Are you a closet playwright? Do you have several scripts tucked in your desk that might benefit from a workshop reading? If so, the St. Albert Cultivates the Arts Committee wants to see your dramatic gems.
At the moment the committee is in hyper-drive organizing for the province-wide Alberta Arts Days. St. Albert has committed itself to celebrating the arts with the StArts Festival on Sept. 17 and 18.
Once again the committee hopes to present a series of one-act plays that hopefully plant seeds for an adult theatre community to blossom at the grassroots level.
Whether you are a professional or novice, local playwrights are encouraged to submit 10- to 15-minute scripts with no more than four characters. Playwrights will receive a workshopped play reading on Saturday, Sept. 18 and a $50 honorarium.
As for the definition of local, it means you must live, work, play or learn in St. Albert. “If you have a Servus Place membership, you can submit,” jokes literary arts committee representative Tracy Aisenstat.
Holding a Bachelor of Arts from University of British Columbia’s creative writing program, Aisenstat went through the experience when her play Crossword Puzzles was workshopped at Walterdale Playhouse.
For the festival, Aisenstat aims to fill a 90-minute program. “We hope to get six to eight quick little one-acts, and we will match them with a director and actors and get them to a level of workshop readings.”
Anyone aged 14 and up is encouraged to enter. All topics and issues are wide open for discussion and interpretation. “I don’t want to censure anything. I want people to get out there and write.”
Last year three one-acts were submitted. Co-writers Eric Outram and Rob Patterson penned Polar Opposites, a short about a mental disorder. David Haas tackled post-traumatic stress disorder in Crazy Train and Amanda Blair wrote Mr. Twiddles, a bizarre noir comedy.
To any promising writers that might feel ambivalent about entering, Aisenstat says, “ Let yourself go. Don’t be afraid of the medium. Don’t be afraid of the story and let us help you bring it to life. When you see it on its feet, it might be something different than you imagined. You don’t know what you’ll get out of it, but it will probably be positive.”
Entry deadline is Friday, May 28. Scripts can be dropped off at Community Services offices in St. Albert Place or sent electronically to [email protected]. For more information visit www.startsfest.ca. Winners names will be announced the early part of June.
