MadLab Kicks Off 2014 Young Writers Short Play Festival Today

MadLab will present The Young Writers Short Play Festival, a collection of ten short plays written by eleven Columbus area high school students. MadLab is a non-profit organization that provides an artistic haven for the creation and experience of original works. Part of that effort involves giving young people the opportunity to create original works. This festival was born from that goal. MadLab sought out submissions from area high schools and chose the best plays to produce. Student playwrights will work with experienced local playwrights to help them with their plays.

THE PLAYS:

Bingo Purgatory by KT Bugenstein and Gina Clepper

The Second Life Bingo Hall is the intermediate stage between life and death. Here, people who die come and play bingo. Holding the winning card allows them to pass through the black door into the great unknown. Nat arrives in the bingo hall after an accident on the subway and befriends a group of oddballs. As they chat, Nat unintentionally helps them with their problems, and one by one they leave through the black door to the mysterious white light.

Cast:
Alex Lacey as Death
Becky Horsemann as Woman
Randi Morgan as Florence
Chad Hewitt as Max
Catherine Quamme as Harriet
Un Jong Lim as Lee
RJ Shuman as Nat
Greg McGill as Hatchett

Directed by Julia Ferreri

8 Minutes by Koryn Naylor

Two people who have no history meet on a park bench. The male figure is quite mysterious and states that he can get to know anyone in merely minutes, the female disagrees. The whole play focuses on the fact that if the sun were to stop shining, it would take 8 minutes for people on earth to know before they were to live in complete darkness. The question is posed of what would the woman's 8 minutes be. As the woman declares her eight minutes, the male starts to get to know her better, and the lighting would dim throughout the play signifying that these are actually their last few minutes. The final Scene would be blacked out completely, revealing that they were experiencing their actual last 8 minutes before the sun goes out.

Cast:
Austin Andrioff as Connor
Hannah Woods as Casey

Directed by Angela Cutrell

Trinkets by Kinsey Cantrell

While fighting over their dying mother's antique suitcase, two siblings come to terms with the impact their mother has had on their relationship and their lives.

Cast:
Julie Azelvandre as Adelaide
Stephen Woosley as William
RJ Shuman as Nelson

Directed by Stephen Woosley

Breaking The Wall by Emily Cipriani

Aden is reunited with an old friend, but the more time he spends with Evelyn, the more he distances himself from reality. After discovering the real reason behind their unusual reunion, Evelyn must convince Aden to accept her for what she really is, not what he wants her to be.

Cast:
Emily Cipriani as Evelyn
Chad Hewitt as Aden

Directed by Audrey Rush

Anarchy! by Alex Lacey

While reading the newspaper, a man is interrupted by an angry mob of anarchists breaking into his home. They are planning on overthrowing the government.

Cast:
Peter Graybeal as Guy
MaryBeth Griffith as George
Austin Andrioff as John
Greg McGill as Thomas
Casey May as James
Colleen Dunne as Benjamin

Directed by Stephen Woosley

Instructions for an Existential Crisis by Gyasi Hall

Ryan, a video store clerk, begins to question the importance of his life and everything he's done when he is struck by a surreal event: His friend and co-work Chloe comes to work dressed up as a Ghost in a Bed sheet, claiming she has recently passed away, and no longer exists.

Cast:
Joe Liles as Ryan
Em Hammett as Chloe

Directed by Stephen Woosley

Sue Ellen Finds A Hobby by Hannah Woods

Sue Ellen Finds a Hobby is a dark comedy about a teenage girl who has an inappropriate recreational outlet,murder. She goes proceeds with her diabolical ways until her best friend and accomplice, Linda, starts to question their motives. Another girl wants to get in on the action by finding the killer lurking in her neighborhood. Will Sue Ellen be able to execute one final victim, or will Linda's conscience get in way?

Cast:
Colleen Dunne as Sue Ellen
Kyle Jepson as Linda
Chad Hewitt as Carl
Frankie Diederich as Josephine

Directed by Amanda Bauer

Late Flight Home by Amelia Koontz

When two apparent strangers run into each other in an airport terminal, both heading to the same destination, they are forced to confront the past that they thought was far behind them. Do they want their paths to converge again?

Cast:
Blane Furey as Nora
RJ Shuman as Michael

Directed by Stephen Woosley

Clotheslines by William Lekan

Clotheslines" chronicles the relationship of Carter and Sarah using five different sweatshirts from five different moments in their lives, as they go from childhood friends to middle school lovers to high school friends again. When the circumstances between them get more complicated, they will have to determine where they stand, where they are heading, and what they really feel about each other.

Cast:
Chad Hewitt as Carter
Lexy Weixel as Sarah

Directed by Michelle Batt

Fresh Fold Detergent by Tova Seltzer

A television commercial is being filmed for a brand of laundry detergent, but the actress hired to perform in the commercial insists on hijacking it as a platform to spread her conspiracy theory that the government is drugging the water supply. She begins to convince another actress and the cameraman, to the increasing annoyance of the director. In the end, government officials arrive to arrest everyone, revealing that the woman's claims were true all along.

Cast:
Julie Azelvandre as Patricia
Stephen Woosley as Director
Katharine Pilcher as Angelique
William Lekan as Cameraman
RJ Shuman as Man 1/Brad
Alex Lacey as Man 2

Directed by Mary-Aileen St. Cyr

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The Young Writers Short Play Festival 2014 runs at the MadLab Theatre, 227 N. 3rd St. with showtimes at 8 pm, today, July 11- Jul 26, Friday-Saturday. Tickets: $12, $10 for students and senior citizens, $8 for MadLab members. Visit www.madlab.net/MadLab/tickets.html or call 614.221.5418. For more information, visit www.madlab.net.

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