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Fusion's 19th annual juried festival of short plays, The Seven, has 'something for everyone'
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Fusion’s 19th annual short works festival, The Seven, returns with a juried selection of seven new short plays from some of the most talented playwrights working today. The theme of this year’s festival, “When Nobody’s Watching,” has inspired a range of treatments, from dramatic to comedic to experimental.
“We received just shy of 500 submissions this year,” Dennis Gromelski, Fusion co-founder, said. “They came from 40 states and 10 countries.”
Part of the fun of The Seven, according to Gromelski, is that there’s “something for everyone.”
“It’s an amazing evening, and people who are regular patrons always bring friends who don’t typically go to the theater. Because, odds are, there’s going to be something that’s a flavor that they like,” Gromelski said. “And they don’t have to be committed to a two and a half hour piece that they don’t like, right? It’s just 10 minutes. Then, OK, next!”
One of the seven winning playwrights this year, JD Otsuka, lives and works in Albuquerque.
“This is one of the first times a New Mexican playwright has cracked the top seven,” Gromelski said. “Because the scripts are read blindly. Nobody when they’re reading has any idea who’s submitted.”
The primary reader — Rachel Wiseman this year — narrowed down the hundreds of submissions to a more manageable list from which the jury made their final selections.
“And Rachel Wiseman is directing (Otsuka’s play). She wanted it. She said, ‘Please, if this one gets picked, let me direct it,’” Gromelski said. “She felt that it told a very complete and life-affirming story.”
Other winners include Mike Bencivenga from New York, Baylee Shlichtman from California, Olivia D. Dawson from Georgia, Marilyn Zerlak from Michigan and Arianna Rose from Florida.
The winner of the Bradford Gromelski Jury Award is Austin Steinmetz from California. His play, “My Favorite Anthill,” is a comedy with an unusual premise.
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“It stars a young boy and his aunt,” Dennis Gromelski said. “Well, pardon the pun – he and his aunt, who’s his neighbor, are humans — and then there’s three ants. He’s messing with an anthill in the backyard, basically.”
Gromelski said “My Favorite Anthill” is “a very, very funny piece, and it will close the show.”
“We set up the order of the plays to make people feel good going into intermission, and then we have them leave the theater with a real sense of, ‘Wow, that was really well written,’” Gromelski said.
Steinmetz said he felt “very honored to receive the big award.”
“When you write these things, you sort of send them out into the world, and this one came back,” Steinmetz said. “It’s just exciting to see it come to life, let alone to be honored with that award. It’s amazing.”
Although Steinmetz lives in California, he has family in Las Cruces, including a brother whom he hopes will make it to the show.
“So, maybe I can make it a family thing, which would be really fun,” Steinmetz said. “Like an added bonus.”
The inspiration for “My Favorite Anthill” came from a real-life situation.
“My fiancee Laura’s nephew was outside with a butane lighter, lighting up some ants,” Steinmetz said. “And we were like, ‘Hey, dude, what’s up?’”
Steinmetz pushed the storyline into the realm of the absurd by including not only the nephew’s and aunt’s perspectives but the ants’ as well.
“It’s a comedy, although, to the ants, it seems more like a drama,” Steinmetz said. “It’s like a death giant trying to kill them.”
“I like absurdity,” he said.
Steinmetz recently wrote a TV pilot for a show called “Dead People’s Court,” which he describes as “The Larry Sanders Show meets Tim Burton.” The setting is a televised court program in the afterlife.
“In this case, Romeo and Juliet are suing each other for wrongful death,” Steinmetz said.
Despite his often zany premises, what “really matters” to him are the characters: “I want my characters to still feel believable, even if they’re driving in a world that’s not like ours.”
Gromelski said he feels grateful “every day” that both Fusion and The Seven festival are still thriving after nearly two decades.
“I consider myself really fortunate to be doing what I love so deeply in a community that I really care about,” Gromelski said. “It’s not just a job. It’s a wonderful adventure.”
Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He covers music, visual arts, books and more. You can reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com.
