Review: 2025 SPECTRUM: A PRESENTATION OF SHORT PLAYS Presented by First Run Theatre At The Chapel

Six playwrights from Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri are featured in First Run Theatre’s “2025 Spectrum: A Presentation of Short Plays.” The First Run selection committee chose seven scripts focusing on relatable themes of common human experiences.  

The short plays, all approximately ten-minutes in length, were written by Stuart A. Day hailing from Lawrence, Kansas, M.K. DeGenova from Ste. Geneveive, Missouri, Dennis Fisher from Belleville, Illinois, and St. Louisans Marella Sands, Marjorie Williamson, and Rita Williams. 

Penning a short play is a tough task. A playwright must create a story with a thought-out beginning, middle and end. Their audience must connect to the characters quickly. It is important that the writer establishes relationship and/or conflict among the characters in their stories, give their protagonist arc, and find a satisfactory denouement. It is not easy to write a decent short play, and it is even more difficult to do it well.   

Marjorie Williamson placed two plays, “Stranger Than Fiction” and “Silver Lining” among the seven selected for production.  Williamson’s strong voice and witty narratives have resulted in her works being regularly selected from the company’s blind readings. In 2024, Williamson had two well-written full-length plays, “Cash Flow” and “Elephants’ Graveyard” produced during First Runs mainstage season.  

In “Stranger Than Fiction” an adult woman is reading in a library when she is confronted by her imaginary friend form childhood. The imaginary friend forces the protagonist to face her short comings and disappointments in life. She steps out of her comfort zone as an unsatisfied but settled adult in a droll, wryly written reflective piece that resonates with anyone’s deeply held insecurities.  

Williamson’s second entrant “Silver Lining,” begins as two septuagenarian women meet for dinner at a swanky restaurant. It is a comedic look at how ageism affects a woman’s societal value and self-esteem in her later years. Seems one of the two friends has found an outrageous benefit in being an elderly woman who no longer feels seen. The over-the-top humor garners big laughs, but Williamson’s satire is a serious look at how prejudicial treatment can affect self-worth. 

Williamson’s penchant for storytelling is vastly superior to her peers in this year’s selections. Both “Stranger than Fiction” and “Silver Lining” tell concise and impactful narratives with engaging dialogue and complete character arc. They are the best of this year’s entrants and are thoroughly enjoyable.  

The other featured playwrights have emerging voices with imaginative stories and characters that achieve varying degrees of success advancing their plots within the limited time frame. Dennis Fisher’s “Girl and Goat” and M.K. De Genova “Points of Intersection” explore arguments that stem from changing dynamics as relationships evolve over time. Both effectively establish character and conflict. The dialogue is dramatic, terse, authentic and engaging. But both plays feel just slightly underbaked leaving the quarrel unresolved.  

“Girl and Goat” examines the importance of sexual intimacy in a committed same-sex relationship where the partners’ desires aren't equal. Fisher’s story examines stressors humans face in long-term committed relationships. DeGenova looks at the evolution of friendships as people mature and make dissimilar life choices.  

Rita Winters “Bell Bottom Boos,” Stuart A. Day’s “Put Me in Coach” and Marella Sands’ “Just Coffee” had intriguing storytelling conventions. Their narratives showed individuality in voice, originality in character development, and a bit of whimsy that provided a few laughs. While each script had amusing concepts, rewrites would tidy up the muddled stories. The narratives in these stories were as incomplete as a phone call that is disconnected mid conversation. 

Directors Sean Belt and Sami Ginoplos had their well-rehearsed ensemble of eight actors prepared to take on the multiple characters in each of the seven plays. There is opportunity for Belt and Ginoplos to improve articulation, diction, and projection among their troupe of actors. Some of the sound was swallowed in hurried delivery that can be improved with a few notes to the cast.  

The simplicity in staging allowed for quick resets between each play. Their decisions to focus on the playwrights’ narratives with simple settings, costumes, and versatile lighting designs allowed for a well-paced production lasting just under 2-hours with intermission. 

The ensemble of actors included some familiar performers and some newer faces in the St. Louis Theatre scene. First Run regular Amie Bossie was joined by Deb Dennert, Ann Egenreither, Gretta Forrester, Ethan Perisho, John Pleimann, Christoper Plotts, and Sarah Vallo in creating a handful of unforgettable characters. 

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