Pam Pankratz as Abby, Amy Warren as Babs in the Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company's 2017 production under the original title Of Rats and Men, directed by Guy Cohen. Photo by Leighza Walker.

What's worse, a dead rat in the toilet or a dead husband in the kitchen? Is there a difference?
In the play, Babs has to make some tough decisions when her old flame Abby turns up on the run from her abusive husband - who she's stabbed in the back of the neck with a kitchen knife.
It skates a thin line between drama and dark comedy - often depending on the mood of the audience on a particular night!

Palaces (Of Rats and Men) at Mildred's Umbrella!

Palaces was produced most recently by Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company,Studio 101 at Spring Street Studios in Houston, TX in July of 2019, as part of their "Best of" revival for their long running "Museum of Dysfunction" series. That was the last performance of the play under its previous title Of Rats and Men.

Palaces premiered in April of 2010 in Los Angeles at The Tre Stage as part of the original "The Writer Speaks" festival, with Shae Kennedy and Tracy Maddox.

It was also produced that same year at Theatre Encino, and at the Asylum Lab in Los Angeles as part of Pianofight 3.0. It went on to the Kauai Shorts Festival in Maui presented by Women in Theatre, in 2012 at The Randall Theatre in Oregon, and at the 2017 Museum of Dysfunction Festival at Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company in Houston, TX, with a revival by the same company in 2019.

Diane Kennedy and Nellie Foster in the 2011 production in Maui, directed by Cass Foster. Photo by Ron Morin

Sample Dialogue...

This one is available for production from the playwright. Contact me.