Fifteenth Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival

Thank you for allowing us to put your imagination to work, visualizing these eight new ten-minute plays. Although we miss seeing you in person (and enjoying your infectious laughter), we’re all safer these days when keeping another kind of infection at a distance.

As you know, ticket prices do not cover the cost of theatre productions — even when the only stage is in your mind. So we encourage you to add a donation to help ensure Theatre Odyssey’s continued development of new works for the stage. And we encourage your support for our sponsors.

Click the titles below to learn about each play and its creative team.

BEST PLAY: Single Rider

By Michelle Pascua

Rollercoasters are all about ups and downs. So can be love. In this absurd comedy, two single riders connect at Disney World — an extraterrestrial adventure about ride-sharing gone awry.

Directed by Dylan Jones

Chris — Ren Pearson
Jen — Lauren Ward Jones
Sam — Dylan Jones
Stage Manager — Donna DeFant
Technical Director — Ren Pearson

Ren Pearson is an award-winning director, actor and filmmaker. Notable acting credits include Harold Hill in “The Music Man,” Bernard Kepler in “The Vault of Souls,” Edgar Evans in “Terra Nova,” Barry in “The Boys Next Door,” and the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Lauren Ward Jones | Lauren is a local insurance agent and actress. Memorable roles you may have seen her in include Laura (“Glass Menagerie”), Stella (“A Streetcar Named Desire”), Catherine (“A View from the Bridge”), Mary Warren (“The Crucible”) and Juror #4 (“Twelve Angry Jurors”). She is honored to work with her husband, Dylan Jones, on this project.

Dylan H. Jones obtained his Bachelor’s from New College of Florida in American and British Literature/Theater. Three of his plays have been produced by Theatre Odyssey in their Ten-Minute Play Festival: “Reservations,” in 2013, “The Coward,” which was the Runner-Up in 2015, and “The Best Ten Minutes Ever,” which was Best Play in 2017. His play “Love in the Time of Cartoons” was a semi-finalist in their 2018 One-Act Play Festival. He formed his own theater company in 2014, Little Grey Hat Productions. Their latest project was “The Remnant: A Vietnam Survivor’s Story,” which won the Curtain Call Awards for Best Play in 2017. He thanks Elliott and Laura Raines and his family and friends for all their support, and his wonderful wife, Lauren.

RUNNER-UP: Finding Help

By Marj O’Neill-Butler

A mother and daughter are at loggerheads—assisted living or a caregiver? The mother wants to stay put in her own apartment and when the daughter tries to solve the problem, her mother’s attitude is a surprise.

Directed by Jan Wallace

Evelyn — Jenny Aldrich Walker
Daphne — Lynne Doyle
Michael — Shawn Genther
Stage Manager — Donna DeFant
Technical Director — Ren Pearson

Jenny Aldrich Walker | Since 2012, Jenny has had a fantastic time playing a variety of challenging characters for Theatre Odyssey and she’s delighted to be part of their new venture. She’s been performing onstage and in film for over 60 years but this is her first radio show. If you can, be sure to catch Jenny as Georgia O’Keeffe, Mary Cassatt, Anne Lindbergh, etc. in her original shows: www.jennyaldrich.com. Thank you, Jan, Bob and Theatre Odyssey.

Lynne Doyle is happy to once again participate in Theatre Odyssey’s festival. She was last seen at The Players Backstage in “Rabbit Hole” and “12 Angry Jurors,” as well as “Good People” at the Venice Theatre. She has been in many local productions since moving to Venice from Columbus, Ohio 11 years ago.

Shawn Genther | A Pennsylvania native, Shawn has been acting in Florida since 2005. Favorite roles: “The Rainmaker” (Jimmy), “Greetings!” (Andy), “The Sensuous Senator” (Jack), “The Pirates of Penzance” (Samuel), “Macbeth” (Ross) and “True West.” Focusing now on local film work, Shawn has appeared on Shark Week and a few local commercials. Several of his short films have won awards at local film festivals, and he had starring roles in “Fallaway” and “On the Arm.”

Jan Wallace | Actor, director, writer. Performed Off-Broadway and in New York regional theatres. Directed numerous children and youth productions in Great Neck, Long Island. Performed at the Asolo Rep, the Banyan Theater, the Players Theater and the Manatee Players. Taught acting and playwriting at Venice. Trained in London and New York. Directed for Theater Odyssey’s Student Playwriting Festival.

Final Curtain

By Marvin Albert

A dying comedian is confronted by the ghost of his dead ex-partner.

Directed by Bob Trisolini

Mickey Moss — Dan Higgs
Nurse Tyra — Kaity Cairo
Donald McGurk — Don Walker
Stage Manager — Donna DeFant
Technical Director — Ren Pearson

Dan Higgs has acted and directed in local professional & community theatres since 1995. He’s been actively involved with Theatre Odyssey for the past 12 years as a playwright, director, actor and serves as Director Emeritus. Dan and his extraordinary wife, Shigemi, reside in Sarasota with their four-legged family member, Starlette.

Kaity Cairo is currently a senior attending Booker High School’s Visual Performing Arts department as a theatre major. This is her second year with Theatre Odyssey, previously having been in “The Benjamin Franklin Act.” She has most recently been seen in a live reading of “Echo Nevada” for the annual Players Theatre’s new play festival.

Don Walker has directed and acted in previous Theatre Odyssey plays, including “A Bottle of Vodka,” “A Little Help,” “A Big Wave” and “Sounds From the Merry-Go-Round.” He has also performed with Asolo Rep, American Stage, Banyan Theater, Florida Studio Theater, The Players, Venice Theatre, Starlite Players and the Golden Apple Dinner Theater.

