Heidi Schreck, Jeff Griffin & More to Judge Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival

Samuel French presents The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the nation's premier short play competition August 4 - 9 at the East 13th Street Theater (Classic Stage Company). Chosen from over 1,500 submissions (a record breaking number) from the U.S. and abroad, 30 finalist plays, each running 10-30 minutes in length, will be presented. The Sunday, August 9th presentation is the culmination of the week-long festival at which the six winning plays will be presented.

A distinguished panel of judges will narrow the finalists down before the winning six will be selected by the Samuel French staff. For this year's 40th anniversary Festival, Samuel French has assembled a judging panel representing all aspects of the theatre industry: Nan Barnett (Executive Director, National New Play Exchange), Jeff Griffin (Managing Director, Classic Stage Company), Sharon Fallon (Broadway Producer, past OOB Festival Producer), Matt Freeman (Playwright), Dennis Gromelski (Artistic Director, Fusion Theatre), Abigail Katz (Director of New Play Development, Atlantic Theatre Company), Laura Penn (Director, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society), Heidi Schreck (Playwright), Adam Szymkowicz (Literary Manager, Julliard; Playwright), Paul Thureen (Playwright), Susan Westfall (Literary Director, City Theatre) and Lauren Yee (Playwright).

Tickets for all performances are $18. For tickets and more information, visit http://oob.samuelfrench.com. Be sure to connect with the OOB Festival on Twitter and Facebook, as well as by using #OOBFestival.This year's Festival schedule is as follows:

Tuesday August 4th at 6:30PM
The White Castle by Anderson John Heinz
The Brighter the Star by Katharine Henner
Happy Anniversary by Charly Evon Simpson
Throws of Love by Amy Staats

Tuesday August 4th at 8PM
At the Finish by Nick Gandiello
The Salty Part of the Animal by Erin Mallon
Bermuda Blue by Ross Dunsmore
Naturalistic Commercials by Ben Vigus

Wednesday August 5th at 6:30PM
Evelyn Shaffer and the Chance of a Lifetime by Greg Edwards and Andy Roninson
Salt by Peter Turo
Lucky Numbers by Gwendolyn Rice

Wednesday August 5th at 8PM
Billy Bitchass by Ira Gamerman
A Brief History of America by Dipika Guha
Ginny by Anna Fox
The Maltese Walter by John Minigan

Thursday August 6th at 6:30PM
The Crocodile's Bite by Vanessa Garcia
Gay for Pay by Benjamin Scuglia
So You're Her by Arnold Shelby

Thursday August 6th at 8PM
Narrators by Simon Henriques
Two Pigeons Exactly the Same by Emily Feldman
Eight Seconds by Sean Harris Oliver
Make John Patrick Shanley Go Home by Holli Harms

Friday August 7th at 6:30PM
Glamping by Carey Crim
Seabird is in a Happy Place by James Gordon King
The Offer by Bella Poynton
That Noise by Dominic Finocchiaro

Friday August 7th at 8PM
The Gulf by Audrey Cefaly
Blind by Gloria Calderon Kellett
The Checker Game by Steven Warren
Tastes Like Teen Spirit! by Sara Israel

Saturday August 8th at 2PM
First set of Finalist Plays (TBD)
Saturday August 8th at 4PM
Second set of Finalist Plays (TBD)

Sunday August 9th at 1PM
Presentation of the 40th Annual OOB Festival Winners (TBD)

The Festival launches with a private event for participants at which keynote speaker, playwright Theresa Rebeck (Mauritius, Seminar), will address this year's finalists.

Photo by Walter McBride

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