TST to Host 9th Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival Opening Night Reception
By: BWW News Desk Mar. 24, 2017
The 9th Annual TST Ten-Minute Play Festival features nine plays centered around the theme "It's 1:24 A.M. - Anything can happen." After receiving submissions from around the world, Towne Street has chosen to showcase dramatic and comedic productions with a range of topics including sisters in conflict, dating after fifty, chance meetings, empty nest syndrome, spicing up a relationship, secrets revealed, and more. The Festival runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from April 7th - April 30th, at the Stella Adler Theatre.
These selections are also in the running to win awards as audience members will vote for their favorite four. The awards will go to the playwrights, with the first place winner receiving $100.00, second place $50.00, third place $25.00, and fourth place $15.00. See below for details on the 9 plays showcased in this year's festival.
Tickets On Sale NOW! Ticket Prices: $20 General Admission, $15 Group of 6 or more, $12 for Seniors 65+, $10 Students tickets. For more information and to purchase tickets visit tst10minuteplayfestival9.eventbrite.com.
Ten Minute Play Festival Directors include Nancy Cheryll Davis, Nancy Renee, Mark V. Jones, Raf Mauro and Veronica Thompson. The plays are Produced by Nancy Cheryll Davis, Nancy Renee, Nathaniel Bellamy, Mark V. Jones, Veronica Thompson, Jackie Marriott, and Jael Saran.
Towne Street Theatre, L.A.'s Premiere African American Theatre Company, was founded in 1993 in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Its mission is to create positive social impact by producing and developing original works reflective of the African American experience. Towne Street continues to be an oasis for creativity and imagination; a theatre that helps to bridge the cultural divide by bringing artists and audiences of all colors and ethnicities together. Originally located in a downtown loft, the Towne Street Theatre has been in residence at the Stella Adler Theatre/LA in Hollywood since 2004.
The 9th Annual TST Ten Minute Play Festival preview is Friday, April 7th at 8:00 p.m. and the festival runs April 7th - 30th, on Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 4:00 p.m., at the Stella Adler Theatre. The Stella Adler Theatre is located at 6773 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90028.
The Festival Line-up includes:
Paper Planes (Michael Pisaturo) Chandler is perched on the edge of a skyscraper, looking up at the New York City skyline. Stella, who is convinced she can stop him from jumping, strikes up a conversation, soon discovering that the two have more in common than she had thought possible.
The Unders (Kay Phillips) An underwear drawer on Saturday night. A bra and panties try to guess who will be chosen for the night out.
Killing Bambi (Lori Siekmann) Beth and Tom bicker as they drive home from a friend's party out in the middle of nowhere on unfamiliar country roads. Oh, and Tom's in an upper body cast. What could go wrong?
What Do I Say? (Sonia Jackson) A mature woman returns to the dating world and wonders how to tell possible lovers about the change in her body.
A Perfect Match (Starina Johnson) Sisters collide over bone marrow and responsibility.1:24 a.m. (Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich) What goes bump in the night? Mothers in the middle of the night worrying about global warming, Internet Predators, and a child's fear of bowling parties.
Broken Glass & Thigh High Boots (Kenneth Cosby) Nina and Trace decided to spice up their relationship by trying something new but will this step into uncharted territory bring them closer or break them apart for good.
You're Funny (Bob Rodriguez) After their youngest daughter's farewell party the long dormant ghosts of frustrated dreams and interrupted opportunities rise to the surface, forcing Joahn and Bob to face the challenging realities of life ahead-just the two of them.
Egg Timer (Cristina Luzárraga) While looking at baby pictures on Facebook, a woman is haunted by her eggs which want her to procreate pronto.
Meet the Playwrights:
Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich (1:24 a.m.)
Her works have been produced at Northern Light, Overtime, Forward Flux, Trustus, Trinity Rep, the New York International Fringe Festival, the off-Broadway Summer Play Festival, and more. She's a contributing writer to the upcoming 2017 national tour, The Grief Dialogues. She won the 2016 Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Julie Harris Award. Her play Still Life was named to the Kilroy List and nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. Published by Smith & Kraus, Applause Books, and Indie Theatre Now. Learn more at barbarablumenthalehrlich.com.
