The 2nd Act Players have selected seven winning scripts for its spring 2021 production entitled 2021 isn’t 2020, or is it? The seven 10-minute plays examine the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people’s lives.
“These winners were selected from nearly 200 entries we received from playwrights around the globe,” explains 2nd Act Players’ Artistic Director and Cofounder John N. Frank. “Some of these are very poignant, serious looks at the impact the pandemic is having on people’s lives. Others find the humor and the hope for the future that people must find to survive difficult times.”
Performances of the plays will take place online April 23, 24, 25, 30, May 1, 2. The shows also will be available for viewing on-demand by groups and individual ticket buyers for 30 days after their initial online streaming. Tickets for the shows will go on sale on the 2nd Act Players’ website starting April 3.
The winning scripts, with brief descriptions of each, are:
Lunch Lady by Donna Latham
An essential worker experiences her own food insecurity while ensuring hungry chldren eat lunch at home and at school.
Second Acts, Second Helpings by John Mabey
An adventurous married couple is determined to make a friend of 2021 without making an enemy of each other.
What Good Did We See Today? by Cathrine Goldstein
The story of George, an elderly man entering into dementia, and Carina, his grown, part-time caretaker daughter, who try to navigate their lives through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Love in the Time of Covid-19 by Germaine Shames
A compulsive free spirit quarantined in tight quarters with an equally compulsive spouse falls smitten with a cold-blooded roommate—who just happens to be a lizard.
[Brackets] by Craig Gustafson
An elderly newspaper editor and his daughter clash over his censoring his wife’s last words.
The Birds Are Feeding Me by Rex McGregor
A banker, working at home in his apartment, wants to stop a neighbor from feeding sparrows on her balcony.
To the Zoom and Back by Cindi Sansone-Braff
Two lonely, lively, senior citizens meet during the pandemic on The Forever Young Dating Site and decide to try a virtual date via Zoom.
“The 2nd Act Players always strives to find new plays that are ripped from the day’s headlines and these certainly fit that description,” says Frank. “In years past, we have done a #MeToo Play festival, a Women’s Empowerment Festival, plays that look at the Black Lives Matter movement and at the myriad challenges facing older individuals. This spring’s festival continues our tradition of finding plays that will not only entertain our audiences but get them to think more deeply about a major issue they face.”