13th Annual Festival of Shorts at Wade James Theatre

Please join Edmonds Driftwood Players for our 13th Annual Festival of Shorts! The festival this year will be presented in five performances June 27-30, 2024, featuring eight shorts finalists that include multiple directors and casts. The theme for 2024 is “Silver Linings: a consoling or hopeful prospect.” We received 495 script submissions for this year’s festival, and the finalists were selected from submissions from around the globe. Our volunteer readers and judges are local Seattle-area theatre lovers and playwrights. To keep the process as fair as possible, our readers were given blind copies of script submissions for judging. Our annual playwriting festival provides an opportunity for playwrights to have their works brought to life on stage, as well as gain recognition and potential awards. Some past winners have later been developed into full-length award-winning plays! After the closing performance, we will announce the playwright winners for: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place Judges’ Awards and Overall Audience Favorite.

Act I/Show #1: Finding Mother Courage by Pam Kingsley

Veteran actress Katherine is looking forward to auditioning for the title role in an upcoming production of Mother Courage and her Children. It is the one role that has eluded her long career in the Theatre. Katherine’s enthusiasm dampens, however, when she must deal with the “Assistant Director from hell” who is running the auditions. The question then becomes… how far will Katherine go to get the part? With an eye towards humor and an ending you won’t expect, the play takes a poke at sexism, ageism, and identity.

Directed by Bailey Dobbins and features the acting talents of Evan Strasnick and Julie L Benner.

Act I/Show #2: The Real Thing by Marjorie Williamson

Ellen doesn’t have a lot to show for her thirty-five years on this earth: she is neither a prima ballerina nor a famous detective; she doesn’t have a black stallion, a husband, or much in the way of prospects. What she does have is a very resourceful (albeit imaginary) friend who’s putting in one final appearance to shake things up for two very ordinary, very nice, very real people.

Directed by Bethany Arneson and features the acting talents of Sara K. Leonetti and Tiffany Christou.

Act I/Show #3: The World Needs More Trees by Kimberly Shimer

When Rachel’s brother Brandon dies from a drug overdose, will a spectral visit provide an opportunity to say what’s been left unsaid?

Directed by Jenny Boyle Penney and features the acting talents of Rachel Mills and Daniel Hanlon.

Act I/Show #4: First Impressions by Kurt Olson

Amanda attempts to rely on her two roommates to help her prepare for a job interview that same day. They do try to help, technically.

Directed by Thomas A. Glass and features the acting talents of Landon Whitbread, Cece Nielsen, and Kennan Michael Miller.

Act II/Show #5: The Bench by Romney S. Humphrey

Two social isolates unexpectedly discover that a specific bench in the park has great importance to each of them. The problem? Both require full occupation of that bench on a specific day and time. This specific day and time. And no one is budging. The resolution? Unexpected and extraordinary.

Directed by Henry S Brown Jr. and features the acting talents of Ashlie Blaske, Landon Whitbread, and Julie L Benner.

Act II/Show #6: A Much Better Deal by Stephan Feldman

In a rural diner with a snowstorm approaching, A Much Better Deal is a story of how one teenager struggles to make peace with the loss of his war hero father and trying to accept a new man in his mother’s life, while another young man thinks crime may be the way to support his young family. The intersection of these two different paths leads to an unexpected outcome for both young men.

Directed by Vicki Wicks and features the acting talents of Julie Tobiason, Daniel Hanlon, Evan Strasnick, and Travis Hickox.

Act II/Show #7: Horseshoe by Sara Freedman

Dad wants Joe to take over the ranch. Joe has another dream.

Directed by Paul Fleming and features the acting talents of Forest L Fousel, Kennan Michael Miller and Karee Legend.

Act II/Show #8: Lemonade by Marjorie Williamson, directed by Diane Jamieson

Old age may bring with it certain indignities, but Vera has discovered one bonus feature. She’d like to share the benefits of this discovery with her old friend Charlotte, but she’s meeting with some resistance.

Directed by Diane Jamieson and features the acting talents of Jennifer Nielsen, Carol Richmond, and Travis Hickox.