Samuel French 2016 Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival Kicks Off Tomorrow

The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the nation's premier short play competition, takes place August 9 - 14 at the East 13th Street Theater (Classic Stage Company). Chosen from 1,500 submissions from the U.S. and abroad, 30 finalist plays, each running 10-30 minutes in length, will be presented. The Sunday, August 14th presentation is the culmination of the week-long festival at which the six winning plays will be presented.

This year's honorary festival playwright is the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Tina Howe (Painting Churches, Coastal Disturbances). 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 41st Festival, Samuel French has assembled a judging panel including playwrights George Brant (Grounded,Elephant's Graveyard), Gretchen Cryer (I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road),Josh Harmon (Bad Jews, Significant Other), and Crystal Skillman (Geek, Cut); Artistic DirectorsEvan Cabnet (LCT3), Jen Grigg (Fusion Theatre, Albuquerque), NiegelSmith (The Flea), andSusan Westfall (City Theatre, Miami); and journalists Michael Gioia (Playbill), Howard Sherman(Arts Integrity Initiative), Jack Smart (Backstage), and Rob Weinert-Kendt (American Theatre Magazine).

Tickets for all performances are $18. For tickets and a complete performance calendar, visit www.OOBFestival.com. Be sure to connect with us on Twitter and Facebook, using #OOBFestival.

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This year's Festival schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, August 9 at 6:30PM:

Easter at the Entrée Gold by John Minigan

The Woman American by Samantha Cooper

Uniforms by Jeffrey James Keyes

Dust and Ash by Alex Rubin

Tuesday, August 9 at 8:30PM:

The Cleaners by Lindsay Joy

clarity by Korde Arrington Tuttle

That Kid by Jane Willis

The Mysterious Life, And Even More Mysterious Death, Of That Guy Who Lived Below Max And Beth by Mark Staufenberg

Wednesday, August 10th 6:30PM:

Welcome to The Fall by Angela Santillo

The Duet by Gwynn Ballard

Los Demás by Perry Guzzi

Missing Karma by Timothy Huang

Wednesday, August 10th 8:30PM:

Depths by Sharon Farrell

Ambush! by John Connon

Human Resources by R. Eric Thomas

Thursday, August 11th 6:30PM:

Tight Curls Today by Jennifer Barclay

Mama's Seeds by Pia WIlson

Risen from the Dough by France-Luce Benson

28 Years Later by Uma Incrocci, Nicole Greevy and Erica Jensen

Thursday, August 11th 8:30PM:

Monsoon Season by Lizzie Vieh

Bleed by Renee Calarco

Madeline 14 Billion Jumps the Track by Kellen Blair

Friday, August 12th 6:30PM:

The Journey by Keith Burton

Grandpa and the Gay Rabbi by Jonathan Josephson

A Sari for Pallavi by Sunita Deshpande

Valkyrie in the Roller Disco by Seamus Sullivan

Friday, August 12th 8:30PM:

Wedding Bash by Lindsey Kraft and Andrew Leeds

Room 313 by Carey Crim

Green Card by Mustafa Kaymak

Mama's Eggnog by Angela Stern

Saturday, August 13th 2:00PM:

First set of Finalist Plays (TBD)

Saturday August 13th 4:00PM:

Second set of Finalist Plays (TBD)

Sunday, August 14th 1:00PM:

Presentation of the 41st Annual OOB Festival Winners (TBD)

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Originating in 1975, the OOB Festival is one of Samuel French's primary initiatives to work with the next wave of emerging playwrights. In the 40 years of the OOB Festival, over 500 theatre companies and schools have participated. Applicants included companies from coast to coast as well as from Canada, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The Festival has served as a doorway to future success for many aspiring playwrights, and has helped launched the work of such notables as Theresa Rebeck, Shirley Lauro, Sheila Callaghan, Bekah Brunstetter, Steve Yockey, Saviana Stanescu, David Johnston, and Daniel Pearle. In many cases, Festival participation has sparked agent contracts for Festival finalists. Many past Festival playwrights have gone on to win major playwriting awards and honors, as well as to have major theatrical productions of their works staged with the support of such theatres as The Public Theater, The Royal Court, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Flea Theatre, The Living Theatre, and Naked Angels, and with the backing of prestigious university playwriting programs such as The New School for Drama, Columbia University, University of Iowa, and Tisch School of the Arts' Dramatic Writing Program.

Samuel French is the world's leading publisher and licensor of plays and musicals. The company's catalog features some of the most acclaimed work ever written for the stage and titles by writers at the forefront of contemporary drama. Samuel French is proud to have served as a leader in theatrical publishing and licensing for over 180 years and is committed to the future by championing for playwrights, innovating the industry, and celebrating all those who make theatre around the world.

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