Our History

Theatre Odyssey’s first Ten-Minute Play Festival in 2006 was a single night, sold-out event. It cemented an idea that developed from conversations among local actors and writers that new, original work could be performed in different venues and everyone part of any production would receive some monetary compensation for their time and talent.

In 2013, the company created a Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival to encourage emerging playwrights from local middle and high schools. That initial festival was in January of that year and became Theatre Odyssey’s second annual event.

The 2019 Ten-Minute Play Festival will welcome plays from all over Florida. The Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival will welcome submissions from a multi-county area including Manatee and Sarasota Counties.

This fall, Theatre Odyssey is producing its first One-Act Play Festival and invited writers from throughout the United States to submit their work for production locally. Limited to the first 100 plays submitted, plays were received from 26 states and the District of Columbia two weeks ahead of the end of the submission period. Over private readers selected twelve semi-finalist plays and those were read before a panel of judges in September. The four finalist plays are presented in this maiden one-act festival.  

Over 150 original new plays have been produced over the years. Many playwrights whose work was first presented by Theatre Odyssey have been published elsewhere, and their work has been produced nationally and internationally.

Theatre Odyssey has published three anthologies. Volume One is the work produced in the years 2006 through 2009 and Volume Two, 2010 through 2013. Volume Three, the plays produced from 2014 through 2017, has recently been published and is available for purchase at this festival or from national booksellers.

Theatre Odyssey is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit company.