Pulitzer-winning Fat Ham writer James Ijames has been named the honorary festival playwright for this year's Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, presented by Concord Theatricals. The 2023 competition, the festival's 48th, will be held August 8-12 at The Vineyard's Dimson Theatre. Thirty short finalist works will compete for six winning spots, which will earn the plays publication in an anthology of short plays that will be licensed by Concord's Samuel French imprint.
Judging this year's entries will be playwrights Christina Anderson, Hilary Bettis, Eleanor Burgess, Steph Del Rosso, Skylar Fox, and Gracie Gardner; Vineyard Artistic Producing Associate Jason Aguirre; Ars Nova Artistic Director Jason Eagan; City Theatre Miami Artistic Director Margaret Ledford; Classic Stage Company Producing Artistic Director Jill Rafson; Keen Company Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein; and Dramatists Guild Co-Executive Director Emmanuel Wilson.
Finalists will perform at eight sessions, each featuring 3-6 short plays. Judges will select 10-12 works to move on to a pair of final sessions, at which the full judges panel will select the six winners. Tickets for the festival, which is open to the public, are available at OOBFestival.com.
Take a look at this year's finalists, selected from more than 850 submissions worldwide:
Natalie Wood Was Not Puerto Rican by Matt Barbot
Landis and the Bear by Cate Berg
Space Laser, In Space! by Jillian Blevins
18 by Darius M. Buckley
He’s The First by Phillip Gregory Burke
Camouflage by Peter Chansky
Jung by Matthew Chong
Eight One Eight Two by Rishi Chowdhary
A Sprinkle of Grace by Eric Craft
The Velociraptor's Very Good Day by Shane Dittmar and Sarah “Sair” Kaufman
Loretta's Crematorium Hour by P.S. Drake
What We Talk About When We Talk About The Homeless by Adi Eshman
Black Like Who? by Craig Ester
The Heaviest Burden by Kailee Goldberg
Horror Play by Justin Aaron Halle
Trudy Tries to Say I Love You But Runs Out of Breath by Emma Joy Hill
Where I'm From by Howard Ho
Nub City, USA! by Nicholas Hulstine
Just Right by Megan Lohne
God Gives Ryan a Very Important Job by Dylan MarcAurele
Kill The Beast by D.A. Mindell
Dugout Daisies by Julissa Mishay Norment
Bonefruit by Leah Plante-Wiener
my barricade by Roni Ragone
Mood Board by Nia Akilah Robinson
The Tipping Point by Lia Romeo
Halloween by Lauren Smerkanich
Billionaire Mindset by Patrick Vermillion
DRAWBRIDGE by Mallory Jane Weiss
Freestyle Hand Entry by Elise Wien
Established in 1975, the Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival aims to introduce the next generation of great playwrights. Writers internationally are invited to submit short works, which are traditionally performed in rep at an Off-Broadway venue—last year's festival was adjudicated via online readings due to the pandemic. Past participants include Audrey Cefaly, Martyna Majok, Bekah Brunstetter, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Sheila Callaghan, khat knotahaiku, Gracie Gardner, Jeremy O. Harris, Shirley Lauro, Theresa Rebeck, Jen Silverman, and Steve Yockey.
