The Chameleon Theatre Circle's 25th Annual New Play Festival
Join us on Saturday, October 5, for our 25th Annual New Play Festival at Inver Hills Community College in Inver Grove Heights, MN. All times are approximate.
| 8 a.m. | Doors Open |
|
| 8:25 a.m. | Welcome and general info from Jim Vogel |
|
| 8:30 a.m. | Welcome to the Fair by Straton Rushing Arlington, TX Directed by Laurie Swigart |
Full Length Category |
| 10:35 a.m. | Writer's Block by Jack Karp San Francisco, CA Directed by Kayla Hambek |
One-Act Category |
| 11:25 a.m. | Hamburgers by Richard Manley Newport Beach, CA Directed by Gary Davis |
One Act Category |
| Lunch - 12 - 12:35 p.m.
Lunch and beverages are provided for all attendees. |
||
| 12:35 p.m. | The Rosies by Aly Kantor Massapequa Park, NY Directed by Brad Donaldson |
One-Act Category |
| 1:35 p.m. | 10-Minute (Short) Plays | |
| Fluff by Adam Szudrich Sydney, NSW, Australia Directed by Brad Donaldson |
||
| Kevin and Jules by Samara Siskind Fort Lauderdale, FL Directed by Brad Donaldson |
||
| My Buddy and Me by Jonathan Wickremasinghe-Kuhn La Quinta, CA Directed by Brad Donaldson |
||
| Research by Stephen John Roth Santa Monica, CA Directed by Brad Donaldson |
||
| 2:50 p.m. | Joey Latino and Frankie Z by Nedra Pezold Roberts Brookhaven, GA Directed by Lisa Weaver |
Full Length Category |
| 4:25 p.m. | Final wrap-up with Jim |
|
The Chameleon Theatre Circle has produced 25 original plays over the course of 24 seasons, including:
- Ashland by Isabel Estelle - February 2024
- By Beautiful Infinity by David Vazdauskas - February 2019
- The Antichrist Cometh by David MacGregor - November 2014
- Mom! A New Musical Book by Judy Freed, Music and Additional Lyrics by Sari Miller, Lyrics by Randi Wolfe - April/May 2014
- We Gather Together by Vicki Riba Koestler - November 2011
- Paper Dolls by Timothy Braatz - September 2009
- Crossing Event Horizon by Kevin Rush - November 2007
- Life Savings by David Schrag - 2006 MACT FASTFest
- Paper Cuts by Timothy Braatz – October 2005
- Snowflake's Story by Nikki Harmon – January/April 2005 & spring of 2006
- Love's Shadow On Snow by Rick Raasch - March 2004
- Are We There Yet? by Kent R. Brown - May 2002
- New & Nobler Life by Timothy Braatz - Minnesota Fringe Festival, August 3-12, 2001
- Helena Handbasket by Timothy Braatz - February 2001
The Chameleon Theatre Circle has also produced these original plays:
- Monsters In America: Puppets of Mass Distraction (created by the company) - 2006 Minnesota Fringe Festival
- Death Penalty Puppetry (created by the company) – 2004 Minnesota Fringe Festival
- How I Wonder What You Are - Seven original plays by seven playwrights - January 2004
- Believe In It by Kim Kivens
- The Boy Who Dies With The Most Mommies Wins by Rick Raasch
- Child of Mine by Lysa Clayburn
- H-I-J-K-LMNOP (but not Q) by G.J. Clayburn
- Pull Falcon's Feather Lever by Tim Kuehl
- Twinkle by Timothy Braatz
- Un, Deux, Trois by Clare Jodzio McDermott
- Pollyholiday by Rick Raasch - March 2003
- I Could Kick Your Ass by Daniel K. McDermott - January 2003
- If Garrett McDermott Were A Bowl of Prize-Winning Chili by Rick Raasch - November 2002
Past New Play Contest Winners
| 2023 New Play Contest | |
| You Did What? by Hope Hommersand (River Forest, IL) | 10-Minute Category |
| Bump in the Night by Dan Borengasser, (Springdale, AR) |
10-Minute Category |
| The Last Student by Meredith Yanchak (Round Rock, TX) | One Act Category |
| Audients by Duncan Pflaster (Briarwood, NY) | 10-Minute Category |
| A Woman Over Forty by Lindsey Brown (Auckland, New Zealand) | One Act Category |
| S.A.T. - a Musical by Lara Cody and Mark Vogel (Los Angeles, CA) | Musical Category |
| The China Shop by Richard Manley (Newport Beach, CA) | Full Length Category |
| 2022 New Play Contest | |
| Ashland, by Isabel Estelle (Minneapolis, MN) | Full Length Category |
| Playing Fields of Somerville, by James McLindon (Northampton, MA) | Ten-Minute play |
