playbill vip

The 10-minute play as its' own separate genre was developed largely at the Actors' Theatre of Louisville, one of the more important regional theatres in the nation. Artistic Director Jon Jory, himself an author, wanted to create a festival where many aspiring playwrights and actors could be represented. The form has been used to great effect in education, where it provides many substantial roles for actors and can be an effective way to give aspiring directors and designers practice before taking on full-scale work.

The idea is to create, in a very short period of time, a story with a beginning, middle and end, with fully realized characters, and a defined place and time. It's a tall order, but fun to aspire to whether you get there completely or not. This evening you will see five such plays, though one (Hazelwood Jr High) is an excerpt rather than a true short play. Hazelwood is also the only non-comedic piece, as you will quickly notice.

Each time the lights come up and down, the intent is to bring you to a completely different world. Every element, from sound to lights to acting choices, has been worked on by the students and faculty to bring this about. They have worked hard and long on them and I am very proud of them. In this trying time, they have at least had the opportunity to flex their artistic muscles and having you there, even masked and distanced, is the final (and most important) note in this odd little composition. Thank you for supporting them and for supporting live theatre.

David Mann