Ten-Minute Play Festival Features Local Writers, Directors

The Franklin Park Performing and Visual Arts Center in Purcellville has scheduled local writers and directors this weekend for , a play festival where each script is limited to a ten-minute segment.

“The ten-minute play festival is a great mix of stand-alone pieces and the imaginative seeds of future projects,” said Jeff Stern, the manager of the arts center.  “We opened the submission process to all writers over age 18.”

After soliciting and choosing directors, those directors read all the submitted scripts to find the pieces they wanted to work on, found actors and began rehearsals, Stern said.

The directors selected a play written by Ashburn resident Erica Garman, who said she had never written a play before.

“This is such a great vehicle for new and developing writers to try their hand at this genre,” Garman said. “I'm sure some seasoned playwrights are represented as well, so I'm really excited to learn from them and get a sense of what works on stage and wows an audience.” 

All of the writers and directors are from Loudoun County with the exception of one from Pennsylvania.

The theme for the first ten-minute play festival is the typewriter: every play must either use or refer to a 1940s typewriter and table at some point.

The Arts Center provides a set of moveable walls and basic furniture and props. Some shows bring in additional props as well.

The audience gets involved by voting on best script, best actor, best actress and best overall play.

“The best script will win the coveted golden cow trophy and a crisp ten-dollar bill,” Stern said. “Other winners will receive the silver cow trophy and the ten-dollar bill.”

Winners will be announced at the conclusion of Sunday’s show.

Titles, Authors and Directors are as follows:

• Write Club
  Written by Erica Garman
  Directed by Samantha Oester
• Nursing Home Blues
  Written by Sam McCrea
  Directed by Samantha Oester
• Anger Management
  Written by Heather Stillings
  Directed by Bob Rosenberg
• Clark’s Day
  Written by Russ Consaul
  Directed by Kris Consaul
• At the Shrine
  Written by Bill Cissna
  Directed by Heather Stillings
• Art/History
  Written by Anna Marie York
  Directed by Heather Stillings

The ten-minute play festival starts at 7:10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5, and Saturday, Aug. 6, and at 3:10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 7. Tickets cost $5 for all ages and can be reserved by calling the box office at 540-338-7973. The arts center is located at 36441 Blueridge View Lane in Purcellville. 

The next ten-minute play competition will be called The Top Teen and will be geared toward authors ages 14 to 18. Social networking will be the theme for that competition, which is tentatively set for February 2012.