By Jim Hewlett Special to the Express
The Winters Theatre Company (WTC) continues looking for ways to provide theatrical experiences during the current pandemic. They kicked off their latest virtual performance on Friday, Jan. 22.
This past fall, WTC produced a Zoom version of Robin Hood, allowing actors a chance to interact in a fun and safe way, while giving audiences the opportunity to safely enjoy the show from the comfort of their homes.
Following in the footsteps of that production, WTC is presenting a podcast production for this year’s second annual Ten-Minute Play Festival. First produced in early 2020, right before the pandemic shelter-in-place began, the inaugural Ten-Minute Play Festival featured eight plays with storylines ranging from astronauts in love to a young man coming out about his love of opera music.
Ten-Minute Festival organizers Ana Kormos and Jim Hewlett wanted to continue the festival in 2021, but were concerned that the pandemic would not allow for the in-person theatre event that occurred in early 2020. So, the decision was made to reinvent the festival in a podcast format.
Script submissions were solicited, just as they were for the previous festival, and 99 scripts were submitted from all across the United States, as well as from Australia and New Zealand! From there, the painstaking, but fun, process of selecting the winning eight scripts took place.
This year’s festival scripts feature storylines involving crossword puzzles, dating, mayflies, holy relics, dreams, maps, and even the pandemic. These plays will make you laugh, cry, sigh, and think…all from the comfort of your couch.
The podcast is available from Friday, Jan. 22 through Sunday, Feb. 21 on the Winters Theatre Company website at winterstheatre.org.
