The First Annual Heller Shorts Off, Off Brookside Short Play Festival Takes Place 8/12-8/14

Heller Shorts Off, Off Brookside Short Play Festival presents an evening of eight short plays, about 10 minutes each, featuring the theme "Short Subjects." Performances are Aug. 12-14 at 8pm and Aug. 15 at 2pm. The performance on Friday, August 13 will include a reception for the audience to meet the playwrights at 7pm and a talk-back with directors and playwrights following the performance. Admission is $7 for seniors and students and $10 for other adults.

The plays were chosen from a field of 25 entries submitted by local playwrights this Spring.

"In this inaugural year I am pleased to say that our playwrights represent the Tulsa community at large. We have several local writers, two college professors and other professional and administrative workers as our playwrights," says Festival Director Susan Apker.

Heller Shorts is also giving novice directors the opportunity to stretch their artistic wings. "Although not all the directors are novices, some are directing for the first time," says Apker. "Most of the actors have performed throughout Tulsa, so the combination of veteran actors and novice directors along with new material, offers the audience a truly energetic experience."

The Heller Shorts Festival has taken the performance spot usually reserved for the nationally advertised full-length original work that Heller produces every year. However, it was thought that a short play festival, and giving local talent an opportunity to shine, would benefit the community in a more direct way.

The eight plays are:

Jogging Memories by Susan Apker

iZombie by Kendra Blevins

Miranda's Warning by Nona Charleston

Dirty Shorts by Stephanie Colburn

Shorts by Steve Credell

Check, Please by Marilyn Gates

The Manhattan Arrangement by Jeffrey S. Wetterman

Cheering by Michael Wright.

All plays were selected for production by a panel of judges who reviewed scripts from which the name of the submitting playwright had been removed.

The festival will take place at Henthorne Performing Arts Center, 4825 S. Quaker, Tulsa, OK 74105.

About the Henthorne Performing Arts Center:

Currently directed by Julie Tattershall and an entity of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Tulsa, the Henthorne PAC houses a very intimate, 75-seat black box stage, and is home to both Heller Theatre and Clark Youth Theatre. Heller's mission is to provide diverse educational and cultural experiences through both its productions and its programming.

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