When Valentino, an aging lothario played by Terry Swan, enters an imaginary hotel room with Sophie, a bookish librarian portrayed by Maureen May, you know comedy is afoot.
So began Part I of Durango Arts Center’s third annual 10-minute play contest. On Friday, staged readings of five works took place on a bare stage.
“No props, costumes or sets,” said Dinah Swan, who with her husband, Terry, founded the DAC competition in 2011. “But we have lights, actors and you, the audience.”
The evening unfolded one play at a time, opening with Valentino and Sophie in “That’s Amore.” No one knew the playwright’s name until the judging ended and the audience had cast ballots for the People’s Choice Award. As it turned out, “That’s Amore” won both categories, a first for the center. At the end, volunteer Diane Panelli called the playwright Arnold Kane in Cathedral City, Calif., and Terry Swan congratulated him on his double win. An enthusiastic audience let the playwright hear Durango’s approval.
Kane’s script was one of 128 in the pool for the 2013 competition, a tad fewer than last year’s 130 entries. The contest is thoroughly “blind,” as Swan underlined. From the beginning, DAC Theater and Contest Director Theresa Carson blanks out playwright’s names and assigns numbers to all scripts.
Panels of readers pore through the scripts, whittling the number to 10 finalists, from which five are chosen for readings.
“That’s Amore” is a witty play about experience and innocence, or so it seems. More won’t be said here, because Kane’s comedy will receive a fully staged production in Part II of the festival in September. The other five finalists included “Face Time,” by Donna Hoke of Amherst, N.Y.; “Remembering Elizabeth,” by Jack Rushton of Newburg, Maine; “Courting Candle,” by Joann Yeoman of Bogota, N.J.; and “El Loro, El Gato, y El Espiritu Santo or The Parrot, the Cat and the Holy Ghost,” by Kelly Andronicos-McBurnette of Lafayette, Ind.
Four of the five had comedic structures. “Remembering Elizabeth” had a wistful, melancholic tone as it centered on an aging couple struggling with memory issues.
Cast members included the Swans, May, Miles Batchelder, Emma Buchanan, Alyse Neubert, Hattie Miller and Sonora Robinson.
“Face Time” was perhaps the most contemporary in its satire. Miller and Neubert portrayed former high school friends who meet in a customer service line and catch up. Contrasting superficial Facebook minutia with efforts to communicate some emotional truths, the conversation was sharp, tart, funny and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the performance seemed static, but so did three of the other readings.
Last year, more attention was paid to directorial matters – pace, pitch, vocal production and blocking. Kane’s comedy benefitted from the most polished reading, so its top prize was not a surprise.
That said, the festival is a winner. When Carson produces September’s fully staged performances of Kane’s play and four others chosen by the judges, DAC will continue to enhance its theatrical wing.
jreynolds@durangoherald.com. Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, artist and critic.
Review
Durango 10-Minute Play Contest, 7 p.m. Friday, May 17 at Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., coordinated by Theresa Carson, 259-2606, www.durangoarts.org. “That’s Amore” by Arnold Kane will be staged with five other selections Sept. 13 and 14.
