Time Steps, Austin Scriptworks at the Blue Theatre, March 26 - April 4

The gathering for Time Steps at the Blue Theatre last Thursday felt like skit night at the close of summer camp. Friendly excitement, lots of young adults, and a program based on games, brainstorming and collaborative action, intended to amuse and astound us over the course of a short evening. The Blue Theatre itself, tucked away behind the Goodwill warehouses in East Austin, is a found venue of sorts, redolent of much earnest make believe.

Austin Scriptworks stirred the pot and furnished the ingredients. At its annual Weekend Fling earlier this season, participating writers were given two days and three "ingredients" with which to build a ten-minute play:

- - The play must move backward, from end to beginning;
- - The play must include a dance break which causes a shift in the action;
and
- - The play must include three things your mother told you not to do.

The harvest was eight winning scripts, presented by Austin directors and actors in six performances. By my subjective taxonomy, these included two relationship dramas, two stories of misfortunes or crimes, one fantasy drama, and three nutsy pieces. Dialogue was strong in all of them. Available actors were parceled out so that almost every face showed up in two roles during the event.

Read More at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .

Upcoming: Time Steps, the 11th annual Out of Ink Ten Minute Play Showcase, Austin Scriptworks, March 26-28, April 2 - 4

Found on-line:

Time Steps
the 11th annual Out of Ink Ten Minute Play Showcase

March 26-28 and April 2-4, 2009 @ 8 PM
Blue Theater, 916 Springdale Road

Reservations: info-at-scriptworks.org/ 512-454-9727

Flashbacks, maternal admonitions, and all kinds of dances promenade through Time Steps, the 11th annual Out of Ink ten-minute play showcase. Eight plays were selected from submissions created during a 48-hour writing retreat, called the Weekend Fling. During the Fling, writers are given three “ingredients” and two days to write their hearts out and create a ten-minute play.

This year’s ingredients were:

1. The play must go backward, from beginning to end
2. Include a sudden dance break that causes a shift in the action
3. Include three things your mother told you not to do

At the end of the Fling, the plays were read in an ASW Salon at the State Theater. A selection committee picked eight of the plays to produce in the Out of Ink Festival. The selection committee included Michael John Garces, Artistic Director of Cornerstone Theatre in Los Angeles, Natalie George, local producer and lighting designer, and Emily Fordyce, ASW board member.

The Time Steps scripts were written by:
Katherine Catmull, Aimée Gonzalez, Meg Haley, Max Langert, Marshall Maresca, Susan McMath Platt, Sarah Saltwick and Timothy Thomas.

The plays will be performed by an ensemble of actors including Kelli Bland, Kenneth Bradley, David Dubose, Kathleen Fletcher, David Gallagher, Anne Hulsman, Michelle Keffer, Rhonda Kulhanek, Christopher Loveless, Nicole Marosis, and Zeb L. West.

They’ll be directed by T.J. Gonzales, Heather Huggins, Ellie McBride, and Christina J. Moore .

Tickets: $12 general admission, $10 students/seniors/ASW/ACoT
March 26 is a Pay-What-You-Wish preview

KUT-FM AUDIO FEATURE on the 2009 Out of Ink Festival

Interviews of Time Steps playwrights on Austinist.com, by Jooley Ann, March 25:

Marshal Ryan Maresca

Tim Thomas

Max Langert

Meg Haley