ACTober Fest from Fire Rose Productions

Beautiful, cathartic, amazing, and joyful are not terms typically associated with 10 minute plays, however this was the scene at the Secret Rose Theatre (11246 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601) this past weekend, Produced by Fire Rose Productions and local luminary Kaz Matamura, the plays selected for this production seem to be artfully chosen. All of varying levels of skill and intensity, the 5th Annual ACTober Fest of Ten Minute Plays is around for one more week; I encourage anyone in the area during these days to make haste and see these groundbreaking new plays from this smart company.

The revolutionary short play in question was "The Hole," written by Art Schulman and directed by Elizabeth Brasler. The Hole is beautiful, cathartic, amazing, and joyful in addition to being an indictment of our times and a vindication of the individual spirit. Essentially a solo show, powerfully erected by Lynne Conner as her character enters into an outdoor park area, sets up an easel, and warns the soundtrack for this show; a solitary guitar player, artfully strummed by Joey Brasler, that "we don't need to talk; I do plenty of talking when I draw." What seems like a rather simple conceit ends up being anything but. While the ending may seem a little bit obvious, in hindsight, it is the powerful musical score of Mr. Brasler, the nimble words of Mr. Schulman, the artful direction of Ms. Brasler, and moreover the convincing and desperate invocations of Ms. Conner that steal the show and put this simple ten minute play down in the history books as one to remember.

Also notable from this series as "Harry Wilson's 15 Minutes" which is of similar, though slightly more light commentary on our news and fame obsessed culture. Christian Gossett directs the seven players in Dennis Jones play as the chatty characters fumble and bumble through this hilariously broadcast slice of life.

"11th Minute" by Marika Barnett and directed by Ms. Matamura was hosted as a staged reading on the night that I attended; however, even though the fresh actors had scripts in their hands, you could see the underlying tension and farcical humor in the deftly written play.

"Tipping Point," by Mark Andrew and directed by Jennie Roberson shows the struggle between letting go and hanging on and is an eye opening account of the life altering choices many of us need to make too, too early in our lives and the consequences of holding on.

Capping off the night was "Bad Dad," by Jan Michael Alejandro and directed by Alan Palmer is an antithetical "Full Monty" style musical of grandly proportioned fathers and "Leap Year," by Roy Bottochio and directed by Stu Berg was a yuk-yucky suicide attempt which took its own life that led off the evenings affair.

The ACTober Festival of ten minute play actually runs through the 10th of November at the Secret Rose Theatre in the NoHo Arts District.

www.ACToberfest.com
www.FireRoseProductions.com