Congratulations to our Festival Winners! Out of more than two hundred submissions, selected from eight finalists, these are our winners of the Fifth Annual Festival of Shorts!

Audience Favorite 7/11 Life on the Line by Matthew Konkel
Audience Favorite 7/12 A Place that Looks Like Davenport by Paul Lewis
Audience Favorite 7/13 a Tie! Between Life on the Line (Konkel) & A Place that Looks Like Davenport (Lewis)

Judges Awards:
3rd Place - In Transition by Terry Riley
2nd Place - Swinging Christmas by Joe Starzyk
1st Place - A Place that Looks Like Davenport by Paul Lewis

Thank you for a wonderful festival!!

Festival of Shorts Co-Producer Diane Jamieson ~A Driftwood Players Profile

The Driftwood Players 2014 Festival of Shorts (FOS) is coming up this weekend and Artfully Edmonds was able to spend time with co-producer Diane Jamieson to discuss the popular theatre company’s Festival, aka “World Premier x 8”.

Here is a transcript of Artfully Edmonds (AE) exchange with Diane (DJ):

AE: Diane, the Festival of Shorts seems fast-paced – and – err – almost . . . wild! What are your feelings about this year’s Festival?

DJ: It’s one of my favorites since the 1st Annual Festival of Shorts (FOS). It’s hard to believe we are on our 5th annual production!

AE: How have you been involved in previous Driftwood Players (DWP) productions?

DJ: I stage-managed four of the eight productions during the 1st Annual FOS and that was my first time doing anything with Driftwood Players! Since then I have been a light board operator (three years); a reader of submitted scripts (three years); and for the last two years I moderated the groups of readers to help each group CHOOSE their favorites for production.

AE: That is a heavy commitment to Driftwood Players. How is this commitment hitting you right about now?

DJ: It is a real thrill to be co-producing this year!

AE: What is the process for a playwright’s work to make it into the Festival?

DJ: First, a call for “short” plays is put out on the web to various websites during [the preceding] January. We accepted play submissions until April. This year we received over 280 short plays. We had two groups of readers (four volunteers in each group). Each group read half of the plays.

In April, I met with each group of readers and through a fun group-process each group came to a consensus on their favorite 10 submissions.

The final groups of readers (Carissa Meisner Smit, myself, and our fabulous stage manager, Thomas Glass) each read these 20 plays and chose the best eight, based on our criteria:
1) How well they fit the theme (this year’s theme is Transitions)
2) The quality of the WRITING.

AE: And the result of that process will showcase which playwrights this year?

DJ: The eight plays that will premier in Driftwood Players 2014 Festival of Shorts include:

1) In Transition by Terry Riley from Sante Fe, NM
2) A Day in the Life of a Recovering Nine Year Old by Kim M. Baker from Warwick Rhode Island
3) A Swinging Christmas by Joe Starzyk from Troy New York
4) The Screens by Erik Champney from Haughton LA
5) A Place That Looks Like Davenport by Paul Lewis
6) LIFE ON THE LINE by Matthew Konkel
7) Winter Light by Christine Foster from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
8) Flowering by David Muschell from Milledgeville, GA

AE: Who can regular theatre-goers expect to see returning to the stage to perform this exciting variety of plays?

DJ: We have many returning actors this year – first off – Justin Tinsley who has been in 23 of the Driftwood Players productions over the last 15+ years!

“Shorts” is a favorite among our actors. In fact, we have several actors this year who were in our very first Festival of Shorts five years ago, such as Mary Kay Voss. She and I both started our involvement with Driftwood Players at the first “Shorts,” and have been involved ever since!

We have several new and exciting actors including Woody Lotts and Stephanie Spohrer, who are both cast in “A Swinging Christmas.” Then, we have several people who have been in both our Main Stage productions (four of our actors from Thugs) and our TIPS productions.

Ted Jaquith (who has directed two of the “Shorts” since the first year) is now an actor in Joe Starzyk’s “A Swinging Christmas.”

AE: Who is your co-producer, and under whose direction will the eight “Shorts” be managed?

DJ: Penny Morrison, to whom I am indebted, is co-producing with me.

Let me also mention that we have five different directors for the eight plays. This is our chance to give directors who are new to Driftwood Players a chance to see how we work (and vice versa) as well as a chance for past directors who have not had a chance recently to direct our other productions to step back into that role.

Our directors are: Nikki Fey Burgett, who is a new director to DWP – and brings with her 30 years of experience directing on the East Coast. Also directing are Chrystian Shepherd and Paul Fleming, who both directed in last year’s “Shorts”. Our returning directors from several prior years include Dave Morrison and Roy Arauz, who are each directing two of the “Shorts”.

