sacrifice, loss, empowerment, and the meaning of heroism. Listen here.
It Ain't Over 'Til the Bat Lady Sings
Book by Sonya Hayden & A.J. Freeman
Music by Sonya Hayden
Lyrics by A.J. Freeman
It Ain't Over 'Til the Bat Lady Sings
Book by Sonya Hayden & A.J. Freeman
Music by Sonya Hayden
Lyrics by A.J. Freeman
Based on the play The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart & Avery Hopwood (in the public domain)
Full-length, comedy, 6 actors (0M, 6F)
A murder mystery comedy musical! In the 1950s, after 60-year-old homemaker Cornelia's husband passes away, she feels ready for a new life chapter of adventure, excitement, and independence in a big city. But to her frustration, her beloved niece and perpetually anxious sister-in-law whisk her away to a remote village to grieve in peace. However, they soon discover that there is a serial killer on the loose, and having found some excitement at last, Cornelia is determined to solve the case before the killer can snuff out someone she loves.
The Luckiest Girl
Book, music and lyrics by Sonya Hayden
Full-length, drama, 8 actors (2M, 6F)
When her mother dies, Sarah, a young, sheltered woman in 1920s New York City, is expected to be her elderly father's caretaker and marry into a wealthy family, but she longs for the kind of opportunities and freedom her twin brother has. She finds a temporary escape from her life when she becomes secretly involved in a women-led experimental theater troupe in Greenwich Village. As she finds herself falling in love with a female member of the troupe, she finds a new kind of freedom, self-confidence, and independence. Listen here.
Design by Julia Peiperl
Dream a Little Dream
Full-length, comedy, 8 actors (4M, 4F)
Composer Neil battles financial and career decisions while caught in a love triangle. In a wacky dream sequence involving in-laws, widgets, and a judge that places his music on trial, Neil confronts his dilemmas Freudian-style.
Book, music, and lyrics by Sonya Hayden
Princeton University Triangle Club
As a member of the Triangle Club Writers' Workshop, Sonya contributed music and lyrics for the shows Tropic Blunder, An Inconvenient Sleuth, and Zero Gravitas. Listen here.
Triangle Writers' Workshop 2015
Full-Length Plays
Herr
Dentist
By Sonya
Hayden
You can read Sonya's plays
on New Play Exchange:
Herr Dentist
Full-length, drama, 7 actors (4M, 3F)
In 1930s Germany, Hugo Schmidt struggles to make ends meet and dreams of becoming a world-famous dentist to powerful people. When he is given the opportunity to be personal dentist to rising politician Adolf Hitler, he thinks it's his ticket to success. As Hitler’s power increases, Schmidt’s fame as a dentist grows, but how far is he willing to go for his dreams of fame and fortune?
All the Way Home
Full-length, comedy, 7 actors (4M, 3F)
In a world of conniving mothers, tequila bottles, and Pilates classes, Mary struggles to reconcile society’s expectations for her with the life she wants to have. All the Way Home is a comedic and poignant exploration of relationships, self-discovery, and the childhoods we never leave behind.
Book, music, and lyrics by Sonya Hayden
Book and lyrics by Sonya Hayden
Music by Jon Hugo Ungar
One-Act Musicals
Crazy But True
Book and lyrics by Sonya Hayden
Music by Jon Hugo Ungar
Wanda Does the Water Cycle
By Sonya Hayden
It's a Hard-Rock Life
By Sonya Hayden
Sing a Song of Six Pants
Book by Sonya Hayden & Megan Loughran
Music by Sonya Hayden
Lyrics by Megan Loughran
Crazy But True
10-minute, comedy, 2 actors (1M, 1F)
Stuck in unfulfilling jobs and feeling disillusioned with life, two quirky individuals in their 20s meet in a subway station and find an unexpected connection. Listen here.
Wanda Does the Water Cycle
One-act, theater for young audiences, 4 actors (1M, 3F)
In this short musical for kids, precocious young water molecule Wanda visits the forbidden surface of her lake, where she promptly evaporates and, through learning about the water cycle, must figure out how to return home before the wind blows her off course. Listen here.
