Next Stage's Ten-Minute Play Fest

The "Nexus Project: Ten-Minute Play Festival" runs through Sept. 7 at the Next Stage Theatre at the Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave. The festival is in two programs of six plays each, ticketed separately. You can see both programs in a row on Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 and 9; Thurs. and Sun. have only one show at 7:30. See here for full schedule. Tix are $10 per program, or $15 for both on the same night.

Ah, ambitious projects! Next Stage's Artistic Director Mark Jared Zufelt seemed almost apologetic last Saturday when he introduced the company's "The Nexus Project: Ten-Minute Play Festival." Months ago, he explained, when they were planning the festival, they sent requests for original short plays to virtually every playwright in town, expecting to be turned down by most. That's exactly what didn't happen, and now the fledgling company has a roster of 12 short plays in two rotating shows and basically wound up biting off much more than it was hoping to have to chew.

But what's surely a logistical headache for the good people at Next Stage is a fantastic opportunity for Seattle theatre-goers. A dozen original plays by some of our most talented writers is definitely worth your time, and your money: the productions are 100% volunteer, and the plays are all inspired by and supporting a local non-profit. Audience members vote on best play, and the winning play has its royalties donated to its charity.

Last weekend, we caught Program A and were generally impressed. John Longenbaugh's Bird Song was a somewhat heavy-handed denunciation of the war in Iraq. An Iraqi bird-watcher retreats into his memories bird-watching in Washington State, back when he was an exchange student and happy. This is counterpointed to the story of lesbian soldiers stationed at Fort Lewis who also occasionally head out to the Olympic Peninsula for bird-watching and other activities. Eventually the stories converge when these poor lovers wind up "harshly" interrogating the poor man, now an enemy combatant in Kirkuk.

Photo of Marc Kenison and Wes Hurley in Waxie Moon: Boylesque Cinemathique, courtesy of Next Stage.

w/ original features by Susanna Burney, inspired by and benefiting Real Change, comes close to the same sort of bleeding-heart-on-its-sleeve agit-prop, then veers wide. A slightly flamboyant gay man and his friend and drinking wine on a stormy night and waiting for his partner to get home. The couple have just bought a vintage home they've fixed up, and they're trying to have a bit of a house-warming party, but the partner, always dedicated to his work, brings in a homeless woman out of the storm and awkwardness ensues. And some ghosts. A weird, creepy little play.

We were most interested to see Marya Sea Kaminsky's The Last of the Doom Series; Kaminsky is one of the most respected young theatre artists in town, and we were excited to see what she'd come up with. The Last of the Doom Series opens with two never wholly reconciled settings: stage left is an Asian woman's kitchen; it's right around 1950 to judge by the radio program, and she's making a cake. Stage right is the living room in the present or thereabouts. A large, slovenly man narrates stories about life in Lower Queen Anne to his own camcorder. Halfway through, the two characters meet for a dance number, and that's it. Still, for a play we can't quite make sense of, it's stuck with us and was definitely a joy to watch and garnered its fair share of laughs, uncomfortable though they may be.

And as icing on the cake, the program closed with a piece by drag/boylesque performer Marc Kenison: Waxie Moon: Boylesque Cinematique. We saw Waxie Moon down at On the Boards only a few months ago, as part of the NW New Works Festival, and were blown away. Suffice it to say, this piece alone justifies the ticket price.