Duress tells the gripping story of Anna, a mild-mannered accountant who goes into the office to work on a Saturday and encounters two brothers breaking into the safe . One brothers is a hardened criminal well-schooled in the art of manipulation. The other, is new to the game. Anna’s very survival depends on drawing on the difficult experiences of her past as well as her need to get home to loved ones who now depend on her. She must try to turn the brothers against each other before they crack the safe and no longer need her alive.

As a former prosecutor I have learned so much about the ways in which violence is often used as a tool of manipulation against women. As someone who has been involved in theater and acting my entire adult life, I know that there are a dearth of crime dramas told from the female perspective. This play seeks to change that with a gripping story that incorporates everything I have learned about the strength, grit, and resolve women have when they become victims of crime.

In 2022 Duress was selected from plays submitted by women all over the country to be featured in the Powerstories Theater’s Voices of Women Theater Festival where it won the

‘Empower Her’ Award.

Full Productions

In 2021 Duress was selected for a full production at Stage West Playhouse in Spring Hill, FL where it was very well received. Audiences called it riveting and survivors of violence called it an accurate and stirring. One member of the audience said the final seconds of the play shocked her and had her rethinking everything she thought she knew about crimes of violence and the experience of victims.

Duress is published by Stage Write Plays. Click the button below to be taken to their website. To engage in conversation about the ways in which theater can be used to raise awareness about crimes of violence against women please email the playwright.