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Through our Excellence in Writing Award, playwrights can submit their original works and enter to win cash awards and have their plays performed. For a schedule of our current performances, click here! The following plays are available for performances by actors of MOTIVATIONAL THEATRE, Inc. or in collaboration with other theatre groups, secondary schools, universities or disability groups.
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My Black Bird Has Flown Away" Can't see the video? Click the title to view on YouTube "My Black Bird Has Flown Away" is a one hour monologue performed in a wheel chair on the life of author, historian and disability advocate Hugh Gregory Gallagher, an Oxford scholar and 1995 recipient of the Henry Betts Prize for lifetime contributions improving the lives of persons with disabilities. Gallagher lost use of his legs to polio at age 19 (in 1952) and used a wheelchair the rest of his life. He suffered depression in his 40s. His life personifies the inextricable link between physical and mental wellness. He authored the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, championed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and was instrumental in placing a statue of Franklin Roosevelt in a wheelchair at the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C. Perhaps best known among his award-winning books is FDR's Splendid Deception, an analysis of polio's effects on FDR's personality and presidency. Gallagher died of cancer in 2004.
"Fearless Price Baum"
Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube "Fearless Price Baum" is the story of the life of Price Armstrong Baum, a skilled athlete and sailor. A quadriplegic from a diving accident at age 22, he became a staunch disability advocate, testifying before Congress on the Americans with Disabilities Act, writing articles, conducting seminars and establishing the Human Relations Department at the National Rehabilitation Hospital before an automobile accident hospitalized him again for many months. He resumed his advocacy for persons with disabilities on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and for many years served as Executive Director of the Eastern Shore Center for Independent Living. He was known as FPB: Fearless Price Baum. He died in 2006, age 48. Known for his sunny disposition and engaging smile, he helped other disabled persons build ramps, acquire lift vans and secure low-cost housing.
"He Walked to Freedom" Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube A powerful monologue on the life of an African-American man born with cerebral palsy who was institutionalized from birth. Denied education and training, he finally walked away at age 28 and started a new life. Twenty-two minutes. "Taking the 'Dis' Out of Disability" Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube The "Taking the 'Dis' Out of Disability" trilogy features three monologues on the lives of persons challenged by physical, mental and developmental disabilities performed in an hour. The monologues include "Disabled Not Handicapped" - about a minister with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair, a musician recovering from mental illness and drug abuse, and a woman with developmental disabilities who became an administrator at the rehabilitation center she entered in her youth.
"Lepers Without Lesions." Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube "Please Don't Forget Me." Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube "Renewing Lives" The "Renewing Lives" trilogy consists of three monologues performed within one hour. The monologues include: "Please Don't Forget Me" on the life of Tanisha Haynes, a young woman abused as a child recovering from mental illness studying to be a painter, "Never Quite, Never Flinch" on the life of William Hollis, a "walking quadriplegic" who broke his neck in Marine Corps training and became an attorney, and "Lepers Without Lesions" on the life of Frank Spillman, a Vietnam veteran with post traumatic stress.
"Flying High" Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube The "Flying High" trilogy focuses on the lives of minority and women aviation pioneers who overcame physical disability, racial discrimination and adversity. The monologues are performed in an hour and include "My Spirit Lives On" based on the life of Bessie Coleman, the first black woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States, "Standing Tall, Flying High" on the life of Neal Loving, aircraft designer and racing pilot who lost his legs in a glider crash as a young man, and "My Proudest Moment" about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who overcame shyness and fear of flying to chart air routes with her famous husband.
"18 Days in July" Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube A five character play dramatizing a political crisis in 1972 influenced by public attitudes toward mental illness. Senator Thomas Eagleton resigned as Senator George McGovern's Democratic Vice Presidential running mate when it was revealed he'd received shock treatments for depression. Thirty-five minutes.
"Snob Mob Discrimination" Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube A monologue comparing cosmetic concerns of pampered elite to real life challenges of persons with physical, mental and developmental disabilities. Twelve minutes.
“That's Why She Holds the Racket Like That" Can't see the video? Click on the title to view on YouTube The story of the life of Marianna Breeding. She was the first born of 13 children, four with a chromosomal disorder that shortened their arms and legs and turned their tiny hands inward. she came to the Chesapeake Center for developmental disabilities as a client and eventually became an employee.
"The Card Table" "A New Beginning for J.J." and "Voices in the Wind"
Copyright all plays: Carlton E. Spitzer and The Hugh Gregory Gallagher MOTIVATIONAL THEATRE, Inc.
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