Friends, I come bearing exciting news!
Arm Candy, one of the most popular scrips from my Tale of Tales project, is finally coming to paperback and eBook wherever books are sold on October 1st.
Previously this play was only released in an abridged format as part of The Fourth Orange and Other Fairy Tales You’ve Never Even Heard Of so this is the first time the full one-act version is available to the public. This expanded version runs nearly an hour all on its own and can standalone as an evening’s entertainment or trim down to drama competition length depending on how you want to stage it.
The eBook is already up and available for pre-order in most locations while paperback retailers will add the book as we get closer to the release date. It’s the second to last book in Fairly Obscure Fairy Tale Plays series that will conclude this November with The She-Bear.
It’s Frankenstein. No. It’s Beauty and the Beast or rather Beauty and the Even More Beautiful. DePiano turns fairy takes upside down and brings us a fable of silly, of beauty, and of female power. With wit, farcical sight gags, the fun never stops as Arm Candy piles on nonsense with sense and fairy-tale “tests” with unpredictable answers. In these days of Instagram and the perfect-life scenario, DePiano skewers all. She even manages to have the dim-witted, arm-candy man grow. Fun for all with a lot of (sweet) food for thought.
Claudia Haas, NPX
Arm Candy is a funny feminist fairy tale play with a steampunk twist!
When the brilliant Betta builds herself a groom out of sugar, a greedy queen steals him from the wedding. Now Betta must save both her handcrafted husband and reputation before time runs out. The result is part 17th Century gender-flipped steampunk Frankenstein, part madcap romantic comedy and all around fun!
Alchemy and elbow grease replace wishes and magic in this modern retelling of the Italian fairy tale Pintosmalto from Giambattista Basile’s The Tale of Tales (Il Pentamerone, Lo cunto de li cunti).
- Comedy / Fantasy / Steampunk
- 45-60 minutes
- 2 male, 3 female, 1 any (5-7+ performers possible)
Features
- Great length for drama competitions and classroom study.
- Small cast with majority female roles.
- Opportunity to add additional performers and an ensemble as needed.
- Opportunities for physical comedy, singing, dance and puppets.
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Hillary DePiano is a playwright, fiction and non-fiction writer who loves writing of all kinds except for writing bios like this.
