The Adult One Act Play Festival to feature sixworks
Each March for more than 30 years, the Pumphouse Theatre and the Alberta Drama Festival Association have partnered to host the Calgary Adult One Act Play Festival.
This year, the festival runs March 22-24, featuring two, one-act plays each evening. They are all original works and Shari Wattling will be the adjudicator. She will choose the Calgary play to represent our city in the provincial final in Fort McMurray in May and will also present awards for best actor, actress, director, technical expertise and new script.
On March 22, AWA Productions presents Geoff Bamber’s 35-minute comedy Room Eight Zero Seven, which looks at what happens when a woman who checks into a hotel after a day of travelling is greeted by unexpected guests.
Also that evening is Sienna Holden’s Breath, presented by Theatre SHHH! Sarah, a recovering addict, is trying to reconnect with her estranged 10-year-old daughter, but Sarah’s father is skeptical that she can stay clean and raise her daughter properly. Breath is billed as a 45-minute musical with dramatic and comedic elements.
On March 23, Gang of Three presents Night Call by Archie Wilson. In this 15-minute comedy, a young man’s quiet night is disturbed by two strange visitors. A menacing male seems very interested in the young man’s book collection while a voluptuous woman seems more interested in the man himself — but maybe those are not the real reasons the pair are visiting.
Also on that Friday evening, The Reckless Daughter Creative Collective is presenting its new work Yugen, which, in Japanese, means an awareness of the universe that triggers emotional responses too deep for words. In their 60-minute movement and creative speech work, The Reckless Daughters will journey through the stories of three women.
On March 24, PBYT Productions presents Transformance: a Transgender Love Story with Songs by TJ Jablonski. It’s the story of a tumultuous relationship between a pair of LGBTQ individuals in the process of transitioning. It is a series of interwoven monologues, dialogue and songs.
The final play of the festival is Stumped by Michael Dean Dargie and Jennifer MacLean, presented by Dropbear & Panda. The ill-fated lovers in Stumped are destined to meet just once each year and even that special meeting is now in jeopardy. This comedic drama runs 20 minutes.
At the close of each evening, Wattling will give a public adjudication before meeting privately with each cast. On March 24, Wattling will also announce the winners of the festival.
The festival runs each evening in The Pumphouse’s Victor Mitchell Theatre at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and students or there is a festival pass for $35. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at pumphousetheatre.ca or by phone at 403-263-0079 (extension 100).