Frostburg’s One Act Festival is practically here! The fest takes place this Fri., Sept 26 and Sat., Sept 27 at 7:30pm at the Palace Theater (31 E. Main St. Frostburg, MD). This event features staged productions of the national One-Act Playwriting Competition. I had the great pleasure of speaking with this year’s winners about their winning woks, life as a playwright, aspirations and successes. This is a little snippet of what each of these talented individuals had to say:
First place winner David Finney is a “bald, gray-haired,
gray-bearded, pot-bellied” 71 year old man, retired in Chicago. His winning play,
Love in a Minor Key, is about an old man
who visits his deceased wife’s grave reflecting on their love and what made it
last.
On inspiration of title: Love, I think,
is about the small, gentle moments (call them notes) that make up a
relationship between two people, like a quiet piece of jazz, so – Love In A Minor Key.
On entering the contest: I belong to a
service called “Play Submission Helper” and the school’s one-act play festival was
listed. I just sent in two copies as
requested and three months later received word that I had won first place.
On wining 1st place: It’s a
tired cliché, but as you know most writing begins with the writer glued to a
keyboard, filling a computer screen with words.
After a while, of course, you’re half nuts, not sure at all what you’re
doing is any good and then finally you submit the manuscript just hoping you
won’t be laughed out of the room. When
someone says, “You’ve won. We’ll do it”,
you gather up the pieces of your shattered psyche with more confidence.
On future projects: I’m writing a
drama, set in 1948, about an Irish-American family (troubled, of course,
because they’re Irish) and an estranged mother and son who discover their love
for each other.
Second place winner Barry H. Weinberg graduated with a BA
from the University of Minnesota in 1963, and a JD in 1966. His play, It’s Your Funeral, is about a young couple
whose deceased relatives help them sort through the four suspects who might
have pushed Uncle Billy down the stairs to his demise…if he was pushed.
On inspiration of title: I was trying
to be cute. Uncle Billy, one of the
protagonists, is a ghost, and all the other characters go to Uncle Billy’s
funeral, so it’s his funeral. Plus, it’s
a riff on the old saying about doing things that might end badly, as might the
detecting of Uncle Billy’s niece Lisa.
Cute, no?
On winning 2nd place: I got
the email notification of my win when I was touring the Hudson River Valley in
New York with my son and a friend on our way to the jazz festival in Saratoga
Springs. So I whooped and shouted with
friends and family. This was a win I
really wanted because it is held so close to our Garrett County, where we have
a bunch of friends.
On other writers: I admire all writers—they
put so much work into their writing with no assurance that it will ever be seen
or heard by anyone else. For It’s Your Funeral, I was inspired by Black Comedy, a marvelous one-act play by
Peter Schaffer. I’ve seen that play a
few times and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to try writing a one-act play
myself. I am proud of It’s Your Funeral, even though I’m aware
that I haven’t done nearly as well as he.
On the One Act Fest: I have had wonderful
conversations with Gerry LaFemina, the head of the Frostburg Center for
Creative Writing, Nicole Mattis, Chair of the Frostburg Department of Theatre
and Dance, and Mary Ann Champman, director of It’s Your Funeral (and teacher of English at Frostburg State). This is the FUN part of theatre, after all
the work and anxiety. I’m so looking
forward to the rest of the fun parts: the rehearsal and the festival!
3rd place
winner Larry Ukolowicz described his
play The Search for a Life Worth
Repeating by saying, “What do a dating service, a synagogue, and a bridge
all have in common? A man named Richard
who is in search of a love for keeps.”
On the title: The
search for love [inspired the title]. We all go through it. When we find it and are so happy, we don’t
want it or our life to ever end. And if
we had to do it all over again, we would.
On winning 3rd
place: I entered with two plays and I thought the other, that didn’t win,
was a much more biting, universal topic and a stronger piece. I guess I shouldn’t judge my own work.
On aspirations as a
writer: I guess I am in a class of my own.
I don’t write for super stardom or for a living at it. I write for the pleasure of creating a world
dressing my fantasy life. The
competitions and winnings take care of the ego part of it. But I even enter contests without cash
prizes. I think it’s fun. I also donate all winnings to charity.
On accomplishments: I
just won the Texas Non-Profit Theatre Inc. competition and my two-act comedy The Living Mrs. Del Vecchio will make its
U.S. debut as a full production as part of the 2015 season at the Henderson
County Performing Arts Center in Athens, TX in May of 2015. I am also an
associate theatre critic for the online site John Garcia’s Column out of
Dallas, which is, more or less, the Bible of what’s going on in the theatre in
North Texas. I am a member of Texas
Non-Profit Theatres, Inc., and the American Association of Community Theatres,
Inc. and also a member of Dramatists Guild.
So, my eyes and ears are always open for new adventures in the theatre
and I travel to NYC to see plays twice a year.
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