Take Ten: New 10-minute Plays

Jacket Description/Flap: A ten-minute play is a streak of theatrical lightning. It doesn't last long, but its power can stand your hair on end. This splendid anthology contains enough wattage to light up a small city. For in its pages, thirty-two of our finest playwrights hone their skills on a form that has been called the haiku of the American stage. The plays that Nina Shengold and Eric Lane have collected in this volume range from monologues to an eight-character farce. Eminently producible, ideally suited for the classroom and audition, Take Ten is a marvelous resource for teachers and students of drama, as well as a stimulating read for lovers of the theatre. Contributors include: John Augustine, Cathy Celesia, Laura Cunningham, Joe Pintauro, Mary Sue Price, Megan Terry, Jose Rivera, Romulus Linney, David Mamet, Jane Martin, David Ives, and many others. Biographical Note: Eric Lane and Nina Shengold have been editing contemporary theater anthologies for more than twenty years. Eric Lane's award-winning plays have been published and performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, and China. Plays include "Ride, Times of War, Heart of the City, Dancing on Checkers' Grave, "and" Filming O'Keeffe. Floating," a PlayPenn finalist, was workshopped at Raven Theatre. Eric's short plays are published in "Best American Short Plays, Poems and Plays," and the "Foreign Language Press" (Beijing). He wrote and produced the short films "First Breath" and "Cater-Waiter," which he also directed; both films screened in more than forty cities worldwide. For TV's "Ryan's Hope" he received a Writers Guild Award. Honors include the Berrilla Kerr Playwriting Award, the La MaMa Playwright Award, and fellowships at Yaddo, VCCA, and St. James Cavalier in Malta. Eric is an honors graduate of Brown University, and artistic director of Orange Thoughts, a not-for-profit theater and film company in New York City. Nina Shengold's plays include "Finger Foods, War at Home, Homesteaders," and "Romeo/Juliet," and have been produced around the world. Her one-act "No Shoulder" was filmed by director Suzi Yoonessi, with Melissa Leo and Samantha Sloyan. Nina won a Writers Guild Award for her teleplay "Labor of Love," starring Marcia Gay Harden; other teleplays include "Blind Spot," with Joanne Woodward and Laura Linney, and" Unwed Father." Her books include the novel "Clearcut"; "River of Words: Portraits of Hudson Valley Writers" (with photographer Jennifer May), and a growing posse of pseudonymous books for young readers. A graduate of Wesleyan, she is currently teaching creative writing at Manhattanville College. Nina lives in New York's Hudson Valley, where she has been books editor of "Chronogram" magazine since 2004. Publisher Marketing: The plays that Nina Shengold and Eric Lane have collected in this volume range from monologues to an eight-character farce. They take in the metaphysical slapstick of David Ives's The Philadelphia and the breathtaking ferocity of Dana Yeaton's Helen at Risk, and contain parts across the entire spectrum of age, race, and gender. Eminently producible, ideally suited for the classroom and audition, Take Ten is a marvelous resource for actors, directors, and producers, as well as a stimulating read for lovers of the theatre. Publisher Marketing: An anthology of thirty-two short plays includes works by Christopher Durang, David Mamet, John Patrick Shanley, August Wilson, Sherry Kramer, and Megan Terry.

Contributor Bio:  Shengold, Nina Eric Lane and Nina Shengold are editors of twelve contemporary play collections. Their other titles for Vintage Books include "Plays for Actresses, Leading Women: Plays for Actresses II, Take Ten: New Ten-Minute Plays, Take Ten II: More Ten-Minute Plays, Under Thirty: Plays for a New Generation, "and "Talk to Me: Monologue Plays. "For Viking Penguin, they edited "The Actor's Book of Contemporary Stage Monologues, The Actor's Book of Scenes from New Plays, Moving Parts: Monologues from Contemporary Plays, The Actor's Book of Gay and Lesbian Plays "(Lambda Literary Award nominee), and "Telling Tales: New One-Act Plays." Nina Shengold received the ABC Playwright Award and the L. A. Weekly Award for "Homesteaders, "published by Samuel French. Her "Romeo/Juliet," a five-actor adaptation of Shakespeare's play, is published by Broadway Play Publishing. Her ten-minute plays have been performed at the Actors Theatre of Louisville and dozens of other theaters. Ms. Shengold won the Writers Guild Award and a GLAAD Award nomination for her teleplay "Labor of Love, "starring Marcia Gay Harden; other screenplays include "Blind Spot, "with Joanne Woodward and Laura Linney, "Unwed Father, Double Platinum, "and a flm adaptation of Jane Smiley's "Good Will. "She is artistic director of the upstate New York theater company Actor's & Writers. Her first novel, "Clearcut, "was published by Anchor Books. Eric Lane is an award-winning playwright and filmmaker. Plays include "Heart of the City, Times of War, Shellac, Cater-Waiter, "and "Dancing on Checkers' Grave, "which starred Jennifer Aniston. Mr. Lane has written and produced two short filims: "First Breath "and "Cater-Waiter. "For his work on TV's"Ryan's Hope, "he received a Writers Guild Award. Honors include the Berrilla Kerr Playwrighting Award, La Mama Playwright Development Award, numerous Yaddo fellowships, and a St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity fellowship in Malta. Mr. Lane is an honors graduate of Brown University, and is artistic director of Orange Thoughts Productions, a not-for-profit theater and film company in New York City. Contributor Bio:  Lane, Eric Eric Lane is an award-winning playwright, filmmaker and book editor. Plays include: "Times of War, Cater-Waiter "and "Dancing on Checkers' Grave," which starred Jennifer Aniston. His new play "Heart of the City" has been optioned for off-Broadway. Eric has written and produced two short films: "First Breath" and "Cater-Waiter," which he also directed. Honors include a Writer's Guild Award, La MaMa Playwright Award, Berrilla Kerr Award and two-time O'Neill Center finalist. He has won fellowships at Yaddo and St. James Cavalier in Malta. With Nina Shengold, he has edited ten contemporary play anthologies for Penguin and Vintage Books, earning them a Lambda Literary Award nomination. Eric is Artistic Director of Orange Thoughts Productions, a not-for-profit theater & film company in New York City.