Winners Announced for SAMUEL FRENCH OFF OFF BROADWAY SHORT PLAY FEST

Six plays have been chosen as the winning scripts from the 35th Annual Samuel French, Inc. Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival, which concluded Sunday, July 18th in The Lion Theatre at Theatre Row. The scripts will be published as a collection and licensed by Samuel French, Inc., available for sale later this fall/winter. The winning scripts are:
- SKIN DEEP by Mary Lynn Dobson, a scathing comedy about the world of child beauty pageants;
- PIGSKIN by Gabriel Jason Dean, a high school football star and son of a North Carolina preacher has a secret that won't make daddy proud
- and he's aching to tell;
- WHITE EMBERS by Saviana Stanescu, East confronts West in this thriller about international adoptions and how they can impact a child's life;
- THE BEAR (A TRAGEDY) by EJC Calvert, in their Durang-esque absurdity, a couple must negotiate their marriage after the unexpected result of Everett's secret hunting excursions.
- DANCE LESSONS by Josh Koenigsberg, diner employees Sue and Norm get ready for another dreary day of dreary work in a dreary world - until Norm reveals that he's secretly been taking dance lessons.
- THE MUD IS THICKER IN MISSISSIPPI by Dennis A. Allen II, in this racial-charged black comedy, Dwight gets stuck neck deep in mud and is forced to change his ways or become part of the landscape.

From a submission base of nearly 900 plays, forty plays were performed in the week-long preliminary rounds of this year's Festival. Fourteen plays were then selected by a panel of industry judges as finalists and performed again on Sunday, July 18th. In addition to the winners, these finalists included EUROPEANS KISS ON THREE CHEEKS by Tom Grady, CLIMB THE SMALLEST MOUNTAIN by Michael Gordon Shapiro, THE MAGICIAN AND THE MEMORY by Michael Vukadinovich, THE INCIDENT REPORT by EM Lewis, FLOOD by Kirby Fields, THE PEN IS MIGHTIER (THAN THE WORD) by Joshua J. Cole, FAN-BOY by Megan Sass, and A MAP OF OUR COUNTRY by Andrew Kramer.

The rotating panel of guest judges who advanced the plays to Sunday's final were comprised of the following playwrights: Tina Howe (Painting Churches, Coastal Disturbances, Chasing Manet), Craig Lucas (Small Tragedy, Prayer for my Enemy), Jim Brochu (Zero Hour, The Big Voice: God or Merman?), Deborah Zoe Laufer (End Days, Last Schwartz, Out of Sterno), David Adjmi (Stunning) and Carmen Rivera (La Gringa). In addition, theatrical agents representing the following agencies and the following artistic directors also judged this years festival: Joseph Rosswog (The Gersh Agency), Buddy Thomas (International Creative Management), Antje Oegel (AO International), Morgan Jenness (Abrams Artists Agency), Corinne Hayoun (Creative Artists Agency), Scott Edwards (Harden-Curtis Associates), Jason Eagan (Ars Nova), Steve Stettler (Weston Playhouse), David Saint (George Street Playhouse), Jeff Zinn (Wellfleet Harbor Theatre), Frances Hill (Urban
Stages) and Cara Reichel (Prospect Theatre Company).

The Off Off Broadway Festival started in 1975 and is Manhattan's most established short play festival. Hundreds of theatre companies and schools have participated in the Festival's first thirty-four years, including companies from coast to coast as well as abroad from Canada and England. This festival has served as a doorway to future success for many aspiring writers. Since its inception, almost 200 plays from the Festival have been published, and many of the participants have become established, award-winning playwrights including Theresa Rebeck, Shirley Lauro, Bekah Brunstetter, Steve Yockey, David Johnston and Sheila Callaghan.

Information regarding submissions for the 36th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, to be held in 2011, will be available in December. For more information, go to the Samuel French website: http://www.samuelfrench.com.

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