Theatre Odyssey's Ten-Minute Play Festival opens in Sarasota

There's no dearth of short play competitions in the Bradenton-Sarasota area, but perhaps the most prestigious is the Theatre Odyssey Ten-Minute Play Festival, which is now in its 11th year.

This year's festival opens Thursday at the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota, and runs through Sunday.

Playwrights from West Central Florida submit scripts for the festival, and a panel of judges selects the best. Those plays get full productions, with experienced area actors and directors, and different judges select the winner.

The plays in this year's festival are "Call These Delicate Creatures, Ours, and Not Their Appetites" by Peter Balaskas, "The Clown" by Larry Hamm, "Clarinet Licks" by Frederic Sirasky, "Chopping Celery" by Connie Schindewolf, "A Tender Moment" by Frank Motz, "Silences" by Mark Leib, "Miss O'Hara, I Have a Confession to Make" by Bernie Yanelli and "Hands" by Sylvia Reed.

Besides those plays, the festival will also include "Brothers in Arms," by Julian Freij. That play was the winner of Theatre Odyssey's Ten Minute Student Playwriting Festival last year.

The judges are State College of Florida theater managing director Dean Anthony, area director Carole Kleinberg and theater educator Scott Keys.

Details: May 5-8, Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Information: 941-799-7224, theatreodyssey.org.

-- Marty Clear

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Theatre Odyssey's Ten-Minute Play Festival opens in Sarasota ."