Be Bold! Productions 13th BOO! Short Play Festival Kicks Off at the Players Theatre

West Village audiences kicked off spooky October with the opening of Be Bold! Productions 13th annual BOO! Short Play Festival at The Players Theatre. Each weekend for three weeks in October, a new selection of 15-minute original plays premieres to embrace the eerie and otherworldly, getting a few laughs and screams along the way.

Week one audience-selected winner was "Nonna's Pizza", written by Hunter Corbett and directed by Alan CordoBa-Diaz.

This one-act features newly promoted manager Sam (Hunter Corbett), who works in her Uncle Ray's (Richie Byrne) family-inherited pizza shop in Brooklyn. Health inspector Lisa (Veronica Murphy) stops in early one morning for a surprise inspection. As the inspection moves along, the truth beneath the crust is revealed. The secret ingredient that put Nonna's on the map might be just the thing that gets it closed forever.

"Nonna's Pizza" joined four other macabre one-acts.

"Ghost Hoarders", written by Charles Rix and directed by Joseph Fusco, introduced two sisters Augusta (Nikki Neuberger) and Georgia (Corinne Prudente) who reunite at the family lake house after their father's death. They tussle over the future of the lake house, whether their father was a hoarder, and the nature of a mysterious ancestor pole found amid a pile of junk. As they interact with the pole, both discover that nothing is as it seems.

"Fall on Line", written by Maeve Kelley Baker and directed by Sophie Ferrin, creates a world in which Margie (Emily "Lee" Simes) and her husband Jeff (Catherine Luckenbach), both big fans of Jimmy Fallon, are given the opportunity to see him live. They jump in line.... And then the next line.... And the next line... Jimmy Fallon's love of games has led them down a dangerous path, and to survive they have to do all they can to make it to the studio. Adding to the chaos are ticket scanners/guest (Lauren Keffler and Abigayle Luttrell), prop master (Riley Stein), and the stage manager/Costume Designer (Rachel Baransky).

"It's not so Easy on StreetEasy", written Herut Ashkenazi and directed by Alan CordoBa-Diaz, features New York couple Noah and Lili (Herut Ashkenazi) who are searching for a house to buy. They are unfortunately misled by StreetEasy real estate agent Dayna (Mia Allen) into a horror movie-esque situation. The motivations behind the trickery are soon revealed.

"The Hat by the Side of the Road", written by William Brasse and directed by Cecelia Bracey, took audiences on a macabre journey down a dark road. Amanda (Shannon O'Shaugnessy) is on a date with Nick, who has pulled the car over under the pretense of having a romantic get-to-know-you discussion. They soon hear eerie sounds, and Amanda foolishly gets out of the car to investigate. It is soon revealed that Nick is in cahoots with a creature named Wurf (Madelynn Washburn), who has sinister intentions for Nick's "date".

The Players Theatre BOO! 2024 Short Play Festival continues this Thursday through Sunday with Week 3, which will present five brand new spooky-themed plays that are sure to make audiences shiver in their seats - or laugh until they die!

Tickets can be purchased at: www.ShortPlayNYC.com

The festival takes place at The Players Theatre
115 MacDougal Street, 3rd Floor - NYC

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