The Director Sector

30 Actors.  12 Directors.  12 Plays.  2 1/2 hours of pure fun.

A 10-minute play festival by The Side Project, Splayed Verbiage blew my mind.  It was everything I’d wanted out of a theatre since my first year as a drama student.  Every ten minutes the stage was cleared and new scenes were built, new worlds explored, new lives examined.  Each director involved used their precious few minutes to capture the imaginations of the audience and draw us into their world.

The stories ranged from a couple who cycle from birth to death, each day forgetting the last, to awkward conversations at the Belmont El stop, to a woman reminiscing about wanting to be a slave as a child.  Scenes of hurt and anger, love and sadness.

I’ll freely admit that I had a wonderful time, probably one of the best times as a theatregoer that I’ve had in a long time.  I’m not much of a theatre-watcher.  I prefer to operate behind the scenes or on stage rather than by sitting in the audience, but Splayed Verbiage was an exquisite glimpse into what I feel theatre should be all about.

I’d tried to set up some 10-minute play festivals back in college, and I met a wall of hard resistance.  Not sure what the big deal was, but nobody else wanted to do it.  That’s one reason why I’m very impressed and excited about The Side Project’s festivals.

If you have a few bucks and two hours on Sunday, go check it out.   You won’t regret it.

The Side Project (website)