Theatre Odyssey

Bringing plays to life

Events

2024 Ten-Minute Play Festival

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Verna Safran Prize goes to READY OR NOT Anuj Naidu and William Ashburn READY OR NOT—William Ashburn, playwright Michael Anthony Mercado, Anuj Naidu, and director James Thaggard. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE COMPLETE PLAYBILL As a lifelong creator of characters and stories, Michael Anthony Mercado embarks on a new adventure as a playwright and is [...]

2023 Ten-Minute Play Festival

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IN REMEMBRANCE judged Best Play CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE ONLINE PLAYBILL Memory is important, especially as we mature, and the production of In Remembrance by Michelle Pascua with Lee Gundersheimer, Donna DeFant, and Stephen-Paul Dieter directed by Katherine Michelle Tanner delivered the message touchingly. It was judged Best Play and won the Verna Safran [...]

2023 Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival

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Elaina Bayard wins Verna Safran Prize Festival Production Manager Preston Boyd commented that the work by students this year made the competition, judged by Dr. Valerie Barnes Lipscomb, Benny Sato Ambush, and David Covach, particularly challenging. And he noted that for the first time, Theatre Odyssey retained dramaturgy services from award-winning playwright Jason Cannon for [...]

2022 One-Act Play Festival

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“The Mockingbird’s Nest” wins $1000 Verna Safran Prize Nellie O’Brien and Betty Robinson in “The Mockingbird’s Nest” The Mockingbird’s Nest Elderly shut-in Daisy suspects her daughter and live-in caregiver, Robyn, isn’t what she seems to be. Playwright Craig Bailey Craig Bailey wrote, produced, and published his first one-act while he was a teenager. In the [...]

2022 Ten-Minute Play Festival

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“SIGN HERE FOR ALL THAT REMAINS” Wins Verna Safran Prize Greg Burdick’s poignant play about a widow receiving an unexpected delivery was judged Best Play at the 17th Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival. SIGN HERE FOR ALL THAT REMAINS was directed by Alan Brasington and featured performances by Sue Bachman and Glenn Schudel. Greg, from Lakeland, […]

2022 Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival

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BEST PLAY: THE REAL WORLD THE REAL WORLD—Tony Boothby, Ann Morrison, Jude DeMaio, Owen DeMaio and director Blake Walton. The play by Jake Pettingell was awarded the $1000 Vernon Safran Prize. The first Verna Safran Prize ($1,000) was awarded to Jake Pettingell, a Sarasotan who attends Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School, for his play THE REAL [...]