Chagrin Valley Little Theatre

10-10 Festival by various playwrights

Performance Dates & Tickets

About the Play

It only takes ten minutes to tell a good story.

Directed by Yvonne E. Pilarczyk and Don Knepper

Starring: Noah Budin, John Busser, Ted Cogan, Mark DePompei, Natalie Dolezal, Donald Edelman, Corinne Halberg, Wini Kovacki, David Malinowski and Lisa Tarr.

Last year, CVLT put out the call for short plays to be performed at its River Street Playhouse, a smaller venue adjacent to the main theater building, as part of The 10-10 Festival, an evening of ten plays each lasting roughly ten minutes. The first event of its kind for CVLT, 10-10 received submissions from all over Northeast Ohio and beyond. On July 10, it all comes to fruition as a band of ten actors premiere the selected plays, many of which have never been seen by audiences before. The selected plays cover a broad range of styles, taking on all aspects of life from the smallest leaf to the grand design itself.

The evening begins with After Godot by George Freek (Belvidere, IL), which examines what happens after a “notable” performance (and why actors make lousy grief counselors). In Two for Tea by Susan Apker (Bixby, OK), a woman named Maryanne finds memories in a porcelain cup, seeing more than most in a silver tea service.

Things take a sinister turn with Dr. Wu Has Been Eliminated by John Busser (Parma, OH), taking audiences to the secret lair of an evil organization... what has happened to Dr. Wu, and why? The Bachelor by Stanley Toledo (Richmond, CA) shows a young boy what he's really looking for and shows a waitress that you are never too old or too young to know the difference between love and romance.

Jonathan Wilhelm of Cleveland Heights, OH has two plays in the series, the first of which is Let Me Tell You Something. It's the story of Angela, a girl who discovers out the importance of respecting your elders, your funnel cake, and yourself. Who knew you could learn so much at the Feast of the Assumption?

When You Lose a Friend by Domenick Danza (Mansfield, OH) looks into the future, where a computer-dependent programmer finds out that there are no guarantees about love, whether you’re carbon or silicon-based, and Afterparty by Noell Wolfgram Evans (Columbus, OH) looks at the effects of a baby shower on a couple's relationship.

Jonathan Wilhelm's other play, Girl Story, is a comedy in which two friends discover their feminine sides and what it means to be a man in today's world, and A Walk in the Park by Robert Fortlage (Beachwood, OH) ponders how an older couple keeps their relationship fresh. Rounding out the evening is On Wings of Song by Rollin DeVere (Chagrin Falls, OH), in which Rick and Louis question the divine plan.