It's a Hard-Rock Life
One-act, theater for young audiences, 4-13 actors (any gender)
In this short musical for kids, three awesome rock bands – Sedimentary, Igneous, and Metamorphic – vie for the title of Rock Star in a Battle of the Bands competition, trying to win over the audience with their moving origin stories and layer upon layer of rock puns.
Sing a Song of Six Pants
Book by Sonya Hayden & Megan Loughran
Music by Sonya Hayden
Lyrics by Megan Loughran
Based on the Three Stooges short film Sing a Song of Six Pants (in the public domain)
One-act, comedy, 5 actors (1M, 4F)
Three women (Mo, Mary, and Curly) own a secondhand clothing store in 1940s Brooklyn that's about to close – unless they can somehow get $500 by tomorrow. When they learn that the cops are offering a $500 reward for the capture of notorious bank robber Fleets Robinson, they hatch a plan to capture Fleets themselves, resulting in mix-ups, mayhem, mistaken identities, and more!
Book and lyrics by Sonya Hayden
Music by Jon Hugo Ungar
One-Act Plays
Cassie Goes to Congress
By Sonya Hayden
Cassie Goes to Congress
One-act, comedy, 5 actors (2M, 3F)
When her baby penguin brother Herbert dies due to the sea ice breaking up too early, determined emperor penguin Cassie decides to travel to Congress to convince them to do something about climate change before it's too late. Along the way, she meets a dolphin, humpback whales, and a very busssy bumblebee who are all feeling the effects of climate change. When she arrives in Washington, D.C., she is roped into campaigning for a senator who sees this talking penguin as the golden ticket to her reelection campaign. But the senator delays taking any meaningful action on climate change, and ultimately, Cassie must decide whether to give up and go home or find a way to fight back.
Nadia Diamond as Cassie, 2022
Photo credit: Terrell Lopez
There's Always Tomorrow
By Sonya Hayden
There's Always Tomorrow
One-act, drama, 2 actors (1M, 1F)
Determined Harper longs to explore the world beyond her conservative Southwest Virginia town but obstacles of marriage and motherhood constrain her as the years of her life slip away. There’s Always Tomorrow is a poignant exploration of how our identities, relationships, and worldviews are shaped by our upbringing and the places we call home.
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
One-act, comedy, 6 actors (3M, 3F)
In an animal-populated film noir-esque world, foxy fox heiress Isabella hires hardboiled Private Eye Zorro Valiente, who must confront a suspicious racoon, armadillo, and his archnemesis El Aterrador to find the thief threatening to steal Isabella’s priceless diamond anklet.
By Sonya Hayden
The Clumps
By Sonya Hayden
The Clumps
One-act, drama, 2 actors (1M, 1F)
A plucky American student meets a spry elderly Englishman on a hike in the British countryside, but neither is who they claim to be, and the surrounding hills hold a dark secret which threatens one or both of their lives.
What in Creation
Was That All About?
By Sonya Hayden
What in Creation Was That All About?
One-act, comedy, 5 actors (4M, 1F)
This zany retelling of the biblical Creation story re-imagines God and his angels as a bunch of bros who decide to create Earth in seven days on a whim – much to the dismay of overworked angel Gabriel, who struggles to implement all of the wacky ideas in the limited time frame.
Short Plays
Baubles,
Bangles,
and
Bankruptcy
By Sonya Hayden
Baubles, Bangles, and Bankruptcy
10-minute play, comedy, 4 actors (2M, 2F)
Bauble makers Betsy and Billy clash over their commitment to their relationship and bedazzled handicrafts when their beloved baubles and bangles boutique goes bankrupt. Simultaneously, their younger selves open the boutique for the first time, brimming with hope for their future. Will their glittering dreams of youth stand the test of time or are they as breakable as a bauble?
Just
Like
Magic
By Sonya Hayden
Just Like Magic
10-minute, drama, 2 actors (1M, 1F)
Locked together in a closet by their children, unhappily married couple Marisa and Chris must deal with anger over Chris’ abrupt career shift to magician for children’s parties, forcing a decision about their commitment to their relationship.
By Sonya Hayden
Circus Act
Circus Act
5-minute, drama, 2 actors (any gender)
Two people conjoined at the hip struggle to forge their own identities in their relationship; one wants to stick it out and the other feels stuck, leading to a painful choice.