| Lit Crit, by Cherielyn Ferguson (Piedmont, CA) | Ten-Minute play |
| Fruitful, by Rex McGregor (Auckland, New Zealand) | Ten-Minute play |
| The Dragon King's Daughter, by Marcus Yi (Miller Place, NY) | Theatre For Youth Musical Winner |
| Joe Goes Courting, by Evan Laughlin (Venice, CA) | Full length Category |
| Further Adventures of Jackie Paper, by Andrew Rosdail (Minneapolis) | One-Act play |
| 2021 New Play Contest | |
| Beloved, by Arthur Holden (Westmount Quebec, Canada) | Full Length Category |
| Craig Fox Had a Wife, by Beverly Allen (Bend, OR) | Full Length Category |
| A Lovely Day for a Boating Trip (and to Kill Your Spouse), by Lindsey Brown (Auckland, New Zealand) | One-Act Play |
| The Mockingbird's Nest, by Craig Bailey (Shelburne, VT) | One-Act Play |
| Chair, by Manuel Igrejas (Montclair, NJ) | Ten-Minute Play |
| Daybreak, by Mervyn Kaufman (New York, NY) | Ten-Minute Play |
| Satan at the Walmart, by James McLindon (Northampton, MA) | Ten-Minute Play |
| The Previous Incident Versus a Recent Development, by Deborah Dashow Ruth (Kensington, CA) | Ten-Minute Play |
| 2020 New Play Contest | |
| Ghostly by Craig Jessen | Full Length Category |
| Tracy Jones by Stephen Kaplan | Full Length Category |
| All My Exes Walk Into a Bar by Elke Thoms | One Act Category |
| Bertha's Books by W L Newkirk | One Act Category |
| Fantasy for Two by Mike McGoldrick | One Act Category |
| Albert Wants a Shirt by Tiffa Foster | Ten Minute Category |
| Magna Mora by Brian Cern | Ten Minute Category |
| The Swinging Bridge by Susan Middaugh | Ten Minute Category |
| 2019 New Play Contest | |
| National Bohemians by Like Sorge | Full Length Category |
| Agathe by Angela J Davis | One Act Category |
| California Zepher by Daniel James Waters | One Act Category |
| The Infinity Monologues by Jack Bushnell | One Act Category |
| Apocalypse Pet Care by Richard A Pauli | Ten Minute Category |
| Colored Water byCynthia Veal Holm | Ten Minute Category |
| Hotel Rewards by Stephen F Murray | Ten Minute Category |
| It's Always the Quiet Ones by Sharai Bohannon | Ten Minute Category |
| Performance Anxiety by Rom Watson | Ten Minute Category |
| 2018 New Play Contest | |
| Bird of Passage by Colby Halloran | Full Length Category |
| Rev by Rachel Bykowski | Full Length Category |
| The Grave Digger's Lament by Gavin Kayner | One Act Category |
| After the Intervention by W L Newkirk | Ten Minute Category |
| Appointment with Destiny by Beth L Novick | Ten Minute Category |
| Cat People Invade! Richard A Pauli | Ten Minute Category |
| Performance Review by Nedra Pezold Roberts | Ten Minute Category |
| When the Sun Goes Down by Jonathan Cook | Ten Minute Category |
| Hyard Ed by Phil Darg | Musical Category |
| 2017 New Play Contest | |
| Feather'd Choir by Jeremy Hermann | Ten Minute Category |
| Memories of the American Occupation by Paul Lewis | Ten Minute Category |
| Mixed Nuts by George Bryjak | Ten Minute Category |
| Night and Fog by Kathleen Davis | One Act Category |
| Spilled Dictators by Andrew Rosdail | One Act Category |
| Summers in Prague by Deanna Strasse | One Act Category |
| My Beautiful Infinity by David Vazdauskas | Full Length Category |
| The Women of Cheboksary by Emily Schoenbeck | Fell Length Category |
| The Notorious Nugget by Mark & Lauren Arnest | Musical Category |
| 2016 New Play Contest | |
| Exhibitions at a Picture by Joyce Fontana | Ten Minute Category |
| Gratitude Attitude by Ashley Flesher | Ten Minute Category |
| The Way We Suffer by Deanna Strasse | Ten Minute Category |
| Colorado Sunset by Jeff Carter | One Act Category |
| Good Morning, Miriam by Jacquelyn Floyd Priskorn | One Act Category |
| The Simple Mind of Dillon Magee by A. D. Hasselbring | One Act Category |
| Corbenic by Michael Peroz | Full Length Category |
| Cross Words by Scott Gibson | Fell Length Category |
| The Snowmaker by Aleks Merilo | Full Length Category |
| Zany Planets by Rex McGregor | Theatre for Youth Category |