Bob Trisolini | Bob was part of the creative and producing team for the Tony-nominated show “Romance/Romance,” and the Drama Desk and Obie Award winner “Olympus On My Mind.” He directed fifteen shows for Disney Entertainment, six shows for Celebrity Cruise Line, Busch Gardens and many local theaters, including Theatre Odyssey for which he is Director Emeritus.

Happy Mother's Day

By Frederic Sirasky

A husband and wife are the only customers in a restaurant. When the wife bursts into tears, their waitress becomes an amateur therapist. Her final intervention earns her a big tip!

Directed by Dan Higgs

Waitress — Debbi White
Wife — Tahlia Chinault
Husband — Scott Ehrenpreis
Stage Manager — Donna DeFant
Technical Director — Ren Pearson

Debbi White | Debbi is excited to be involved with Theatre Odyssey once again! Recent local credits include “Head Over Heels” (Pamela), “All Shook Up” (Mayor Hyde), and “Funny Girl” (Vera Samuels) at The Players Centre for Performing Arts.

Tahlia Chinault | This marks Tahlia’s sixth production with Theatre Odyssey, third alongside the incomparable Dan Higgs. Last seen as Emma in “Ivy Walls,” Laurie (“What It Means to You”), Young Jean (“A Love Story”), Laurie Martinson (“Hallmark Man”), and Vincent (“Before Steepletop”). Love to her husband Noah and her parents for their unwavering support.

Scott Ehrenpreis has a B.F.A. in performance. This is Scott’s second affiliation with Theatre Odyssey. Scott performed in two ten-minute plays last year, one of them entitled “Family By Numbers,” which won Best Play. The excitement of doing radio theatre is a great avenue and venture to keep theatre alive until it makes its grand return.

Solastalgia

By Sylvia Reed

A husband tries to cure his wife of her depression and despair over climate change.

Directed by Michele Strauss

Amy — Carrie McQueen
David — Tom Aposporos
Stage Manager — Donna DeFant
Technical Director — Ren Pearson

Carrie McQueen | Carrie trained at AMDA in NYC. She has performed Off-Broadway, in film, TV and radio. She is excited about her first show with Theatre Odyssey. Last seen in “Twelve Angry Jurors” at The Players in Sarasota, she has been busy with virtual play readings as AD of Acting Distant. www.thecarriemcqueen.com

Tom Aposporos is pleased to be heard as David in Sylvia Reed’s “Solastalgia” and Governor John Winthrop in “The Mis-Trial of Anne Hutchinson” by Bernard Yanelli. Tom has been privileged to appear in several stage plays previously produced by the company and is excited about the future for Radio Theatre Odyssey.

Michele Strauss | This is Michele’s third time directing with Theatre Odyssey. She directed “The Tragedy of Benjamin Fitch,” which won Best Play in last year’s Student Festival and “Family by Numbers,” which won Best Play last year’s adult festival. She is very happy to be directing “Solastalgia” in Theatre Odyssey’s first ever Radio Festival.

The Mis-Trial of Anne Hutchinson

By Bernard Yanelli

A heroine in the history of religious freedom must choose between saving herself and her family or becoming a martyr.

Directed by Dan Higgs

Anne Hutchinson — Julee Breehne
Will Hutchinson — Casey Murphy
John Winthrop — Tom Aposporos
Andrew Symes — Chuck Conlon
Stage Manager — Donna DeFant
Technical Director — Ren Pearson

Julee Breehne was last heard on-air in 2000 when she was the starchy half of the radio show Bud and Spud in the morning. She is grateful for the creative minds at Theatre Odyssey for coming up with this nostalgic solution. She’d like to dedicate this performance to everyone who listens more than they talk.

Casey Murphy is thrilled to be working with Theatre Odyssey again. He has worked both regionally and in New York. Select theatres at which he has worked include: Urbanite Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and Michigan Shakespeare Festival. Casey is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan.

Tom Aposporos is pleased to be heard as David in Sylvia Reed’s “Solastalgia” and Governor John Winthrop in “The Mis-Trial of Anne Hutchinson” by Bernard Yanelli.Tom has been privileged to appear in several stage plays previously produced by the company and is excited about the future for Radio Theatre Odyssey.

Chuck Conlon has been involved with Theatre Odyssey productions both onstage and backstage, since 2012. His Florida credits include shows for the Lake Worth Playhouse, Players Theatre, Two Chairs Theatre Company, Starlite Players, and student films for Ringling College.

We Interrupt This Program

By Arthur Keyser

Married thirty-nine years, a couple lives as though stuck in a time warp. No event which comes to their attention through newspapers or radio seems to affect them. They never get excited about anything, not even disclosures of long-held secrets.

Directed by Bob Trisolini

Cyrus Finney —— Don Walker
Phoebe Finney — Jenny Aldrich Walker
Radio Announcer — Ren Pearson
Stage Manager — Donna DeFant
Technical Director — Ren Pearson

What I Got Nobody Wants

By John J. Kelly

After a Pride parade, a young teen and an elderly woman share their recent life experiences and a ride home on the subway.

Directed by Louise Stinespring

Jeff — Scott Ehrenpreis
Ellie — Melliss Kenworthy
Stage Manager — Donna DeFant
Technical Director — Ren Pearson

Melliss Kenworthy arrived in Sarasota January 2000. Saw ad for “A Little Night Music” at The Players, got the lead in an A-1 production with top local actors. Because I was a member of Actors Equity, could not do more shows. The Players Theatre provides a vital asset to the city, should be lauded and supported.

Louise Stinespring holds a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Texas Tech University. She studied acting with Sanford Meisner. She has enjoyed a professional career in the theatre as an actor, director, dramaturg and professor. She wrote, directed and co-produced a series of theatre pieces at Home Resource in Sarasota.

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