When founder Mark Wegman opened Scene One Theatre in 2005, his goal was to provide a stage for local playwrights to showcase their original work. The next year, the theater company created an event that did exactly that.
Spring 2006 marked the debut of the Short Attention Span Theatre, an evening highlighting original, locally written 10-minute plays. The eighth installment of the popular Short Attention Span Theatre begins at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well as July 19-20 and 22.
The success of the first Short Attention Span Theatre encouraged organizers to use an overall theme for future productions. A theme has come from Scene One staff or suggestions left on pieces of paper by audience members at the last Short Attention Span Theatre.
"One theme was a shoe and another was a picnic table. We have also done three doors and the seven deadly sins," Wegman said. "How we got this year's Short Attention Span Theatre's theme, 'Holidaze,' was selecting it from a glass jar. We asked the audience at the last (Short Attention Span Theatre) to write an idea on a piece of paper and their name. We selected a paper from the jar, and then we asked our playwrights to base their submissions on that theme. It is a great way to involve our audience in the creative process."
More than 20 local playwrights submitted a 10-minute play beginning last fall. The eight plays selected for the upcoming "Holidaze" Short Attention Span Theatre production are "Holiday," written and directed by Laura Vadenhaupt and co-directed by Mary Jo LaCorte; "Resurrection," written by David Walling and directed by Jeff Lockwood; "Happy Anniversary," written and directed by Dan Zaiger; "Domesday" by Cecilia H. Lane (aka Tracy Wegman) and directed by Mark Wegman; "The Grammar Nazi," written by Hannah Dolan and directed by Shae Marie Eickhoff; "The Prairie Home Companion Murder Mystery," by Stevenson Forsythe and directed by Lacey Williams; "Home for the Holidays," written by Mary Jo LaCorte and directed by Patrick Pollock; and "The Festival of Saint Krzysztof the Indomitable," written by Keenan McMahon and co-directed by Wegman and McMahon.
The theme produced a wide variety of original stories, Wegman said, and the selected plays also created an array of dramatic, comedic and mysterious tales for audiences' enjoyment.
"Obviously, certain holidays will be represented. Then there are a few hypothetical, fictitious holidays and an interesting take on the word holiday itself. The theme 'Holidaze' certainly threw our local playwrights down a very creative path," he said.
With a mix of new and returning playwrights and directors, the same goes for the 29 actors playing 41 characters in the production.
"Some of the new actors who are doing theater for the first time are elated. Plus, for those who are very busy, the rehearsals are easier, with less lines to memorize and less time to rehearse," Wegman said. "I always say Short Attention Span is for budding new playwrights, actors and directors. It is a great venue to try acting for those who have never done it before. It is not too much, and they often wind up in something bigger later."
For those on stage and in the audience, watching locally written and produced theater is what makes this one of Scene One Theatre's most popular events.
"The people in the production think it is so neat that what they are performing in is what somebody in town wrote. They know that person and have dialogue with them. For our patrons, that is also what is the most thrilling. That is also what makes Scene One Theatre so unique," Wegman said.
Tickets are $15 per person. Advanced reservations are encouraged, but ticket payment is made at the door. For more information or to reserve tickets, call 573-635-6713 or email [email protected].