With the inception in 2006 of our The Seven:
New Works Fest, FUSION
Theatre Company has been pleased to host a wonderful
new way to fulfill our mission of presenting
fresh, new works of extraordinary merit.
With an anual theme selected
by our patrons via on-line voting, FUSION Theatre
Company has seen exponential interest from talented
playwrights the world over. Our inaugural festival
in 2006, with the theme Games People Play,
drew over 70 submissions, from which the top seven
were selected
by our artistic staff. They were professionally
produced, acted and directed and were enthusiastically
received by full houses.
The word got out: the following
season, our patrons chose No
Regrets as the theme and
over 350 playwrights from 39 states and 6
countries responded. The caliber of the top
submissions
was so spectacularly good, our staff chose
seven for the main fest, and produced another
seven for cabaret offerings.
And now it's official: the theme for 2008 will be
Something Left Unsaid.
You'll want to make your reservations now; last year's
Festival, "The Seven," was completely
sold out. Expect the unexpected as FUSION Theatre
Company selects a crop of diverse and intriguing
new
works to be presented by the finest directors and
actors in New Mexico.
The first year's fest, illuminating the theme Games
People Play, generated terrific new works
that received outstanding professional presentations
and that were extremely well received by critics
and patrons alike....
* The Near Life Wax & Smudge of True
Clown Love by John Catron; Minneapolis, MN
* The Dressing Room by Jenice Gharib;
Santa Fe, NM
* Relax by Aaron Jewell; Seattle,
WA
* The Tea Party by Erin Phillips;
Santa Barbara, CA
* Surreal Estate by Lori Romero;
Santa Fe, NM
* Film Noir by Adam Szymkowicz; Brooklyn,
NY
* For and Against by Mark Witteveen;
Rochester, NY
Click here for
bios for our talented playwrights for Games
People Play
Directing the festival plays were Lou Clark, Shelley
Epstein, Jen Grigg, John Hardman, Jacqueline Reid,
Robb Sisneros, and Brent Stevens. The acting ensemble
featured local talents Alli Bivins, Ed Chavez, Leslie
Coleman, Kate Costello, Michael Finnegan, Kristin
de la O, David Lang, Lauren Myers, Cyndi Noll, Rachel
Tatum, Kathy Millé Wimmer, and Aaron Worley.
In 2007, our patrons chose No Regrets as
the theme and playwrights responded with over 353
entries from
39 states and 6 countries. The Seven were...
* Silver Men by Amy Fox; Brooklyn,
NY
* What I've Learned from Fair-Feathered
Friends by
Virginia Fry; New York, NY
* Knocking Louder by Tara Meddaugh;
Harrison, NY
* 7 Sonnets by Stephen J. Miller; Orlando,
FL
* Trace Evidence by Jeff Stewart;
Los Alamos, NM
* The Sentry by Michael Tooher; Portland,
ME
* The Magician and the Memory by
Michael Vukadinovich; Santa Monica, CA
Click here for
bios for our talented playwrights for No
Regrets.
If you are
a writer interested
in submitting a new work for adjudication,
please see our guidelines here.
We'd love to see your take on this year's
theme: Something Left Unsaid.
Barry Gaines, review, Albuquerque
Journal :
"The FUSION Theatre Company presents "The
Seven: Games People Play," 10-minute plays
selected from more than 70 submissions nationwide—
an intriguing theatrical smorgasbord.
The one-acts are connected by theme and linked
by Brent Stevens' clever sound design. Some plays
are better described as sketches.
In Jenice Gharib's "The Dressing Room,"
we witness the rapid-fire exchange between a long-suffering
Jewish mother (Kathy Millé Wimmer) and
her 30-something unmarried daughter (Kristin de
la O). The character types are familiar, but Gharib
has a good ear for guilt-laden dialogue ("It's
not a mother's place to like or not like.").
Under Lou Clark's direction, the actors look and
sound right.
Also familiar from "The Maltese Falcon"
are the hard-boiled private eye (Aaron Worley)
and his double-crossing moll (Rachel Tatum) in
"Film Noir" by Brooklyn's Adam Szymkowicz.
Costumed by Kate Kennedy in cinematic black and
white, the actors have fun with the Dashiell Hammett-esque
dialogue and situations. John Hardman ably directs.
"Relax" is by Aaron Jewell from Seattle.
An actor (Michael Finnegan) and actress (Alli
Bivins) rehearse a love scene in her apartment.
In their underwear. The scene considers the intersection
of role-playing in theater and in life. Director
Brent Stevens doesn't help us distinguish one
from the other, but perhaps that is the point.
A stranger scene is Californian Erin Phillips'
"The Tea Party," directed by Shelley
Epstein. In this surrealistic drama, a woman (Jen
Grigg) and a man (Michael Finnegan) converse at
a table set with a child's plastic tea service.
Their costumes are bizarre: his a tuxedo jacket,
tuxedo T-shirt, tie, and shorts; hers, a mismatched
floral print blouse and skirt plus straw derby.
The dialogue has a hallucinatory weirdness, the
verbal equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting.
"Surreal Estate" by Santa Fe's Lori
Romero is less surreal. House rental agents (John
Hardman and Cyndy Noll) manipulate a client (David
Lang). Director Jacqueline Reid works to make
the material funny: Hardman plays the agent-from-hell
with exaggerated expressions, and Lang is reduced
to blubbering; the two join in a slow-motion ballet
at play's end.
"For and Against" by Mark Witteveen
is ambitious in its character development. Hotel
workers Alice (Leslie Joy Coleman) and Becky (Shelley
Epstein) tease young Theresa (Lauren Myers) about
writing to Darryl (Justin Lenderking). Darryl
was a dishwasher but is now a soldier in Iraq.
The horrors of war are juxtaposed with the silliness
of the older ladies' arguments for and against
this romance. Under Robb Sisneros's direction
Myers gives Theresa complexity, and we want to
know more about her.
The last piece is the best. "The Near Life
Wax and Smudge of True Clown Love" by John
Catron from Minneapolis features the return of
local favorites Ed Chavez and Kate Costello as
clowns— a tramp and a female Pierrot. Directed
by Jen Grigg, they tell stories, relate dreams
and court each other in a piece that combines
imagination, charm, and wit.
This annual competition is a welcome opportunity
to see the latest work of emerging playwrights."
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