Brelby's NIGHT OF SHORTS Serves Up Creepy, Odd and Dreamy Fantastic

How far would you go for someone you loved? Charley is trying to set up the perfect birthday surprise for his girlfriend, Beth, with the help of Carl, but Charley has a secret. Will he be ready in time with a little help from Carl, a poorly drawn poster board, and... voodoo?

All his life, Jaren Navenma has enjoyed creepy, odd stories. He grew up with Tales from the Crypt, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and now listens to podcasts like Welcome to Nightvale that influence his emergence as a playwright.

Night of Shorts at Brelby features Navenma's newest work, Last Minute.

"I find it exciting," he said, "to put ordinary people in stressful situations, while mixing in the supernatural and creepy."

Giving his work over to a director is both exciting and nerve-wracking.

"I tend to write with a specific tone in mind for the characters, the scene, how each line should be delivered," said Navenma. "Then, to hand it off to someone who has their own interpretation of it, who in turn hands it to people who are going to have a different take on your characters - it's intimidating to give kind of freedom to someone who now has a piece of you."

What happens when the one who writes your dreams gets writers block? You may find yourself trapped in your worst nightmare. And if you think someone's going to come save you, dream on.

Jamie Maletz, whose The Chump Button premieres in Night of Shorts, admits she had a rocky start on the project. "At first I found my prompt, (inspire) to be ironically challenging," she said. I started and stopped writing with several different ideas and got quite frustrated with myself. Sometimes I have really weird dreams and end up taking inspiration from them, but at the time, I was having the same dream every night."

That's when the inspiration hit her - what if our dreams are written by someone in an alternate universe? What if that someone gets writer's block?

She is grateful for an inspired director. "It has been so exciting to hear Devon's ideas! He's a great director and we're on the same page, which is really nice. And the actors are fantastic," Maletz said. "When I sat in on the first read-through, I could tell that this group is going to do a great job bringing the play to life."

Kicking off their 9th Season, Brelby's Night of Shorts will feature the work of seven playwrights to whom were given prompts - imagine, create, or inspire - from which they created short original works.

Last Minute
by Jaren Navenma
directed by Zachary Arnold

with:
Carl - Jared Queen
Charley - Daniel James Hall
Beth - Julia Jones

The Chump Button
by Jamie Maletz

directed by Devon Mahon

with:
Dreamwriter 724 - Philip Tyler Rich
Dawn - Anabel Olguin
7th Floor Supervisor - Jessica Holt
Other Dreamwriters - Chelsea Jauregui & Bertha Cortes

Night of Shorts contains material unsuitable for children.

Brelby partners with downtown Glendale businesses to offer more options for audience members. By showing their digital ticket, audiences can receive 10% off of their bill at the Hop Stop Diner, 10% off of any entrée at Haus Murphy's Restaurant, and 10% off of a customer's bill at the Olde Towne Glendale (OTG) Beer & Wine Bar or the Gaslight Inn.

Night of Shorts performs at 7:30pm January 6-7, 13-14 and at 2pm January 8.

Tickets are available by visiting the official web site at www.brelby.com/tickets. General admission is $15 per performance. Admission to Night of Shorts is included in the benefits of Brelby's ShowGO subscription: brelby.com/showgo. The Brelby Playhouse is located at 7154 N 58th Dr, Glendale, AZ 85301.

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