Stephen Evans

Generations is an evening of three thought-provoking one-act plays inspired by the mysteries and magic between generations. In Monuments by Stephen Evans, an aging Ralph Waldo Emerson travels down the Nile river with his daughter, struggling with memory yet suffused in memories.In Last Laugh by Morey Norkin, an ailing and unsuccessful comic attempts to bridge the gaps with a younger colleague anticipating her big break.In Late Nights in Cars by Michael Gilles, the ever-mutable dynamics of fathers and daughters unfolds through the cars they drive and the forces that drive them.Generations has seven characters (three male, four female, played by two or more actors), three simple unit sets, and requires no complex effects.

Generations is an evening of three thought-provoking one-act plays inspired by the mysteries and magic between generations. In Monuments by Stephen Evans, an aging Ralph Waldo Emerson travels down the Nile river with his daughter, struggling with memory yet suffused in memories.In Last Laugh by Morey Norkin, an ailing and unsuccessful comic attempts to bridge the gaps with a younger colleague anticipating her big break.In Late Nights in Cars by Michael Gilles, the ever-mutable dynamics of fathers and daughters unfolds through the cars they drive and the forces that drive them.Generations has seven characters (three male, four female, played by two or more actors), three simple unit sets, and requires no complex effects.

In Stephen Evans' play Spooky Action at a Distance, a despondent physicist chooses to exit this universe in a Las Vegas casino hotel room. In the midst of the attempt, he is interrupted by an exotic dancer in an angel costume. Instead of talking him out of suicide, she decides to join him. And when the effort fails for them both, has a miracle occurred? What are the odds? Spooky Action at a Distance is a comedy in three acts with two characters. Content Warning: Suicide, Strong Language, Sexual topics. Also Quantum Physics and Miracles.

In Anthropomorphosis by playwright and author Stephen Evans, a post-divorce escape is transformed into a philosophical ramble through the spectacular wilds and wastelands of the American West. Recounting the seemingly random journey, informed by the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the author explores our capacity for understanding the world around us, and ourselves.Publisher's Note: The contents of this book, with some revisions, was previously published in A Transcendental Journey.

In this "engaging modern-day fairy tale" (Kirkus Reviews), Whose Beauty is Past Change tells the coming of age story story of Lissa, a young girl who journeys through beautiful distractions to find herself, and her future in a fantastic undersea realm. While visiting Key West, Florida, with her father (a professor of poetry), Lissa falls into the Gulf while watching a beautiful sunset. Unable to return to the surface, she learns she has been called to follow a golden path to Kwest, the undersea realm where sunsets are painted. To guide her along the path, she encounters the charming creatures of the reef: dazzling Glam-Mer, the clownfish; wise Pri-Mer, the sea-turtle; ponderous Boo-Mer, the manatee; giddy Skim-Mer, the dolphin, and cantankerous and creative Glim-Mer, the giant oyster. Finally, Lissa reaches Kwest, the luminous undersea realm where sunsets are painted. Using what she has learned of art and poetry from her parents, she proves she belongs in Kwest. There she is offered a choice: to return to the surface or remain forever as a painter of sunsets. She chooses to stay, and is transformed into a mermaid. But she has one request: a special message to her father - a sunset of her own design. Intended to inspire and encourage young poets and artists, the book quotes major poets such as E. E. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Blake, Wallace Stevens, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and John Keats. For advanced middle-grade and YA readers. Publishers Note: This book was previously published under the title Painting Sunsets.

Small Gifts by author Stephen Evans is a collection of sketches exploring the diminutive wonders that share our world. From the abundant ecosystem of an azalea bush, the lessons offered by an invasion of cicadas, or the titanic struggle of a bug climbing a blade of grass, the author encourages us to be attentive to the ephemeral life that surrounds us, and to find joy in its fragility, diversity, and beauty.

This book contains three heartwarming tales that reveal the power of memory..In At the Still Point, two former college sweethearts meet again at night in a nearly deserted train station. In Kingdom by the Sea, an aging antique dealer is asked to come to the aid of his deceased friend. In The Smiles of Cheshire, Mass, a young doctor is summoned home for Christmas to deal with his irascible grandfather, who may be hallucinating.In each of these stories, memory is a force that connects the past, informs the present, and shapes the future.

