Welcome to the first ever SPring open artist showcase
Spring Open fulfills Off Center’s mission to promote and present new work by Vermont theater artists. Participants were selected by lottery from a wide selection of applicants and are given the space rent free, splitting the bill with another winner for one week to showcase their work. A total of four shows were presented over the two week festival. Each of the four selections ran under one hour.
Week one - june 1-3, 7:30 pm
Ten Fest West
The Vermont Playwrights Circle will present five ten-minute plays selected from the past nine seasons of TenFest, a festival of short plays showcasing Vermont playwrights. The Ballad of Tom and Jerry by Liam Kuhn featuring Bob Carmody Willing by Luc Reid feathering Kate O'Neill, Gene Heinrich, and Lisa Spenser Blood Ties by Dvora Zipkin The Last Detective by Jeanne Beckwith Man v. Squirrel by Kim Ward Directing the shows will be Jeanne Beckwith, Kim Ward, and Vince Broderick. All plays will be performed by a company of TenFest veteran performers, several of whom were actually in the original casts. The Vermont Playwrights Circle promotes original theater works written by Vermont Writers. Summer 2017 will mark ten years of TenFest which over the years has presented the works of Maura Campbell, Liam Kuhn, Luc Reid, Dana Yeaton, Jack Rushton, Roger Strauss, Marissa Smith, Lesley Becker, Dvora Zipkin, Em Frappier, Mary Beth McNulty, Margo Lasher, and many, many more. |
The Birth of Love: the Ballad of Miro Weinberger
Written and Directed by Joe O’Brien Performed by the members and non-members of the Cosmic Noodle Improv Federation, including Nicole D'Elisa, Taylor Smith, Meredith Davey, Joe O'Brien, Eric Pachner, Addie Herbert, Derek Proulx The year is 2017 and the old gods are at war. In a world of hard knocks, tough luck, and dire times, one man arises to avert the inevitable. Join our hero, Miro, a plucky young developer with a heart of gold, on his journey to stave off the evil Golden Lions of Discontent and abort the apocalyptic Birth of Love. A truly American story. Joe O'Brien is a Burlington resident and aspiring professional amateur. He is a member of the Cosmic Noodle Improv Confederacy Federation, a recently formed local collection of go-getters. This is his sophomore play in Burlington, following the sprawling smash hit FUN NIGHT. |
week two: june 8-10, 7:30 pm
The Allegory
of Flowing Water written and directed by Martin Gil Two men and one woman are camping by a brook in the State Forest. The natural setting promotes a relaxing of usually necessary social restraints. The resulting alliances and interactions prove to be both intrinsically interesting and instructive. Thirty minutes, eleven scenes. Martin Gil, born in Vermont, trained at UVM, works professionally in theater and performing arts as a union stage technician, and provides concept and design where he can,regionally, also performs music whenever possible, loves to cook, and to ski. |
Outpost
a solo work, written, directed and performed by Meredith Gordon Outpost. Abigail Cutter and her husband David had one dream, to raise their son in the wilderness, free from the chaos of the world. With their dream in hand, they buy a small cabin off the grid in the Northwest Territories. Their son is born, but shortly after David falls ill and dies, leaving Abigail alone in woods. She is left with the decision to carry on she and her husbands dream for their child or to find some way back to civilization. The decision proves a complicated one as forces of nature and her own mind begin to take their toll on her. Meredith Gordon is currently a stay at home mother of two in Shelburne, Vermont. When not chasing around after her two children, she is hard at work on her brand new parenting blog, I Make Your Parenting Look Good. A blog, much like her play for Off Center, highlights the honest struggles she feels as a parent. Her one woman show, Outpost, is a true labor of love and is the first solo show Meredith has ever created. You may have previously seen Meredith on the Off Center stage as a member of the Potato Sack Pants Theater sketch comedy troupe. A group she hopes to work with again, once all these kids of ours can make their own dinners. |
