Stop. Start. Repeat.

Fondren Theatre Workshop's first-ever Ten Minute Play Project was a tremendous success. The evening was one of those unexpectedly electric nights, where audience, entertainers, crew and writers all share a tingling anticipation for what will unfold. No one knew exactly what they were getting themselves into, but everyone was glad to be along for the ride.

The auditorium was filled with the sort of audience you just want to bottle up and take with you to every one of your future performances -- responsive, respectful, engaged. When they were supposed to chuckle, they laughed; when they were supposed to laugh, they guffawed. You could see playwrights beaming as their words evoked uproarious hooting from the enthusiastic crowd. As one of my favorite directors oft says, the audience is one of the most important, influential elements of a performance. This audience deserved a standing ovation.

The first piece of the evening was Brent Hearn's "The Redneck Bard of Verona Flats." In a unique combination of kitchen sink comedy and Shakespearean tongue (in cheek), Shakespeare's Ghost flitted through the trailer home of Mark and Maylene, a pair of, er, star-cross'd lovers. The most original, oh-my-God-I-just-snorted moments came from Maylene's bumbling inadvertent paraphrasing of classic Shakespeare lines, such as "The worst thing in here is the smell... there's something rottin' in the den, Mark." The audience was rolling in the aisles. The skilled direction of Diana Howell and the animated expressions of actors Brad Bishop, Seth McNeill and Lisa Fenshier made the play as visually entertaining as it was clever. Brent, however, may well have had the easiest prop pieces to incorporate into his piece (see last post for explanation of the guidelines for this ten minute play project) : a telephone, an apron, and a plush platypus.

The third show was Opie Cooper's screwball comedy "Legal Mumbo Jumbo." With a secretary with temporary hearing loss, an overstressed attorney and a client whose wig goes sailing off her head, how can you go wrong? Opie's props were more challenging: a plush elephant wearing a key-charm, a large pink tin rooster, and the aforementioned wig. However, Opie's clever turns of phrase enabled him to wrangle every prop into the script, and the almost-frenzied level of energy displayed by his cast, directed by Bettye Edwards, kept the piece popping from start to finish (or Stop to Start, as the case may be... again, I refer to the rules as outlined in the last post!). Alyssa Silberman, Katrina Byrd and James Anderson were quite the comedic trio.

The show wedged between the two comic successes was my piece, "Baby Steps." I won't comment on my own work, but will say that I was blown away by the take-charge direction of Richard Lawrence. Actors John Howell, Hannah Bryan and Lea Gunter slipped into their characters like second skins. I will also say that I had, I do believe, the most challenging props of all: a belly dancer costume (including headgear!), a concertina, and a watermelon on a leash. Knowing the comedic genius of Brent and Opie, local improv gurus that they are, I scrapped the absurdist comedy I was originally attempting to create and instead alternated humor with emotion in a ten-minute dramedy. Watermelon on a leash and all.

Much as I'm often tempted to write eloquent passages, particularly in reviewing arts performances, it seems a bit inappropriate in this instance. There is no such need for decorative articulation: this weekend of breakneck-speed play creation was just plain fun.