FronteraFest is a five-weeks long performance festival that ScriptWorks co-produces with Hyde Park Theatre annually. The Short Fringe, for pieces 25 minutes or less occurs at Hyde Park Theatre, with five shows performing a night. 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 in the Short Fringe this year. For the full festival line-up and to purchase tickets visit Hyde Park Theatre.
Tuesday, Jan. 14
The Texas Book of Beasts: Year of the Rooster, by Jeff Irvin. Audience yoga (seated) with hats, clickers, insane plot, and singalong. Audience crows like a rooster, howls like a wolf, and yells at cattle. Spinoff of similar efforts last two years.
A Tethered Butterfly, by James E. Burnside. A solo play featuring Kristen Gooch.
The Silo Effect, by Jay DiPrima. A 10+ minute play that explore the interaction of “Alexa” with seniors that are discovering its pseudo capacity for dialogue and intimacy. The AI interactions are both humorous and disarming.
Wednesday, Jan. 15
The Pass, by Tristan Young Mercado (ScriptWorks Commission). Gives a nod to the great city of Austin while highlighting the humor that exists between an aging couple struggling to remain relevant and “cool” while capitalizing on a pact made 23 years before.
The Stand-Off, by Christian Jacob Ramon. This is a two-person short play about a cop and a gangster who have a standoff in an alleyway, but come to find out that they are actually from each other’s past.
Thursday, Jan. 16
The #2 Sacrifice, by Sandy Maranto. In this storytelling piece, Sandy Maranto talks about the time she carried through with the #2 sacrifice for a person she loves very much.
Dueling Playwrights: Battle in the Grocery Aisle, by Marianne Serene & James E. Burnside. Two playwrights argue over the writing of a play. The play humorously explores the different styles of shoppers as they run across, and into, each other in the grocery aisle. Directed by Jared K. Sloan and featuring the Travelling Troupe.
Friday, Jan. 19
A Series of Open Letters to my Teenage Son, by Max Langert. A father writes a letter a year to his son on his son’s 13th through 19th birthdays.
Tuesday, Jan. 21
I Am Not The Person You Have Made Me Out to Be, by Marianne Serene. A playwright writes a play about a son and the relationship he wished he had with his son. The play goes awry. This play, outside a play, reveals that life isn’t always as we make it out to be. People are not always who we make them out to be. Directed by Barbara Abbate and featuring Jerel Fast, Shannon Embry, Nash Ferguson, Joe Moore, and Kristen Gooch.
Wednesday, Jan. 22
Dueling Playwrights: On Porn, by Marianne Serene & James E. Burnside. Two playwrights, each with their own male/female perspective, battle over the writing of a play about a husband and wife humorously discovering each other’s views on pornography. Will they head to divorce court or the bedroom? Directed by Jared K. Sloan and featuring the Travelling Troupe.
Lightning Girl, by Rita Anderson (ScriptWorks Commission). A surreal fictionalization of how 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke, in 1971, survived a plane crash after her craft was struck by lightning and then had to navigate for 12 days through the Peruvian rain forest. Juliane finds herself in a world of strange & mysterious paradoxes as she faces her personal demons to come to terms with the reality of her own survival. Based on a true story. Directed by Crystal Franz. Featuring Kristin Fern Johnson, Valoneecia Tolbert, Katie Henderson, and Marci Blackwell.
Thursday, Jan. 23
Flashmandments, by CB Goodman. Sandra shares her epic origin story of freedom when her organs revolt and take over the show with their own tales of suffering, desire, and boredom. Using puppets, Flash Gordon, The Ten Commandments, Buddhist philosophy, and sequins, Sandra’s biggest battle is about to begin. Can Oprah guide her to freedom or will she get sucked into the swamp? Created and performed by CB Goodman (Grackle Jack Productions).
Flawed, by Sandy Maranto. In this monologue, Donna, a strong and sassy southern woman, discusses how our forgiveness is greater than our flaws. Performed by Roxy Becky and directed by Karina Dominguez.
Friday, Jan. 24
A Child’s Guide to Schopenhauer, by Marla Porter. Kids explore philosophy. Written and directed by Marla Porter and starring Skylar Ewing, Aidan O’Brien, and Tara Ruiz.
Tuesday, Jan. 28
Dueling Playwrights: Battle of the Bathroom, by Marianne Serene & James E. Burnside. Two playwrights, each with their own male/female perspective, battle over the writing of a play about men and women humorously observing each other’s bathroom habits. Directed by Jared K. Sloan and featuring the Travelling Troupe.
Miss Winnie, by Marla Porter. What happens when a soul meets the Angel of Birth? Come see Miss Winnie and find out! Written and directed by Marla Porter, and starring Kristen Gooch and Svetlana Koutseridi.
