Fifth annual Minnesota Shorts Play Festival sees the most script submissions yet!
Judges narrow scripts from 498 down to 127 semi-finalists
Thank you to
Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council for funding our fifth annual Minnesota Shorts Play Festival 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept.
5 and Friday, Sept. 6 at the Mankato West Theatre. The grant will allow us to perform 16 new short plays over those two days,
culled from nearly 500 submissions.
In 2013, Thursday night will be reserved to show the top 8 short plays written by Minnesota playwrights (chosen
from 89 submissions). Friday night will feature the top 8 plays from all other writers across the country (chosen from 409
submissions). That way, our festival has the best of both worlds.
Judges have narrowed down 498 scripts to the 127 semi-finalists. Look for a list of the top 10 national and
top 10 Minnesota scripts to be named in June.
If you have any questions, call our coordinator, Greg, at 507-420-1881 or just send an e-mail to mnshorts@yahoo.com.
THE SEMI-FINALISTS!
For a list of the 127 semi-finalist scripts, just click the link below:
From the 498 entries, judges have narrowed the scripts to 127 semi-finalists.
Those scripts go to a second round of judging, with the top 10 Minnesota scripts and top 10 national scripts receiving a chance
to be part of the festival. The top 8 plays from Minnesota and the top 8 plays from out of state will each receive a $100
stipend. Sometimes the stipend may be used to get a director and cast to produce your play. If you produce your own, the $100
stipend is yours. The 9th and 10th place plays will be on standby in case a play cannot recruit a director or cast or drops
out before the festival. Each night, the audience picks a Best of the Festival winner, who will get an extra $100.
REMEMBER
You will be responsible for finding a director who can cast
and perform the play. If you are from out of state, just contact Greg at MN Shorts if your play is chosen and you need a director.
Last year, we were able to find a Minnesota director for 13 of 14 out-of-state plays. But it does mean that you would turn
over your $100 stipend to the director and cast.
Because of the large number of scripts our reviewers will
be doing TWO judging rounds -- one round to get the submissions narrowed to 127 semi-finalists and the next round to
get the top 10. (Ninth and Tenth place will be offered a chance to be on standby in case one of the top 8 plays cannot line
up a director.)
2012's Friday night BEST of the FEST award goes to:
Misfortune
Written by Mark Harvey Levine
Directed by Paul J. Hustoles
Starring Ben Stasny, Ceara Dowell and Amanda Forman
2012's Thursday night BEST of the FEST award goes to:
to Abdo, Eick and Meyers, LLP, for sponsoring the 2012 Best
of the Fest awards. Each night, because of their sponsorship, the audience's top play will receive the Best of the Fest award
and an extra $100.
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?
See Thursday's Best of the Fest performance of "Gertie and the Gnome" courtesy of KSMQ public television. The play is
written by Mary Jost, directed by Meredith Larson and stars Carter Allen, Lolly Foy and Jaci Lageson.
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 Mitch DeDyne's short play, "The Teleport Marketer" and Alex Hapka's
short play, "Idealator." Both were featured at the 2011 MN Shorts Play Festival and broadcast on KSMQ public television.
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. When you buy your
ticket, it will be held for you at the door in your name. ADVANCE TICKET SALES ENDED AT NOON THURSDAY, SEPT.
6. After that time, you can buy them online or at the door.
Thursday, Sept. 5
(Minnesota Night)
Friday, Sept. 6
(National Night)
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.