"Poignant and outrageous, moving and profound, Evans' delectable debut novel thrums with zesty dialogue and a memorably zany cast of irresistible characters." -Booklist "Evans demonstrates his playwright's mastery of dialogue and tension in his accomplished and whimsical first novel about love and the bizarre behavior it ignites."-Publishers Weekly"Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds." Lena's ex-husband and law partner Nick is charming. Erratic. Brilliant. Quixotic. And maybe Delusional. His passion for animal and environmental rights constantly gets him in trouble. And Lena inevitably comes to his rescue. When he 'liberates' the lobsters from Minneapolis grocery stores and the only alternative is confinement, Lena even allows him to move home while he performs community service at an animal shelter. And soon she is reminded why she married him, and why they divorced. But when Nick has one more wild idea, only he can imagine how it will end. The Marriage of True Minds is a funny and endearing tale of a partnership beyond law, beyond marriage, and possibly beyond reality.Publisher's Note: This story is part of a larger story, which is included in another volume entitled The Island of Always, also available January 6th, 2025.

"The only way of catching a train that I have discovered is to miss the train before."―G. K. Chesterton In this two-act play by playwright and author Stephen Evans, two former college sweethearts meet again for the first time forty-some years later at a nearly deserted train station. During this encounter, the explore the events that broke them apart, and the possibilities of life at the Still Point.Cast of CharactersGwen A Grace Kelly look-alike (more the actress than the princess despite her 60 years)Art Gwen's age, a writer, more William Powell than Robert Redford.Merle The station vendor, who looks a little bit like the Princeton version of Einstein (sweatshirt and sneakers included).Setting: A train station.Time: Late.Setting: A small train station, the kind that you don't see much anymore. A few old benches are crowded together in the center. On the upstage wall is a round clock, the numbers, roman numerals, barely visible through the round crystal face, have delicate green vines climbing up them, twining around them. The time says 11:55 through most of the play. Upstage under the clock is a door to the train platform, with two old wooden chairs beneath. To the side is a cart for a vendor that offers newspapers, coffee, and various treats.At Rise: Merle sits doing a crossword puzzle behind the vendor cart, which is overflowing with various paraphernalia such as newspapers, souvenir hats, a carafe of coffee, various treats, and dust.

The Crooked Mirror is a collection of verse about Love and Loss, Remembrance and Hope by poet Stephen Evans.From the Poet: So here's what I think. A poem is a linguistic unity. It has no narrative flow. It has no time. It has no tempo, no pauses. It is the opposite of music. It coalesces in the mind as the last element is read or heard; only then does it exist, like a quantum state collapsing into reality from the interaction of a reader.The text of a poem is a single word broken up into elements separated by lines and spaces. It is a delivery mechanism, and a flawed one. But it's what we have. And it is precious. Because a poem is as close as we can get to truth, given the undeveloped state of our languages. And minds, for that matter.A few in this book may qualify as poems. Any would be cause for celebration. Poetry is where we're going. At least I hope so.

A writer's memories of high school and the extraordinary girl he knew then inspire an epic tale of adventure. From the Author: High school was a good time in my life. I made friends that I have kept for fifty-some years. Some part of my enjoyment of this little book surely comes from the high school memories incorporated into the middle section White. Jerry isn't me-I was the brilliant one in high school (what happened? you may ask, as I do). But he has better luck with girlfriends than I did. Possibly those two are connected.

The Next Joy and the Next is a mythology the author uses to understand (insofar as possible, which isn't far) the reason for the life he has lived.A Word about Myths (from the Prologue): When I was a freshman at Georgetown University, I walked into the campus bookstore and began browsing, as I often did at bookstores when I had the chance. Bookstores felt like a kind of spiritual home to me then (and still).I think I was in the Philosophy section (my spiritual kitchen, to continue the metaphor) when I spotted a small book by Spenser Brown called The Laws of Form. I opened the book and read the first line, which said: "Draw a distinction".In an instant, I understood that everything I thought I knew and everything I knew I thought were wrong. Incomplete. Illusion. I have spent the rest of my life (so far) trying to understand what is behind the illusion.

This volume contains three one-act plays in which Ralph Waldo Emerson is the principal character, imaging three critical periods in Emerson's life.The first play, Monuments, takes palace in 1873, toward the end of Emerson's life, as he is sailing down the Nile river with his daughter Ellen, struggling with memory and memories. The second play, Solid Seasons, is set in Henry David Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond on July 4th, 1847, as Emerson attempts to persuade his protege to leave Walden and return to Concord. The Third play, Tender, is set in Emerson's home in January of 1842, as nine year old Louisa May Alcott arrives to inquire about Emerson's son Waldo, who is ill with Scarlett Fever.The three plays may be performed individually, or together as an evening.