10-foot Tube Worm

Written by Nealla Spano Gordon

Reading on Thursday, March 28, 2024

Performed by Auriga Productions

AI-savvy Manny attempts to evacuate four quirky and traumatized female refugees from a

waterless island because his American company wants lithium off the coast. The women

will acquiesce if and only if Manny gets the approval of their benefactor: the ten-foot tube

worm. Manny seeks the assent of the sea worm and discovers the worm’s knowledge

transcends Manny’s AI-generated world. The worm informs Manny that she is the new

benevolent, “AI human” poised to carry on humankind when Manny and humanity cease.

Nealla Spano Gordon is a graduate of Northwestern University in Performance Studies. Last

year, her play, WHITE BUFFALOES, was a semifinalist at the Ashland New Playwright's

Festival. This year, WHITE BUFFALOES was a semi-finalist at the Morgan Wixson New Works

Festival and at the Garry Marshall New Works Festival. Also, WHITE BUFFALOES received a

reading this past December at the Bechdel Group in NYC. In 2019, her play, PICTURE, was a

semi-finalist at the 2020 O'Neill Playwrights Conference and had a reading at Baruch Performing Arts Center in NYC. Her one-act play HOLIDAY AT THE DOG PARK won and received a production at Theatre 150 One-Act Festival in Ojai, CA. Nealla's short story, A Man Up in Age, was published in 2018 in Brilliant Flash Fiction. Nealla is an accomplished actor and has appeared in numerous TV, film, and theater performances.