BWW Reviews: FINNIGAN'S FESTIVAL OF DERBY CITY PLAYWRIGHTS Engages and Inspires

In a city as culturally rich and vibrant as Louisville, it's a true shame there aren't more opportunities for local playwrights to showcase their work. Without being spoken aloud by actors, brought to life by directors and ultimately performed in front of an audience, it seems difficult for a playwright to critically gauge the potential perception of their work. Thanks to "Finnigan's Festival of Derby City Playwrights," twelve local playwrights have such a stage, and the result provides much hope for some of these burgeoning playwrights.

Formerly known as "Finnigan's Festival of Funky Fresh Fun," this year the festival was closed for public submissions and limited to the work of the twelve members of the new writing lab group Derby City Playwrights, yielding plays written by individuals truly dedicated to the craft of playwriting.

Performed in the versatile space of The Bard's Town, the festival features 15 actors performing 10 10-minute plays and two shorter two-minute plays divided into 30 second segments that are interspersed amongst the others. The limitations of the space, uniquely, seem to work in the festival's favor; due to the minimal lighting and sound capabilities, the theatre forces the audience to focus intently on the text being performed and not be distracted by flashier production elements.

Comedy is the predominant genre with which the playwrights operate in the festival, and it comes across with generally positive results. Brian West triumphs in Bryce Woodard's uproarious piece "In the Closet," which chronicles a therapy session between a man and the monster who lives in his closet. Commanding and almost Shakespearean, West absolutely excels in the work and illustrates spectacular contrast with his more benign roles in other plays.

Tamara Dearing similarly shines early in the festival, transforming from frantic wife in Tad Chitwood's perplexing "Saint Bob" to insecure and aspiring model in Rachel White's subtly sinister "American Goddess." Equally funny without falling to slapstick is Natalie Fields, who makes a brief moment in "Saint Bob" remarkably memorable. Joe Hatfield also stands out in multiple pieces, fluidly shifting his style of humor and tailoring it to each piece with admirable dexterity.Amidst the laughs, however, there is great deal of heart, as demonstrated beautifully in Eli Keel's marvelous "Sausage Fest," which depicts a coming together of distinctly diverse men around a gay man's hospital bed. Simultaneously touching and comical, Keel's script is without question one of the strongest of the night. His take on an easily accessible situation does not manifest as cloying or tired but rather presents a reality that seems almost too nuanced to be written. His characters are incredibly well-developed given the time constraint, and Keel deftly maximizes on his allotted pages by packing both comedy and emotional wallop into such a brief piece.

The same can be said for Brian Walker, whose magnificent "Gamers 4 Life" is undoubtedly the preeminent piece of the night. Fueled by the equally powerful and cathartic performances of Corey Long and Kelly Kapp, Walker's work is a quintessential example of the balance that is so welcome in a 10-minute play. Following the online conversation of two gamers, the play dives deep beneath the banter and from that angle, examines the desolation of two individuals. Neither a comedy nor a drama, "Gamers 4 Life" was able to achieve an emotional impact I don't believe I ever would have expected from a 10-minute play, and for that, Walker is to be truly commended.

Another highlight of the evening came in the form of Ben Gierhart's tremendous two-minute play "Stops," based on his own experiences on TARC busses. Relatable and beguiling, April Singer charms as the protagonist encountering a series of misfortune on her bus ride to work. Gierhart's text, to the playwright's credit, wisely avoids trying to squeeze too much action into the episodic moments and instead focuses on portraying a very true reality - one that broken-down twentysomethings know all too well - with wit, charm, originality and hope.

Becky LeCron's "Chipped" glows in the evening as a text the demands the audience confront the reality of our future. Operating on the premise that the next step in technology is humans getting "chips" implanted in them to store memory and essentially create a machine out of one's mind, LeCron's text is biting and razor-sharp. Anchored by the ever delightful Jane Mattingly and Meg Caudill, the play is perhaps the most provocative and disturbing of the night in a way that illustrates the true power of the craft of playwriting.

Unfortunately, among the paramount success achieved by the team of artists, there are a few pieces that fall a bit short of their counterparts. "Safety" by Amanda Haan, while engaging, seems to lack definite aim and ends a touch too abruptly. "And in the Silence Penguins Come" by David Clark is certainly an enjoyable show but at times seems to sacrifice meaning for humor. Todd Zeigler's* "Gateway" is a fascinating and comical exploration of time travel, yet the nature of its mystery is left a bit to enigmatic for the audience to fully digest. Similarly, "A Deal" by Nancy Gall-Clayton, the other episodic two-minute play, is a lovely representation of Tinkerbell and The Fairy Godmother but could have used some fleshing out to give a dash more substance to the silliness.

These slight shortcomings, however, almost seem to be the reason for the festival's existence. "Finnigan's Festival" allows these playwrights to stage a sample of their work and see it played out before an audience. With feedback and reaction in mind, the playwrights may go forward and examine their larger works with fresh eyes and through the lens of what is realized just as well onstage as in their minds. Whether their works were stage-ready or could have used a tad more tinkering, these Derby City Playwrights all deserve accolades for dedicating themselves so sincerely to such a difficult, imaginative and important craft. It is a night not to be missed that truly bubbles with creativity.

The festival continues April 9, 10 and 11 at 7:30pm at The Bard's Town Theatre, located at 1801 Bardstown Road. Tickets are $16 and may be purchased by calling The Finnigan Box Office at 502.876.0532 or emailing finniganproductions@gmail.com.

(*Editor's note: Todd Zeigler is BroadwayWorld.com regional editor for Louisville.)

To post a comment, you must register and login.