2023 One-Act Festival

The One Act Festival is Back !!!! The Festival will be smaller than in the past with 5 shows running two weekends, September 22 – October 1.

Get Tickets HERE

Be sure to check out the One Festival Award winners HERE!

Banana Brains by Em German
Directed by Yvonne Paretzky

This 15-minute dark comedy sheds light on what motivates someone to be a crime scene cleaner. The play takes place in the office of Greensboro Aftermath Services, where May Belle Halford is interviewing for a job as a cleaner.

May – Imaan Khan (9/21,9/23, 9/29,10/1), Helen Cheng Mao (9/22, 9/24, 9/30)
Interviewer – Brett Murray

Funeral for the Cat by B.G. Craig
Directed by Vanessa Markowitz

Judy, a widow in her golden years, has invited her daughter and granddaughter to a funeral for her beloved and recently-departed cat. Family conflict ensues as Judy’s vision for the funeral unfolds. This dark comedy features four women and explores themes of grief, family, spirituality, and peeing in your enemy’s shoes.

Judy – Marla Harper
Pamela – Cecily Norman
Madison – Charlotte Richesson
Elizabeth – Emily Ray

A Snowball’s Chance by Jeff Dunne
Directed by Karen Fleming

Amanda and Dave are cleaning out the attic of their childhood house now that their mother has passed, reflecting on fond childhood memories. Amanda discovers, though, that some of her memories are not as accurate as she had believed. This romantic comedy explores nostalgia, family, and the one that got away. Original music composed by Patrick Hughes.

Amanda – Maura Suilebhan
Dave – Matthew Dantas-McCutcheon
Scott – Andrew Greenleaf

i didn’t think you’d be so unhappy by Shara Feit
Directed by Sophia Menconi

Being a woman is hard, and growing up is even harder. Jules and Rebecca’s gig as Bat Mitzvah party motivators takes an unexpected turn when they encounter a Bat Mitzvah girl in crisis while on their break. i didn’t think you’d be so happy explores the anxieties, heartaches, and joys of womanhood, whether you’re 13 or well into your 20s.

Jules – Layla Nabavi
Rebecca – Jenny Oberholtzer
Bat Mitzvah Girl – Zophia Shamapande

Five Grains of Rice by Arindam Ghosh
Directed by Arindam Ghosh

Jayant and Ela are young professionals settled in an Indian metropolis. Jayant is a reputed scientist and Ela works at an NGO. Although professionally poles apart, they share an equal partnership in life and are happily married. Out of the blue Damini, Jayant’s girlfriend from college days, shows up one evening for a friendly chat. As the evening progresses and the three engage in reminiscence with good food and wine, the equilibrium starts to tilt. An offer is made that questions the status quo of each relationship. A decision hangs over the heads of the happy couple, a choice that could alter their lives forever. Will their marriage and its future survive this bizarre intrusion from the past?

Jayant Trivedi – Arindam Ghosh
Ela Trivedi – Shampa Basu
Damini Malhotra – Aditi Bhattacharya

Production Team
Producer – Seth Ghitelman
Stage Manager – Arooba Nadeem
Lighting Designer – Don Slater
Sound Engineer – Rich Frangiamore
Artistic Liaison – Rob Gorman
Judges – Bill Hurlbut, Michael Kharfen, Emma Wesslund
Cover and Poster Art – Leslie Kekuewa

Blue Stockings
by Jessica Swale

Directed by Eleanore Tapscott

October 27 – November 12, 2023

Get Tickets HERE

The year is 1896. Few universities accept women at all; those that do consider them to be intellectually inferior to their male counterparts. The women pursuing academics are disdainfully labeled “Blue Stockings.” Cambridge University’s doors have opened to a cohort of excited and ambitious young women, but how will the institution adapt? Over the course of an academic year, we follow the journey of four female students as they fight for their right to graduate alongside their male counterparts.

Produced by Amber Champ

What is a Blue Stocking? Find out HERE.

