Joel Trinidad’s CRUSH HOUR Debuts Off-Off-Broadway

Filipino actor, playwright and director Joel Trinidad's "Crush Hour", a two-character play that's less than ten minutes, recently received its Off-Off-Broadway premiere at the Roy Arias Studios, 300 West 43^rd Street, New York City. It was performed, alongside five other short plays, through producer and playwright John Chatterton's regular series of "The Short Play Lab".

"The Short Play Lab" has been actively looking for short play submissions from playwrights in the United States and elsewhere who are willing to produce their works right in the heart of the theatre district in Manhattan.

Playwrights are responsible for finding a director, managing rehearsal sessions, looking for props and costumes, and handling other production details normally assigned to a producer.  "The Short Play Lab" provides a theatre for technical rehearsal and performance, and runs the box office. 

"I submitted three plays to two separate theatre festivals, and all three were chosen for production. Sadly, though, the show dates didn't all match up with my vacation schedule in New York, and I had to turn down the chance to produce two of the three plays. The remaining script was 'Crush Hour', the expanded version of a two-character play I had written for my former drama students at Beacon International School," said Mr. Trinidad.

"My Off-Off-Broadway playwriting and directing debut was a success! At the end of the festival, 'Crush Hour' was declared 'Audience Favorite Runner-Up', narrowly missing the top spot by a few votes," he added. 

"Crush Hour" featured Mr. Trinidad's wife and theatre actress Emerita Alcid and singer, actress and dancer Kristen Howard. 

Other short plays that premiered at the festival were Bree Perlman's "Anniversary Special", David-Matthew Barnes' "Johnny Ramirez Really Wants to Kiss Me", Jon Crefeld and Ryan McCabe's "Riley's Wife", Lisa Bernier's "Verse", and Becca Anderson's "The Interview".