An unnamed, Plain Jane in her early thirties is aching to be satisfied for the first time in her life. Having exhausted all other possibilities, the cryptically nameless protagonist turns to her argumentative stomach – and the battle begins.
No this isn’t another chick flick your girlfriend will drag you to see, but the premise for “”Full,”” a new play by local writer Adrienne Perry. Less than ten minutes in length, “”Full”” is one of three short comedies under the heading “”Seven Deadly Sins”” (gluttony being Perry’s obvious choice), which will debut this weekend at the Old Pueblo Playwrights’ Seventeenth Annual New Play Festival.
The festival features seven plays, two full-length works and five short plays by members of the Old Pueblo Playwrights, a non-profit organization that aims to encourage and promote local writers.
In order to showcase a play at the festival, playwrights must be members of the OPP and must have their work voted in by the board members. Twelve plays were originally submitted, which were then whittled down to the seven shown this weekend, said board member Richard Chaney.
Unlike conventional theater works, the Old Pueblo Playwrights choose to shun all the pomp and circumstance of traditional “”stage productions”” and focus solely on the work at hand. This means that no play has been rehearsed for more than 15 hours before its debut, actors carry and read from their scripts throughout the work, and each play is followed by a 10-15 minute question-and-answer session with the audience, Chaney said.
“”We try to emphasize the plays and not the productions,”” Chaney said. “”Writers ask for feedback at the end as a way to profit from the audience response.””
Chaney said the playwrights often ask specific questions of audience members, and that feedback often translates into revisions for the play.
Apart from offering a unique festival to the local community, Chaney said the Old Pueblo Playwrights association is very helpful to its 22 members. Members meet on Monday nights where they spend their time critically looking at other members’ work and hopefully offering some insightful feedback, Chaney explained.
Besides the fact that many of these plays come with the obligatory, “”not suitable for children”” tagline, Chaney insisted there were other reasons for local college students to attend the festival.
“”College students should take advantage of whatever is going on culturally in their community,”” he said. “”Besides that, our plays are fairly provocative and they will speak to a younger audience.””
Tickets are $5 for each performance or $10 for the whole festival, but they’re going fast, so reservations are the smartest way to go. Call 623-8234 for more information. Performances begin tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. at the Cabaret Theater, located in the Temple for Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.
