Summer Shorts Festival Less Than Two Weeks Away

The Davis County Players are preparing for their 2014 "Summer Shorts" short play festival, which will take place Friday and Saturday, August 1 and 2, at the Iowa Theatre on the historic Bloomfield square in Bloomfield. This will be the fourth installment of the festival, which was first launched in 2010.

Seven short plays -- all penned by playwrights from the state of Iowa -- were selected for production on August 1 and 2 at 7 p.m.  Audience members will get the opportunity to vote for their favorite play, and the winning playwright will receive $100, with additional prizes for favorite local play and favorite play written by an author under the age of 18.

As always, there will be additional entertainment, including musical performances by local singers and songwriters, Emmy Mote, Sophia Cook and Stacey McCoy. There will also be some original, down home "Cowboy Poetry," presented by John Pisarik -- always a favorite for the Summer Shorts audience.

There will also be artwork by local artists on display in the Kay Burchette Center, adjacent to the Iowa Theatre.

All of the short plays are between 5 and 15 minutes long, and the theme this year is "The Phone Call" -- meaning each of the plays has something to do with a phone call.

The plays will all be performed by local actors, who are directed by local directors. Once again, the show will be hosted by emcee Gail Wortmann.

Plays selected for production this year include:

 
DIALING DEATH
Written By Greg Freier, Norwalk
Directed by Joanna McCoy.
Starring James Grob and Russ Mikels.

CALL-TASTROPHE
Written by Brittany Derby & Zack Musgrove, Drakesville and Bloomfield
Directed by Brittany Derby and Zack Musgrove
Starring Brittany Derby, Jess Fenton, Tyler Breeding, Jen Fenton and Michelle Grob

CALL INTO QUESTION
(Under-18 Winner)
Written By Sara Lawson, Bloomfield
Directed by Michelle Grob
Starring Chris Ball, Harrison Van Mersbergen and Hailey Swan

SWEEPSTAKES
Written by James Grob, Bloomfield
Directed by James Grob
Starring Joanna McCoy and Jack Knox

TRUE CALLING
Written by David Patterson, Fairfield
Directed by Michelle Grob
Starring Aaron Gingerich and Nathan Bierl

THE PROSPECT
Written by Eva Adderly, Iowa City
Directed by James Grob and Chris Griffin
Starring James Grob and Chris Griffin

WE APPEAR TO HAVE COMPANY
Written by Greg Freier, Norwalk
Directed by Michelle Grob
Starring Paul Fleetwood and Julie Griffin

Published! My children's play, "The Goodcheer Home For Broken Hearts," is now available to theatres worldwide, courtesy of YouthPLAYS! This play is ideal for Middle School or High School aged actors, and is fun for all ages! This is my second play published by YouthPLAYS. The first, "Crimes and Rhymes," has done quite well!

SYNOPSIS: Audiences get to boo, hiss, cheer and sigh in this spoof of the classic American melodrama. As the villainous Severus C. Snackwell takes aim at the Goodcheer Home for Broken Hearts, the sweet and matronly Charity Goodcheer, the smart, beautiful and great smelling Shasta Bellflower and indeed the entire backwater town of Wetwater, can the strong and sincere but soft-witted Steele Manly stop his nefarious plot?

Davis County Players To Put Their Summer Shorts Back On

After taking last summer off, the Davis County Players are back at it again this summer, preparing for their "Summer Shorts" short play festival, which will take place Friday and Saturday, August 1 and 2, at the Iowa Theatre on the historic Bloomfield square in Bloomfield. This will be the fourth installment of the festival, which was first launched in 2010.

The call for submissions from Iowa authors first went out in February, and seven short plays -- all penned by playwrights from the state of Iowa -- were selected for production on August 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. All of the short plays are between 5 and 15 minutes long, and the theme this year is "The Phone Call" -- meaning each of the plays has something to do with a phone call.

 Audience members will vote for their favorites, and the winning playwright will receive $100, with additional prizes for favorite local play and favorite play written by an author under the age of 18.

As always, there will be additional entertainment, with performances by local singers and songwriters, some down-home "country poetry," and some surprises. There will also be artwork by local artists on display in the Kay Burchette Center, adjacent to the Iowa Theatre.

Plays selected for production this year include:

• DIALING DEATH, By Greg Freier, Norwalk
  
• CALL-TASTROPHE, By Brittany Derby & Zack Musgrove, Drakesville and Bloomfield
  
• CALL INTO QUESTION, By Sara Lawson, Bloomfield (Under-18 Winner.)
  
• THE PROSPECT, By Eva Adderly, Iowa City
  
• TRUE CALLING, By David Patterson, Fairfield
  
• SWEEPSTAKES, By James Grob, Bloomfield
  
• WE APPEAR TO HAVE COMPANY, by Greg Freier, Norwalk
  

Complete casts, directors, other performers and more will be announced next week.