Schreiber Shorts 2017
Drama should be compressed. That’s why short plays – 10-minute or 15-minute plays – have such potential. But it’s a very challenging form, and most short plays fail. The playwright needs to make us care quickly, and a lot depends on the characterization being specific. T. Schreiber Theatre, Off-off-Broadway, has presented ten short plays in its program Schreiber Shorts 2017. The evening is a success. Most of the scripts are quite good. The directions is uniformly adroit, and the acting throughout is first-rate. The best play of the evening, a great example of a successful short play, is Nathan Yungerberg’s Golden Gate . A young man has arrived in town and is befriended by an older man. Seems simple enough, but it’s successful because it’s written with mystery. It also gives us the evening’s best performance, from Gus Solomons Jr, as the elder man. The character’s behavior is inexplicable, but it has a dramatic truth that the actor illuminates. Prize Fight , by Michae...