Edmonds Driftwood Players is a volunteer-based nonprofit community theatre based in Edmonds, WA that has been entertaining and educating the community since 1958, making EDP one of the oldest continually operating community theaters in Washington State.
We are pleased to announce our theme and call for submissions for our 13th Annual Festival of Shorts. Our annual playwriting festival provides an opportunity for playwrights to have their works brought to life on stage, as well as gain recognition and potential awards. Some past winners have later been developed into full-length award-winning plays!
The Festival this year will be presented in five performances June 27-30, 2024, featuring eight shorts finalists. The theme for 2024 is “Silver Linings: A consoling or hopeful prospect.” We would love to see both comedic and dramatic stories with uplifting endings.
The finalists are selected from submissions from around the globe. Our volunteer readers and judges are local Seattle-area theatre lovers and playwrights. To keep the process as fair as possible, our readers are given blind copies of script submissions for judging.
After the closing performance, we will announce the winners for:
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place Judges’ Awards
Overall Audience Favorite
We had 495 submissions this year!!
Act I/Show #1: Finding Mother Courage by Pam Kingsley
Veteran actress Katherine is looking forward to auditioning for the title role in an upcoming production of Mother Courage and her Children. It is the one role that has eluded her long career in the Theatre. Katherine’s enthusiasm dampens, however, when she must deal with the “Assistant Director from hell” who is running the auditions. The question then becomes… how far will Katherine go to get the part? With an eye towards humor and an ending you won’t expect, the play takes a poke at sexism, ageism, and identity.
Act I/Show #2: The Real Thing by Marjorie Williamson
Ellen doesn’t have a lot to show for her thirty-five years on this earth: she is neither a prima ballerina nor a famous detective; she doesn’t have a black stallion, a husband, or much in the way of prospects. What she does have is a very resourceful (albeit imaginary) friend who’s putting in one final appearance to shake things up for two very ordinary, very nice, very real people.
Act I/Show #3: The World Needs More Trees by Kimberly Shimer
When Rachel’s brother Brandon dies from a drug overdose, will a spectral visit provide an opportunity to say what’s been left unsaid?
Act I/Show #4: First Impressions by Kurt Olson
Amanda attempts to rely on her two roommates to help her prepare for a job interview that same day. They do try to help, technically.
Act II/Show #5: The Bench by Romney S. Humphrey
Two social isolates unexpectedly discover that a specific bench in the park has great importance to each of them. The problem? Both require full occupation of that bench on a specific day and time. This specific day and time. And no one is budging. The resolution? Unexpected and extraordinary.
Act II/Show #6: A Much Better Deal by Stephan Feldman
In a rural diner with a snowstorm approaching, “A Much Better Deal” is a story of how one teenager struggles to make peace with the loss of his war hero father and trying to accept a new man in his mother’s life, while another young man thinks crime may be the way to support his young family. The intersection of these two different paths leads to an unexpected outcome for both young men.
Act II/Show #7: Horseshoe by Sara Freedman
Dad wants Joe to take over the ranch. Joe has another dream.
Act II/Show #8: Lemonade by Marjorie Williamson
Old age may bring with it certain indignities, but Vera has discovered one bonus feature. She’d like to share the benefits of this discovery with her old friend Charlotte, but she’s meeting with some resistance.
Playwrights were asked to submit an original script for a short play based on the following guidelines:
Thank you to First Financial Northwest Bank for sponsoring the 13th Annual Festival of Shorts!
If you would like to receive notifications regarding submissions, click on the blue button below to sign up for future playwright announcements.
Congratulations to our 12th Annual Festival of Shorts Finalists!
ACT I
Tiny Man on Ferry by Samara Siskind
The Ubercorn by Brett Hursey
Frequent Flyers by Michael Goodwin Hilton
Be My Fur Baby by Rhea MacCallum
ACT II
Monday Morning Still in the Park with George by Natalie Welber
The Best We Can Do by Emily Golden
Serendipitous by Lawson Caldwell
The Wrong Jane by Scott Stolnack
THANK YOU TO OUR SEASON SPONSORS
