FronteraFest, the five-week-long performance festival that ScriptWorks co-produces with Hyde Park Theatre returns next week with performances starting January 16th. The Short Fringe, for pieces 25 minutes or less occurs at Hyde Park Theatre, with four to five shows performing a night. All shows start at 8 PM. We commission four pieces for the Short Fringe, that appear weekly on Wednesday nights. Every year, several of our members are involved in FronteraFest. Below are the members participating in the Short Fringe this year. Mi Casa es Su Teatro also returns this year on February 10th so stay tuned for more information about that. For the full festival line-up and to purchase tickets visit Hyde Park Theatre.
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Hamlet, by Alex Garza. In this gripping tale of loss and consequence, Hamlet deals with the sinister circumstances surrounding the death of the King, his father, while at the same time attempting to reconcile a strong resentment towards his mother. In coming to terms with the romantic feelings for the men in his life, he also must face the difficulty of his relationship with Ophelia. Can Hamlet maintain his sanity amidst all the chaos and confusion in his world?
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Goin’ to Jackson, by Tristan Young Mercado. (ScriptWorks Commission). Back from the dead, our celestial Lord and Savior returns to Jackson, Missouri where he/she runs into a couple of non-believers and questions his/her life choices.
Waiting, by Monroe Oxley. Directed by Julia Chereson. How does a playwright come up with an idea for a play? How does a playwright finalize an idea before moving on to the next one? How does a playwright stay on schedule? All these questions and more could possibly be answered in Waiting. Let’s go on a journey through the playwright’s mind as they try to organize their thoughts as they write their latest play.
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Today In Sixth Period, by Sandy Maranto. As with every generation, Gen Z has its own language . . . and attitude. Based on one teacher’s experiences with this wacky and wonderful generation.
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
I’ll Make an End, by Kleo Ryan, directed by Lacey Cannon Gonzales. Centers on a conversation between an Artist and Death as they discuss art, Shakespeare, love, loss, and death by elevator shafts.
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Linda’s Last Show, created by CB Goodman and Friends, performed by CB Goodman, a Grackle Jack Production (ScriptWorks Commission). Linda Delray has been Manny the Magnificent’s assistant for 25 years and after another magic show ruined by his lack of professionalism, she’s calling it quits. All she has to do is make it through one last show at the Austin Bird Watchers’ Annual FUNdraiser.
Texas Book of Beasts; Year of the Cricket, by Jeff Irvin. Texas Book of Beasts: Year of the Cricket. Fable on organizing a community to save an endangered Tia’s, with audience participation: cricket clickers, sign prompts, and audience yoga (seated).
Friday, January 26, 2024
Let’s Do Lunch, written by Jaimie Pitts. Two former high school friends who haven’t seen each other in years meet up for an obligatory reunion lunch, but old tensions quickly bubble to the surface.
Take Care of My Friend, by Kathleen Fletcher. One woman’s comedic journey receiving treatment for 3rd degree burns.
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Out, Out, Damn, I’m Out, by Elise Kotin. Get ready to go internal! Experience a coming out story with the imagination moving through comedic and dramatic scenes of self-discovery of the human experience. Real-life personal stories and fictional imaginative aspects take you from the inside out. Every journey of a thousand steps starts with a lot of voices in your head!
Medea, by Euripides, translated by Ian Johnston. In this interpretation of Euripides’ classic Greek tragedy, Alex Garza creates a solo performance that tells the story of a woman fighting to be heard in a society where she feels betrayed by men and those in power. What will one person sacrifice to make their voice heard?
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
The Talk, by Lilly Percifield (ScriptWorks Commission). Lilly Percifield uses DIY props and absurd comedy to satirize the purity culture that influenced her teenage years. The Speaker (Lilly) presents a series of convoluted metaphors and felt-board illustrations that teach the audience how to remain pure and avoid tempting others into sexual sin. Moldy sandwiches and a cheerleading routine depict the state of Christian sex education (or lack thereof) in this silly solo show.