| 2015 New Play Contest | |
| Intermission by Matthew Loren Cohen | Ten Minute Category |
| Bully Bully by Esta Fischer | Ten Minute Category |
| Fair Trade Coffee by Maurice Herzing | Ten Minute Category |
| The Real Inspector Hound Kisses the Spider-Woman by David Wilcox | One Act Category |
| The Smelly Girl by Cary Gitter | One Act Category |
| Living Tesla by Kim Esop Wylie | One Act Category |
| Weak Days by Hillary DePiano | One Act Category |
| Fertile by Tony Foster | One Act Category |
| Macho Manly Men by Michael Gordon Shapiro | Full Length Category |
| Santa Maria del Mar by John Krisak | Full Length Category |
| 2014 New Play Contest | |
| Page Ten by Amy Crider | Ten Minute Category |
| Beige is the New Plum Crazy by Garrett Heater | Ten Minute Category |
| Eve of the Vertebrates by Christian Simonsen | Ten Minute Category |
| Touché Cliché Touché by Everett Chambers | Ten Minute Category |
| The Colonial Diner by Jack Karp | One Act Category |
| The Mugging by Fred Roberts | One Act Category |
| Spoken For by S.L. Daniels | One Act Category |
| Ayn Rand by Gregory Dodds | One Act Category |
| A Dragon is Coming by Christine Williamson | Full Length Category |
| Calypso's Corner by Emily Rosenbaum | Full Length Category |
| 2013 New Play Contest | |
| A Dark and Stormy Night by Scott Dixon | Ten Minute Category |
| But Soft by David Clow | Ten Minute Category |
| My Broken Kenmore by Bridget Erin | Ten Minute Category |
| Role Playing by David Edenbach | Ten Minute Category |
| Daniil Kharms: A Life in Oce Act and Several Dozen Eggs by Nancy Cooper Frank | One Act Category |
| Fall by Audra Lord | One Act Category |
| Serendipity by Lynn-Steven Johanson | One Act Category |
| The Antichrist Cometh by David MacGregor | Full Length Category |
| The Death of Captain Hero by Amy Crider | Full Length Category |
| The Worst Play in the History of Ever by Jeffrey Wolf | Theatre for Youth Category |
| 2012 New Play Contest | |
| Good Talk by James McLindon | Ten Minute Category |
| Guess What? by Paul Lewis | Ten Minute Category |
| Pop by Andrea Rassler | Ten Minute Category |
| Witlacks Disorder by Richard Manley | Ten Minute Category |
| A Brief History of Mah Jongg by Faye Sholiton | One Act Category |
| Failing Consumption by Lauren & Mark Arnest | One Act Category |
| IO: A Sequel to Prometheus Bound by Christian Simonsen | One Act Category |
| Jane the Plain by August Schulenburg | Full Length Category |
| The Light in the Refrigerator by Laura Zlatos | Full Length Category |
| Mom! book by Judy Freed; music & additional lyrics by Sari Miller; lyrics by Randi Wolfe | Musical Category |
| The Wind in the Willows by Kurt Misar & Brad Beaver | Theatre for Youth Category |
| 2011 New Play Contest | |
| Curse the Darkness by Patrick Gabridge | Ten Minute Category |
| The Buffer by Mike Allegra | Ten Minute Category |
| Sense & Insensibility by Dan Borengasser | One Act Category |
| The Watch by Trace Crawford | One Act Category |
| Grandma's Little Helper by Kris Bauske | Full Length Category |
| Noir(ish) by Evan Guilford-Blake | Full Length Category |
| The Commission by Daivd Clow | Full Length Category |
| 2010 New Play Contest | |
| Candlelight by Matthew Carlin | Ten Minute Category |
| InSex by Jeffrey Neuman | Ten Minute Category |
| Missing by Robin Pond | Ten Minute Category |
| Retirement Party by Ron Frankel | Ten Minute Category |
| Assisted Living by Jeffrey Newman | Ten Minute Category |
| No Flash Bright Enough by James Sievert | One Act Category |
| We Gather Together by Vicki Riba Koestler | Full Length Category |
| Thorns by Michael Peroz | Full Length Category |
| HMS Headwind by Michael Gordon Shapiro | Musical Category |
| Maggie the Pirate by Joshua H. Cohen & James Armstrong | Musical Category |
| 2009 New Play Contest | |
| Old/Bored/Trouble/Dead by John Allison | Ten Minute Category |
| Have Your Cake by Sara Ilyse Jacobson | Ten Minute Category |
| Good God Enters Flossing by J. Stephen Brantley | Ten Minute Category |
