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
Texas Book of Beasts by Jeff Irvin. Series of extremely short skits dealing with gnats, gnus, bats, okra, raccoons, quail, pickups, skinks, javelina, daddy-long-legs, burghers, toads, ocelots, shoats, warts, mosquitoes, Neiman Marcus, dioramas, and minnows.
La Gattina by Raymond V. Whelan. New York Police Department Lieutenant Murray reveals untold details of a horrific crime to Kitty, the victim’s ghost.
Pong: The Musical by Max Langert featuring music by Liam & Jules Langert (ScriptWorks Commission). The future is uncertain in this black and white world. Only lateral movement will help us survive.
Thurs. Jan. 18
Do You Feel Safe Yet? by Tyler Kosmak. A collection of scenes on the theme of safety, directed by Megan Weaver.
#DeadMommyJokes by James E. Burnside. A one act play.
Fri. Jan. 19
Little Art Table, Written and Directed by Marla Porter. Creativity can help overcome one’s insecurities and smallness and children give a master class!
At the Highland Mall, by Jennifer Griffin Graham, adapted by Kyle John Schmidt. A dark comedy about two sisters’ trip to a mall turned ossuary for answers from the bones of the recently deceased. Adapted from the Jennifer Griffin Graham short story by siblings Kyle and Jadrien Schmidt.
Stapleface, with Clayton Cook, Brett VerVoort, Kyle Berthusen, Franny Harold, Paul Harrison, Nikita Rekar, and Tevis Paxton (EGGS)
Opening this past September to rave reviews, “Stapleface” is a sketch comedy show comprised of several interwoven scenes dealing with such subjects as shame, passion, loss, and love. EGGS’ writers and performers aim to push the boundaries of the traditional sketch experience through outrageous characters, visceral performance, and minimal frills no costumes, no stops, all funny. Directed by Anthony Ellison
Tues. Jan. 23
Meat by Sean Sweeney. A man cooks meat for his girlfriend who refuses to eat it.
The Kitty-Cat Brigade by Tristan Young Mercado. Three liberal women break onto the White House lawn in an attempt to rescue the First Lady.
Weds. Jan. 24
Haggis by Ava Love Hanna (ScriptWorks Commission). A couple’s search for adventure at a desert nudist resort lands them in rural Scotland with an inscrutable groundskeeper and inadequate wardrobe. A new comedy by Ava Love Hanna; starring Anne Hulsman, Weldon Phillips, and Travis Dean.
Thurs. Jan. 25
ChuTopp with Estevan J. “Chuy” Zarate and Topping Haggerty. Improvised show that ridiculously embraces the classic criminal caper and all the humorously intricate character dynamics that come with such nefarious endeavors.
The Servant Girl Annihilator by Lorenzo Martinez and Laura Creedle. Eliza and Michael work in a haunted house based on Austin’s infamous 19th century Servant Girl Annihilator murders.
Fri. Jan. 26
Mister Starbuck by Raymond V. Whelan. Mrs. Flanagan jumps out of her bedroom window the day Astronaut John Glenn orbits the Earth. Her daughter Michelle and granddaughter Evelyn aren’t feeling so great, either.
Tues. Jan. 30
Mother Tree written and performed by Laura Freeman. This is an autobiographical piece on death, grief, and healing.
Weds. Jan. 31
5 reasons to write a song and 1 reason not to by Robin Chotzinoff. Robin Chotzinoff and Shelly Leuzinger bring back their 30-seconds-too-long-for-FronteraFest 2017 musical psycho-romp.
Foxing by Greg Romero (ScriptWorks Commission). They start with a dance then exhaust themselves further. Their exercises are led by a human who is also a fox named Beatrice. Aaron and Charlie drink water, do burpees, transform into wild animals, and unfold pieces of paper the fox keeps handing them, confronting the most difficult moment they keep trying to bury. Performed by Errin Delperdang, Kelly Hasandras, and Olivia O’Hare.
Thurs. Feb. 1
Into the Light written and performed by Marla Porter. One woman’s tale of coming back to life after a thirteen-year depression. Directed by Max Langert.
Fri. Feb. 2
Hero On The Clock by Anthony Ellison. An office Hero emerges from the sheep and gains the leverage to ask for a raise.
Tues. Feb. 6
Awww, The Magic of a Full Moon! by Marilyn Smith. A man and woman bump into each other. Is this by accident, or is it fate? The relationship grows from that first encounter to drinks at a bar, through the first fight, and finally towards reconciliation. As they converse with each other, the audience gets to hear their private thoughts to what the other just said. The humorous differences between the opposite sexes leave open the question of the pull of universal forces on relationships.
Fly Girl written and performed by Christine Hoang. As a Vietnamese-American girl growing up in the 90s, Christine always wanted to be Carrie Ann Inaba, the “Asian Fly Girl” on In Living Color. Two decades later, she finally gets her chance when she auditions and gets cast as a 90s hip-hop dancer in a local sketch comedy show Doper Than Dope, run by a team of Millennials. Throughout this process, Christine, a Gen Xer, learns that Millennials are not the “entitled” generation, but the “make it happen” generation.
Everything I needed to know about misogyny, I learned in kindergarten by J. Whitney Williams. The account of how I developed my ethical framework. We all have stories we don’t like to tell. This is mine.
Weds. Feb. 7
River of Haircuts by Kyle John Schmidt (ScriptWorks Commission). A new play by the multiple Best-of-Fest-winning team of writer Kyle John Schmidt and director Elizabeth C. Lay.
Thurs. Feb. 8
Cheating M’Fers by Ty Spencer Hoppe. Short play dealing with adultery, starting over, and the gay-male-straight-female friendship dynamic.
This Side of the Window written and directed by Tristan Young Mercado. Highlights the angst created when a middle-aged couple compare their lives to that of their younger, hipper new neighbors.
Fri. Feb. 9
Big Iron Fires by Greg Romero. Gwen goes off-script so she can listen to you. Lost characters from a different play, a volunteer from the audience, a song, and a gun. We don’t know everything that will happen. Directed by Jess Shoemaker.
Gospel Hour by Dan Caffrey. Inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper,” Gospel Hour catches a police officer parked on the side of the highway, reflecting on his past misdeeds in a moment of severe crisis.
BRING YOUR OWN VENUE
Strip the Musical, by Amparo Garcia-Crow with composer Arthur Shane
The Living Room Storytime for Grownups, in association with Dillo Arts and Associates, present . . . STRIP THE MUSICAL. Strip takes the true stories of Candy Barr, Lenny Bruce, and Josephine Baker and tells the “naked truth” of their historic tales as one in this “Best Little Whorehouse Meets Godspell at Our Town.”
Recommended for mature audiences. If teens attend, they should be accompanied by a parent.
Marchesa Theatre, Austin Film Society Event Hall
6226 Middle Fiskville Road, Austin 78752
Tickets: $20
January 23 (Sneak Preview), 24, 25, 26, and 27 at 8:00 pm; January 28 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm