TEN MINUTE PLAY CONTEST!
Hello everyone,
I am quite sure that it will come as no surprise that Shaker Bridge Theatre has canceled the rest of its season. We live in hope that these productions will be realized at some point in the near future.
I really miss the theatre. I miss being in a room with other people to watch a story being embodied by exceptionally talented actors. To help alleviate this withdrawal from the theatre, I’m going to start a contest. Let’s create some “viral” art.
Ten minute play contest!
Write a play between one and ten minutes in length with two or three characters. Let your current situation be the stimulus, the inspiration for your play. Not sure you can do this? Try writing with a partner! Your play can be serious, it can be a comedy, can be realistic, can be absurdist, etc. There are no limits to or restrictions on the style.
Setting:
Your play can be set in one room, in two rooms, in a car, in somebody’s backyard, in a deserted airplane, an empty theatre, a takeout line in a restaurant - anywhere you want.
Characters:
There must be at least two but no more than three characters.
(No one-person monologues.)
Prizes!
We will pick the best plays and they will be presented in public staged readings at the theatre over one weekend next fall. You’ll get to see your play performed in front of an audience by professional actors!
Send your plays (in a Word document) to our email address: shakerbridge@gmail.com
All plays should be received by May 15. When plays are received, they will be placed on the theatre’s web site so they will all be available for reading by everyone. But they will all be anonymous - no one will know who the playwright is.
And . . .
. . . as a warm-up, let’s have some instant fun. Your challenge is to write one line for a play. That’s it, just one line. Write a description of the setting, briefly describe the character, and then - write the worst opening line for a play. I mean, the worst. Whoever writes the best (worst) first line will win an official SBT hat!
Here’s a quick example:
(A modest apartment living room. Lots of lace, lots of pastel colors. Offstage, we hear a door close. A moment of silence. Then, a woman - in her thirties or maybe forties - it’s hard to tell - walks into the center of the room, picks up a glass of white wine from the coffee table, looks up and speaks.)
HEATHER
Well, it looks like it’s just you and me now, mittens.
Send your one line entries to shakerbridge@gmail.com by April 15. The winner will be posted on our website. Have fun!
- Bill Coons, Founder