FSU Center for Literary Arts Announces Winners of One-Act Playwriting Competition
by Barbara Westwood Diehl
Contact:
Limestone Connection
FSU Center for Literary Arts Announces Winners of One-Act Playwriting Competition
The Frostburg Center for Literary Arts announces “Fifty Miles Away” by Jason Tinney of Frederick, Md., and Holly Morse-Ellington of Baltimore as the winner of the 2015 One-Act Playwriting Competition for the Frostburg One-Act Play Festival. The second-place play is “Death and the Psychiatrist” by James Hutchison of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and third place is “The Missed Connections Club” by Harold Taw and Chris Jeffries of Seattle, Wash.
When: The Center for Creative Writing will host its sixth annual One-Act Play Festival on Friday, Sept. 25, and Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Palace Theater in Frostburg. The festival showcases the top three winning plays of the 2015 One-Act Playwriting Competition with a full performance of the first-place play and staged readings of the second- and third-place plays. Performances will start at 7:30 p.m. both nights.
What: In “Fifty Miles Away,” Jack and Leeann, two strangers driving south on I-95, meet at a rest stop outside Richmond, Va. Jack, a rugged cowboy type, and Leeann, a quirky soul, are rootless tumbleweeds who discover common ground during a brief conversation at the rest stop picnic table. Intrigued by each other, they agree to continue meeting at designated rest stops where they exchange cigarettes and bourbon, humor and heartache. They travel the American highway, attempting to free themselves of the emotional chains forged by their respective life failures while dancing around a growing sense that they share more than the open road. As the time spent behind the wheel and the summer heat intensify, Jack and Leeann question which direction to turn and for which destination.
Who: Jason Tinney is the author of Ripple Meets the Deep (CityLit Press), named Best Book 2015 by Baltimore Magazine. Holly Morse-Ellington is an essayist and an editor for The Baltimore Review. Together, Jason and Holly write and perform music as Limestone Connection. Gerry LaFemina is the director of the Frostburg Center for Literary Arts and the co-author/editor of Clash by Night (CityLit Press).
Where: Tickets for the performances cost $5 for students and $10 for adults and can be purchased at the Center for Literary Arts and Main Street Books in Frostburg and at the Allegany Arts Council at 9 N. Centre St. in Cumberland.
For more information, contact the Center for Literary Arts at cwcenter@frostburg.edu or 301-687-4340, or visit the center’s web page at http://www.frostburg.edu/cla/.
Note that The Baltimore Review will be a participating press at the 9th Annual Western Maryland Independent Lit Festival on October 24, 2015, 10 am - 6 pm. Stop by and say hello. http://www.frostburg.edu/cla/indie-lit-festival/