Ten Minute Play Festival Program
Production Stage Manager: Cassandra McKay
Stage Managers: Taylor Bray, Maggie Scarbrough, Mary Robinson
The Blow Off
by: Gwyneth Strope
Directed by: Tyler Simons
Winter — Candace Pace
Sister — Jordan Kinderman
Mother — Cece Crook
President Whiskers / Cubby the Lion / Stage Directions — Bay Doxey
The Foundations of a Home
by: Nicolas Raffenaud
Directed by: Avery Beasley
Dramaturg: Molly Crary
Child — Madeline E. Trout
Gabriella — Ellen Foxx
Tom — Michael Spurgeon
Stage Directions — Malayna Knapp
Trouble in Suburbia: A Homeowner’s Guide to Keeping the Peace – Introduction
Keeping up appearances is an essential part of suburban living. You have to keep the
shrubs sheared, the lawn watered, the bricks bright, the furniture arranged nice and tidy, the
family united as one. But who is it all for? Who do you want so badly to appease that you put all
this effort into perfecting everything?
Like the bang of an object hitting a hardwood floor, outbursts of emotion can shock the
senses of everyone. But they’re not unexpected, are they? You feel just by walking down the
hall how loose those nails holding everything up are, just like you could feel every suppressed
expression chill your veins, colder and colder and tighter and tighter—until eventually the
pressure is let go. The object crashes to the ground, the blood boils, and you’re left stuck in
shock.
It can be easy to ignore those loose nails—especially if you’ve noticed some unsightly
rust starting to form. But as much as it would hurt to grip the rust and take the nail out, at least
you can be assured it all fell apart on your own accord. Tetanus is a pretty nasty thing, though,
and you don’t walk down this hall much anyway. Maybe it is better to just leave everything as it
is.
–Molly Crary, College of Charleston–
Foul Lines
by: Caroline Hull
Directed by: Aliciona Strothers
Dramaturg: Alma Kent and Chance Mock
Player One — Lynnzy Wooten
Player Two — Eliyana Brown
Riley — Eileen Lee
Mackenzie — Jocelyn Summers
Striking Out
Participation in academic sports has historically been shown to yield nothing but positive effects
on development, mental health, success in school, and social aptitude. Most importantly, it
allows students to find an avenue of belonging, teamwork, and collaboration for a purpose. But
what happens when that belonging is contingent on a crucial part of one’s identity?
Homophobia in school sports runs rampant, especially in the United States south. LGBTQ+
people are half as likely to participate in academic sports than their heterosexual or cisgender
peers. They find those environments to be unsafe and unwelcoming – a bold departure from the
environment non-LGBTQ+ students experience. According to a 2019 National School Climate
Survey, 43.7% of LGBTQ+ students avoided locker rooms and 40.2% avoided physical
education classes.
–Alma Kent, Georgia College and State University–
Death and Taxes
by: Bennett Silverglate
Directed by: Imani Morris
Dramaturg: Nora Gore
David — Henry Veon
Keith — Liam Brenzel
Whitney — Emily Ann Wright
Clara — Ingrid Lieb
Peggy — Erica Thomas
Politicians at the End of the World
With the constant threat of global warming and nuclear warfare, have you ever thought:
● What would our world leaders do for us in an apocalyptic event?
● Would they put aside their polarizing differences for the good of humanity?
● Would they forfeit their daft formalities and their medieval rules of government to help
us survive?
● Or will they just laze away in their multi-million dollar bunkers and make citizens pay
for it?
Sit in on Parliament’s first session back with its surviving members crammed underground,
deciding the fate of the British population.
–Nora Gore, College of Charleston–
La Ley de la Vida
by: Valeria Pacheco
Directed by: Alma Kent
Dramaturg: Caroline Hull
Nova — Mia Woods
Maganda — Ja’kayla Meeks
Lilia — Alexandra Rowland
Dedicated to Pepper
“Death is the mother of beauty. Only the perishable can be beautiful, which is why we are unmoved by artificial flowers.”
– Wallace Stevens
Despite the infinite differences between each and every soul across the universe, there is a single element of living that manages to unite us all; the end, and the uncertainty of what comes next. This undeniable and at times unsettling promise of death somehow succeeds in giving more meaning to even the smallest moments. If existence was limitless, what would be the purpose of collecting a lifetime of memories? The fact that our time
in the universe is fleeting is terrifying but can also be something so reassuring and beautiful. First days of school. First kisses. A first family pet.
Pacheo’s script gives the audience a reminder of how the experience of loss is multi-dimensional – full of joy, regret, doubt, anger, and sadness. Memories, even the memories of our loved ones leaving this Earth, enrich our time with one another as life passes us by – and that is a beautiful thing.
“What is the meaning of being human? The answer may be embedded in the question.”
– George Makari
— Caroline Hull, University of Central Florida —
