Tag Archives: Pavlina Morris

What’s the score?: 20 plays, from Bainbridge to Tacoma

How do you see 20 plays in two days?

For one thing, the plays all have to be little short guys. For another, you have to be lucky with your timing.

The stars aligned in just such a fortuitous way this past weekend, when two local companies mounted entries in their annual one-act play productions — Island Theatre‘s Ten-Minute Play Festival had its fifth renewal Aug. 19 and 20 at Bainbridge Performing Arts, and Changing Scene Theatre Northwest trundled out the 14th edition of its “Summerplay” festival Aug. 20 at the Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

The Ten-Minute Play Festival, a survey of the best submissions from Bainbridge Island and Kitsap playwrights, wrapped up its three-performance run — all shows either sold out or nearly so — Aug. 20.

“Summerplay: A Festival of New Works” continued its four-performance skein with an Aug. 21 matinee, and offers two more performances (7:30 p.m. Aug. 27, 2 p.m. Aug. 28) in the spacious TMP, formerly the Narrows Theatre at 7116 Sixth Ave.

At 10 plays each, seeing the opening night performance of each, that was 20 plays in a little big more than 26 hours.

If you’re planning on heading across the Narrows Bridge to see one of the remaining “Summperplay” performances, keep in mind that the selected shows (from more than 100 submissions from the proverbial Far and Wide) are a wildly mixed bag, both in terms of writing quality and the acting involved.

The beauty of such collections is that short plays are like city buses. If you miss out on one, there’ll be another along in a few minutes.

Predictably, the strongest entries in 2016’s “Summerplay” came from the festival’s two most experienced playwrights and most loyal “Summerplay” submitters: Los Angeles’ Mark Harvey Levine contributed “Our Ten,” a few minutes in the lives of people ground to a halt on an L.A. freeway by a random tragedy. Denver’s Scott Gibson checked in with “Meanwhile, in the Backseat,” a charming two-character piece about siblings learning a little something from each other on a family outing. These two stood out because of the originality of their concepts and the cogent stories they told

Execution is key to “Summerplay’s” rendering of “Our Ten,” which began as a jumble of radio announcements 081916_KSFE_TenMinute2and dial-spinning static, then took us inside the cars of some of those who find themselves directly affected by the news story playing out. Lighting (by Branden Wilson and co-director Pavlina Morris) and sound (effects by Darren Hembd, who co-designed with Morris and the other co-director, Karen Hauser), both were well done, supporting Levine’s solid, thought-provoking storytelling.

14068072_10154126862158801_1484642353663947663_nGibson’s sweet little sibling revelry “Meanwhile in the Backseat,” on the other hand, is more actor-driven, and Tacoma teens Skye Gibbs and Sean Kilen both do admirable jobs of bringing their characters’ “are we there yet?” interactions to life.

The spartan settings and uneven acting in “Summerplay’s” other offerings are no big detraction; the problems I had with much of the material was that it seemed puffed and padded. Many of the plays took much longer to get to their points — when, indeed, they seemed to have a point — than they should have.

Still, there was much to intrigue and entertain in the playwrights’ various methods and madnesses, and the first human-to-goldfish dialogue I can remember seeing, anywhere.

Surprisingly well written — if not much longer on nuance — the 10 Ten-Minute plays leaned heavily on comedy, and in several cases seemed elevated by the acting. Richard Leinaweaver‘s “Sleep,” about a man taking control of his life by planning his own death, benefitted from some wonderful performances, chiefly Tim Tully‘s touching turn as Ben. Jim Anderson‘s intriguing “The Royal Deluxe” took advantage of the effective scenery-chewing of Barbara Deering, and Paul Lewis‘ nightmare comedy “One Night at the Hotel Barbary” got a boost from both Jalyn Green as the long-suffering businessman and Luke Walker as the Wacky Bellhop. Also, Hayden Longmire put a much-needed chilly edge onto Judith Glass Collins‘ “Of Poisoned Pens and Palates.”

As often as not, I found myself thinking that I’d seen the plots and premises in the Ten-Minute collection before, and that the plays seemed like variations or rehashes; competently rendered, but derivative. And some of the shows might’ve gone well longer than their allotted 10 minutes, or at least seemed to.

