Village Playwrights Presents Queer Scare V

Celebrate Halloween with the Village Playwrights on Wednesday, October 31, 7 pm to 9 pm, with Queer Scare V, staged readings of 7 ten-minute plays at the LGBT Community Center, Room 310, 208 W. 13th St., NYC. Suggested donation $10. Reservations recommended. Email villageplaywrights@gmail.com or call 614-285-2515.

The plays and playwrights are:

"Halloween Horror" by Carol Mennie -- A Halloween Horror that is truly a surprise!

As an actress, Carol Mennie has toured nationally in theater ranging from Shakespeare to Neil Simon. She wrote and toured in an original comedy duo that played the college and night club circuit. As a jazz vocalist, Carol has sung at the Blue Note, Birdland and the Whitehouse. She founded CDM, Inc., a not-for-profit teaching literacy through theater and music, and taught Drama for the "Say Yes" program at Columbia University. Tonight marks Carol's debut as a playwright. www.carolmennie.com

"Moans, Groans and Things that Bang in the Night" by Dennis E. Rager -- It's Midnight on Halloween and "Ghostbuster" Brandon is summoned by his friend Ryan to assist in finding the noisy spirits haunting Ryan's new apartment.

Dennis E. Rager is the author of numerous poems and short stories that have been published both nationally and internationally and is a member of the Academy of American poets. He has also had his one-act plays ("Diagnosis: Debt or Death", "Random Responses" and "9-1-1" produced in theatres in New York City, Philadelphia, PA, Spokane, WA, Hollywood, FL and Nantucket, MA.

"Chalk in the Pocket" by Lavinia Roberts -- Mambo Mahalia helps a co-worker struggling from grief.

Lavinia Roberts is an award-winning playwright. Her full-length play, Counting Skunks, won the 2011 Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Playwriting Award at the Castillo Theatre in New York City. She has over 50 plays published with Applause Books, Big Dog Plays, Brooklyn Publishers, Heuer Publishing, Plays: The Drama Magazine for Young People, Pioneer Drama, Smith and Kraus, and others. Her work has been featured in New York City at The Barrow Group Theatre, The Center at West Park, C.O.W Theatre, Emerging Artist Theatre, HERE Arts Center, Galapagos Art Space, The Kraine Theatre, Metropolitan Playhouse, New York University, The Players Theatre, Roy Arias Studios, Theatre for the New City, The Wild Project, and other spaces. She has a BFA in Fine Art from the University of Kansas and a MA in Theatre Education from New York University. https://laviniaroberts.com

"Treat or Trick" by George Bistransin -- The trick is the treat.

George Bistransin learned to write plays by translating and producing the comedies of the ancient Roman playwright T. M. Plautus. Among others, he produced The Menaechmi Twins, The Braggart Soldier and The Haunted House at Boston's 1400 seat vaudeville era Strand Theater. Since joining the Village Playwrights, he has had many short plays produced including "Stop Loss," "Marriage, the Gay Way," "Entrapment," "Insider Steal," "Dueling Drag Queens," and "A.P. Sexology." His ten minute play "Sexual Harassment" was in Village Playwrights 2018 celebration of Valentine Day, Valentine's Gay.

"Tom and Dick and Harry, too" by John Pakkanen -- Love never dies, even in a graveyard.

John Pakkanen has lived in the West Village for many years after coming to NYC from Western Pennsylvania. His one-act "Triage at St. Sebastian's" was staged by the Village Playwrights at the Producers Club's Royal Theater in April, 2016. His short play, "Hitch-Hiker" was staged at 353 Studios in June 2016. His one-acts "Masques" and "Trick or Treat Redux" were part of the Village Playwrights Halloween programs. His "Coming Out" was included in the June Village Gay Pride Festival 2018.

"Out There" by Joëlle Lëslie Avighna Lewis -- Living and having a life in NYC is hard for any transplant; for Rémi, it is a matter of life or death.

Joëlle Lëslie Avighna Lewis has trained in contemporary music and orchestration. Lës has performed from Shakespeare to Shakira, working in major American Rep. theatres and around the world. Current credits include Shakespeare's "Midsummer..." (Puck), "Little Shop..." (Ronnette) and "Winnie the Pooh Nat'l Tour" (Pooh). Graduate of AMDA, they are returning to university in pursuit of their DMA degree. They are looking forward to being announced to a venue as Dr. Avighna and working in any Tarantino feature opposite Sam Jackson.

"I Dreamed to Do Autopsies" by Marjorie Conn -- An older woman who is an actress and a younger woman who is a funeral director/embalmer discover that they have the same death row inmate as a pen-pal.

Marjorie Conn (Actor/Playwright/Ventriloquist) was given an award by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for her contributions to theatre in Provincetown, MA. She founded the Provincetown Fringe Festival in 1994, which relocated to Asbury Park, NJ in 2007. She is most known for her portrayal of Lizzie Borden (ax murderess) and Lorena Hickok (Eleanor Roosevelt's lover). Currently she is a full-time New Yorker and living in Hell's Kitchen with a plethora of rescue animals. marjorieconn@gmail.com/617-512-6066