For the 4th biennial 10-minute play festival, dubbed “Kauai Shorts,” Women in Theatre’s selection committee received more than 170 submittals, some from as far away as Australia and Wales.
The committee was able to narrow that list down to 20, and 18 of those were featured Friday and Saturday during the 2013 festival at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center.
“It was very successful,” said Romey Curtis, one of the founding members of WIT. “We had over 400 attendees for both nights combined. A lot of laughter.”
Judges and audience members selected the top eight “shorts,” which will be showcased again this weekend when the festival continues at WIT’s End, in the Coconut MarketPlace in Kapaa.
Performances tonight and Saturday begin at 7 p.m., with a final matinee Sunday at 5 p.m.
Over the weekend, festival judges Peggy Ellenburg, Dallas McCurley and Arnold Meister handed out awards to their six favorites, three from each night. In addition, audience members were given the opportunity to vote for their two favorite plays.
Friday awards
• “The Obit” by Mark Cornell — Best Drama
• “The Antichrist Cometh” by David MacGregor — Best Comedy
• “Faulkner/Hemingway Letters” by Bill Alewyn — Award for Excellence
• “Teotwawki” by Jo J. Adamson — Audience Favorite
• “Love in the Ravioli Season” by Claudia Haas — Audience Favorite
Saturday awards
• “Chumlee’s Grand Adventure” by Christopher Yakabe — Best Comedy and Audience Favorite
• “Lavender and Straw” by David Scott — Best Drama and Audience Favorite
• “The Slip” by Mark Tjarks — Award for Excellence
For the final round there will be no judges. Instead, it will be up to the audience alone to decide the winner, which will be announced following Sunday’s matinee, according to Curtis.
“There will be a favorite,” she said. “The best of the best.”
Tickets cost $18 and are available online at brownpapertickets.com, or by calling the WIT hotline at 635-3727.
For additional information visit, womenintheatre.org.
