Program for Ten-Minute Plays 2021
Dear Mom
by Taylor Crumrine
Melissa ………. Jennifer Weiner
Lily ………. Jillian Cox
Brian ……….. Todd Bellamy II
Oliver ………. Darris “DJ” Hodges, Jr.
Stage Directions ………. Sage Tokach
“What would happen if I let the voice inside my head take over?” This is the question Taylor Crumrine asked herself when she wrote this play during the shift into quarantine last Spring. The past year has incited and perpetuated mental health battles for many of us as daily life was disrupted, social life transitioned to screens, loved ones were mourned, and many lost their jobs. According to the American Psychological Association, “current events are clearly stressful for everyone in the country, but young people are really feeling the impact of issues in the news, particularly those issues that may feel beyond their control”. Even before the pandemic, Generation Z reported significantly more mental health concerns than previous generations. Whether this statistic results from increased symptoms or increased awareness and acceptance is unclear. Either way, many young people today are ready to talk about mental health, and Dear Mom addresses it directly. As COVID-19 takes some lives and uproots others, many of us are left floundering. Dear Mom acknowledges the different ways people experience and express loss, grief, and hardships, exploring how the people left behind after traumatic events may find a way forward.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Resources For Families
https://afsp.org/ive-lost-someone
https://afsp.org/?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=FED822A2-D88D-4DBD-6E1B55D56C229A75
–Sage Tokach and Donna Owens
Change of Plans
by Leah Tucker
Dramaturg: Aaron Fletcher
Lex ………. Sarah Hill
Maddie ………. Taylor Alleman
Stage Directions ………. Ashton Abner
Relationships are challenging. The LGBTQ+ community deals with these issues just like everyone else, and acknowledging their problems is extremely beneficial for our constant fight for equality and representation. Lex and Maddie, sweethearts of five years, have tackled every problem that has come their way. When Lex confounds Maddie with a romantic dinner out of nowhere, it ruins her plans of doing important tasks such as playing Among Us and eating frozen pizza. This erupts a catalysis in their relationship. Tensions rise as anxieties flutter, leaving Maddie and Lex at a crossroad. Will they be able to save the relationship or perhaps need to make a change of plans?
–Aaron Fletcher
An Expansion
by Cayson Miles
Dramaturg: Caroline Hull
Ivy ………. Tatiana Grace
Amanda ………. Danielle Valdivieso
Stage Directions ………. Dyana Morfin
A key component of being human is the uncertainty of what comes next. Fearing the unknown is a feeling everyone shares, and the anxiety of not knowing how or when “the end” will arrive is always present. This may not be the most positive way to approach the meaning of life, but consider this: one thing that makes the experience of being alive so meaningful is the mere fact that it has to end. If life was never-ending, there would be no need to cherish moments because of the guarantee that there would always be time for more. The idea that life is fleeting amplifies the meaning of all that you do. First days of school. First loves. First kisses. The blindness that we all share when it comes to the unknown end is truly what makes us pay attention to each and every moment of being alive.
An Expansion serves as a profound example of how, even when faced head-on with the end of times, humanity still manages to find a glimmer of meaning within the ruin.
–Caroline Hull
Fatal Mistakes
by MacKenzie Ulibarri
Dramaturges: Mia Strickland and Lynzë Randlett
Stage Manager: Olivia Tippett
Evie ………. Tabitha Neyerlin
Girl ………. Stephanie Perez
Stage Directions ………. Shy’Tavian Jenkins
In Fatal Mistakes, it is very clear that everything is not always how it seems. Ulibarri’s goal was to create a “play where an actor could just lose their mind on stage and snap.” The text brings out emotions such as lust, rage, and paranoia within the characters, making it clear we are not seeing a typical couple. Whether it is a seemingly nice, put-together couple with a dark secret, or a young woman celebrating and drinking with friends, our initial judgements of people can be harmful and, in this case, fatal. Ulibarri says, “the stakes had to be beyond high – they had to be life or death.” Fatal Mistakes subtly examines how we determine value and the inconsistencies in how our society treats people based on their perceived worth.
Director Laura Banguero hopes that the show “touches on human morals and the value of life,” and that audiences will discover that people are often more than what they seem. Fatal Mistakes provides an opportunity for audiences to reassess their own prejudices and habitual stereotyping, and to ponder the mistreatment we allow to run rampant in our society and the deadly ways it can manifest.
–Mia Strickland and Lynzë Randlett
The Midas Touch
by Sarah Rasey
Harriett ………. Q’Landria Qourters
Carla ………. Karina Washington
Stage Directions ……….. Hasani Comer
Created by playwright Sarah Rasey and directed by Amaya James, The Midas Touch explores just how far a human can go to satisfy their hunger for power. It contains graphic violence, including gun violence, and blood.
Inspired by corporate greed and the societal pressure to achieve greatness, Rasey starts The Midas Touch by establishing the dull, drab office one pictures when you imagine a monotonous 9-to-5 job. But when you look towards the manager’s office on the other side of the stage, a dream-like wonder awaits, calling the attention to the dream of achieving that office with a view at the end of the promotional climb. The Midas Touch considers the lengths that people will go to climb that corporate ladder, and it questions at what point someone has gone too far to achieve the American Dream. John Doe, described as “just your average Joe,” opens the play as just another worker in just another office somewhere in America– However, he yearns to reach for the manager’s door and call it his own. What will he do to get that promotion? Who will lose if he wins? Will his greed cost someone their life?
The name of the play causes the audience to reminiscence on the Greek myth of the man who pursues immense wealth to his own downfall. Is this the fate that awaits anyone who dares to step into zany Harold’s office?
–Tiffany Hagan
Treatment
by Matt Morse
Kate ……….. Tayla Underwood
Stage Directions ……….Joni Newman
Writer Annie Dillard once said that “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” For many of us, those days are spent primarily at work. In fact, studies suggest that roughly one-third of the average person’s life will be spent on the job. Thus, the relationships we have to our jobs and to our co-workers play significant, if sometimes awkward roles in our lives, especially when those relationships press previously established boundaries that separate work and home life. Matt Morse’s Treatment explores such a moment in time.
For me, the word “treatment” has almost spa-like connotations. I think about massages, hot stones, and lotion. As an artist, I think about the way “treatment” refers to the ways different productions might interpret Shakespeare. I find it fascinating, then that the root definition of the word “treat” comes from tractare, a Latin word that suggests managing, dealing with, or handling. By the 13th century, the meaning of the word evolved to include negotiating or bargaining. As a noun, the word refers to discussing terms.
It is in these definitions that Morse’s play truly comes to life. In this scene, Tyler and Kate engage in a process of subtle negotiation with each other and with themselves. Tyler, the unseen forces of Kate’s boyfriend, Mike, and her unborn baby all enact pressure on her that she must manage. Tyler attempts to navigate uncharted waters as both co-worker and personal confidant. In Treatment, Morse asks us to consider the significance of the everyday. What, if anything, changes for Kate and Tyler as a result of this conversation? How do casual work conversations change us?
–Joni Newman
