Pauline Adamek
***
Now in its eighth year, the Eclectic Company Theatre in NoHo is once again staging Hurricane Season, their new works festival and playwrights”™ competition that showcases the short-list winners of their annual one-act play writing competition.
Report by Pauline Adamek
The various plays submitted this year went through a rigorous selection process. The result? Die-hard theatre enthusiasts can see twelve different plays being staged over several weeks – three plays per weekend – until early August. Audiences will be asked to rate the three plays in order of preference and hand in their ballot at the conclusion of the evening.
Each of the first three weekends of Hurricane Season will feature a new program of one-act plays that have never been produced before. The audience favorite of each weekend will be invited back for a finals weekend of three more performances.
All plays in the competition have been selected by members of The Eclectic Company Theatre”™s reading committee. Monetary prizes will be given to the top three best-written plays as determined by an independent jury.
The schedule of plays being performed is as follows:
Week One, July 15-17:
“Rollercoaster of Love.” Written by Joe Musso. Directed by Biff Wiff. Cast: Mason Hallberg, Niki Blumberg. A rollercoaster is a literal metaphor for a young couple”™s relationship.
“Things That Go Hump in the Night.” Written by Peggy Dougherty. Directed by J.C. Gafford. Cast: Meghan McConnell, Elizabeth Southard, Bert Emmett. Daughter doesn”™t want mommy sleeping with her boyfriend in the next room.
“Sex and Money and Money and Sex.” Written by Jack Karp. Directed by Dean Farell Bruggeman. Cast: Trent Walker, Tiffany Cole. The title pretty much sums up the preoccupations of a couple, presented four different ways.
Week Two, July 22-24:
“Damien.” Written by Dean Farell Bruggeman. Directed by Wendy Radford. Cast: Taylor Ashbrook, Mark Burford. A middle-aged Southern woman suspects her neighbor”™s dog of being an emissary of evil. What will she do about it?
“Stalking Pollyanna.” Written by Hal Corley. Directed by Katie Witkowski. Cast: Jeremy Mascia, Mark Motyl. A middle-aged gay man spots his boyhood movie-star crush, Hayley Mills, in a bookstore.
“Holey Smokes.” Written by Ellen Elizabeth Steves. Directed by Dana Amromin. Cast: Dean Farell Bruggeman, Jason Britt, Wendy Radford, Biff Wiff, Margaret Fennell Flynn, Michael Harris, Trip Langley, Brighid Fleming, Kendall Willmot, Dawn Meyer, Andrew Beckham, Mia Eden, Fletcher Hoffman. A big hole suddenly appeared on Ruley”™s land. It”™s got supernatural powers, and they”™re not benevolent.
Week 3, July 29- 31:
“Out of Order.” Written by Michael Wolfson. Directed by Susan Lee. Cast: Darrell Philip, Margaret Fennell Flynn, Sarah Allyn Bauer, Tim Sprague. That confessional booth in the local church is a genuine portal to the Beyond, where angels might look like business executives or Goth punks.
“Lobster Man.” Written by Jonathan Cook. Directed by Kerr Seth Lordygan. Cast: Beth Ricketson, R.J. Farrington, Tim Sprague. In a devastated post-apocalyptic world, a man comforts his ailing sweetheart with the tale of the Lobster Man, who suddenly materializes right there.
“The Ballad of Bertha and Clyde.” Written by Diane Sampson. Directed by Shawn Abramowitz. Cast: Ivy Jones, Ashleigh Boiros, Gordon Wells, Brian E. Smith. An aging man and woman are very attracted to each other and want to get it on. There”™s just a couple of obstacles for them to hurdle first.
Week 4, August 5-7:
Audience favorites of the festival.
The weekends of Hurricane Season 2011 display the most appealing playwriting from the many, many submissions considered. Sit back and enjoy.
***
Hurricane Season 2011
The Eclectic Company Theatre
5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd. (between Chandler and Magnolia), Valley Village, CA 91607.
WHEN: July 15- August 7, 2011. Fri. & Sat. at 8pm, Sun. at 2pm
ADMISSION: $15.00
Special Hurricane Season pass $45 (four tickets to any performance, a savings of $15).
RESERVATIONS: (818) 508-3003.
Online ticketing here.
Brian Sonia-Wallace
