2007 9th annual Ten Minute Play Festival

Brendan O'Loughlin and Marisa Castaneda in "Freebox."

All photos by HSU Graphic Services unless otherwise noted.

What goes on in a young woman’s mind about the guy she’s been kissing? How can a couple of secret agents save the world?

What prompts a boy to realize his mother doesn’t love him? Is there really a reason to get off the couch and go to work? Can you ever be free, or is freedom just another box?

These are some of the questions that eight HSU student playwrights address in the fast-paced form of the ten minute play. These scripts, developed through the year, will be brought to life by student directors and actors in the 9th annual HSU Ten Minute Play Festival at Gist Hall Theatre on the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May.

Jonny Barrett and Kristin Hoffman in "Concrete

Evidence." Photo: BK.

On a simple, modular set, student actors and directors will take you to Mayan ruins, a slacker apartment, an inner city streetcorner, and into the bowels of a very strange funeral home. You’ll be inside a young girl’s imagination and witness to a young man’s recollection of his childhood. And more.

The 2007 playwrights: Renee Carney, Erica Davie, Kato Buss,
Richard Renteria, Missy Hopper. Not pictured: Joseph Castro,
Alyssa Loomer and Emily Loeffler.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and ten minutes later you’ll do it again at the HSU 9th Annual 10 Minute Play Festival, Thursday through Saturday, April 26-28, and May 3-5 at 7:30 PM in Gist Hall Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Ticket: $5 general, $3 student/senior, limited seating free to HSU students.

Start the Presses!

Start the Presses!

10 Minute Triumph: review, Eureka Reporter, May 3 by Wendy Butler.

"Ten Minute Play Festival Takes the Stage" by Jacqueline Torres in the HSU Lumberjack, April 18.

"Fast Paced Comedy in Play Festival" on HSU News Online, April 20.

Three photos from 10 Minute Festival in Arcata Eye, April 24.

HSU's Annual 10 Minute Playfest Starts Tonight at Eureka Reporter, April 26.

HSU 10 Minute Play Festival: Concise, Creative, Collaborative at Eureka Times Standard, April 26.

"In Ten Minutes," North Coast Journal, April 26.

Joey Bishop and Missy Hopper in "Cold Tootsies in the

Hands of Fortune's Wheel"

Our Plays

Cold Footsies in the Hands of Fortune’s Wheel: A Love Story
By Renee Carney
Directed by Erica Davie

A bizarre comedy about love and loneliness, set in a funeral home.

Cast:
Missy Hopper (Beautician)
Andrew Schnell (Dead One)
Thallia Bird (Dead Two)
Joey Bishop (Mortician)

Samantha Koebelin in "Lonely Little Girls."

Lonely Little Girls
By Erica Davie
Directed by Joe Castro

An Edward Gorey style tale about a little girl whose imagination goes crazy.

Cast:
Brian Pike (narrator)
Samantha Koebelin (Zilla)
Megan Hughes (Violet)


I Have a Dream Too
By Richard Renteria
Directed by Alex Gradine

A tense drama about high school friends who plot to find power in a society that alienates them.

Cast:
Kenneth Tejada
Omari Howard

MacKenzie Cox and Sofia Pererra

in "Between a Rock and a Soft Place."

Between a Rock and a Soft Place
By Alyssa Lomier
Directed by Kato Buss

A comedy about roommates who don’t want to go to work.

Cast:
Mackenzie Cox
Sofia Pereira


Regarding Robert Chang
By Emily Loeffler
Directed by Liz Fairchild

A surrealist piece about the early stages of falling in love.

Cast:
Rachel Brink
Ryan Mantle
Rashawnda Kelly-Brown
Emily Blanche
Rebecca Thompson

Jonny Barrett and Kristen Hoffman in "Concrete Evidence."

BK photo.

Concrete Evidence
By Missy Hopper
Directed by Megan Hughes

A comedy about trying to save the world.

Kristin Hoffman (Spy One)
Jonny Barrett (Spy Two)
Mason Daryl Lev (Doctor)
Krista Powell (Nurse)

Circus Beneath the Breasts
By Joe Castro
Directed by Renee Carney

A lyrical reminiscence of a young boy’s moment of revelation.

Joseph Angelatis
Naveena Bird
JM Wilkerson
Brendan O’Laughlin, guitar

Brendan O'Loughlin in "Freebox."

Freebox
By Kato Buss
Directed by Colleen Roberts

An absurdist piece, a la Beckett, about freedom and power.

Cast:
Brendan O’Loughlin (Jones)
Marisa Castaneda (Sarah)

Samantha Koebelin and Megan Hughes in "Lonely Little

Girls." photo: M.T. Kelso

Our Production

Advisor, Dramaturg: Margaret Thomas Kelso
Producer: Kato Buss
Stage Manager: Justin Takata
Assistant Stage Manager: Mychal Ducken
Costume Shop Manager: Catherine Brown
Scenic Designer: Kato M.T. Buss
Technical Director: Jayson Mohatt
Asst. Technical Director: Justin K. Takata
Lighting Design: Emly Blanche
Sound Design: Justin K. Takata, Alyssa Lomier