AE: Diane, you have been so generous with your time during this busy pre-curtain-call week. Thank you for spending time with My Edmonds News – I know that the community is excitedly anticipating the 2014 “Festival of Shorts” aka “World Premier x 8”

You can buy tickets to the Festival of Shorts here.

See you from the audience. I’ll be there Saturday night!

Driftwood Players' Fifth Annual Festival of Shorts coming up

Submitted by Lesley Van Winkleon Fri, 07/04/2014 - 5:13pm

Come see the world premieres of eight one-act plays! Image credit: Edmonds Driftwood Players.

By Mary Kay Voss, Edmonds Driftwood Players Board of Directors Vice President.

Opening Friday July 11th, 2014, and running through Sunday July 13th, this is our fifth year of presenting three performances of eight original, never performed, one act plays.

This year's theme is "Transition" and we received over 250 submissions, and because of our choice of one British WRITER, we are now international.

I am so delighted to be in the opening play with two amazing actresses, Laura Crouch who played Truvy in "Steel Magnolias", and Dawn Cornell who won Best Actress at the Kaleidescope competitions a year ago, for her role in "The Longest Christmas Dinner."

So, get a group together and come have a great time. There are great restaurants in Edmonds for before or after the shows.

• Friday and Saturday performances are at 8:00 pm. Doors open at 7:00 pm, house opens at 7:30 pm with open seating.
• Sunday, the performance is at 2:00 pm. Doors open at 1:00 pm and house opens at 1:30 pm.

The website has been up and down recently so, please call the office at 425-774-9600 to get tickets. Or check the website on Monday the 7th and hopefully, it will be cooperating.

Groups of ten get a small discount on the tickets.

If you come on Sunday, plan on staying to celebrate with cake and champagne (or sparkling cider) or wine. (Yes, Driftwood is going to be selling wine in our lobby starting with this weekend).

Then, you can go back in the theatre for the awards.... audiences' favorites; and the three judges also present for the three best. It is great fun.

The shows are not all “family friendly” as one of the plays has "some adult themes."

Editor's note: The original article was corrected to say the shows are not quite "family friendly" at the request of the AUTHOR.

Sin, Sex and the C.I.A.’ is hilarious whodunit

By Meredith Pechta | Jun 20, 2014

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Courtesy of: The Driftwood PlayersThe Driftwood Players presents “Sin, Sex and the CIA” now through June 29 at the Wade James Theater.

“Sin, Sex and the C.I.A.”  What more could you need for an entertaining evening?

The Driftwood Players have a lot of fun with this premise.  Most audiences will as well.

The story takes place in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.  A bungling C.I.A. agent named Trevor Brandt is there for his first assignment – to monitor a private meeting between two people while they negotiate a deal that could affect the environment.

Daniel Warren, another man from another agency, is there to “help.”  He’s more competent and certainly more level headed, but whether he’s helpful or even supposed to be there is anyone’s guess.

One of the negotiators arrives in the form of a woman with an itch she thinks Daniel can scratch.  After she arrives they are soon joined.

Reverend Samuel Abernathy and his secretary Millicent have just gotten stranded and need a place to stay for the night.

Then there’s Heather who claims to live across the way in another cabin.  She seems to be an expert on flirtation and may be interested in the poor put-upon reverend who wants more than anything to escape this den of iniquity.

All of these characters and the actors who play them go together like a well-oiled machine.

The inept C.I.A. agent Luke is played by Trevor Brandt.  You might remember him from the Driftwood Players’ production of “An Unexpected Guest.”

Boyd Morrison plays the sensible Daniel Warren.  Every comedy needs a straight man, and he fills the role nicely as he tries to bring order to chaos.

The sex-starved female representative Margaret Johnson is played by acting veteranCarrie Schnelker.  She has a head for business and a body for monkey business.  Of course, that’s exactly what is called for in this production.

The irate Reverend Abernathy is comically played by Steve Ruggles.  He too was seen in “An Unexpected Guest.”  Here, he doesn’t always practice what he preaches, but he tries more than any of the others do.

Alysha Curry plays his sweet secretary, Millicent.  Although she is new to this particular theater, she’s no stranger to the stage.  She’s hilarious as she turns from secretary to amateur chef to spy-in-training.

And last but not least, the mysterious Heather Ann Faraday is played by Caitlin Gilman.  She comes across as a younger and prettier Rosie O’Donnell.  She makes an interesting foil for Ruggles.

