“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”  – Maya Angelou

The Fresh Fruit Festival, now in its 19th consecutive year, is presenting works in the following format for development in filmed virtual presentation: LGBTQ MONOLOGUES, on the THEME: “The Ache for Home”      [skip to Videos Listing]

Do you FEEL at home? ARE you home? WHERE is home, and how did you get there? Did your character get to Home Base? Whose Homecoming is it anyway? Are you Home on the Range? -the City? -the Planet?

Curated by Rachel Kara Perez*     –     Artistic Director, Dennis Corsi*   

–   Executive Director, Louis Lopardi      (*Bios on STAFF page)

Works range from 4 to 8 minutes in performance length, and relate to the LGBTQ experience.  Eight written monologues were chosen from more than 60 applicants, then later resubmitted as short videos for entry into the development program. All of these received:

• • • Hosted presentation of the finished works.
    • PDF Program, for download.
    • Basic Audio Post-processing: Including our own, customized intros; basic sound FX or ambient sound. 
    • Basic Video post-processing, for continuity & quality.
    • Marketing on Social media.
    • Technical consults: For SOUND (check balance, dynamic range, ambient problems, clarity, mic use) and for VIDEO (placement, ambiance, and setting). 

   

  > > DOWNLOAD this 8-page PROGRAM book  > > [DOWNLOAD PROGRAM]   

  Voting has closed for the Monologues, and the public has spoken! 381 votes were tallied with a clear winner of the “Audience Favorite” award: “Red or White” by Rachel Herron

• A panel of Technical Judges have also prepared their choices for finalists: 1. “How Cold is the Snow” by Nathaniel Foster, and 2. “Christmas Cantata” by Craig Winberry

  All 8 semi-finalist videos were hosted on a high-definition platform for a set span of  15 days, during which the public was free to vote on this page for a later Audience Choice Award. A panel of judges were also voting on more technical criteria to help select 2  more finalists. All 3 will receive a cash stipend, and national promotion. All 8 entries are eligible for awards in several categories at our annual award ceremony later in the season. No public comments arrived; but email comments are still welcome via the Contacts page.

  FINAL PRESENTATION for AUDIENCE REMARKS & VOTING, ONLY UNTIL NOV. FIRST . . . . . . . 

  ado (a remix of my name)     by olaiya olayemi

  “A moment of darkness. Then the bright light of the sun. A figure dancing in all white on the beach . . . ” – exploring a black trans woman’s return to her homeplace. – Returning to the roots of who she really is.    > WATCH NOW

   

   

  Christmas Cantata      by Craig Winberry

  the relationships we have with our immediate family, while exploring a coming of age for young gay men when first experiencing sexual desires. The power of using sexuality for gain and the inevitable set backs endured because of those tactics.   > WATCH NOW

   

   

  How Cold is the Snow      by Nathaniel Foster

  The moment we realize we are the only ones who get to be in charge of this time we are gifted to live; when we as Queer have to make the necessary sacrifices to live our lives freely and fully.   >  WATCH NOW

   

   

   

  Nigel, Guys, and Dolls      by Doug DeVita

  About mothers, martinis, and death. 50 year-old Nigel deals with his childhood the only way he knows how. Given his rather unorthodox upbringing, it’s a rather unorthodox sort of not-quite-eulogy.   > WATCH NOW

   

   

  One Night in Lisbon     by Manuel Igrejas

  There will come a time in our lives when we realize what really matters. We might even be quite far from home when it happens.   > WATCH NOW

   

   

  Red or White      by Rachel Herron

  In the world of wine, people accept varying notes and nuances in red and white wines and don’t feel compelled to choose between the two, but when it comes to understanding her bisexuality, they don’t dive in with the same gravitas or acceptance.   > WATCH NOW

   

   

  Stay as Long as You Like      by Sebastian Timpe

  A backstory, about not knowing how to let someone into the home you’ve had to make for yourself.     > WATCH NOW

   

   

  Uncovered       by Sydney Haas

  A summer evening in the park. Jesse thinks nervously as they ponder the question of their tattoo-artist-turned-lover: will they be leaving her? Where is her home?   > WATCH NOW