Category Archives: ATOI news

PlayFest 2019 Submission Info

Calling All Writers!

We are now accepting submissions for the 14th Annual PlayFest, our festival of locally-grown ten-minute plays. Please send your work to us by January 31, 2019 (to the address at the bottom of this post.) PlayFest will be held at the Grange in May, with auditions for actors in early spring.

If you’re sitting on a script because it’s not finished or perfect, send it to us anyway! We will read all scripts submitted to us by January 31. All writers will receive notes from us and will have a couple weeks to make any revisions–but you must submit by the January deadline to be in the running. Good luck!

Submission Guidelines

  • Length: Plays work best between five to ten minutes (usually five to ten pages). Read your work aloud and keep time to make sure your play isn’t too long.
  •    Sets and Scenes: Keep your sets simple without many props or excessive furniture. Avoid using too many scenes.
  • Cast: Keep the cast small—two to four people works best.
  • Plays must pull the audience right into the story/situation without a lot of set up or backstory. Most plays explore characters or follow high concept storylines. Also, consider that characters must go through some sort of change in the play. Please avoid being didactic or creating plays that teach some sort of moral lesson.
  • Playwright Requirements: Plays must be original and by Orcas Island residents only. If your play is chosen, you must be available for the first couple of rehearsals (these will take place in March).

Deadline: Plays must be submitted by January 31, 2019.

We cannot accept any late submissions.

Submissions should be sent to mmgriskey [AT] rockisland [DOT] com as either MS Word or pdf files.

Next up: Mom’s Gift

Looking for a fun evening with friends, family, and possibly those Summer guests you have at your house? How about an evening of Readers’ Theater at the Grange? ( Fri Aug 3rd, Sat Aug 4th, and Sun Aug 5th)

Actors Theater of Orcas Island presents “Mom’s Gift”.  It’s a little gem of a play we recently discovered in which Mom, recently deceased, returns as a ghost to attend her husband’s birthday party!

This “comedy with a heart” stars local actors Suzanne Gropper, Bethany Marie, Larry Hampel, Bailey Sande, Lisa Spesard, Kevin Hauschild, and Luann Pamatian and is directed by Melinda Milligan.

Readers’ Theater is performed script-in-hand, with minimal set and props. It’s a great way to discover a play, and don’t be surprised if we ask you to give us your thoughts about whether you would like to see a traditional production in the future!

This play is suitable for all ages but will probably not be of interest to pre-teens.

Tickets are $10 at Darvill’s, online at Brown Paper Tickets or at the door.

Show starts at 7:30pm.

Play Writing Group to Meet

After a break following our very successful Playfest last spring it is time to start thinking about Playfest 2019.  The Actors Theater’s Play Writing Group meets monthly to learn, write and share our work.  Whether you are an experienced playwright or just wonder what it takes to write dialog, here is your chance.  The group has members who are first time writers and those with years of experience.

Each meeting lasts a couple of hours where writers learn the technical and artistic aspects to writing a play.  There are fun play writing exercises to get you thinking, time to share what you are thinking about or sharing and getting feedback on the play you are working on.  While most of the writers are working towards submitting a play for the next Playfest, others are working on longer pieces.

The next meeting of the Playwrights Group will be on Monday, July 30th at 6:30 at the OICF office.  Hope to see you there.  For more information, contact Doug Bechtel at doug@orcasactors.org.  We have a separate e-mail list for our Play Writing Group.  To sign up, go to www,orcasactors.org and select “Subscribe”.

Play Reading Group Meeting

At the last play reading, the group read a full length play “Trouble With The Truth” by Doug Bechtel.  The number of people present to read the play was low so we have decided to hold off the reading program until the end of August (or maybe September).  We have a separate mailing list for our play readings.  If you want to be on our play reading e-mail list, go to www.orcasactors.org and select “Subscribe”.

Amazon Smile Program

Do you know about the Amazon Smile Program?

If you purchase almost any item from Amazon, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the non profit organization of your choice.  There is no additional cost to you as the purchaser.  How does it work?  Instead of going to www.amazon.com, go to https://smile.amazon.com.  The first time you enter, it will ask you to select the non profit you want to receive your donation.  After that, just sign in to https://smile.amazon.com instead of www.amazon.com and everything will be the same – except that the non profit you chose will get a donation based on what you buy.  Note:  Occasionally, some items sold are not part of the smile program.