As a way to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Abingdon Theater Company, which has produced 77 new American plays since 1993, will be holding the Abingdon Bay Ridge One-Act Festival, an inaugural evening of three world-premiere short plays, on Saturday August 25.
Kevin Armento, Bo List and Jen Silverman are the three playwrights selected by Abingdon staff members for the event, which will feature the theater company doing staged readings of Armentos short play, Runts, Canary Yellow by List, and Silvermans Marvin on the Loose.
Then, a panel of theater professionals will choose the festivals outstanding script, naming one playwright as the winner of The Father Hamblin Festival Award, which comes with a $250 cash prize, as Jana Buttram, Abingdons artistic director, explained.
Buttram is one of the festivals three directors, along with Kim Sharp and Bara Swain. Buttram says she believes it is important for people to come out and encourage young playwrights to continue writing about our societys needs, [and about] who we are as a society.
The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Christ Church, located at 7301 Ridge Boulevard. Tickets will be sold at the door for a suggested donation of $10 per person, $20 for a family of three or more.
Buttram said that the plays have wonderful actors, and will bring theater to the community, making it accessible for everyone.
She is very excited to get to experience the community gathering to celebrate theater.
It will be a lot of fun, Buttram added. The evening will not just offer food for thought. In addition to the staged readings of the three plays, home-baked cookies and other refreshments will be served.
Over the years, the company has provided a safe home in which playwrights collaborate with other theatre artists and receive audience feedback through readings and workout labs, culminating in full productions, according to a statement released by the theatrical company.
The theme of the plays submitted for this years one-act festival was All mankind struggles to balance personal needs with their responsibility to society.
For more information, call Abingdon Theater Company at 212-868-2055, or visit: www.abingdontheatre.org
