Healdsburg’s Raven Players has announced the selections for their first annual Raven Short Play Festival.

The competitive festival, themed “Love Bites,” will produce the 15 winning short plays February 27, 28, 29, and March 1, 2020 at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg. The 10-minute plays represent an eclectic variety of comedy, farce, drama, and romance.

“The response to the Raven Player’s first short play festival has been astonishing. We have received more than 800 plays from all over the world,” said Steven David Martin, Artistic Director of the Raven Players. “Choosing just 15 winning plays has been challenging, there were so many outstanding submissions.”

“The festival will be an engaging and exciting adventure for our audience,” added Martin. “I encourage people to see all 15 short plays to experience these unique perspectives on the joy, heartbreak, and absurdity of love.”

The winners of the Raven Short Play competition are:

Title of Play – Author – City, State

…last and always – Allan Baker – Austin, TX

172 Push-Ups – Scott Mullen – Burbank, CA

A Shared View – Mary Caroline Rogers – Tucson, AZ

All’s Fair in Love and Science – C. J. Ehrlich – Chappaqua, NY

Bar Belle – Janis Butler Holm – Los Angeles, CA

Familiar – Robert J. LeBlanc – Newburyport, MA

Fang – Alex Dremann – Philadelphia, PA

Location Location Location – Rich Orloff – New York, NY

Love’s Disenlightenment – Jeff Dunne – Eldersburg, MD

The Aloha Life – Jean Koppen – Alexandria, VA

The Happy Place – Joyce Newman – Scott Miami, FL

The Kiss – George Sapio – Philadelphia, NY

The Maltese – Walter John Minigan – Framingham, MA

Warming Up Andrea – Fleck Clardy – Jamaica Plain, MA

When Killer Animals Go Nuts –  Michael Higgins – Oak Park, IL

The fifteen plays were selected via a three-phase process by a jury of 28 local theatre professionals and devotees. To ensure equal opportunity, playwrights identities were not revealed to the jury.

“The launching of this Festival has truly been a labor of love by many members of the Healdsburg and surrounding communities.” says Laurie Windham, Festival Chair. “We are grateful for the dedication of our jurists and volunteers.”

Five directors – Zack Acevedo, Diane Bailey, Diana Grogg, Ron Smith, and Arte Whyte – were selected to each direct three plays.

The Festival will occur over four days. Eight of the plays will performed the first night, February 27, seven the second night, February 28, and then repeated February 29 and March 1, 2020 in the same sequence. Because these are 10-minute plays, each performance will run around 90 minutes, with an intermission. Tickets will be sold for individual dates at $25 per performance, and as Festival Passes for two performances for $40.

Auditions will be held January 11 and 12, 2020. Interested actors are encouraged to audition.

For more information about the Festival, or to buy tickets, go to: raventheater.org.