10 By 10 Festival provides entertainment in minutes

Thursday begins the second phase of the 8th Annual 10 By 10 Festival that will continue showing through Sunday at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

""I think the best way to describe it is ‘great theater for people with a short attention span""'"" said sound designer and Musical Director Shannon O'Neill.

The 10 By 10 theater festival is an international event featuring 10 ten-minute plays chosen from a pool of about 400 submissions from all over the world. There are no rigid guidelines for which plays are included in the festival.

""I wish there were a clear formula"" said Emily Ranii, ArtsCenter artistic director. We're just looking for plays that we fall in love with.""

The selection process lasted five months.

""It's definitely worth it" because by going through all of them we come out with a really good production" O'Neill said.

Saturday saw a completely sold-out crowd when the playwrights held a post-show discussion.

This coming Saturday is expected to be just as popular with the Meet The Artists event, where everyone involved in the shows will lead a discussion with audience members.

The plays are set anywhere from a glacier to a box, and another features organs talking within a body.

The festival also features a musical — its second ever — that inspired them to have musician Billy Sugarfix onstage during all 10 productions for live music and sound effects.

It's exciting because not only is the sound aural this year" it's also got a visual element to it too" O'Neill said.

Transitions are usually kept to about 30 seconds, but this year is different in that Sugarfix provides live entertainment between shows, too.

Matt Casarino, of Delaware, who wrote Green Eggs and Mamet" is in his fifth year with the festival.

It really feels wonderful. They really take the craft of playwriting seriously" Casarino said.

He said his play this year is very different from his other work because of its rhyme scheme, modeled after Dr. Seuss.

It was really my first time trying anything with that rigid of a structure"" he said.

Casarino said the high caliber of actors, directors and the community support adds to the quality of the event.

I think this could possibly be the strongest year"" he said. I saw some plays that just absolutely blew me away.

""This is absolutely one of the best short play festivals in the country.""

The brief time frame for so many plays made for a complex rehearsal schedule.

""I couldn't even look at it because it was so confusing" actress Jeri Lynn Schulke said of the schedule.

Schulke works at the ArtsCenter running the Youth Performing Arts Conservatory.

The fact that they're short plays there's a lot that can be compacted in that and you don't want to miss anything she said.

The plays will show at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

It has really been quite magical the whole process" Ranii said. It's great to flesh out these plays by playwrights from across the country.""


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