About the Show

This annual festival of new American short plays returns to 59E59 for its 12th consecutive year.

The festival's two series consist of three plays each.

Series A:

'Grounded'
by Chris Bohjalian
Directed by Alexander Dinelaris
A young flight attendant with a fear of flying is about to work her first transatlantic trip. When a veteran co-worker tries to help her through the turbulent crossing, she discovers that a fear of flying is the least of the young woman's secrets.

'The Living Room'
Written and directed by Robert O'Hara
A satire. About Frank and Judy. Who are White People in a Living Room. Doing what White People in Living Rooms do. But something is different. Today Frank and Judy have questions. About the entire nature of being White People in a Living Room.

'Kenny's Tavern'
By Abby Rosebrook
Directed by Jess Chayes
Kenny's Tavern is a dive bar and liberal oasis for a certain crowd of public-school teachers in the foothills of West Virginia. On the eve of the 2016 election, two colleagues hole up in the back of their regular haunt to hash out their relationship to each other and the community they love.

See the lineup for Series B here.

Critic Reviews (6)

"‘Kenny's Tavern’: It progresses sluggishly, and the characters aren't drawn sharply enough...Bohjalian's ‘Grounded’: The action is notably lacking in tension...'The Living Room' is billed as a satire, but it is singularly without laughs...This is the weaker of the two Summer Shorts offerings, lacking in humor and heavy with accusation. The crimes of the #MeToo era should at least yield some interesting dramas to come, but here the handling is dreary and a little bit forced."
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"The linking theme in the three new one acts in 'Summer Shorts 2018 - Festival of New American Plays: Series A' is life in Trump's United States including predatory males, race relations, and the disenfranchised. While all three plays have intriguing premises only Chris Bohjalian's 'Grounded,' a first play by a novelist of long standing, is a fully-realized, dramatic experience. Having your heart in the right place or expressing righteous anger over a current wrong proves not to be enough."
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"'The Living Room' serves as a great warm-up act to whet our appetites for the next two pieces, both of which pack a punch...The power of 'Kenny’s Tavern' comes from an unspoken juxtaposition between the privileged philandering educators and the young girl...'Grounded' is my favorite, wonderfully compelling on both literal and metaphorical levels...Dinelaris does a wonderful job of keeping the play focused, amidst all of the non sequiturs and realistic interruptions."
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"Go for the fluid acting in some of the pieces. Go for the depth of writing that you’ll hear from good playwrights. Go to challenge your own morality. Playwrights, us out here are interested in what these 'Summer Shorts' have to say."
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"Each play touches lightly on some contemporary social issue that has been gently peeled, rather than ripped, from the headlines…'The Living Room's points seem blunted to the point of pointlessness and its self-declared existence as a 'satire' evokes barely any laughs…None of 'Kenny's Tavern' amounts to much, plot or theme-wise, and the action slumbers…'Grounded' isn't always smooth, but…succeeds in creating relatable, well-written characters, each of them given convincing performances."
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"Manages to give a loving spotlight to three distinct and smart voices. 'Summer Shorts' binds together the intents and explorations of these playwrights into a succinct 90-minute showcase of what the new generation of writers is capable of. If one theme can be given, it would be this: the voices you don’t often hear, speaking to the issues you thought you knew all about."
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Trailer

Creative team