Playhouse Nashville Seeks Actors for Staged Readings at Street Theatre Company

Playhouse Nashville's popular Ten Minute Playhouse-named one of the Top 11 Theatrical Events of 2011 by The First Night Honors-returns December 9 and 10 with a fresh slate of 12 new plays by Middle Tennessee writers. Local actors interested in participating in the staged readings at Street Theatre Company are invited to attend an open casting call and rehearsal on Saturday, December 8, at noon.

Actors are asked to visit TenMinutePlayhouse.com and click on the "Actors" tab to complete a simple online questionnaire prior to the casting and rehearsal session. No auditions or cold-readings are required.

Actors in attendance at the casting session are assigned roles and paired with local directors on the spot by Ten Minute Playhouse curators. Rehearsals conclude no later than 4p.m.

"As we enter the fourth edition of the Ten Minute Playhouse and our numbers keep growing, we continue looking for ways to improve the experience for our actors, directors, playwrights, and audiences," says co-curator Garret Schneider.

"We added an online playwright submission tool this time to aid our play selection process, and our new online actor registration component is likewise designed to help us streamline casting."

Street Theatre Company's 1933 Elm Hill Pike location, site of the very first Ten Minute Playhouse performances in May 2011, will host three Ten Minute Playhouse showcases over the next year as part of Playhouse Nashville's recently announced residency partnership with STC for 2013.

"After ironing out a year-long agreement with Cathy Street for next year, we looked at the calendar to see if there was a possibility of bringing the Ten Minute Playhouse back before the end of 2012," says co-curator Chris Bosen.

"The opportunity to kick off our partnership of presenting new programming in-residence a few weeks early with our signature event this December is a nice holiday bonus that we arethankful for and hope our loyal audiences will enjoy as well."

Playhouse Nashville's residency at Street Theatre officially begins with the world premiere of Nate Eppler's new comedy SEXTAPE set for February 28-March 10, 2013. That will be followed by a Ten Minute Playhouse April 28-29, a second world premiere production of a new play by a local writer August 1-11, and a Halloween-themed Ten Minute Haunted Playhouse October 20-21.

Since its 2011 debut, The Ten Minute Playhouse has quickly become a mainstay of the Nashville theater scene and an opportunity for local playwrights to present their work to the community.

As of November 2012, a total of 42 plays by 29 local playwrights have received public readings involving more than 60 local actors and directors.

Performances of The Ten Minute Playhouse are December 9 and 10, at Street Theatre Company, 1933 Elm Hill Pike. All shows start at 7:30 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door. For more information, go to www.TenMinutePlayhouse.com. Further details about Playhouse Nashville's 2013 season-in-residence at STC are available at PlayhouseNashville.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/PlayhouseNashville, and by joining the email list at PlayhouseNashville@gmail.com.

Pictured: Lane Wright, Jennifer Richmond, Todd Truley, and Martha Wilkinson in Nate Eppler's Double Penny at an earlier Ten Minute Playhouse showcase. Playhouse Nashville's signature event returns to Street Theatre Company Dec. 9-10 at 7:30 p.m./photo by Rick Malkin