When the inaugural Off-Broad Street Play Festival opened for submissions of short plays, they were flooded with scripts.
“We didn’t put a cap on it. We had almost 800 submissions,” said Jonathan Cook of Gather By the Ghost Light, who is partnering with Le Chat Noir for the Second Annual Off-Broad Street Play Festival that opens Friday for two weekends. The shows will be at 8 p.m. April 18-19 and April 24-26. For tickets, go here.
This year, organizers capped it at 250 submissions which came in within a couple of weeks and those have been pared down to the eight that will be presented.
They feature different genres including comedy, drama and horror with spritz of comedy.
Last year, Cook directed all the plays but this year, he divided them up among himself and three other directors – Tommy Cooper, Amy Patton and Aspen Swanson.
Each work is about 10-12 minutes long, so if one play isn’t your cup of tea, then it’s just a short time to wait to find another that might be, Cook said.
Le Chat Noir has been home to a short play festival for many years, but it got a new look after the COVID pause.
“I’ve been part of this event for years, both as an actor and a director. I’m excited for the national interest that has been generated by Gather By The Ghost Light producing the newly rebranded ’Off Broad Street Short Play Festival. We’re fortunate to have a gem like Jonathon Cook who is so gifted in the short play genre across multiple mediums,” said Patton.
Here’s a look at the featured plays, courtesy Gather By the Ghost Light.
GROWN-UP STUFF by D. L. Siegel
Directed by Tommy Cooper
Cast – A.C. Daniel & Madison Junod
Ru and Cal are appalled when their biracial, Jewish daughter comes home from school with a swastika drawn on her backpack, but they are forced to confront failures of their own parenting when they realize she drew it herself.
HATE YOU TOO, IRENE by Bret Carson
Directed by Amy Patton
Cast- Wesley Pierson & Kitty Reagan
An old woman calls her former paper boy to tell him how much she hates him for killing her dog. And this isn’t the first time she’s called him to tell him this. How long has this been going on? And did he really kill her dog?
LIVING DOLL by David Golden
Directed by Tommy Cooper
Cast – Eric Odom & Jessica Mousley
Pitching the latest installment of his horror movie franchise, a writer finds he has a lot more to deal with than an enthusiastic studio exec.
OH NO! I FLEW TO CLOSE TO THE SUN by Rand Higbee
Directed by Amy Patton
Cast- Andy Middleton, Lillie Delecuona, & Madison Junod
It is Rome in 120 A.D. Festus is quite excited when he learns that he has been cast in the role of Icarus in a performance at the Colosseum. However, his enthusiasm quickly wanes when stage workers Sabina and Brutus gradually fill him in as to what exactly the role requires.
SCHRODINGER’S GUN by Greg A. Smith
Directed by Jonathan Cook
Cast – TJ McSherry, Paris Pringle, & Sean Moton
Roland, a nervous white trainee police officer, sits across from Freeman, a Black man. With a briefcase sat between them, Roland is told that if there’s a gun in the case, Freeman will shoot him, before Freeman repeatedly asserts that there is no weapon. As Freeman slowly opens the case, Roland is caught in a tense dilemma between trusting Freeman’s word and protecting his own life.
SCRIPTED by Mark Harvey Levine
Directed by Jonathan Cook
Cast – Eric Odom & Dorothy Christopher
A couple wakes up to find the script of the play that they are in — the very play we’re watching. Everything they do, every word they’re about to say has already been written down for them.
THE ISABEL SANCHEZ MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROUDLY PRESENTS ITS (FIRST) ANNUAL TALENT SHOW! by Katelin Wilcox
Directed by Aspen Swanson
Cast- Lillie Delecuona & Arelis Rivera
Harper’s new to the neighborhood and has big dreams for her daughter’s school – a talent show extravaganza to close out the year. Juliana’s lived here her whole life and is more concerned with outdated textbooks and overcrowding. Biases and resentment bubble to the surface when “doing something nice” starts to sound an awful lot like “taking over.”
THE RIPPLE EFFECT by Arianna Rose
Directed by Aspen Swanson
Cast – TJ McSherry & Paris Pringle
Will pregnancy elude them again? Amy tries to get Jeff on board with some unorthodox fertilization rituals.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
