The Minnesota Shorts Festival of Plays is now taking script submissions
Send us your short play today
The Minnesota
Shorts Play Festival is accepting submissions from Jan. 2 through April 30 for its fourth annual festival, which will be Thursday,
Sept. 6, and Friday, Sept. 7, 2012, in Mankato, MN.
Scripts can be on any topic but remember that the festival is a community performance (that means we don't
mind an "f-bomb" every now and then, but excessive language or nudity probably won't make the cut).
Short plays must be performed in 15 minutes or less. Scripts must be 15 pages or less and sent as .pdf or .doc
files. Keep all identifying information to the title page (because these plays are judged blind by Minneapolis Playwright
Center members).
Minnesota writers may submit TWO scripts to the festival. Writers outside of Minnesota may submit ONE script.
E-mail your script to mnshorts@yahoo.com.
Scripts will be judged in May, with 16 winners receiving $100. Winners must find a director and cast for the
play. MN Shorts staff can help you to find actors and directors from the area. Don't worry if you are from out of state: Last
year we were able to line up 10 out-of-state playwrights with a director and actors.
Each night the audience will pick a Best of the Festival play that can win an additional $100. For more information
(and to see video clips of past year's winners), see KMSQ-TV's video clips below.
If you have any questions, call our coordinator, Greg, at 507-420-1881 or just send an e-mail to mnshorts@yahoo.com.
2011 Friday's Best of the Fest: A tie!
Gayby's Playdate by Jan O'Connor
STARRING: Launa Helder as Melissa; AND Amy Scruggs as Suri; DIRECTED BY: Molly Smith
It is Playdate Day for the "Under One’s" at a community activity center. Suri and Melissa, two
10-month-old girls who are strangers to one another, have been assigned to the same playpen. Their discovery of vastly different
attitudes, opinions and family lifestyles makes for a comic and sometimes harrowing encounter.
And Fighting Mr. Right by Barbara Lindsay
STARRING: Rebekah Kreger as Marla; AND DW Surine as Joel DIRECTED BY: Jan Arford
It was a good first date. Terrific even. So why all this fighting
Thursday's Best of the Fest winner: Gertie & the Gnome
GERTIE AND THE GNOME by MARY JOST
STARRING: Lolly Foy as Gertie; Jaci Lageson as Maxine AND Carter Allen as the Gnome DIRECTED
BY: Meredith Larson
Maxine and Gertie are two longtime friends but Max has had enough of Gertie’s obsession with garden
gnomes. Their lives are changed forever when a strange visitor appears in Max’s garden. Why is he there? And an even
better question is why won’t he leave?
9-11 News Cycle by 10th Anniversary Playwright Commission
Boxing by Brendon Etter
The Teleport Marketer by Mitch DeDeyn
Please Don't Feed the Bears by Layla Dowlatshahi
Idealator by Alex Hapka
The Future of Hawaii by Sam Graber
The Basket by Sophia Tomany
Gertie and the Gnome by Mary Jost
Table for Four by Kendall Sherwood
Fear of Zombies by Craig Jessen
Zombies in Love by Greg Abbott
The Glass House by Jennifer Kirkeby
Worms by Jacob Kempfert
Exit Interview by Gigi Jensen
Alternate Bass Strum by Larry Greenstein
OUR 2011 PERFORMANCES
Performances were 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8-9, 2011, at West High
School Theater, at the corner of Stoltzman Road and Riverfront Drive, Mankato.
See Layla Dowlatshahi's short play, "Please Don't Feed the Bears", directed
by Shelley Whitehead and starring Jacqi Gustafson and Terry Foy.
See Greg Abbott's short play, "911 News Cycle" starring Tim Berry, Paul
Boyer, Deann Schloesser and Bjorn Linder.
See the 2010 MN Shorts on KSMQ Public Television
Ten of the shows from 2010 were broadcast in April and May of 2011 on KSMQ Public Television as part of the station's
Playhouse Off 90 program.
If you can't get KSMQ, see the first episode of five plays below, featuring Dog Day Afternoon, Tammy Flew and the Knights
of the Roundish Coroner's Table, A Very Lovely Dress, Suicide by Punchbowl and The Hole Story.
See another 5 episodes, featuring: Ticket for my Cat, Cracked, Fugly Train, Waiting on Godot and Influenza
The Minnesota Shorts Festival of Plays features the best short plays in the state and nation performed over two days,
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, and Friday, Sept. 9, 2011, at West High School Theater, the corner of Stoltzman Road and
Riverfront Drive in Mankato. Up to 10 short plays will be featured each night. Each playwright is responsible to find
actors, rehearse the play and perform it in Mankato. Some performances will be videotaped and DVDs will be available
for sale to playwrights, actors and friends as a courtesy. MNShorts also reserves the right to use footage for festival publicity
purposes.
Our Mission
The goal of Minnesota Shorts is to bring short play festivals to Minnesota and make theater accessible to a wider audience.
All plays are 15 minutes or less.
If you have any questions regarding the festival send it to:
Tickets at the door will be $10. Seniors and college students will be charged $9. If you buy now, tickets
are only $9 for adults and $8 for seniors and students. When you buy your ticket, it will be held for you at the door in your
name. ADVANCE TICKET SALES END NOON THURSDAY, SEPT. 6. After that time, you can buy them online or at the door.
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6
7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7
2010's Shorts
Congratulations to Sophia Tomany's "A Ticket for my Cat"
and Gwydion Suilebhan's "Cracked" for winning the 2010 MN Shorts Best of the Fest prize.
Read the Lake Region Times article on Playwright Tom Barna. His
play, "The Horror of it All," will be performed Friday during the MN Shorts Festival.
