Being in close quarters and pretty much the same space, the 12 playwrights found their entries to be more creative and full of life than had they written in separate spaces.
Competing in TRU Drama and Theatre Club’s (TRUDAT) 24-hour playwriting competition in the Black Box Theatre, contestants had from 2 p.m. on Saturday to the same time on Sunday to complete a compelling story with equally credible characters.
The reviews are in and the contest was deemed a hit.
“With my previous writing, I’ve had trouble creating connections with my characters to where they could stand on their own. This writing environment helped draw them out,” said theatre student Erik Stephany of the January contest and whose play was chosen the winner in February. “Being in the space together added a spirit of collaboration to what we were doing. It added a human element to what I was doing.”
His script, “That One Time Mark Blew His Brains Out”, is based on an incident from high school and addresses teen suicide and how a family and community cope with loss.
Community member Arron Butowski’s “Love and Creation” was awarded second and Bex Binder, also a theatre student, was awarded third for “I Want To Be The Berry Best”. Also tackling identity struggles and social acceptance, she does so using talking fruit and says that if she had more writing time, her characters would periodically break into song.
Bex Binder reads from her script, which was awarded third place in TRUDAT’s playwriting competition.
Describing her tale as “cute children’s theatre with bad puns,” Binder’s lead character is a sour blueberry longing to be sweet. Along the way to accepting that it is all right to be different, green strawberries and other so-called food misfits are encountered.
Writers not only had each other to lean on for ideas and suggestions, they could talk to an on-site dramaturge, visit a space set aside for yoga and another area for inspiration. Pizza was delivered at midnight and event organizer Allandra Barton cooked pancakes Sunday morning.
Psychology-sociology student Kara Pare and her script “Making Monsters” received an honourable mention. Going into the weekend with “a million ideas in my head”, she chose to wipe the slate clean and go with whatever came to mind.
“My characters are not what you would think,” said Pare. “The bad guys you love them at moments and the good guys you question what they’re thinking and why they’re doing what they’re doing. I drop-kick your heart and feelings.”
Honourable mention also went to Ashley Hibner (7 Years of Polaroids and Caramilk Bars) and to Peter Navatil (Jellyfish).
What will become of the plays? Barton said one or more may be staged during an upcoming TRUDAT season. Another idea is to condense all or a few and present them in a festival format.