CAST
Tess – Katherine Leiden
Celia – Julia Rae
Carolyn – Alex Greenberg
Maeve – Lily Tender
Lloyd – Owen Roughton
Edwards – John Lynch
Will – Thomas Friend
Ralph – Christian Wilson
Holmes – Sam Spencer
Minnie/Wife in Tea Parlor – Charlie Tell
Mr. Banks – Ron Ward
Ms. Welsh – Rebecca Grutz
Ms. Blake – Mariel Penberthy
Bott/Lindley – Cathy Beals
Prof Collins/Husband in Tea Parlor – Ben Conway
Maudsley/Anderson – Ian De Waal
Librarian/Billy/Waiter/Ensemble – Nickolas Cummings
Professor Radleigh/Mr. Peck – Peter Orvetti

PRODUCTION TEAM
Asst. Producer – Valeria Rodriguez
Stage Manager – Denise Gilmore
Assistant Stage Manager – Patricia Caraballo
Assistant Stage Manager – Valerie Rodriguez
Set Designer/Master Carpenter – Douglas Becker
Set Painter – Douglas Becker
Lighting Designer – Don Slater
Sound Designer – Joshua Romney
Properties Designer – Waleed White
Properties Designer – Alex Greenberg
Choreographer – Aja Goode
Fight Choreographer – Stefan Sittig
Costume Designer – Juliana DiFrancesco
Costume Designer – Carol Pappas
Vocal Coach – Sheron LaSha’
Dialect Coach – Gary Sullivan
Hair + Makeup, Dramaturg – Maureen Roult
Artistic Liaison – Matt Bannister

Abdication!
by Naya James Sonnad

Directed by Yvonne Paretzky

January 26 – February 11, 2024

Get Tickets HERE

A playful dystopian romp! Come one, come all, to this off-kilter Masterpiece Theater, where your charming Narrator guides you through “Mumm’s Classical Anthology of Abdication: Tales Both Cautionary and Otherwise.”

Behold life in the distant, or perhaps quite near future…where your autonomy is enthusiastically bartered for convenience and “security.” Virtual realities, love lobotomies, and societal reconfigurations await you!

Produced by Seth Ghitelman

Dance Nation
by Clare Barron

Directed by Lee Blaser

March 8 – 24, 2024

Get Tickets HERE

Somewhere in America, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plots to take over the world. And if their new routine is good enough, they’ll claw their way to the top at the Boogie Down Grand Prix in Tampa Bay. In Clare Barron’s raucous pageant of ambition and ferocity, these young dancers have more than choreography on their minds.

In the interest of welcoming people with a wide range of needs and life experiences, please see the content advisory to give you a sense of what you will encounter in the play. Use this information as it is helpful to you.

This show contains sexual themes, frequent coarse language, depictions of masturbation, abuse, and injury, and themes related to racism and stereotyping/tokenization in dance performance, suicide, and self-harm.

For more detailed information, please call the Silver Spring Stage Box Office at 301-593-6036.

CAST
Amina – Carlotta Capuano
Zuzu –  Sia Li Wright
Ashlee – Boneza Valdez Hanchock
Connie – Leena Dev
Sofia – Tristin Evans
Maeve – Allison Turkel
Luke – Brandon Rothenberg
Dance Teacher Pat – Anderson Wells
The Moms/Vanessa – Jordan Coscia
The Moms/Vanessa – Rachel Manteuffel

Understudies/Swings
Trenor Gould (Dance Teacher Pat, Luke)
Nadine Pineda (Zuzu, Ashlee, Sofia)

Assassins
by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman

Directed by Fred Zirm

June 7 – 23, 2024

Get Tickets HERE

Sondheim’s darkly comedic musical presents a revue of historical figures who attempted (successfully or not) to assassinate different presidents of the United States. The musical explores what the assassins’ presence in American history says about the ideals of their country. The score reflects both popular music of the various depicted eras and a broader tradition of “patriotic” American music.

CAST

• Proprietor: Ian Swank
• Balladeer: Maureen Freshour
• John Wilkes Booth: Hunter Curry
• Charles Guiteau: Charlie Retzlaff
• Leon Czolgosz: Michael McGovern
• Giuseppe Zangara: Michael McCarthy
• Samuel Byck: Bill Bodie
• Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme: Mel Gumina
• Sara Jane Moore: Lee Rosenthal
• John Hinckley: Alden Michels
• Male ensemble/Lee Harvey Oswald/President Ford: Preston Meche
• Female ensemble/Emma Goldman: Marissa Michaels
• Male ensemble/David Herold: Aram Matagi
• Male ensemble/President Garfield: Doug Richesson
• Female ensemble/Secret Service: Caroline Adams
• Boy: Janaki Katz