The second Festival of One Acts gives local authors a chance to have their worked performed on stage.
By JEREMY MOULE / jmoule@mpnewspapers.com
What do college students, a newspaper reporter, a retired English teacher and an actor have in common?
All of them are playwrights.
An event started to give local writers a chance to have their work performed on stage will mark its second year this weekend.
The Festival of One Acts, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Friday, will feature pieces by seven writers, each of which will be produced by a different director.
"We take writers from all backgrounds, " said John Barthelmes, the festival's producer.
The pieces, which typically are 10 to 12 minutes long, include comedy, drama and a farce, as well as a play that resembles "reflection through poetry, " Barthelmes said.
Everyone's Theater Company, which organizes the festival and is putting it on along with St. John Fisher College, put out a call for submissions in January and accepted scripts until May. The seven pieces were selected by a committee.
The process has been rather hands-off for the authors, though some directors have asked for author input, Barthelmes said.
"The style of direction is just drastically different for everyone involved, " he said.
The festival is split up into two sections this year. On Oct. 1-3, there will be four performed selections - the plays performed as they normally would be with lines memorized by the actors and actresses. On Oct. 8-10, there will be three staged readings - performances where the actors and actresses read from the scripts as they act the play out.
"It's just a different format of theater, " Barthelmes said.
Tickets are $5 presale or $7 at the door. For tickets call (585) 415-4747. For more information and directions visit www.everyonestheatre.com .
The schedule of Everyone's Theatre Company's Festival of One Acts is as follows:
Oct. 1, 6 p.m. - "Secret Lives and Peas " by Frank Storace, directed by Kelly Flegel; "Curiosity Killed the Cat " by Meghan Root, directed by Maria Scipione; "The Interview, " by Dan Maslyn, directed by Nancy Price and John Barthelmes; "The Artist " by Virginia Monte, directed by Mary Krickmire.
Oct. 2, 7 p.m. - "Lines " by Ed Scutt, directed by Jose Ortiz; "Red Fred " by Christine Fien, directed by David Brown; and "From We To Me, a Divorced Lady's Journal " by Pamela Hill, directed by Robert Sharman.
Oct. 3, 2:30 p.m. - "Secret Lives and Peas, " "Curiosity Killed the Cat, " "The Interview, " "The Artist. "
Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m. - "Secret Lives and Peas, " "Curiosity Killed the Cat, " "The Interview, " "The Artist. "
Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m. - "Secret Lives and Peas, " "Curiosity Killed the Cat, " "The Interview, " "The Artist. "
Oct. 10, 2:30 p.m. - "Lines, " "Red Fred, " "From We to Me, a Divorced Lady's Journal. "