Mom’s First Job (And What Not To Talk About At The Dinner Table), by Rhonda Roe. Rhonda Roe (actor, writer, and Artistic Director of Stages of Grief Comedy Theatre) tells the story of her mother’s initial foray into the working world and why there are some things you don’t say at the dinner table.
Wednesday, Jan. 29
Bad Neighbors, by Ava Love Hanna (ScriptWorks Commission). The five members of the HOA board in Westdale are here to help protect your property values and field your anonymous complaints about Paul’s short-shorts. Follow the deed restrictions and we’ll all get along just fine—unless you’re from Avondale. We hate those guys. A new comedy by Ava Love Hanna, starring Roxy Becker, Ava Love Hanna, Paul Hanna, Weldon Phillips, and Luke Wallens.
Fidelity, by Raymond V. Whelan. Leo Thoreau, junior investment analyst, seeks life beyond quiet desperation, with help from his Uncle Joe and sister Miriam. Sebastian Garcia, Samantha Levine, and Raymond V. Whelan perform.
Thursday, Jan. 30
Thing with Feathers, written and performed by Kylah Torre. A monologue about mental illness and dating.
What a World, by Laura Freeman and Kris Frederiksen. Two people who met in the first grade prepare for the end of the world.
Tuesday, Feb. 4
Enlightened, by Tristan Young Mercado. Two staff writers attempt to appeal to a broader audience by creating marginalized characters that take on a life of their own.
Our Good Friend, by Sabeen Noorani and Trinity Joan Adams. This one-act play is about three very best friends: Lola, Jesse, and Nan. But on the night of Jesse’s 23rd birthday bitch rave, she fully disappears on Lola and Nan, leaving a suspicious scene in her wake. Featuring Sabeen Noorani, Trinity Joan Adams, and Jazzmine Colbert.
What Water is There for Us to Clean Ourselves, by James E. Burnside. A solo play featuring Toby Al Trabulsi.
Words Fail Me, by Hank Schwemmer. TBD.
Wednesday, Feb. 5
Please Do Not Touch the Art, by Sally Seitz. (ScriptWorks Commission) A comedic short play about female friendship and its ability to withstand both change and crisis.
Unconditional Therapy, by Sandy Maranto. A very nice, simple man finds that he can’t say anything right to the women in his life. Performed by Yesica Betancourt, Candice Cummings Harris, Paul Hanna, Cathie Sheridan, and Caleb Stratton and directed by Ava Love Hanna.
Thursday, Feb. 6
How to Belong, written and performed by Maggie Gallant.
Sunday Slugg’rz, by Max Langert. A bumbling softball team tries to make it to the Gay Softball World Series.
Whippet Good, by Jo DePrang. Childhood best friends catch up after a mutual friend’s funeral. Originally, inseparable girls, one has now transitioned to male. Over a carton of whippets (nitrous cartridges), they grapple with “identity,” mortality, and whether the present can change the past. But like, it’s funny.
The following members have work appearing in the Long Fringe of FronteraFest, occurring January 22 – February 2 at Ground Floor Theatre.
THEY SERVE BRISKET IN PARADISE, by Sandy Maranto. Family members – gotta love ’em! We often take them for granted until they’re no longer in our lives. In this quirky comedy, the Williamson family discovers just what they mean to each other while trying to find a way out of a precarious situation. Performed by Karina Dominguez, Christopher Gonzalez, Cathie Sheridan, and Luke Wallens. Directed by Linda Nenno.
Wed. 1/22 @ 7:00 PM; Fri. 1/24 @ 9:00 PM; Sat. 1/25 @ 5:00 PM & Sun. 1/26 @ 4:15 PM
$10
75 Mins
TATAY, by Pelita Dasalla. Tatay is an expanded form of a ten-minute play from OUT OF INK 2018: Lost and Found with the same title, produced by ScriptWorks. It is a Filipino-American story about a young woman named Anita, who yearns for her mother’s affection and truth about her father. It is a heartfelt story that deals with family, loss, love, and cultural identity. Directed by Leng Wong. (The full-length version of TATAY was created with support from a ScriptWorks Groundwork Grant.)
Weds. 1/22 @ 9:00 PM; Fri. 1/24 @ 7:00 PM; Sat. 1/25 @ 3:00 PM & Sun. 1/26 @ 2:15 PM
$15
75 Mins
Possibilities – Storytelling with Poetry, Improv, and Song, by Jennifer Bloom & In Our Prime. Jennifer Bloom shares poetry, songs, and stories to weave a tapestry of connection on her exploration of what it means to be human. In Our Prime Improv (Paul Normandin, Ryan Hill, and Gloria Rabil Bankler) finds fully-realized characters from Jennifer’s poetry and your input. They explore relationships both unique and every-day. Each show offers a new possibility…and a hug for your soul.
Weds. 1/29 @ 8:45 PM; Fri. 1/31 @ 7:00 PM; Sat. 2/1 @ 5:30 PM & Sun. 2/2 @ 3:00 PM
$15
90 Mins