Audience to crown winner of Riot Act's 'Series of Shorts'
Like a burst of colorful autumn foliage, the music of a bugling elk or the sun’s slow drift toward the southern horizon, September brings Riot Act Inc.’s Annual Series of Shorts to the Tetons.
“Yup, it’s that time of year,” said Macey Mott, co-founder of the grassroots theater nonprofit.
This year’s trio of one-acts — the finalists in Riot Act’s annual New Play Festival — runs at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday in the local nonprofit’s studio on the third floor of the Center for the Arts.
Riot Act has presented short plays since its beginning in 2002, Mott said. For about 15 years it has held its one-act competition, with a panel of judges from around the region naming three works for the showcase. Audience members vote each night to determine the ultimate ranking.
In addition to having their work staged, finalists also win small cash prizes: $50 for third place, $100 for second and, for first, $200 plus the Marius P. Hanford IV Award, which remembers the longtime local stage combat choreographer.
This year’s shorts address relatable subjects, and a robot gone rogue.
“Shadows,” by Leslie C. Lewis, features star-crossed high school sweethearts who meet 35 year later.
“It’s a serio-comedic kind of play,” said Mott, who makes a rare stage appearance in the play as Christine, both as a middle-aged woman and the teenager she remembers. “It gives us a sense of the ‘ick’ factor of being a teenager, which is fun,” she said. “A lot of people will really relate to it at any age, and can relate to both visions of the characters.”
Playwright Lewis hails from Longmont, Colorado, and has written plays that have been produced by companies from Denver to California to Minnesota. She co-founded a number of performing and writing groups in Colorado, has written essays and articles on the environment and contemporary culture, and broadcast a series on social issues for Connecticut Public Radio.
In addition to Mott, “Shadows” features Jeff Monteith and Augie Henrie, and is directed by Deborah Supowit.
In “Aphelion,” by Jackson creative talent Andrew Munz, the crew of a spacecraft works to regain control of the ship’s onboard robot. Shebli Lawson, Travis John Martin and Riley Taylor star, and Raena Parsons and Paul Meisner direct.
Munz’s short reminded Mott of campy sci-fi shows of yore like “Dr. Who,” “Star Trek” and “Red Dwarf.”
“The directors have gone in that direction with it,” she said, “so it’s a fun, nostalgic thing … a 1950s, ’60s sort of aesthetic.”
“The Pelt,” by Missoula writer Rita Barkey, finds three siblings in a bar trying to come to terms with their father’s death.
“That’s going to be one that anyone who lives in this area will relate to the most,” Mott said. “It’s set in our region, and I think we all can feel the Western bar situation with these characters, how they live in this rural area and the grief of losing a family member, but also the grief-not-grief part.”
Barkey has penned more than 30 plays, which have been produced around the West and Midwest. She has held residencies in California and Kentucky, and won fellowships from the Indiana Arts Commission and Midwest Writers. Her one-act play “Feather and Bone” was produced as part of Riot Act’s 2018 line-up.
“Pelt” stars Bobby Doyon, Travis John Martin and Riley Taylor, and is directed by Suzanne Spence.
“I think they’re all really good shows,” Mott said, “really well written.”
Each play runs 20 to 30 minutes, with 10-minute intermissions between them. Tickets can be bought online at RiotActInc.org or at the door.
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