The University Playhouse presented their final fall semester production; a collection of original short plays, the weekend of Nov. 13-16. Patrons cannot complain that they did not get their money’s worth.
The plays were presented recently during the annual meeting of the Southwest Theatre and Film Association’s annual meeting in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Better known as SWTFA, the organization promotes all facets of educational and community theatre in the six state region.
Faculty member Jim Anderson has recently become active in the organization promoting playwriting. This festival represents his latest attempt to stimulate interest in original works.The ten selected plays were directed and performed by a company of theatre students. These players met the plays’ challenges enthusiastically. The format allowed students an opportunity to explore their ideas of what theatre can be. None of them can be faulted for offering a bad performance.The play selection was the most obvious challenge for the evening. The show’s program declared the evening to be a “festival of ten minute plays.” The Web site www.10MinutePlays.com lists several instructions for a good ten-minute play.
Playwrights are encouraged to stick to one idea, present it clearly, have the action advance (or in one case, move backward) quickly, and to be no longer than ten minutes.
Writing a good ten-minute play requires the playwright to organize themes and ideas and to sculpt the final product to include nothing that doesn’t fit.
Blaise Pascal has been credited with starting a message to his son by begging forgiveness for the length of the letter since he did not have time to write a short one. It would seem that the selection committee was gracious in indulging the various authors.
There were no local playwrights included in the selection. While this may not be important to a regional audience, the community tends to appreciate a showcase for the people they know.
The fact that the selections were chosen from an international competition did not excuse the merit of the selections.Patrons appreciated the mélange of offerings for the same reason that compilation CDs remain popular: people were given the chance to sample many different tastes. Unlike a CD compilation, the patrons were unable to electronically skip the tracks that they did not enjoy.