FronteraFest is a five-week long performance festival that ScriptWorks co-produces with Hyde Park Theatre annually. We commission four pieces for the Short Fringe, which appear weekly on Weds. nights. Every year, several of our members are involved in FronteraFest. Below are the members who are taking part this year. For the full festival line-up and to purchase tickets visit Hyde Park Theatre.
SHORT FRINGE
Weds., January 18
Body of Work, written and performed by Christine Hoang (ScriptWorks Commission). An autobiographical, one-woman show that explores how a woman’s views on body image, consumerism, cosmetic surgery, family, and friendship evolve through her teens, twenties, and thirties. Directed by Elizabeth V. Newman.
Tea Time, by Raymond V. Whelan. London. Two bookies need fast cash. Sandy wants bread for business and his date with Laura. Wally wants dough to pay for his father’s burial. Lysis the barmaid offers funds from her Uncle Jasper who wants the Boston Red Sox to win the 1986 World Series.
Very Successful, written and performed by Robin Chotzinoff with Shelly Leuzinger. A person is driven to write songs and perform them in public. She devotes her life to practicing her instrument, developing artistic discipline, and grappling with, and finally dominating, the necessary hurdle of self-promotion. Well, she should, but she doesn’t. Five decades go by. An oddly optimistic story of wasted potential, with songs.
Thurs., January 19
Mystery-Bouffe 2016: A Comedy in Six Acts, by James E. Burnside. The Amerikan Ship of State is sinking as the Apocalypse begins. A One-Act play in Six Acts.
Fri., January 20
God’s Rabbit Hole, written and directed by Anthony Ellison (Punchkin Repertory Theatre). Jean is married and in the middle of a sexual crisis; she is completely unfulfilled, so she turns to God for guidance to ultimate ecstasy.
Tues., January 24
Lady in Red, a heavenly caffeinated tale, written and performed by Rhonda F. Kulhanek. A one-woman performance.
The Epidemiologist, by Ramon Carver. The argument of the play is for an epidemiologist to determine the source of an incipient epidemic in the nick of time while preparing to appear on an afternoon TV talk show. Featuring Timothy Englert and Ralph Gill.
Weds., January 25
Your Neighborhood Association, by Max Langert (ScriptWorks Commission). Ripped from the headlines of your local Listserv. Hope you’ve paid your dues.
Souvenirs From Tomorrow, by Kirk German, developed by Kirk German and Heather Huggins. Whose stories are retold, and whose stories are forgotten? In 1939, New York hosted an enormous World’s Fair in Flushing, Queens, which promised a dazzling glimpse at “The World of Tomorrow” — but for the city’s immigrant pushcart peddlers, the promise was a broken one.
Thurs., January 26
ChuTopp, by Topping Haggerty and Chuy Zarate. ChuTopp is doing a fully improvised narrative show that tells the story of an awkwardly brilliant, and much too complicated, caper that may, or may not, be a good thing.
In the Tallest Tower (Or For Princesses and the Dragons Who Guard Them), written by Tyler Kosmak. It’s a story we’ve all heard before: A Princess sleeps in a tall tower guarded by a fearsome Dragon waiting to be rescued by a chivalrous Knight. This time, however, something is different: the dragon is slain, but the Princess is awake, the Narrator is napping, and nothing is quite what it seems.
Fri., January 27
Dime Show Diamonds, by Candyce Rusk (JayDub Productions). Dime Show Diamonds is a one-act and part of a trilogy of plays forming THE RIVERVIEW STORIES, set in Chicago’s Riverview Amusement Park, circa 1950. Drawing on the history of the American sideshow, each character navigates life with lyric humor and objectivity. Directed by Julianna E. Wright.
Dog, by Marla Porter. A common problem threatens to tear a young family apart.
Crickets, by Kim Tran, Nicole Oglesby, Zac Carr, Jonathan Flanders, Jordan Taylor, Michelle Curry (Crickets). We explore and evaluate improvisational comedy and drama without any traditional constructs. One thing we can promise is that we will be traveling through multiple worlds, languages, theatricalities, and environments without scene changes. We pledge presence and risk. We’re also hilarious.
Tues., January 31st
The Storyteller, by Liz Delaney. Actor relates and shares several stories and poems with the audience, using the author’s words, along with creative props and universal movements. The poems and stories should touch upon shared, positive cultural memories, and/or evoke insight through new situations which are presented. Director/producer Vanessa Broussard.
The Amenable Stage, by C.M. Gill. Eva is a woman with a problem: She is a playwright with no play. Identity crisis aside, she must come up with one, and soon—or she loses her grant. She turns to her friend (a theatre director) for help and inspiration, and together, they and their actor friends begin mining their own lives and the lives of those around them for inspiration. Much meta-analysis, comedy, and existential crises ensue . . . Directed by Elizabeth V. Newman
Dare to Nap Greatly, by Nettie Reynolds. Three pieces from an upcoming one-woman show by the same name, with special guest appearance Brian Newton Fuller as Napping Man.
