Dramatic 10-Minute Plays

I would have to say that my favorite of all these plays would be That Midnight Rodeo. It starts out so casually, it seems like an authentic conversation. At first, it seems like Cindy is really just obsessing over her career as a horse racer, and she keeps mentioning that she has to do something. By the last few pages, though, it becomes obvious what that "something" is: she needs to get an abortion, or else she will no longer be able to compete. The realization of what she is saying comes sort of suddenly, yet it also arrives very smoothly, thanks to Cindy's mentioning of particular things relating to going to a doctor. This play works so well because it doesn't immediately spoil the surprise of her pregnancy. If Mary Sue Price were to have the characters talk explicitly about an abortion from the get-go, the script would potentially be a lot less interesting. The characters managed to say what they need to without actually saying it, which is why the dialogue sounds so real.

I also liked The Roads That Lead Here. I really enjoyed the interactions between all of them. Marcus and Xander were good for their overeager, overzealous behaviors, especially in their fun conversation before Jason arrives ("You bastard!"). Jason worked well as a means of grounding the other two, and helping to temper the audience of the play. This is a play where I would've maybe liked to look into their world more: how the three brothers began doing their task; what their interactions with others are like; what sort of person the Eminent is. I could totally see it working as something more than a 10-minute play, but instead, we get this small glimpse, and it works.

The Man Who Couldn't Dance was alright (but loses some points right out of the gate for having a really boring title). I think this play was a good example how to pull off good verbal sparring--where characters stick barbs in one another, but hold back just enough to keep the other person from leaving the room. Within the span of this script, we get a pretty good sense of what the relationship was like between Eric and Gail compared to how it is now. It got a bit too dramatic at times, but still managed to have a pretty interesting plot.

A Bowl of Soup was the least interesting to me. The plot was simple in a way that did not work, mainly because Eric Lane let Eddie have 95% of the dialogue. I really wish I could have heard more from Rob; I know he's supposed to be mournful, but I didn't like that he just allowed Eddie to ramble on and on.