| The Winner Is... by Arash Karami | Ten Minute Category |
| Merry-Go-Round by Sam Wallin | One Act Category |
| Cue by M. Thomas Cooper | One Act Category |
| Ponzi on Sunday by Jon Steinhagen | Full Length Category |
| Cossacks Under Water by Timothy Braatz | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| 2008 New Play Contest | |
| Dancing About Architecture by John C. Davenport | Ten Minute Category |
| 12 Steps to Happy Hour by Matt Wexler | Ten Minute Category |
| A Stake in Cake by Justin Boyd | Ten Minute Category |
| Esla and Frinz Go Partying by Bruze Shearer | Ten Minute Category |
| Rules for a Knife Fight by Max Wexler | One Act Category |
| Wrestling the Alligator by Sergei Burbank | Full Length Category |
| Bridget's Girl by Barbara Dixon | Musical Category |
| Blonde Giovanni by Rick Raasch | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| 2007 New Play Contest | |
| Hard to Swallow by Daniel Curzon | Ten Minute Category |
| Falling from the Sky by Matt Heftler | Ten Minute Category |
| Guts by Arden Kass | Ten Minute Category |
| Canvas by G. Bruce Smith | One Act Category |
| Burying Barbie by Christopher Dimond | One Act Category |
| Crossing Event Horizon by Kevin Rush | Full Length Category |
| 2006 New Play Contest | |
| The Ten Minute Play by Marika Barnett | Ten Minute Category |
| Life Savings by David Schrag | Ten Minute Category |
| SANE by Jessica Foster | Ten Minute Category |
| Living With the Rules by John A. Donnelly | One Act Category |
| A Personal Appearance by Donald Steele | One Act Category |
| Love and Sex Over Drinks by Joe Bays | Full Length Category |
| The Numerous Numbers and the Magical Plus Sign by Dan Sherrier | Theatre for Youth Category |
| Paper Dolls by Timothy Braatz | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| 2005 New Play Contest | |
| A vs. B by Marika Tamaki & Lindy Zucker | Ten Minute Category |
| Countdown to Matrimony: An American Monomyth in Under Ten Pages by Conrad E. Davidson | Ten Minute Category |
| Pathos by Rob Bodor | Ten Minute Category |
| Shades by Mark Harvey Levine | Ten Minute Category |
| The Word: A Filthy Little Play by Mark Harvey Levine | Ten Minute Category |
| Leftovers by Scott McMorrow | One Act Category |
| Picnic by Christine Flanagan | One Act Category |
| The Quality of Light by Richard Martin Hirsch | Full Length Category |
| The Commedia Robin Hood by Lane Riosley | Theatre for Youth Category |
| Wild Women of Planet Wongo by Ben Budick, Steve Mackes & Dave Ogrin | Musical Category |
| Paper Cuts by Timothy Braatz | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| Who's Afraid of Peter & the Wolf by Rick Raasch | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| 2004 New Play Contest | |
| Missing Matter by Helen Hill | Ten Minute Category |
| When One is Gone by Steve Bluestein | One Act Category |
| Picnic by Christine Flanagan | One Act Category |
| Snowflake's Story: In Search of the Fabled Land of New Jersey by Nikki Harmon | Theatre for Youth Category |
| The Commistar by Timothy Braatz | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| 2003 New Play Contest | |
| The Marriage of Marcus Tyler by Matthew N. Fotis | One Act Category |
| Guns, Lies & Lullabies by Timothy Braatz | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| Love's Shadow on Snow by Rick Raasch | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| 2002 New Play Contest | |
| Broken Loyalties by Christopher Karbo | Full Length Category |
| For the Perserverance of Plentitude by Laura Henry | Full Length Category |
| One Was Assulted by Timothy Braatz | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
| 2001 New Play Contest | |
| Are We There Yet? by Kent R. Brown | One Act Category |
| The Volunteer by Kent R. Brown | One Act Category |
| Shattered Perspectives by John Otte | Full Length Category |
| New and Nobler Life by Timothy Braatz | Playwright-in-Residence Submission |