Oracle.ai Devised by Trace Turner and Cynthia Gage, this piece examines the place of oracles in an increasingly digital world by combining practiced divination with AI programs. While inside the temple’s chambers, brave audience members will have the chance to ask one of the oracles to discern their future. We watch each oracle in turn consult and generate prophecies right before our very eyes in a multimedia phantasmagoria that harkens back to a distant age.
A Universe of Moths, written and directed by Marla Porter. A depressed, once-famous painter and her surly fourteen-year-old art student find common ground. Artwork by Marsha Kendall. Music by Ben Poliakoff. Starring Christine Schiele and Skylar Ewing. Content warning: contains description of suicide attempt.
Augusta Opens a Window, by Helen Sneed. This is the story of Augusta Stubbs, a single female New Yorker with outstanding professional abilities and a disastrous inability to manage her private life. These conflicting sides come to the fore when Augusta attempts to help her city in the aftermath of 9/11.
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Baby Sister Says Try, by Jameel Khaja. Two siblings don’t see eye to eye.
Two Concerts and a Play, by Aneesa Needel. Lyric and Reed notice they end up at the same events night after night and start to connect—it’s a meet-cute with live music!
Xenogia Spoken Word Collective, by Jeff “DaShade” Johnson and Zell Miller, III. Xenogia Spoken Word Collective perform Hip-Hop inspired poetry.
Dispatch, by Courtney Wright. A couple hours on the job.
Friday, February 2, 2024
Not My Mother, written and performed by Lorella Loftus. A one-woman comedy about a grown-up daughter’s relationship with her mother. Told within the framework of the daughter’s encounters with a mystery “friend,” the show explores each woman’s eccentricities as they seek a new understanding of the relationship. Original music by Vikki Schwarz.
Dirty Little Secret, by Tristan Young Mercado. Description TBD.
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
They Eat Sunshine Not Zebras, by Dara Murphy. The field believes in uniformity. Lovely rows of blades all the same height. Lovely rows of blades exhibiting standard behavior of green grassness. Nothing stands in the way of the green grass. Until they wake up one morning to see a yellow dandelion in their midst. A dandelion will turn their orderly way of life upside down. A dandelion must be destroyed. Isn’t that what you do when something is different? All is fun and games with “rejecting” the different and the unknown. Until the lawn mower. Directed by Maggie Meador.
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Starcrossed, by Andy Tate, directed by Kirk Scarbrough. (ScriptWorks Commission) It’s 2054 and Ellie has fallen in love. Unfortunately, leasing a robot boyfriend isn’t cheap, and she’s also fallen behind on her payments. In a last-ditch effort to prevent the love of her life from being repossessed, Ellie is forced to ask her mom to come to the rescue. Featuring Esther Park, Ryan Fang, and Nguyen Stanton-Adams.
Dying to Sing, by Nailah Jumoke. Dying and strapped to a hospital bed, Eleanora Fagan tells “her” side of the story of what it was like being the legendary Billie Holiday as she struggled with heroin, abusive men, and extreme racism. Directed by Indiia Wilmot
Mystery of the Super-Sparkly Diamond, by Alex Garza. In this comedic solo performance, Alex Garza pays tribute to mystery and detective stories from novels and films. Everyone on the train is a suspect, and it is up to Detective Bryson Jones to solve the mystery. Join a wild variety of characters in a show to be enjoyed by all.
Thursday, February 8, 2024
The Mystery of the Missing Car, by Max Langert. What exactly happened on the afternoon of October 3rd?
Leticia Won’t Find A Better Man, by Raymond Whelan, featuring Sebastian Garcia, Samantha Levine, and Whelan. A romantic comedy in three scenes about one lonely young woman, one lonely middle-aged man, his whip-smart younger brother, and dreams deferred. It takes place in Chicago just as America steps into its third century.
Friday, February 9, 2024
Don’t Be Afraid of the Water, by Marissa Castañón-Hernandez & Maria Delgado. Maria’s lived in NYC for over seventy years. She’s heard some things, seen some things, and done some things. She’s one tough lady, but one thing she never wants to do again is to see the dead. Based on a true story.