Kenneth Cosby (Broken Glass and Thigh High Boots) attendEd Howard University and holds a BFA and an MFA from NYU. Kenneth has written for NBC as well as several LA sketch comedy groups. Kenneth was a member of Blacksmyths Playwriting Fellowship and taught screenwriting at USC for 18 years.
Sonia Jackson (What Do I Say?) is an actress, standup comic and writer. She has appeared theatrically in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Coffee Will Make You Black, Palm Fever & The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman v. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae, as well as her own play, Conversations 'Bout the Girls.. Sonia's film & television credits include Stray, Jurassic Park 3, Speed, The Mentalist, Southland, The Fosters, Grey's Anatomy, Two and a Half Men, and Pretty Little Liars. Learn more at Facebook.com/BouttheGirls.
Starina Johnson (A Perfect Match) grew up in a small southern Illinois town called Logan. Recent projects include the short film All Kinds (which was an Official Selection of several film festivals), the webseries Crazy Bitch (which was picked up by ComeDiva), a short film adaptation of Betsy Phillips' story Frank, as well as roles in films by award-winning directors Matthew Riddlehoover (To a Tee, West Hollywood Motel, More Scenes from a Gay Marriage), Jeff Wedding (A Measure of the Sin), Steve Balderson (Stuck!, Casserole Club, Watch Out, Culture Shock), and Elizabeth Spear (Roundball). For more information go to www.StarinaJohnson.com or www.ChickPeaProductions.com.
Cristina Luzárraga (Egg Timer) is a New Jersey native. She graduated from Princeton and subsequently moved to Chicago where she studied sketch and improv at iO Theater and The Second City Conservatory and performed stand-up comedy around town. Her full-length play Due Unto Others was produced by Princeton's Lewis Center for the Arts. Her short play Favor is published by Smith & Kraus. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University.
Kay Phillips (The Unders) is an award-winning screenwriter and internationally produced playwright. Her stage plays have been performed across the United States and around the world, including London, Sydney, Toronto, and Johannesburg and off-off Broadway productions in New York. In 2014, her play The Twilight Jones won first place at Towne Street Theatre's Ten Minute Play Festival in Los Angeles. Kay is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and lives in Arizona.
Michael Pisaturo (Paper Planes) is a senior at Boston College majoring in Secondary Education and Math. As an active member of the theater department, he has had numerous roles in a variety of diverse productions. Paper Planes was previously produced at the Northern ArizOna Playwriting Showcase, Emerging Artists Theatre New Works Series in New York, Manhattan Repertory Theatre Short Play Competition, and Acadia University Minifest, where it was awarded Best Overall Play. It has also been chosen as a Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 1 finalist for the National Ten-Minute Play Competition.
Bob Rodriguez (You're Funny) has written various works including a number of essays, a volume of poetry, two screenplays, five sitcom specs, a Latino-themed pilot, an episodic, an eight-episode web series, and several 10-minute plays. Bob has studied screenwriting & television writing at Writers Bootcamp, and episodic writing, advanced sitcom writing, and advanced screenwriting through UCLA Extension.
Lori C. Siekmann (Killing Bambi) is on the theatre faculty at Concordia University, Irvine CA. Lori directs, and teaches acting and other general theatre courses. In 2015, she received the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre FestivAl Gold Medallion for Excellence award. On stage, she was most recently seen in Pride and Prejudice (Mrs. Bennet) and Looseleaf Theatre Company's production of The Comedy of Errors. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting from Spalding University in Louisville, KY. Her play, Killing Bambi was also chosen for the Short+Sweet 10 Minute Play Festival in Dubai, Feb 2017.
For more information visit townestreetla.org or follow on Facebook at facebook.com/TowneStreet.
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