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Interview: Playwright Michael Fanelli Talks About the Buffalo Quickies 2018
By: Mark C. Lloyd Mar. 11, 2018
The Quickies are coming!
Buffalo Loves The Quickies
The 27th Annual One-Act Play Celebration put together by Joyce Stilson.
Performed at The Alleyway Theatre.
I had the opportunity to interview a few of this event's Playwrights.
Let me introduce to you the highly respected Michael Fanelli.
MCL: You have a Play that is a part of The Buffalo Quickes at Alleyway Theatre.
Describe what The Quickies are.
MF: Buffalo Quickies is an annual program of short plays produced by Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo.
MCL: Were you ever involved with this festival before this year?
MF: I was involved in Quickies once before, 2005. The Quickies playbill always has an image of a buffalo humping another buffalo from behind. The buffalo on top has a tragic face and the one on the bottom, a comedy face. My play discoursed on the conundrum.
MCL: What is the name of your One Act? Can you tell us the plot without spoiling it?
MF: My offering is called "The Death of Melendez". The plot of Melendez involves two friends, so close that they are referred to as the right and left kidney.
They attend a baseball game. One character is excitable and hates the pitcher, Melendez. His friend is subdued and keeps score. The rest of the play involves a wild and crazy trip to the bathroom, a missed play on the scorecard, and a gun.
MCL: First thought when your Play was chosen?
MF: Whenever any company selects one of my absurd pieces, I am surprised and tremendously pleased.
MCL: The Buffalo Quickies has been a long tradition. Why do you think it's been so successful?
MF: Buffalo Quickies has been around from time immemorial. I was a finalist in their Mazumdar new playCcontest in the 1990's. This forum gives playwrights the opportunity to let their hair down, and, I suppose, gives theatergoers a chance to see non-traditional, creative work-perhaps even avant garde.
MCL: What is the enjoyment of Writing a One Act Play?
MF: I used to hate short one-acts because they seemed superficial. But once I figured out that you could easily play with form as well as substance, I was hooked. If you experiment with a full-length, that's a lot of effort to waste if you're not successful. Ten-minute plays can be the free verse of theater.
MCL: What can the audience expect when they see this event?
MF: The audience will see a variety of styles. From mainstream, to whimsical to absurd. There may be a play or two where they walk out muttering, "What the hell was that?" I hope they say that about mine.
MCL: Joyce Stilson puts this together each year. I'm sure not an easy task.
One word to describe Joyce Stilson.
MF: God bless Joyce for sticking to this format for so long. It's an oasis of originality.
My one-word description of Joyce is "playful".
MCL: Finally ... anything else you want to say about The Buffalo Quickies?
MF: I have said enough. This interview, conducted as it was on jet skis in the Buffalo Small Boat Harbor in early March, has been bracing if not exhausting. Let's pull into shore, Mark C.
MCL: Holy dinghy, Michael Fanelli
(I Love the word dinghy)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MICHAEL FANELLI OR THE BUFFALO QUICKIES:
https://moxtundra9.wixsite.com/bufftheater
Alleyway Theatre
1 Curtain Up Alley
Buffalo, NY 14202
The Buffalo Quickies:
April 19-May 5, 2018
Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 PM
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