Log In


Reset Password
Performing Arts

Creating a universe in just 10 short minutes

Quick, final-selection plays were deliciously good – mostly

“Doesn’t make sense,” Jerry says as he sits in a hospital waiting room. “How can I have a pistola?”

Jerry (played with wry humor by John Porter) sits next to his wife, Marsha. (Lisa Zwisler, a comedian with near perfect timing). She looks up from her knitting and calmly corrects him: “Fistula.”

Therein begins a short, airy work filled with word play, comic confusion and the magic of an evergreen marriage.

“Health Care,” by Philip Hall, was one of the five finalists to receive staged productions in the 2014 10-minute Play Festival at the Durango Arts Center this weekend. Expertly directed by Dakota Watson, “Health Care” unspooled its witty dialogue with seasoned actors comfortable just sitting in their chairs. Porter and Zwisler created a rare picture of amiable long-marrieds; Jerry and Marsha look at common misunderstandings not with anger but affection. Hall’s play and the DAC production felt like a breath of fresh air in today’s angry culture.

Short plays are as challenging to write as full-length works. Characters must be introduced quickly along with time, place and the most elusive element of all – tone. In “Health Care,” director Watson immediately established a light tone, and the actors threaded it through the entire piece simply sitting next to each other.

“The Black Bride of Texas,” by Stephanie Dodd, offered a miniature three-act structure that alternated between down-home realism and fantasy. Norma (Linda Mack-Berven as a kindly Southern busy-body) cajoles her friend Wanda to get out and have fun. But widow Wanda (the inimitable Dolores Mazurkewicz) prefers reading Western romance novels. Her imaginary encounters with three sexy cowboys come to life through one actor in various costumes, Aaron Stevenson. He strolls or dances into Wanda’s private world and brings her joy. Director Judy Hook underscored the playwright’s premise with many subtle techniques, including something as simple as varying entrances.

“Bodega,” by Adam Seidel, mixes a little comedy into an ancient conflict: fathers and sons. Aging store owner Emilio and his college-educated son Pedro (John Garza and Bradley Abeyta, respectfully) develop a believable generational divide with a balance of resentment and respect. Director Jenny Fitts Reynolds encouraged her actors to play different levels of agitation. Abeyta gave Pedro’s hard-won maturity a convincing stillness. In contrast, Garza’s angry father seemed frenetic, constantly pacing the stage. When a director’s blocking is overly apparent, illusion suffers. A more detailed set might have helped this essentially realistic drama. That said, the resolution was understated and moving.

Not all the plays succeeded. “Once in a Blue Moon,” by L.E. Grabowski-Cotton, has too many problems to easily fix. No matter who stages the work, an irritating premise and lead character present difficulties. Montgomery Bloom (Albert Carlson) enters the Blue Moon Travel Agency and encounters Valentine Grace (Dakota Watson). Is she cute or crazy? Instead of straight answers to his questions, she balks, spins and spurts. Watson played Valentine with chirpy charm opposite Carlson’s befuddled, dogged despair. One wondered why Montgomery just didn’t walk out. The script may not be salvageable. How did it became a finalist? Still, director Porter and his actors gave “Blue Moon” a college try.

The grand prize winner, on the other hand, earned its place on the playbill. “The Spider in the Room,” by Wendy Ludgewait, is a comedy about ordinary matters and contemporary gender relations. It has a substantive center section and a surprising, light-hearted ending. Former Durango Herald A&E editor Ted Holteen returned to play Sam the Rent-a-Dude guy who helps Maddie (Jenny Fitts Reynolds). A small domestic dilemma, a spider under a refrigerator, sets the male-female comedy in motion. Directors Marc Arbeeny and Theresa Carson found more humor in the work than when first seen. It was a frolic.

jreynolds@durangoherald.com. Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, art historian and arts journalist.

Review

The Fourth Annual 10-Minute Play Festival, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday, www.durangoarts.org.



Reader Comments