9th Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival
April 7 - 30
Congratulations to all our winners!
1st Place
Egg Timer
While looking at baby pictures on Facebook, a woman is haunted by her eggs which want her to procreate pronto.
Samantha Clay, Kristel Elling, Kaelson Sevigny, Whitney Blake Dean, Nancy Renee (Director), Shannon Pedroza, Alecia Winter-Scott, Charlotte Williams
Playwright Cristina Luzárraga
3rd Place
Broken Glass & Thigh High Boots
Nina and Trace decided to spice up their relationship by trying something new but will this step into uncharted territory bring them closer or break them apart for good.
2nd Place
The Unders
An underwear drawer on Saturday night. A bra and panties try to guess who will be chosen for the night out.
Whitney Blake Dean, Kaelson Sevigny,
Alecia Winter-Scott, Mark V. Jones (Director)
Playwright Kay Phillips
4th Place
What Do I Say?
A mature woman returns to the dating world and wonders how to tell possible lovers about the change in her body.
Veronica Thompson, Nancy Renee, Sonia Jackson, Nancy Davis-Bellamy (Director)
Charlotte Williams, Ian Stanley, Nancy Davis-Bellamy (Director), Kenneth Cosby (Playwright),
Daniel Floren, Charlotte Williams
Word around town
"I am honored beyond measure to have my piece included in Towne Street's annual 10 minute play festival this year. Towne Street is the gold-standard when it comes to the highest quality of live theatre production values--from the producing to the directing, to the acting. That "You're Funny" was chosen to be performed this year places me in a special group of other honored writers.
There are a lot of theatre companies out there. Some are like being in a club, others are like being on a sports team, some still others are like being in a fraternity. But Towne Street---Towne Street is family. And forever may I always be a part of this wonderful, truly talented family of artists that calls itself Towne Street Theatre. Thank you so much." - Bob Rodriguez
"There is nothing like LIVE THEATER! Last Saturday evening I attended Towne Streeet Theatre's 10 Minute Play Festival and for the price of a movie I got to see nine individual 10 Minute Plays on various subjects. It was a wonderful evening. Thanks TST!" - C. Finley
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"I also attended. Very entertaining! I loved
the plays." - J. Johnston
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"Such FUN!" - G. Hiatt
The Line Up
Meet our entire Festival team!
Act One
Killing Bambi
Beth and Tom bicker as they drive home from a friend’s party out in the middle of nowhere on unfamiliar country roads. Oh, and Tom’s in an upper body cast. What could go wrong?
with:
Mark V. Jones, Samantha Clay
Playwright
Director
Paper Planes
Chandler is perched on the edge of a skyscraper, looking up at the New York City skyline. Stella, who is convinced she can stop him from jumping, strikes up a conversation, soon discovering that the two have more in common than she had thought possible.
with:
Charlotte Williams, Sarah Preston, Peter Pasco,
David Myers
Playwright
Director
You’re Funny
After their youngest daughter’s farewell party the long dormant ghosts of frustrated dreams and interrupted opportunities rise to the surface, forcing Joahn and Bob to face the challenging realities of life ahead—just the two of them.
with:
Veronica Thompson, Mack Miles, Joahn Webb
Playwright
Director
The Unders
An underwear drawer on Saturday night. A bra and panties try to guess who will be chosen for the night out.
with:
Whitney Blake Dean, Kaelson Sevigny, Alecia Winters-Scott
Playwright
Director
A Perfect Match
Sisters collide over bone marrow and responsibility.
with:
Jenn Swirtz, Sarah Preston, Teressa Taylor, Charlotte Williams
Playwright
Director
Act Two
1:24 a.m.
What goes bump in the night? Mothers in the middle of the night worrying about global warming, Internet Predators, and a child's fear of bowling parties.
Playwright
Director
with:
Starina Johnson, Teressa Taylor
Broken Glass & Thigh High Boots
Nina and Trace decided to spice up their relationship by trying something new but will this step into uncharted territory bring them closer or break them apart for good.
with:
Daniel Floren, Charlotte Williams
Playwright
Director
What Do I Say?
A mature woman returns to the dating world and wonders how to tell possible lovers about the change in her body.
with:
Nancy Renee, Veronica Thompson
Director
Egg Timer
While looking at baby pictures on Facebook, a woman is haunted by her eggs which want her to procreate pronto.
with:
Kaelson Sevigny, Charlotte Williams, Kristel Elling, Samantha Clay
Playwright
Director
Whitney Blake Dean, Alecia Winters-Scott, Shannon Pedroza
The Playwrights
Cristina Luzárraga (Egg Timer) is a New Jersey native. She graduated from Princeton and subsequently moved to Chicago where she studied sketch and improv at iO Theater and The Second City Conservatory and performed stand-up comedy around town. Her full-length play Due Unto Others was produced by Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts. Her short play “Favor” is published by Smith & Kraus. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University.
Kenneth Cosby (Broken Glass and Thigh High Boots) attended Howard University and holds a BFA and an MFA from NYU. Kenneth has written for NBC as well as several LA sketch comedy groups. Kenneth was a member of Blacksmyths Playwriting Fellowship and taught screenwriting at USC for 18 years.
Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich (1:24 a.m.) Full lengths have been produced at Northern Light (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Overtime (San Antonio), Forward Flux (Seattle) Trustus (Columbia, S.C.), Trinity Rep (Providence), the New York International Fringe Festival, the off-Broadway Summer Play Festival, and more. A contributing writer to the upcoming 2017 national tour, THE GRIEF DIALOGUES. Plays have been developed in NYC at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, EST, and Rattlestick, and regionally at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva, and Victory Gardens, among others. She won the 2016 Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Julie Harris Award and was a runner up in contests that include the Sundance Playwriting Lab, O’Neill Playwrights Conference, and Princess Grace Fellowship. Her play STILL LIFE was named to the Kilroy List and nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. Published by Smith & Kraus, Applause Books, and Indie Theatre Now. barbarablumenthalehrlich.com
Twitter @1BarbaraBE
Lori C. Siekmann (Killing Bambi) is on the theatre faculty at Concordia University, Irvine CA. Lori directs, teaches acting and other general theatre courses. In 2015, she received the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Gold Medallion for Excellence award. On stage, she was most recently seen in Pride and Prejudice (Mrs. Bennet) and Looseleaf Theatre Company’s production of The Comedy of Errors. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting from Spalding University in Louisville, KY. Her play, KILLING BAMBI was also chosen for the Short+Sweet 10 Minute Play Festival in Dubai, Feb 2017.
Kay Phillips (The Unders) is an award-winning screenwriter and internationally produced playwright. Her stage plays have been performed across the United States and around the world, including London, Sydney, Toronto, and Johannesburg and off-off Broadway productions in New York. In 2014, her play “The Twilight Jones” won first place at Towne Street Theatre’s Ten Minute Play Festival in Los Angeles. Kay is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and lives in Arizona.
Michael Pisaturo (Paper Planes) is a senior at Boston College majoring in Secondary Education and Math. As an active member of the theater department, he has had roles in Bug (Dr. Sweet), Almost, Maine (Steve/Chad/Danny), Time Stands Still (James Dodd), Waiting for Lefty (Joe Mitchell), and Gruesome Playground Injuries (Doug). Paper Planes has been previously produced at the Northern Arizona Playwriting Showcase (2016), Emerging Artists Theatre New Works Series (2016) in New York, Manhattan Repertory Theatre Short Play Competition (2017), and Acadia University Minifest (2017) where it was awarded Best Overall Play. It has also been chosen as a Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 1 finalist for the National Ten-Minute Play Competition (2017). His one act play The Happy Club will premiere at the Emerging Artists Theatre New Works Series in March 2017.
Starina Johnson (A Perfect Match) grew up in a small southern Illinois town called Logan. Recent projects include the short film All Kinds (which was an Official Selection of several film festivals), the webseries Crazy Bitch (which was picked up by ComeDiva), a short film adaptation of Betsy Phillips' story Frank, as well as roles in films by award-winning directors Matthew Riddlehoover (To a Tee, West Hollywood Motel, More Scenes from a Gay Marriage), Jeff Wedding (A Measure of the Sin), Steve Balderson (Stuck!, Casserole Club, Watch Out, Culture Shock), and Elizabeth Spear (Roundball). For more information go to www.StarinaJohnson.com or www.ChickPeaProductions.com
Special thanks to...
Bob Rodriguez (You’re Funny) has pursued creative writing on and off throughout his life. He has written various produced and unproduced works including a number of essays, a volume of poetry, two screenplays, five sitcom specs, a Latino-themed pilot, an episodic, an eight-episode web series, and several 10-minute plays. Bob has studied basic screenwriting and basic television writing at Writers Bootcamp, and episodic writing, advanced sitcom writing, and advanced screenwriting through UCLA Extension. There he took his screenwriting to the next level by the writer who worked with Tennessee Williams to transition Williams’ stageplays to screenplays. Bob is honored beyond measure, that Towne Street Theatre has selected “You’re Funny” to be performed at The 2017 10-Minute Play Festival.
RCB, Mark V. Jones, Shaun Fury, Jackie Marriott, Ken Cosby, Brittany A. Gash, Kristina Roth, Jonathan Harrison, Sarah Green, Florence Avognon, Seth Austin, Kenny Cooper, Lamar Usher, David Myers, Whitney Blake Dean, Josh Dean, Madeleine Renee Walters,
TST Advisory Board, Stella Adler Staff, and as always, T.O.M.F.C.
Production Team
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Produced by: Nancy Cheryll Davis, Nathaniel Bellamy (view bio),
Nancy Renee, Ken Cosby, Veronica Thompson, Mark V. Jones & Jackie Marriott -
Production Stage Manager: Kristina Roth
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Associate Producer: Jael Saran
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Publicity and Marketing: Brittany A. Gash (view bio)
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Set Design: Nathaniel Bellamy (view bio)
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Costume Design: Nancy Renee
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Lighting & Sound Design: Nathaniel Bellamy (view bio)
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Video Projection/Additional Sound Design/Technician:
Ken Cosby -
Postcard Graphic Design: Rene Cross-Washington
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Lighting Technician: Kristina Roth
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Lighting Assistant: Lamar Usher (view bio)
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Lead Set Construction/Car Fabrication: Mark V. Jones