List of plays selected for DNA 2006

CASABLANCA by Anna Banks
SHEILA SOARS by Anton Dudley
PREPARE FOR TAKE-OFF by Alan Aymie
FIGHT OR FLIGHT by Kate Gallon
YOUR NAME HERE by Kate Gallon
BAGGAGE by Mark Levine
HANGER by Mark Levine
FOOD FLIGHT by Robin Brooks
WORKING RULES by David Eames-Harlan
LOVE/AIRPORT by David Eames-Harlan
IT¹S GOTTA BE THE SHOES by David Eames-Harlan
ANGEL COMMANDOS by Maaike Davidson
COME IN, TOWER by Maaike Davidson
THE FIRST GLIDER by Ry Kincaid
NOTICING by Ginger Rankin
BLAHJUSTU by Ulrike Rosser
CHECKPOINT CHERTOFF by Robert Caisley
MARGARITTE, MARGARITTE by Robert Caisley
AN EMPTY MIND by Ginger Rankin
*INCIDENT AT THE URINALS by David Eames-Harlan (produced as Graphic Noveliszation)
WAVERS by Brian Polak
 

2006

DNA Festival

Of Very, Very, Very Short Plays & Films

THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & FILM

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Founded in 2003 by Robert Caisley, Head of the newly formed MFA in Dramatic Writing emphasis at the University of Idaho, the DNA Festival has produced the World Premiere’s of 84 one-page plays of writers from across the country and overseas.  Designed to encourage the work of both new and emerging writers, and create an exciting and unique theatrical experience for audiences, the festival features scripts ranging in style from one person comic monologues to multiple character dramas, abstract and highly stylized pieces to realism, contemporary issues to historical events.  Past festivals have also seen submissions of short plays and films written in languages other than English.

Each year, the Festival Producer selects a theme in order to focus the week-long showcase of plays.  Past themes have been “Survival of the Fittest,” “Diversity in America,” and last year’s theme “The Art of Excess.” 

The DNA Festival is a truly unique event showcasing short dramatic writing for both stage and screen.  Writers are challenged to rely on metaphor and the economy of language, and audiences are thrilled by the variety and complexity of these highly polished gems of creative expression.  One of the thrilling aspects of this “down-sized” venue of original work is seeing how different writers approach the same topic.  The theme for DNA: 2006 will be simply “The Airport Plays.”  All plays must be set in or around an airport, or be related in a direct or indirect way to airports or air travel.

WHY PRODUCE A FESTIVAL OF ONE-PAGE PLAYS?

"Brevity is the soul of wit"

In recent years, the American Theatre has witnessed a sharp rise in the popularity of short plays, including one-acts, ten-minute plays, and even shorter plays.  Many critics believe this is a portentous sign of the times, a dismal indication of our audience’s ever-shrinking attention span.  However, there are a growing number of notable theatres and play festivals across the country that have dedicated themselves to special short-form programming of this kind, and many established writers have validated the short play as a method of sharpening writing skills and developing the voices of emerging writers.  Short dramatic writing provides an opportunity for a playwright to hone their craft, try something new by experimenting with form and theme, and learn to trust their voices by relying on metaphor and the economy of language.

The ten-minute play has been described by Jon Jory (31-year Producing Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville and founder of arguably the nation’s most influential festival of new work, the Humana Festival) as the theatrical equivalent of a Haiku poem.  The one-page play, then, is dramatic writing on an even more focused, molecular level.  Just as DNA is life’s biological building block, the one-page play is the creative building block from which a writer can fashion or test the theatricality of an idea in its germinal stage.  The one-page play provides the writer freedom to discover, in the most succinct and concise ways, the dramatic potential of a mere crumb of an idea.

The goal of the DNA Festival is to present the World Premieres of a string of original one-page plays, some of which (in future festivals) may even be produced using audience input as the initial impetus for the play, and following a significantly condensed writing and rehearsal period.  The plays will be produced "without decor," in order to place the focus squarely on the theatricality of the writing itself.

ABOUT THIS YEAR’S THEME:

Arrivals and departures, farewells and reunions -- the focus of the DNA 2006 festival will be on new works exploring stories that take place in and around airports.

We’re interested producing scripts that examine the subjects in all of its facets.  We hope that writers, whether they write in a comic or dramatic vein, will tackle the topic in unique and innovative ways -- treating the notion of “airports” not simply as a specific locale, but also metaphorically.

The DNA Festival of new works continues its commitment to promoting an artistic environment rich in cultural diversity.  We wish to welcome the creative and intellectual participation of all individuals, and practice a respectful sensitivity to those individuals from groups that have been historically marginalized and precluded from equal access to creative opportunities.  DNA embraces the opportunity of presenting stories, ideas, values, customs and historic experiences that may be quite removed and unique from our typical audience experience.

We welcome submissions from new and emerging voices as well as established writers, and have a particular interest in encouraging the work of individuals who may never have written for the stage before—poets, short story writers, novelists, lyricists, scientists, business men and women—people from all walks of life.

DNA SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

- Plays must be no longer than one-page in length; all dialogue and stage directions must be contained on one side of a standard 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper

- Plays must not have been previously produced or published in any form

- Maximum of 4 characters per script

- Maximum of 5 entries per writer

- Plays must address, directly or indirectly, the festival theme of "The Airport Plays”

- Plays can either be comic or dramatic, in any genre or style

- Plays must have extremely limited production/staging demands, as the festival will be produced "without decor"

- Entries must be submitted via email as an attachment in .pdf format (and should include the author’s name, address, phone number and a brief bio in the body of the email; the subject line of the email should read as follows Re: "author’s last name, first initial/DNA2006"  Eg: Caisley,R/DNA2006

- All entries must include a cover-page (in the same file as the script itself) which includes the title of the piece, the author’s name, address, phone number, and email address

- Multiple scripts can be sent in the same email

- Deadline for submissions:  we have an OPEN submission window, which begins now and continues until we the producer has accepted approx 20 - 25 plays for production OR January 15^th, 2006, whichever comes first.

SUBMIT SCRIPTS VIA EMAIL TO:

Robert Caisley, DNA Festival Producer

Head of MFA in Dramatic Writing Program

Department of Theatre & Film

University of Idaho

rcaisley@uidaho.edu

Please make sure scripts are attached as an MS Word document.  We can only accept electronic submissions.

Visit us on the web at: www.uitheatre.com