THE WAITING ROOM: 2023 10-Minute Play Festival
We’ve all been waiting. Here at Heartland, we waited for the day when we could open our doors again. Our patrons waited for the chance to get back to the things that they enjoy. For more than two years, we’ve all mastered the art of waiting.
Now our 10-Minute Play Festivals are back in production, but that doesn’t mean the waiting is over. In fact, we’re embracing it. The theme for our 2023 10-Minute Play Festival is The Waiting Room. We want to see what happens while people are waiting for something to happen.
It should be a uniquely complete night of theater. Haven’t we always been told that good things come to those who wait? But rocker Tom Petty told us that “the waiting is the hardest part.” And, of course, it will be another opportunity for Heartland to bring terrific artists and our wonderful patrons together to celebrate material written just for us.
We can’t wait!
The Winning Plays you’ll see on stage:
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE WAITING ROOM by Daphne Macy, New Rochelle NY
Self-absorbed Justin is waiting for a job interview and being rude to the other person he thinks is applying for the same job. The receptionist takes him for a little walk and, surprise! Guess who that was in the waiting room – the boss lady!
WEIGHT by Chris Shaw Swanson, Westerville, OH
Taking place in a hospital waiting room, a distraught single mother blames a caring high school wrestling coach for her son’s dehydration-induced coma. The son, a senior, was trying to lose weight to maintain a varsity spot on the team. Can the coach, soon to be a father himself, and a mom with only one child, find common ground?
THE CHOICE by Dale Griffiths Stamos, Santa Barbara CA
Should we be allowed to decide how and when we leave this earth? Should we prolong the inevitable, when one is in constant pain? Do we have the right to die on our own terms? Watch as three characters struggle with a decision that will haunt them for the rest of their lives
THIS BABY by William R. Boersma, Skokie IL
Jim and Anne, a perfectly normal couple, want the perfect life for their perfect baby. That is why they have an appointment at Babies-by-Design. Jim and Anne soon find out that their perfect plan for the perfect baby with a perfect life may not be all so perfectly simple.
WHAT HAPPENS ON MONDAY by Benjamin Tyler Roberts, Maytown PA
Gil Martin, the newly hired janitor, is in for quite a surprise when he finally meets Dr. Sheeves. When Dr. Sheeves hears that Gil started work on Monday, she becomes very nervous, because the office is only open Tuesday through Saturday. What happens in the office on Mondays is a secret Dr. Sheeves is willing to pay to keep quiet.
THAT’S THE WORST PART by Katie Lee, Victoria AUSTRALIA
Three different women describe the struggle of infertility treatment. They are all on stage, but do not interact with each other. Emotional and hopeful.
THE GOOD OLD DAYS by Roy Von Hooydonk, Ontario CANADA
An elderly, joyfully bickering couple, both retired assassins, wait in the police station after having foiled a robbery attempt. The police officer interviewing them tries to reconcile the enormous damage they did to their assailant with the couples’ obvious physical and maybe mental infirmities. Who are these two, and how did they escape in so spectacular a fashion? Meanwhile, Roy and Theresa need to keep their covert past a secret while still cooperating with the authorities.
NEXT UP by Sean Abley, Los Angeles CA
Between this world and the next, a bored clerk and his perpetually distracted assistant, Brenda, prepare an ambitious woman for her next reincarnation assignment.
Performances: JUNE 1,2,3 | 8,9,10,11 | 15,16,17 | 22,23,24* – 2023
*Two performances on June 24. Show Times
For a complete listing of previous 10-Minute Play winners, click here.
