Seven emerging playwrights.
Seven different directors.
A stellar ensemble of New Mexico's finest
actors.
2008
Winners Announced!!
After receiving 416 scripts
from 41 states and six countries for this year's
theme,
Something Left Unsaid
here are "The Seven":
Jury Prize
"The Education of Macoloco"
by
Jen Silverman
Simsbury, CT
------------
"That Day"
by Craig Abernethy,
San Diego, CA
"Teddy Knows Too Much"
by Matt
Hanf, Elk Grove, CA
"Notes on Drowning (For the Man
Who Cannot Make the Journey)
by Jen Silverman,
Simsbury, CT
"In Retrospect"
by David Clark,
Carbondale, IL
"Somewhere
Between the Sky and the Sea"
by Alex Broun, St. Kilda, Australia
"Homesick"
by Daniella Vinitski,
Boulder, CO
|
This
just in!
The winner of the Bob
and Gail Bosser Audience Choice Award
was not settled until the final performance Sunday
night. And the winner was...
"The Education of Macoloco" by Jen Silverman.
In close competition was "Somewhere Between the
Sky and the Sea" by Alex Broun. Congratulations
to our playwrights, cast and crew for your outstanding
contributions!
Make your reservations now!
These plays are produced under Equity professional
contracts, run one weekend only (June 19-22),
and always sell out!!!
Finalists
"Something That's the Same" by Dan Moyer, Palo Alto,
CA
"Dangerous Baby" by Ed Valentine, New York, NY
"Blood and Menthol" by Christopher Lockheardt, Andover,
MA
"In a Clearing Quiet" by Michael Tooher, Portland,
ME
"4 Photos of Pluto" by Kevin Chirstopher Snipes,
Woodside, NY
"JAP" by Lauren Yee, San Francisco, CA
"Without Regards to New Orleans" by Barbara A. Bryan,
Baltimore, MD
"Henry" by Claudia Barnett, Lacassas, TN
"Once Removed" by Jami Brandli, Los Angeles, CA
"A Troubled Heart" by Constance George, New York,
NY
"Like" by James McLindon, Northampton, MA
"Words" by Jessica Foster, Newtonville, MA
"The Venting Mahcine" by Richard Davis, Jr., Augusta,
GA
"Potty Mouth" by Keisha Poiro, Great Mills, MD
"On Screen" by David McClinton, Denver, CO
So, what's with the INTERNATIONAL label? We want
to ensure you don't confuse FUSION's professional
production with the student efforts announced
elsewhere in
town that have adopted FUSION's format of seven
ten-minute plays. We are flattered they've borrowed
our fun, vital format and completely support their
work. However, our seven have always been selected
from the
best submissions
from
all
over
the world.
They're professionally produced by the finest theatrical
professionals in the state. See both, if you're able;
but remember, The INTERNATIONAL Seven only
happens at FUSION.
Marissa Greenberg, review,
June 21, 2008 (on-line),
Albuquerque Journal:
In Jen Silverman’s The Education of
Macoloco, Anessa teaches her son bizarre
trivia and the so-called “facts of life.”
But Anessa withholds the truth of Macoloco’s
paternity and, until the play’s conclusion,
of her inner life. Such silences befit the winner
of the Jury Prize of The Seven: Something
Left Unsaid, FUSION Theatre Company’s
New Works Festival.
Now in its third year, the festival received 417
short works from 41 states and 6 countries. The jury
reads submissions “blind” and chooses
7 for performance. This year’s winners suggest
a bright future for the international stage. In particular,
expect to hear again from Silverman. Silverman, who
graduated from Brown University in 2006 and begins
the MFA program at Iowa Playwrights Workshop this
fall, had 2 plays in the festival.
Like Macoloco, Silverman’s
Notes on Drowning (For the Man Who Cannot
Make the Journey) withholds essential information
until the end. The final revelation belittles mundane
suffering yet proves oddly life affirming. Strong
direction (Jen Grigg and Elizabeth Huffman) and solid
performances energize Silverman’s learned, witty
and affective scripts. Laurie Thomas gives an especially
impressive performance as Anessa, a physically and
emotionally demanding role.
Other plays invite the audience to deduce what is
left unsaid. The title of Craig Abernethy’s
That Day refers to September 11, 2001. Kirsten
and Toby (compellingly performed by Ravenna Fahey
and Michael Finnegan) never specify the date, but
as they describe an exhibition of photos taken in
the tragedy’s aftermath, the audience can fill
in the blank. Despite its intentional evasions, That
Day is rawly honest. Like the exhibited
photos, it demonstrates that art can render reality “too
real.”
Perhaps the most amusing play, Teddy
Knows Too Much by Matt Hanf (Jacqueline
Reid directs), also includes a profoundly disturbing
silence. A mustached
and uproarious John Hardman stars as 3-year-old Billy,
who surreptitiously torments his family in order
to
secure his parents’ attention. Mom and Dad
(Lou Clark and Bruce Holmes are hilarious) look
for simple
solutions to Billy’s behavior. First they give
him a stuffed teddy bear who becomes privy to all
Billy’s secrets and therefore must be silenced.
Teddy’s flushing is followed by medication.
In a final tableau, Hanf’s implicit commentary
on parenting in America ceases to evoke laughter.
What ought not go unsaid is that The Seven
is worth seeing.
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.
To view our previous "Seven" productions, click
here.
With an annual 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.
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.
| You
bet! I'd like to be reminded
of coming events! |
|
