Festival of Short Plays
August 2020
The Last Hat
by Kyle John Schmidt
Directed by Lakyn Wools
Company
Molly Parsons … Jessica Hixson
Tiffany … Maddy Turner
Mr. Wilshire ... Jack Joiner
Peter … Jake Smith
Stage Manager … Nate Cass
Setting: Dress Shop, London, England
Time: Morning, 1860
Director’s Note:
Kyle John Schmidt’s play The Last Hat invites audiences to enter into the dress shop of Molly Parsons, a Victorian woman who has made the shocking discovery that her hair is eating her face. This farce is filled with love, pretense, and other odd conundrums which one might find themselves. Schmidt encourages us all to evaluate the distractions which we prioritize and urges us to be honest about ourselves and our desires.
*******
The Other Room
by Ariadne Blayde
Directed by Jon Michael Thompson
Company
Austin…JT Watford
Lilly…Erin Cahill
Travis… Presley Pearce
Christian….Landon Rydl
Donovan… Charlie Stone
Talbott… Collin Baker
Nick… Jake Liddle
Stage Manager… Courtney Wilcut
Setting: A nearly empty classroom after school
Time Period: Modern Day
Director’s Note:
In Aridane Blayde’s play The Other Room, we meet Austin. A 16-year-old boy who is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The show is separated into two separate rooms. The room where Austin is residing in is reality. It is the physical world that holds the real human beings of the story. “The Other Room” consists of Blayde’s interpretation of what goes on inside Austin’s head in a very abstract sense. She uses a wide range of characters from a British Oxford student to an aircraft pilot to display the various interests of Austin and conflicting thoughts that go through his mind when he is presented with varying levels of stimuli. Blayde challenges the audience to put themselves in the shoes of someone with ASD and to experience the confusion and chaos that they experience in their everyday life and gain a little more understanding of the struggles that they face.
*******
The Siren Song of Stephen Jay Gould
by Benjamin Bettenbender
Directed by Madison Davis
Company
Man… Spencer Hebert
Woman… Sarah Bowen
Stage Manager… Haven Sanders
Setting: A River Bank, the Northeast
Time: Today
Director’s Note:
The Siren Song of Stephen Jay Gould, written by Benjamin Bettenbender, is a satirical short play set alongside a riverbank. Here, an unlikely pair discovers a surprising similarity after a humorously imprudent attempt at suicide. The situation presented is offbeat and scattered with moments of authenticity. Bettenbender strives to bring laughter to dark situations to show that everything happens for a reason. This unexpected crossing of lives will give you hope and a reason to go on, at least for another day or two.