Theatre Oxford will stage its annual 10 Minute Play Festival on Valentine’s Day weekend. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14 and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Powerhouse.
This year, Bethany Teames’ “95 Tiles” and Jenna Worsham’s “The Southerner” tied for first place in the 10 Minute Play contest, and Kathryn Ryan’s “Supergirls” placed third. In addition to the top three winners, five other plays were selected to be performed at the festival based on recommendations from contest readers.
Jennifer Mizenko, the festival’s coordinator, said that the contest this year was quite competitive.
“The 10 Minute Play Festival has been a Theatre Oxford fan favorite for years,” Mizenko said. “The contest has grown considerably, and we now get 200-300 entries every year. This year there were (over) 230 entries.”
Mizenko selected the directors for each play and a guest playwright. This year, that guest is Desta Wondirad, whose play “Intruder” will be performed as part of the festival.
Wondirad will also lead character research workshops from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14 and 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, Feb. 15.
Ryan believes that her play “Supergirls” will connect with audiences in a college town.
“The play is a dramedy. It’s a family story centering around adoption and the questions that come up when an adoptee comes of age,” Ryan said. “I’d like to think that a story about a young person coming of age and having questions about their identity would resonate with all sorts of people.”
Ryan is excited to see how the director, actors and crew interpret her work.
“As a playwright, it’s always exciting to see your work interpreted by others,” Ryan said. “Theater is, by nature, collaborative. What I write isn’t a play until a director, actors and all the other artists who work on it bring it to life. … So it’s always exciting for me to see what other artists bring to the work.”
For Jenna Worsham, who also lives in New York, her selection for 10 Minute Play Festival was a happy surprise.
“I never thought I would hear anything when I submitted the play back in the fall. I’m primarily a stage director and have only started to share my writing recently,” Worsham said. “I was shocked to get the email that ‘The Southerner’ had won.”
Worsham’s play follows two women who begin a simple yet interesting dialogue while waiting for a bus.
“I wrote the play quite quickly, much of it while riding the subway in New York City,” Worsham said. “I think that’s why the piece has a transient feeling. I’m not sure why I started to hear these two women. … Other than that, I remember being homesick at the time. I’m from Georgia and miss it often.”
Bethany Teames’s “95 Tiles” also offers a close-up of two characters; however, in this case, the pair is a husband and wife rather than two strangers.
“‘95 Tiles’ is the story of a young couple waiting during the worst moment of their lives,” Teames said. “Their child is undergoing surgery, and we witness the pair grapple with what life will look like if the worst should happen.”
Like Ryan, Teames did not take long to write the play, though revision required a bit more time than she expected.
“I wrote this play rather quickly, but it took me a while to really sit with it and refine it,” Teames said. “Although my spouse and I have never been through this experience, I know friends who have and can only imagine the feeling that your whole world might change in an instant. I think searching for coping mechanisms during moments of pain is something that everyone can empathize with, and I look forward to the audience going on this journey together.”
Jem Sands will work as the stage director for the festival. His role consists mainly of making sure that all parts of the production are coordinated smoothly.
“I am the bridge between communications of actors, directors and production team,” Sands said. “I am responsible for sending out emails with any information related to rehearsals or technical needs (sets, props and sounds).”
Sands is proud of how the crew has managed to bring these plays to life.
“The actors have worked hard these past few weeks to bring to life both the story and the characters and have been guided by their wonderful directors in a way that draws you into the story to make you feel as if you are a part of it,” Sands said.
When asked why locals should consider attending the festival, Teames mentioned the importance of theater in everyday life.
“I think people should be interested in this festival because we all need more art in our lives,” Teames said. “Engaging with theater is a way of seeking to understand the perspective of people who may be different from you. Our world desperately needs more empathy, and I think there is no better way to seek to understand others than through theatre.”
Worsham also highlighted the importance of small, local theaters.
“All types of theater are salient in a culture,” Worsham said. “But I think, as someone who works regionally, on Broadway and Off-Broadway, that the kind that resonates deeply with people is often local community theater. … It’s my favorite kind of theater to watch … theater made by and for those for whom what they share — despite other differences — is the place they call home.”
Tickets for the 10 Minute Play Festival can be bought at https://www.oxfordarts.com/theatreoxford. Online sales close two hours prior to showtime, with tickets at the door being sold if available.
