FALSE HOPES: A play in one act. Amy chooses to have an abortion after discovering she’s pregnant with the child of her married boss. Claudia discovers she’ll never be able to have children of her own. Nicole is pregnant with her first child but has recently realized she’s not in love with her successful husband.

• AMY: In her late-twenties, Amy is educated, career-minded, and self-centered. She is fueled by ambition and dislikes those who don’t have any. Amy's exterior is somewhat cold; it is difficult for her to be or appear vulnerable.

• CLAUDIA: In her early thirties, Claudia is a simple, somewhat introverted woman. She shies away from large crowds and prefers to spend her time reading romance novels. She’s a woman who’s in love with the idea of love and quietly seeks compassion and comfort. Claudia has struggled with her weight since she was a child.

• NICOLE: Just twenty-one, Nicole is pregnant with her first child. She is direct, gentle but firm. She’s convinced those around her she’s the perfect wife.

BRACELETS & BOYFRIENDS: A play in one act. Having both turned fifty, childhood friends Judy and Olivia decide to return to a quaint seaside town they once visited on family vacations during their early teen years. Reminded of loves lost, choices made, and the fading of their youth, Judy and Olivia reaffirm their friendship, the tender memories they share, and the journey through life that has made them the women they are now. Bracelets and Boyfriends is a powerful and thought-provoking play about two women who must look back before they can move forward.

• JUDY: Fifty. Often too serious for her own good. Self-critical. Has carried a painful secret around for fifteen years. A sensitive woman with a big heart.

• OLIVIA. Fifty-one. Fashionable but not affluent. A thrill seeker. A flirt. Clinging to the disappearing edges of her youth. 

DON’T MENTION IT: A play in one act. When sixty-year-old New York native Stella discovers that her grandson has been diagnosed with AIDS, she turns to her best friend Madeline for comfort and strength.

• STELLA: 60s: an eternal optimist; a woman with a kind heart; a believer in true love.

• MADELINE: 60s: a sassy cynic; flippant and often indignant; challenging.  

Playwright Biography 

David-Matthew Barnes is the author of the young adult novels Mesmerized and Swimming to Chicago, the suspense thriller Accidents Never Happen, and the rock 'n' roll love story The Jetsetters, published by Bold Strokes Books. He wrote and directed the coming-of-age film Frozen Stars, which received worldwide distribution. He is the screenwriter of the upcoming horror film Scare Me, Kill Me. He is the author of over forty stage plays that have been performed in three languages in eight countries. His literary work has appeared in over one hundred publications including The Best Stage Scenes, The Best Men's Stage Monologues, The Best Women's Stage Monologues, The Comstock Review, Review Americana, and The Southeast Review. David-Matthew is the national recipient of the 2011 Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Award. In addtion, he's received the Carrie McCray Literary Award, the Slam Boston Award for Best Play, and earned double awards for poetry and playwriting in the World AIDS Day Writing Contest. David-Matthew earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. He is a faculty member at Southern Crescent Technical College in Griffin, Georgia where he teaches courses in English, humanities, speech, and theatre. For more information, please visit www.davidmatthewbarnes.com.

BUZZ

• Barnes was a guest on the show "Insight" on Capital Public Radio (NPR) on 3/22/10 to discuss "Pensacola" and his young adult novel "Mesmerized". Listen to the interview! (3/22/10)
• Playwright David-Matthew Barnes returns to Sacramento with 'Pensacola' by Marcus Crowder, Sacramento Bee (03/12/2010)
• Actors Scene Unseen (ASU): Pensacola Staged Reading, Charlotte, NC (5/22/04)
  
• Watch a Promotional Trailer!