Arts & Entertainment
Local Playwrights Shine at Summer Festival
Open Space Arts held its third annual Summer Playwright's Festival this month, featuring 10-minute plays written and directed by Reisterstown and Owings Mills residents.
What happens when local residents write and direct their own 10-minute plays?
You get stories about an out-of-place elephant, a cunning spider, an evil dragon, a misbehaving genie and more.
Open Space Arts—a community organization dedicated to creating and sharing art—held its third annual Summer Playwright’s Festival this month, featuring seven original 10-minute plays written, directed and performed by Reisterstown and Owings Mills locals.
Despite rain early in the day on Saturday, Aug. 13, the outdoor show was able to go on. In the backyard of Open Space’s Hanover Road location, audience members relaxed during the lively two-hour production.
The seven plays allowed aspiring young actors to showcase talents in comedy, drama, puppeteering and voice acting.
The Elephant in the Room by Sophie Kurtze and The Dream and the Dragon by Will Dalrymple explored themes of relationship challenges and growing older.
In Tuscaloosa Confidential by Jill Montone, voice actors and stage actors had to work together to animate puppet masks.
A Guide for the Care and Use of Genies by Lauren Rudin provided comical insight into what it might be like to live with a genie.
An arachnologist found himself in a sticky situation with a tricky spider in The Truth is Spiders by Brett Englar.
A weary traveler discovered that a good place to rest is hard to find in Old Goldilocks and the Two Bears by Susan Middaugh.
Crew members in The Troupe by Katie Ganem got more than they bargained for when the monster from their instructor’s play turns out to be a real creature.
Actresses Claire Ganem and Naomi Sinn had fun becoming their characters.
“I like playing Sarah in The Elephant in the Room because she’s the complete opposite of me,” Ganem said.
Sinn, who played a clever, hungry spider in The Truth is Spiders, said she really liked learning about character development while preparing for the role.
Each year the festival has a theme for its plays. This year, scriptwriters were given a list of Open Space props and puppets; their challenge was to create a story around one or more of these items. The best scripts are selected and casting begins in May.
Katie Ganem, who also served as director and co-producer, said the group rehearses all summer to prepare. About 32 people, ranging from ages 10 to 50, worked hard to assemble sets and bring characters to life.
Sharon Saroff was excited that she and her two children, Natalie and Charlie, were all acting in various plays.
“This is my first time at Open Space and I haven’t acted in a while,” she said. “I’m having lots of fun.”
