The Playgroup presents Shortcuts 2
By Danny Smith
The Playgroup llc, kicks off its second year with SHORTCUTS 2, a program of nine short plays by local playwrights. There will be two performances at the Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Avenue, Lake Worth, Saturday May 5th at 8pm and Sunday May 6th at 3pm. The show will be reprised at The Empire Stage, 1140 North Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Saturday June 2nd, at 8pm and Sunday June 3rd at 3pm.
Selected plays include works by veteran playwrights Ellen Greenwald, Marj O’Neill Butler, Todd Caster and William Shuman. The show also features the 2011 winner of the Writer’s Network Playwriting competition, Don Scheer, whose play, THE DIAGNOSIS, involves a man who chooses love over life saving surgery.
The cast includes Playgroup regulars Ellen Wacher, Sara Lee, Vinny Mutarelli and Ben Stern, along with some new faces, such as David Ehrlich and Don Grimme. Directing the plays are local residents Joyce Sweeney, Brian Reeves, Irene Kessler, Jodi Turchin and Teresa Biber.
Tickets for the Lake Worth Performances are $15 and may be purchased online at www.lakeworthplayhouse.org or by phone at 561-586-6169 or at the door. Tickets for the Fort Lauderdale performances are $15 and may be purchased at the door.
Contact: Joyce Sweeney 954-592-0226 [email protected]
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Joyce Sweeney is the author of fourteen novels for young adults and one book of poetry. Her first novel, Center Line won the First Annual Delacorte Press Prize for an Outstanding Young Adult Novel. Many of her books appear on the American Library Association’s Best Books List and Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers. Her novel Shadow won the Nevada State Reading Award in 1997. Her novel Players was chosen by Booklist as a Top Ten Sports Book and by Working Mother magazine as a Top Ten for Tweens. Her novel, Headlock (Holt 2006), won a Silver Medal in the 2006 Florida Book Awards and was chosen by the American Library Association as a Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers.
Her first chapbook of poems, Impermanence, was published in 2008 by Finishing Line Press. She has had numerous short stories, articles and interviews published and her play, FIRST PAGE CRITIQUES was produced in 2011.
Joyce is also a writing teacher and mentor to aspiring authors both
locally and nationwide. She runs three ongoing writer’s workshops in the Fort Lauderdale area, critiques manuscripts for authors everywhere and conducts classes and seminars throughout the state of Florida. So far, 33 of her students and clients have gone on to publication.
In 2011, Joyce and a coalition of local playwrights, directors and actors formed The Playgroup llc, which produces staged readings of original works by local playwrights. The Playgroup currently presents two productions a year; one program of short plays and one full length play.
Joyce lives in Coral Springs with her husband, Jay and cat, Nitro.
I had the opportunity to interview Joyce Sweeney.
Danny: You are a writer and writing coach. For SHORTCUTS, you are a director. Have you had much experience directing plays prior to SHORTCUTS?
Joyce: I loved directing all the way back to high school and never got much of a chance as an adult. So I am having a great time working with The Playgroup and producing and directing plays. The Playgroup has been in existence for two years. Last year, we did Shortcuts which was a program of short plays by local playwrights, just like we’re doing now in Lake Worth. I directed three of the plays in that show. I’ve also directed two full length plays for The Playgroup, Todd Caster’s Broken Angels last fall and Death Upon A Midnight Dreary by Peter Hawkins, which is about the life of Edgar Allan Poe. I love directing because I get to work with so many talented and creative people and I love to collaborate after years of writing all by myself!
Danny: How can Florida playwrights submit a script to The Playgroup for production consideration?
Joyce: Each fall, I send out a call for ten minute plays. We need blind copies so that the judges don’t know who wrote the plays, so name and contact info need to go on a separate sheet. I collect the plays for a month, select three judges and the games begin! For this show, twenty-four plays were submitted and only nine selected so the competition is tough. My email address is [email protected] – if anyone is interested in sending me their ten-minute plays to consider. Another way to get a play in the show is to enter the Writer’s Network spring writing contest with a ten minute play. The winner of their contest is automatically included in Shortcuts…this year it’s Don Scheer’s The Diagnosis.
Danny: Please feel free to add anything else.
Joyce: We’re very proud of Shortcuts 2. We received 24 submissions for this show and had a panel of three judges pick the final nine. We have amazing drama, such as Ellen Greenwald’s The Neighbor Next Door, we have laugh out loud comedy, such as Jon Frangipane’s The Marriage of the Spider and the Fly, and we have everything in between. I’ve seen some of the plays in rehearsals and it’s going to be a great show. We’re also planning to do a play by Peter Hawkins in the fall called Joseph Andrews, based on Henry Fielding’s novel by the same name. Other facts you might want to know: The Playgroup is a non-profit limited liability corporation, tickets are $15 for both performances and can be ordered online at www.lakeworthplayhouse.org.
Marj O’Neill Butler, a member of the Dramatists Guild and the International Center for Women Playwrights, is a produced playwright of TRUE BLUE at The Women’s Theatre Project, eight Theatre for Children scripts, the short plays WHAT IF? and MISSED CONNECTIONS and a reader’s theatre script THE WOMEN OF THE BEAT GENERATION. A proud member of Equity and SAG-AFTRA, she has worked as a professional actor and director for over 30 years. Visit her online at www.marjorieoneill-butler.com.
I also had the opportunity to interview Marj O’Neill Butler:
Danny: Which of your plays will be performed for SHORTCUTS 2?
Marj: MISSED CONNECTIONS.
Danny: Is this the first time this play will be performed live and/or with this group?
Marj: This play has been very successful for me. It has had six productions and two readings including the one for SHORTCUTS 2. This is the first time I have submitted a play to The Playgroup.
Danny: Do you know when your next play is going to be produced?
Marj: No. But I’m always looking for opportunities. I’m currently working on a full-length play, a screenplay and a short play.
Danny: Have you taken any professional playwriting classes?
Marj: Yes, I was invited to participate in the Kennedy Center’s Playwriting Intensive Program for 2 years, Miami-Dade County’s Downstage Miami (AKA Playwright Development Program) for 3 years and the Hippodrome Theatre Playwrights Program.
Danny: Please feel free to add anything else.
Marj: I’m delighted to be included in SHORTCUTS 2.
Danny Smith is a member of the Journalism and Literary Class “Lit Mag” at Wellington High School where he is a junior. He is a member of the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta the national math honor society. He has diverse interests, including being a cartoonist and an experienced guitarist.
