SOME of the WINNERS From 2023: Age is Just a Number, Isn’t It? – by Kia Barbee / Austin Brannan, Javier Soto; Rhapsody – by John Michael DiResta / Amanda Lederer, Sigrid Wise; A Marriage is a story we tell and keep telling – by Danielle Frimmer

the 2024 10-Minute Play Contest

“More Fun than a Barrel of LGBT Playwrights!” – Well, we agree with that press, but this is also about career-building, and showing the incredible range and diversity in the minds of current LGBTQ writers.

Over 2 evenings, 16 plays will compete to become the 8 Finalists presented in the Spring MAINSTAGE Fresh Fruit Festival. 8 Plays will compete each evening on March 1st and 2nd. Audience vote will select 3 each night for cash stipends, plus a 4th chosen by our technical jury. (An ADA, accessible space): Note: No Online Sales on Performance Day

Note: Friday March 1st is SOLD OUT.

Saturday 3/2 Tix are available only at the box office

The Lineup for Friday, MARCH 1st; Doors Open 7 pm

Coincidences, by John DeBenedetto – A queer man introduces his new partner to a very judgmental friend, with surprising consequences.

Kiki, by Jeffrey James Keyes – Strange secrets can appear when you meet on a late night subway.

YOU and ME, by Mattie Tindal – An unlikely pair meet at a gravesite where ‘Me’ learns how to laugh, to think, and to fall in love.

Devour, by Kai Xing Mun – Ruby & Dawn go Trick-or-Treating, only to be terrorized by a Creep. Can “werewolves” save them?

A Very Public, Very Family-Friendly Park Bench, by Mary Darling – That difficult conversation, best had in public.

Hand-Me-Downs, by Dave DeChristopher – Matriarch Mildred is overjoyed at the upcoming wedding of her son Roger to his beau, Craig. But mother and son have very different ideas about proper dress.

Searching For The Gays, by Monika Orzelowski – Gay people all go to hell, right? So three paragons of virtue beg the devil to be allowed in, finding both hell and the devil to be not quite what they expected.

Caged, by Drew Keil – In a West Texas prison, a hardened criminal befriends a vulnerable inmate. Can anything redeem a life sentence?

The Lineup for Saturday, MARCH 2nd; Doors Open 6 pm

Like the Sea, by Raine Grayson – Two trans men vacation to celebrate gender-affirming top surgery one already had. Gender euphoria is embraced over a game of chess.

For Sale By Owner, by Sam Turlington – At a house showing with a gossipy real estate agent, Jax encounters ghosts of past owners, uncovering a powerful connection to his younger self.

Lovers and Survivors, by Aaron Leventman – A 50 year journey through three Presidencies, the AIDS crisis, and the coming & going of loved ones; yet one friendship stands the test of time.

This is not a Date, by Tanaka Maria – Uncomfortable chairs, inappropriate footwear, and too many breadsticks! After two best (Lesbian) friends accidentally walk into a fancy French restaurant, the question becomes: is this a date?

Grave Offense, by Lenny Hort – Ricky pees in the woods on Halloween, disturbing the ghost of an angry girl who died sixty years ago. Why was she buried in an unmarked grave? Is there anything Ricky can do to help her find peace?

Alone Together, by Lake Merritt – After Liz, a young runaway bride, has left her groom at the altar, she takes comfort in the presence of her kindred spirit, Rowan. Through nostalgia and heartwarming confessions, the two become closer than ever before.

Doctor Truth, by Sam Affoumado – John and Wayne, having difficulties in their new relationship, seek the expertise of a once famous, now over-the-hill, sex therapist but they get more than they bargained for when the madcap DOCTOR TRUTH “tells it like it is.”

Wildfire, by Nicholas Bompart – Astronauts Alice & Grace are the sole survivors of worldwide nuclear Armageddon. The weird, alien ‘Red Queen’ orders Alice to keep Grace out of their spaceship! But why?