Friday, May 18, 2012

"Playing Games" at Heartland Opens June 7

Heartland Theatre's annual 10-Minute Play Festival, this year featuring eight new plays on the theme "Playing Games," has been cast, with 15 actors taking on 18 roles. Those roles range from Jerry, a duplicitous Scrabble champ, to Hector, who fears he is just a character in a video game, to Judy, Ryan and Kyle, 7-year-olds playing Tag during recess.




Here are the plays, including directors and casts, you'll be seeing when Heartland's 10-Minute Play Festival opens on June 7th:

FINAL BINGO
by Meny Beriro (Forest Hills NY) 

Sarah Salazar, director 
Cast: Sara L. Flanders (Carol) and Lynda Straw (June) 
Carol and June have been playing bingo in the same place for 20 years. But now that their favorite bingo parlor is closing, will they still be friends? Or were they ever friends at all?

I AM. I THINK.  
by Jerry McGee (Brooklyn NY) 

Ken Kendall, director 
Cast: Dana Anderson (Sybil) and Dave Lemmon (Hector) 
Did you ever wonder if you existed, or if you were just a character in a video game? No? Well, the line between game and reality is only too real for Hector. Unless it's imaginary.

IN MEMORY OF CALVINBALL
by Erin Moughon (New York NY) 

Matt Campbell, director 
Cast: Tori Allen (Murphy) and Kyle McClevey (Jones) 
Ms. Murphy and Mr. Jones may've been playing their made-up game for three years, but it's probably more like three hours. The one thing they can count on is that no rule ever stays the same.

MISSED CONNECTIONS
by Marj O’Neill-Butler (Miami Beach FL) 

Ron Emmons, director 
Cast: Kent Nussbaum (Bob) and Alyssa Ratkovich (Rosie) 
Did Rosie meet Bob in the pasta section or the dairy aisle? Was he wearing red running shoes or scarlet Crocs? Whose "Missed Connection" was whose? All is fair in the Mating Game!

IT
by Mike Poblete (Brooklyn NY) 

Rachel Krein, director 
Cast: Jay Hartzler (Ryan), Gayle Hess (Judy)
and Dave Lemmon (Kyle)
Kyle and Judy are OVER. No more Ring Around the Rosy. No more sharing the Mickey Mouse car. But on the playground of their relationship, being tagged IT may be the ultimate romantic gesture.

DESTINY'S TUG-OF-WAR
by John D. Poling (Clinton IL) 

Chris Gray, director 
Cast: George Freeman (Jason), Jay Hartzler (Dr. Schieder ), 
Gayle Hess (Kristen) and Hannah White (Sally) 
Divorce, a new partner, a custody battle... This time, the one caught in the middle is a puppy named Destiny, after a scary trip to the vet brings the whole triangle and its tug-of-war into sharp focus.

BOURBON WHISKEY RUMMIKUB
by Alexis Roblan (Brooklyn NY) 

Misti Dawn Crossland, director 
Cast: Jessica Arbuckle (Sue) and Kent Nusbaum (Jake)
It's time for Jake to meet the parents, but Sue insists that he learn - and master -- her family's favorite game before they go. Can this relationship survive cutthroat Rummikub?

WORD PLAY
by Austin Steinmetz (Columbus OH) 

Marty Lynch, director 
Cast: Nathan Bottorff (Jerry) and Ivey Buchanan (Webster) 
If people find out that 5-time National Scrabble Champion Jerry Diddle has been hiding Es up his sleeves, he may just lose everything. Or he may find out there's more to life than Triple Word Scores.

Heartland Theatre's "Playing Games" 10-Minute Play Festival opens on June 7 with a special Pay-What-You-Can preview, followed by performances June 8-10, 14-17, 21-24, 28-30 and July 1. Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 pm, while Sunday matinees begin at 2 pm.

To make reservations or check the schedule, click here. To see more about the plays and playwrights, click here.

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