If you want a fun night out with a friend or a date, this play is the ticket.  It’s a riot.

“Sin, Sex and the C.I.A.” is playing until June 29 at the Wade James Theatre, 950 Main St., Edmonds.

For ticket information call: (425) 774-9600.

For your calendar:

Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens features songs and monologues inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology. Each of the monologues is written from the perspective of characters who have died from AIDS and the songs represent the feelings of friends and family members dealing with the loss.

The theater department from Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, WA will be offering several performances and then take the production to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland in August.  The music is memorable and be ready for an evening of humor, healing and tenderness.

All seats- $10.00 donation        Tickets available at door        

                               

                                                                                                Hosted by Curtain Call Theatre

June  28^th (Sat.-2:00 pm and 8:00 pm*)                   Everett-  Music Hall

                                                                                                1492 SE. Everett, WA 98208

                                                                                                Hosted by Edmonds Driftwood Players

July 5^th  (Sat. 8:00 pm*)                                                  Edmonds- Wade James Theatre-

                                                                                                950 Main St.  Edmonds, WA 98020           

*ASL will be provided at evening performances.

Driftwood’s ‘Thugs’ are made men with a song in their hearts

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  Bob Sears / Driftwood Players
  Don Cappuccino, played by Larry Strong (left), listens to a new gangster in town, played by Keith Gehrig.
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  Bob Sears / Driftwood Players
  Singing in the town square set of “Thugs” are (from left) James Cogswell, Jay Vilhauer, Keith Gehrig, Justin Tinsley, Larry Strong and Doug Dearmin.

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By Gale Fiege, Herald Writer

You only have a few more days to catch the Edmonds Driftwood Players production of “Thugs: A Musical Mafiasco.”

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If you like farce, stories about Al Capone-era gangsters, clever lyrics and comedic acting, “Thugs” is for you.

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Written by D. Richard Tucker of King County, with music by Kim Douglass, the community theater show is at 8 p.m. May 9, and 10 and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 11, in the Wade James Theater, 950 Main St., Edmonds.

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The musical is directed by Ted Jaquith. Trombonist Mark Press leads the pit orchestra. Lee Ann Hittenberger choreographed the show.

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It’s 1929 and two thugs, Louie and Vito, are banished from Chicago’s gangland community and are looking for “work.” Louie, played with great stage presence by longtime Driftwood actor Justin Tinsley, is always hungry and not too bright. Vito, sung with aplomb by Jay Vilhauer, likes to show off his smarts.

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They find jobs in the Chicago suburb of Shady Groves as body guards for a woman and a man, both disguised as the late Anthony Sartori. Emily Lauckhart plays Gina Sartori, the deceased’s sister, and Doug Dearman is Joey Tester, the dead man’s best friend.

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Added to this are two feuding, local crime lords, Don Montecarlo and Don Cappucino, capably portrayed by Terry Boyd and Larry Strong.

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James Cogswell and Paris Giese play the Dons’ lovesick children, Romy and Julia (yes, like Romeo and Juliet.)

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A zoot-suited hit man portrayed by Driftwood veteran Keith Gehrig stirs up this whirlwind of mistaken identity.

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Cindy Giese French is delightful as the tough Mama Risotto, an owner of an Italian cafe where the thugs like to hang out.

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Director Jaquith said he chose the musical because of its similarity to “Guys and Dolls” and “Servant of Two Masters.” And, yes, “Romeo and Juliet.”

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“It’s a lot of fun,” Jaquith said. “High energy, lots of laughs and really good music.”

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For more information about Driftwood, go towww.driftwoodplayers.com.

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Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.

We are so pleased to announce our eight finalists for our Fifth Annual Festival of Shorts!  Selected from more than 200 entries from around the world, this is no small achievement.  Many thanks to the teams of readers who spent countless hours reading each and every qualified submission!   Please join us for the Festival which runs July 11-13, 2014 to see which of these great finalists will be awarded Best In Show.

In Transition by Terry Riley (Santa Fe, NM)

A Swinging Christmas by Joe Starzyk (Troy, NY)

A Day In The Life Of A Recovering Nine Year Old by Kim M. Baker (Warwick, RI)

The Screens by Erik Champney (Haughton, LA)

A Place That Looks Like Davenport by Paul lewis (Bainbridge, WA)

Life On The Line by Matthew Konkel (Milwaukee, WI)

Winter Light by Christine Foster (Cambridge, Ontario, Canada)

Flowering by David Muschell (Milledgeville, GA)

Congratulations to all!  See you at the Festival