Weds., February 1
The Anglers, by Sarah Loucks (ScriptWorks Commission). A boy and the Devil philosophize, play video games, and eat Cheetos along the banks of the Mississippi.
Down the Alley of Life by Mike Royko, by Mike Royko, adapted by Raymond V. Whelan. While backed by a Greek chorus, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mike Royko recites an essay urging readers to show sanitation workers more respect.
Thurs., February 2
Bargainland, by Tristan Young Mercado. A farce that highlights the absurdity regarding bigotry and consumerism in America. Set in the security office of a mega super store, three customers battle it out while a security guard plays referee.
Fri., February 3
Duck, Duck, Goose, by Max Langert. Noah Martin directs this piece about feathers, funk, and fame. Originally written, cast, rehearsed, staged and performed all in one day as part of the 14/48 Austin Theatre Fest in October 2016. Check out 1448atx.wordpress.com for more info.
The Holidaze, improvised by Topping Haggerty, Julie Stainer, and Joy Masters (Foggy Daze Productions). The holidays are over and Xmas Tree, Snow Man, and Reindeer have to figure out what to do for the rest of the year.
Tues., February 7
Shift Change at the Palace of Freedom, by Lorenzo Martinez and Laura Creedle. Six superheroes leave a night of fighting crime behind and prepare for the day shift at a local hospital. Only the “Other” stands alone, trapped between day and night. Can the team truly accept the mysterious “Other”?
TBD, by Brian Newton Fuller.
The Dyeing Women, by Kyle John Schmidt. A group of beleaguered dyers at a textile mill clash with their boss over who most deserves the day off. A comedy about the wonders and troubles of suffering in public by the five-time FronteraFest Best of Fest winning team of writer Kyle John Schmidt and director Elizabeth C. Lay.
Weds., February 8
Final Conversations, by Rita Anderson (ScriptWorks Commission). Final Conversations explores a mother’s wish to have one real conversation with her son before he’s accidentally killed. One morning before he leaves for school, she suddenly knows that he has one hour to live. With a kitchen-sink approach, Mother attempts to get it “right” in conversation after conversation, using comic and often absurd methods to reach Son, none of which alters destiny.
Becoming One With The Universe or How I Avoided Writing The Play, written and performed by J. Isabel Salazar.
TBD, by Hank Schwemmer.
Pigs Sweat, Men Perspire, Ladies Merely Glow, written and performed by Bernadette Nason. After four months of unfamiliar life in Tripoli, Libya, Nason gets a vacation in Malta, an island jewel in the middle of the Mediterranean between the North African coast and Italy’s boot. Apart from relaxing with friends and downing gins and tonics, she has only one serious appointment: a leg wax. Desperate for pampering, she’s almost looking forward to it. She soon learns waxing is done differently in Europe.
Space Station Sexy, by Topping Haggerty (Groovy McGrooverson Productions). Space Station Sexy is a great place to work, but sometimes being sexy can’t fix what needs to be fixed. Sometimes.
Thurs., February 9
Untitled, by Tristan Young Mercado. This piece highlights the relationship between a daughter and her mother, who suffers with a multiple personality disorder. The daughter’s attempt to introduce her mother to her future in-laws throws the mother into an emotional tailspin.
Fri., February 10
Christy (Act I), by Cindy Vining. Christy, powerhouse CEO, returns to her childhood home for her mother’s funeral only to discover that Roger, Christy’s high school flame, married her mother on her deathbed and has inherited the house. To make matters worse, Roger is sleeping with Christy’s younger sister, Bev.
105, by Daria Miyeko Marinelli (The 2017 Cohen New Works Festival). “If this trip doesn’t kill you, I might.” 105 is a post-apocalyptic radio dance play that follows siblings Jackson and Sybil as they travel cross-country in search of a mythic conclave. Combining radio play, dance, and original music, 105 explores sacrifice, survival, and who we become when faced with a broken world.
BRING YOUR OWN VENUE
Red Sox by Raymond V. Whelan and Down the Alley of Life by Mike Royko by Mike Royko, adapted by Raymond V. Whelan
Red Sox turns back the clock thirty years to study the intricate personal struggles of seven people while the Boston Red Sox baseball team undertakes its valiant but ultimately doomed quest to become World Series Champions of 1986.
While accompanied by a Greek chorus, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mike Royko urges more respect for sanitation workers.
Book People, Third Floor
603 N. Lamar Blvd. Austin, 78703
Admission is free but donations will be accepted
January 27-28 at 8pm