Publications and Scholarly Works

Stage Plays

“Don’t Try This at Home”  

A ten-minute play, two performances at Cape Fear Playhouse, Wilmington NC, November 6-7, 2017

It is a dramatization of a true incident encountered by the author in the Great Green Swamp on a lonely rural road in the dark of night while driving home from a music rehearsal at Whiteville, North Carolina.

Synopsis: A middle-aged man rescues an injured fox on a deserted highway, befriends him, dubs him “Sir Reynard,” and finds that his love is reciprocated by Sir Reynard, until fate overwhelms them both.

“The Lake-ness Monster”  

A ten-minute play, two performances at Thalian Hall, Wilmington, North Carolina, February 2020.

Synopsis: The apparition of an ungainly fish enlivens a young-middle-age couple.

“The Real Judith”  

A half-hour play, eleven performances at Cape Fear Playhouse, Wilmington, North Carolina, May-June 2018. Click here to read the first couple of pages of the play. 

SYNOPSIS

Judith, in ancient Israel, a widow young and without children, conceives a stratagem, in company with her Handmaiden, to repel invading Assyrians who threaten to annihilate the Jewish community. She pretends to defect from the Israelites and then entices the Assyrian commander, Holofenes, at a soiree. Holofernes is a strident demagogue-type. With the Handmaiden’s aid she gets Holofernes inebriated to senselessness, takes his sword, and decapitates him. The Assyrian invaders then flee. Judith has saved her country.

"The Odd and the Odds"

A seven-minute monologue, twelve showings (through Eventbrite), January 2021.  Synopsis:  A casual jog and a leisurely drive in the country reveal that any ordinary circumstance may unpredictably have dire consequences.

A Screenplay

“Cosmosis of Worlds,” copyright by Richard M. Trask

A scene from “Cosmosis of Worlds” was produced and presented online by professional actors for the Toronto Fantasy/Sci-Fi Film & Screenplay Festival, 2019.

Laurels (partial list):  1) Gold Prize, Science Fiction, Hollywood Screenplay Contest; 2) Winner, Best U.S. Screenplay, Pacific Beach International Film Festival; 3) Finalist, Best Feature Script, Florence Film Awards; 4) Semi-Finalist, Best Screenplay, New York Cinematography Awards; 5) Semi-Finalist, Best Screenplay, European Cinematography Awards;   

6) Winner, Best Feature Screenplay, Awesome Film Festival, Los Angeles; 7) Winner, Best Screenplay, Eagle of Wallachia Award, Wallachia International Film Festival; 8) Winner, Best Feature Screenplay, Eurasia International Film Festival.

“Cosmosis of Worlds” is about an idea based on and supported by quantum theory and cutting-edge cosmology. It constitutes a logical and compelling extension of established science. It is unique, intellectual sci-fi at a high level. Set in an everyday context, with straightforward exposition, it sheds light on seemingly insoluble questions like: Why are we alive at this particular moment in the run of the Universe? It features two co-equal protagonists: a young woman and man, with a sense of humor. Thought-provoking, spectacular, down-to-earth, entertaining, serious in content, light-hearted in manner. No reliance on excessive special effects or gratuitous bloodshed.

Logline: A “time-travel” event (hours not years) during a surgery reveals Quantum Human Immortality to a bright young couple, but they find that revealing this transformative knowledge is potentially devastating to the world at large.

Tagline:  Even if you were to live forever, all you would ever have would be today. 

Novelty: The story is a quantum leap beyond previous science fiction or outer-space fiction, and without need for overabundant special effects in contrast to, for example, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Interstellar” (2014), “Passengers” (2016). It is well grounded in current science: cosmology, atomic physics, quantum theory. It places these high-arching subjects firmly into a dramatic quest of two young heroes within the realm of everyday life. And it reveals an entirely new perspective on our place within the Universe at large. It could readily serve as a pilot for any number of sequels to explore a scientifically sound insight toward the world within ourselves and beyond ourselves.

Publications

“The 'Descent into Hell' of The Exeter Book," Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 1971.

“Doomsday Imagery in the Old English 'Exodus'," Neophilologus, 1972.

“The Manciple’s Problem,” Studies in Short Fiction, 1978.

“Sir Gawain’s Unhappy Fault,” Studies in Short Fiction, 1982.

“Old Bottles, New Wine: The Re-Creation of Old English Poetry,” In Geardagum, 1989.

“Why Beowulf and Judith Need Each Other,” In Geardagum, 1992.

“Looking Forward to Doomsday: An Old English Pastime,” In Geardagum, 1995.