Take a bite out of the 'Pear' Take a bite out of the 'Pear' (March 25, 2005)

New short works in local festival

By Katie Vaughn

Building on the success of last year's short-play festival, Pear Avenue Theatre offers tasty theatrical seconds with "Pear Slices 2005." The collection of new works by members of the Pear Playwrights Guild presents plays that are sometimes touching, often comic and always provocative.

"It's different from everything else we do," said Diane Tasca, artistic director of the Pear. "We're probably one of the few [theaters] on the Peninsula that does short plays, certainly of new works."

The Pear playwrights have met biweekly for the past three years, with the goal of developing works to perform at these short-play festivals.

"We're a peer group," said Sharmon Hilfinger, one of the playwrights. "We do writing exercises and read someone's work and discuss it, but the emphasis is on encouraging each other."

The plays share a short run time of 10 to 20 minutes each but are otherwise very diverse. Some deal with relationships. "Best Laid Plans" by Hilfinger begins as a couple's discussion of home improvement and moves into an exploration of their marriage, while Rebecca Schenone's "Eclipse" offers a glimpse into a middle-aged couple's life as they dress for a masquerade party, and "Happy Birth Day" by Elyce Melmon follows a couple as they are reunited after death.

Several explore different relationships. "Class of '94," in which two graduating high school students peek into the future and make discoveries about each other, is by Bill D'Agostino (a former Voice reporter). "The Myth of Fingerprints" by Ross Peter Nelson is about old spy colleagues and the games they play with power and truth, and Margy Kahn's "The Packrat Gene" shows a family portrait of a woman, daughter and granddaughter sorting through the past.

In contrast are Neva Marie's "A Day at the Beach," about a sinister couple and their not-so-innocent victim, and "Pete's Place" by Paul Braverman, a "man walks into a bar" story involving a pursued man and the bartender who meets him.

Although the plays are short, the fact they are original works poses challenges for the playwrights, directors and actors -- there aren't previous productions to fall back on when they hit a snag.

"New works are challenging," said Braverman. "You don't have a template."

Since designing sets to accommodate a festival format is also difficult, the Pear staff has chosen an abstract, unspecific structure. And designers have incorporated two screens into the stage design -- a small one to display a play's title and a larger one to evoke a setting. For instance, during D'Agostino's play, the large screen shows pages from a high school yearbook.

For the "Pear Slices" actors (Liz Barbour, Katie Chaidez, Meredith Hagedorn, Kevin Kennedy, Fred Sharkey and John Sousa), the production tests them and offers the opportunity to play a variety of actors in a single performance. The short plays are also a great introduction for newcomers to theater, said the playwright Hilfinger, as they move quickly while packing in a lot of action and emotion.

"You have to satisfy the audience in 10 minutes," she said. "The plays fit more of a television or 'Saturday Night Live' format, sort of vignettes and faster-paced."

Directors Ray Renati and Jane Geesman agree with the value of offering short works to audiences and also consider new works an essential aspect of theater.

"It's great to perform the classics, but new works reflect the current tensions and issues of our day in ways that older plays can't address," Renati said.

Added Geesman, "When the Pear or any local theater encourages the development of new material, this injects a spirit of innovation and creativity that's so vital to the performing arts."

E-mail Katie Vaughn at mvvoicearts@yahoo.com
Information

What: "Pear Slices 2005" presented by Pear Avenue Theatre Where: Pear Avenue Theatre, 1220 Pear Ave., Unit K, Mountain View When: March 25 through April 10, with performances Thursdays, Fridays and Satursdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Talk-back session with the directors and cast on April 3. Cost: $10-$25 Call: 254-1148 or visit www.thepear.org

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