1977 saw the debut of a new dramatic structure, the Ten-Minute Play, at the Acter's Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays. At the time John Jory founded the Actor's Theater of Louisville in 1977, American theaters were mainly producing plays which were considered the classics of theater by such noted playwrights as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. Very few contemporary plays by new authors. Th conventional wisdom at the time claimed that most people were not interested in seeing new plays.
In order to circumnavigate this perceived reluctance of the theater going public to see new plays Jory decided to present new pieces as part of a "Little Festival." Thus evolved the Humana Fesitval, which nearly three decades later, has become one of the premier theatre events in the United States, and the form of the Ten-Minute play was born.
General Guidelines for the 10-Minute Play:
* Usually lasts between 7-15 minutes
* Minimum of 2 characters
* Generally uses a bare minimum of sets and props.
* Concentrates on character and plot
Flash Drama - The List
Flash Drama is theatrical expression which does not exceed ten minutes on stage. The purpose of this workshop is to develop scripts of this genre, hone the skills of the authors and to promote performance and publication. The method of achieving this is to submit scripts to the workshop for peer review and to engage in discussion of the theory and practice of the art.
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