That sounds cranky, but it’s not. The Ten-Minute Festival, like “Summerplay,” is an afternoon or evening of ideas, both in the scripts and the mounting of the plays. You’re not going to like everything you see, but you are liable to learn something, or walk away thinking about what you might’ve done differently.

We used to be able to see “Summerplay” in Bremerton. But at least it’s still alive and kickin’, in what seems to be a mutually agreeable arrangement with TMP. Because you just can’t get enough short plays.

Says the guy who saw 20 in two days.

— MM

Photos — Top: Danna Brumley, Jennifer Jett and Bob Downing rehearse Wendy Wallace’s “Plugged In” for the Ten-Minute Play Festival. Bottom: The cast of “Summerplay’s” “Our Ten,” by Mark Harvey Levine, rehearse on the Tacoma Musical Playhouse stage.

 

 

‘Summerplay’ 2012 will feature a half dozen new one-acts

First-time directors, a first-time playwright and several returning favorites mark the 10th edition of Changing Scene Theatre Northwest‘s “Summerplay” festival of new one-acts plays, the line-up for which recently appeared on the company’s Web site (changingscenenorthwest.org).

The capper of the festival’s first decade will be presented Aug. 31 to Sept. 9 at the Bremerton Eagles Aerie 192, 205 Sixth St., according to Changing Scene artistic director Pavlina Morris. Friday and Saturday performances will be at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Playwrights John C. Davenport, Scott Gibson and Josh Hartwell, all of whom have extensive histories with the Bremerton troupe — who have been celebrating summer by producing evenings of original short stage works from around the country since their inception. At the same time, Darren Hembd, one of Changing Scene’s longest-tenured members as an actor, director and technician, takes the play-writing plunge with a show titled “The Playwright.”

Morris has doled out two of the plays each to two first-time directors, Jeffrey Bassett and Dray Young, and Samantha Camp, who’ll be making her Changing Scene debut. Bassett, one of the area’s busiest actors, just completed a tour-de-force run as Arnold Beckoff in Changing Scene’s production of “Torch Song Trilogy.” Young, another “Torch Song” veteran, is a CSTN regular. And Camp has worked on stages in Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Port Orchard, notably Western Washington Center for the Arts’ production of “Hot L Baltimore.”

Bassett will direct Davenport’s “Collector’s Edition” and “Airport Diner,” by Californian Carol Roper. Another California writer, Stanley Toledo, contributed “Introductions,” to be directed by Camp, who’ll also helm Gibson’s “Professional Eye-Opener.” Young gets the director’s chair for Hembd’s debut piece, as well as Hartwell’s “The Extraordinarily Mundane Adventures of Earth Boy.”

Seattleite Davenport and Colorado-based Gibson and Hartwell make up a sort of all-star team of providers of original material to the Bremerton-based fringe company, which is an offshoot of the original Changing Scene Theatre in Denver. Among them, they’ve had five full-length plays and a festival full of one-acts produced in Bremerton.

Another franchise player in the “Summerplay” pantheon, L.A. playwright Mark Harvey Levine, is notably absent from this year’s lineup. But Morris has hinted that an evening of selected Levine one-acts might be in the offing in the near future.

Auditions that will have local actors chomping at the bit

Local actors will have a couple of out-of-the-ordinary opportunities in the coming months, but only if they audition:

Changing Scene Theatre Northwest is auditioning for Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song Trilogy,” while the Admiral Theatre is looking for local cast members for the upcoming return of “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.”

Changing Scene’s auditions will be 2 p.m. April 8 and 7 p.m. April 9, both at the Bremerton Eagle Aerie 192, 205 Sixth St. in Bremerton. Auditions for three men and three women will be via cold readings from the script, except for one of the female roles, which includes singing torch songs. Hopefuls for that role should contact director Pavlina Morris at 360-813-1820. The lead role of Arnold already has been cast. Performance dates are June 22 to July 21.

A touring company of “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding will perform at the Admiral May 31 to June 3, but needs a number of local male and female actor-singer-improvisers ages 18 to 65 to complete its cast, including many paid positions. Auditions are 6 to 10 p.m. April 27 and noon to 4 p.m. April 28, both at the Admiral, 515 Pacific Ave. in Bremerton. No experience is necessary, but improv skills and acting experience both are helpful. RSVP with name, e-mail address and phone number to 360-373-6010 or admiraltheatre.org by April 25 to set up an appointment. Rehearsals are May 27 to 30.