By Mary Damiano

	Ken Clement (Bernard the Purple Dinosaur), Antonio Amadeo (Twinkles) and Joe Kimble (Spongebart Roundpants) in The Closet by Aoise Stratford, part of this year’s Summer Shorts, which begins June 1 Photo: George Schiavone

From a racially charged meeting between a white man and a black woman in 1968 to a purple dinosaur holed up in a closet with two other questioning campadres, Summer Shorts promises to intrigue and entertain.

This year, 16 plays, 9 actors, 6 directors and 5 designers are involved in the annual short play festival, now in its 11^th year.  The festival, which begins June 1 at the Ring Theatre at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, features eight world premieres and eight southeastern premieres, promising the very best in one-act plays from around the country.

“It’s crazy and sane at the same time but it’s good insanity,” says Kameshia Duncan, who will perform in six plays this year.

Summer Shorts is presented by City Theatre in two programs, Program A and Program B.  Six directors divvy up the plays between them.  Each program features eight plays that average about 10 minutes in length.  A team of nine actors performs each play, often making lightning quick costume and character changes.  The programs alternate performances on weeknights.  Theatre lovers who want to see the whole shebang can go on Saturday or Sunday, when both programs are performed, with a dinner break in between.  At the Ring Theatre, where Summer Shorts opens on June 1, weekend dinner packages are available, with the meal catered by Tu Tu Tango. 

	Stephanie Norman, co-founder and producing artistic director of Summer Shorts

Summer Shorts was founded in 1996 by Stephanie Norman, Susi Westfall and Elena Wohl.  Their mission was to bring together various artistic sensibilities with a common dedication to theatre, bring new work to South Florida and celebrate the one-act play.

“When we started City Theatre in 1996, we had a commitment to doing something unique and what we thought was exciting, presenting new work in our own backyard,” says Norman.

The festival grew steadily over the years and gained respect in the national theatre community.  Last year, City Theatre partnered with the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival, one of the largest new play festivals in the country, as sponsors of the National 10-minute Play Contest.  This is the first year that the Summer Shorts line-up is affected by this alliance.

Norman, who performed in the ensemble cast of the first Summer Shorts festival, now serves as producing artistic director of City Theatre.  She says that the alliance with the Humana Festival has already benefited Summer Shorts immensely.

“The tangible impact is right on our stages,” says Norman.  “In previous years we’d wait by the mailbox anxiously to see what would come in.  You have to go through a lot of frogs to get some princes, and some years we had a lot of frogs.”

Norman says that the quality of writing they can now access has improved since partnering with Humana.

“The quality of plays has absolutely been off the charts this year,” says Norman.  “We came to the table this year with not only enough good plays to do Program A and B, but to do programs C, D and E.”

The volume of plays has increased as well.  City Theatre gets about 600 submissions at a time from Humana.

In gathering the cast, directors and designers each year for Summer Shorts, Norman, likes to bring together people from various theatrical backgrounds who might not otherwise get the opportunity to work together. 

“We look to bring different sensibilities to the table,” says Norman.  “We look for somebody who is technically a strong director but if you look at the mix, aesthetically they all come from different backgrounds.” 

As for the cast, flexibility is key.

“What sets City Theatre apart is that we’re looking for an actor who is not just good at what they do but also very versatile,” says Norman.  “It’s difficult to be in a festival where you’re going to play eight to ten different roles.  It’s like boot camp.”

	Stephen Trovillion and Kameshia M. Duncan, in a scene from Labor Day 1968, a world premiere by Terri Wagener    Photo: George Schiavone

“It’s one thing to be talented but another thing to be pliable enough to be able to bend in different directions so it’s seamless,” says Kameshia Duncan, who had never seen Summer Shorts before being hired for the ensemble last year.  “It works your muscles as an actor.  You really find out what you’re made of.”

Like Duncan, Margaret Ledford had never seen Summer Shorts before joining this year’s directorial ensemble. 

“This is a true first for me,” says Ledford.  “I’ve known what the festival was about but I’d never seen it.”

Ledford, who is the resident director at Broward’s Promethean Theatre, finds different challenges in directing a short play as compared to a full-length. 

“Certainly you don’t get as much information about the character as you do in 90 pages,” she says, “so some of that is left up to the actors and the director and the producer to fill in those gaps.”

Fellow director Stuart Meltzer concurs.

	The cast of Three Guys and a Brenda, by Adam Brock: clockwise from bottom left: Elizabeth Dimon, Ivonne Azurdia, Kameshia Duncan, and Kim Ostrenko Photo: George Schiavone

“A 10-minute play is either a winner or a loser, no ifs ands or buts,” says Meltzer.  “With a full-length you can delve into the character and what the playwright wants to say.”

Ledford will be directing two pieces, Decoding Fruit by Molly Smith Metzler and Rosemary and Elizabeth by Leslie Ayvazian.    

While the directors don’t exactly get to pick the plays they direct, Ledford says that in the process of choosing which plays to produce, plays organically match themselves to directors, although the producers have the final say.

“Creating a whole world around something that’s only 10 pages long is not difficult but very fun,” says Ledford.  “It allows a little more imagination.”

Meltzer is enjoying his third season as a director for Summer Shorts.  This year he’s directing three plays, Tiny Baby, The Closet and Labor Day 1968.

“The Closet talks about the current world view of what makes someone gay,” says Meltzer.  “Can TV turn a child gay?  Can a cartoon that’s about tolerance turn a child gay?  That’s one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard.” 

Tiny Baby is a broad comic take on possible options for busy people who want children.  Labor Day 1968 takes place in a small Texas town where a black woman has just lost her husband in an on-the-job accident.  The play explores the meeting between the widow and the white oil company man who has come to make sure she’s gotten her death benefit check. 

Meltzer sees a link between his three pieces. 

“I think the perfect American play is the American dream gone awry,” says Meltzer.  “All three of my plays have this American dream expectation and they somehow shatter.  There’s a comment on where America is right now.”

Summer Shorts runs from June 1 to July 2 at the Ring Theatre on the University of Miami Campus in Coral Gables before moving up to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale July 7-10.  While the Broward expansion has been successful for Summer Shorts, Norman hints that the changes in South Florida’s arts landscape could also mean changes for Summer Shorts. 

“We love Coral Gables and we will always be doing programming in Coral Gables, but we’re also looking at the new Miami Performing Arts Center and opportunities there as well,” says Norman.  “I think that’s where are festival will grow, frankly.” 

Duncan, Ledford and Meltzer each have a different take on why audiences should make it a point to see Summer Shorts.

“Oh my God, it’s so much fun,” says Ledford.  “It’s an epicenter of talent, from playwrights to actor and directors.  I’m in awe of everybody.”

“This year Summer Shorts has a lot of humor and a lot of life lessons,” says Duncan.

“There is something for everyone,” says Meltzer.  “Not everyone is going to like every play, but it is a good reflection of the times as they are.  I don’t think a lot of theatres are doing that right now, and for summer stock, a 10-minute play festival to be doing that is really cool.”