The Vortex Theatre is presenting a new play festival of homespun material opening this Friday in celebration of the theater's 26th anniversary.
The festival, aptly named "Quickies," is a series of shorts with eight original new plays.
The Vortex, a community theater, is known for taking risks, but in the last few months, its board seems to be making changes in its roster of shows, leaving the drug paraphernalia-filled plays behind in search of new types of experimentation.
Thumbs-up on the "Quickie" venture, which also allows local playwrights to show their stuff. "Quickies" is a mini-play festival meaning each of the eight plays is only about 10 minutes in length.
Eight scripts were chosen from a pile of nearly one hundred submissions. A variety of playwrights are included among the winners of the "Quickies" contest creating diverse scripts and performances.
The eight directors come from distinctive writing backgrounds - from the already established member of the Dramatists' Guild of America, Aoise Stratford, to the participants in Santa Fe Playhouse's "Benchwarmers" evening of one-acts, Catherine Donovan and Dianna A. Lewis, to the freelance writer for many publications in town, Aaron Worley.
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The submissions went through two phases of readings to become the elite eight chosen for production in the festival. The Vortex provided the plays with directors and actors from the community and the playwright with a $26 award check.
One of the playwrights, Phil Bock, a retired professor, said his play "Feed Yard #1," was written several years ago and when the call for entries came up, he thought it would be a good submission.
The short is about three steers who are brought from the ranch to the feed yard. They talk about the good old days and one ponders if he is there in the first place.
"I wrote it during my vegetarian phase," Bock said.
Bock has written several other plays, some of which have been produced in Albuquerque and in Detroit. Theater patrons in Albuquerque may have seen "Peregrina," which recently closed at Adobe Theater or Bock's musical satire, "Not My Department," staged at UNM in 1990.
With this production, the Vortex Theatre joins the ranks of many theaters across the country that have staged 10 minute or one-act play festivals, most of which have been big successes.
"Quickies" will have an overall winner that will be determined by the audience. Parties celebrating the festival will be held on opening and closing night. At the end of the run, the audience gets to vote on their favorite play in the festival and that winner will win $260, equaling $286 altogether.
For a ten-minute play, the total divides as $28.60 a minute - not a bad way to make some dough.
The festival runs July 11-27, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for students and senior citizens and $7 for everyone on Sundays. The Vortex is located at 2004 1/2 Central N.E. Call the Vortex for information and reservations at 247-8600.
The 2003 Quickie Mini-Play Festival Winners:
(in alphabetical order by author)
"Feed Yard #1"
by Phil Bock
"Romance"
by Catherine Donovan
"ClichÇs"
by Markus Flanagan
"Badger & Maddy"
by Dianna Lewis
"Autumn's Child"
by Tom Smith
"The End"
by Valerie Stocking
"Elephants and Coffee"
by Aoise Stratford
"Hangman"
by Aaron Worley
