Riant Theatre's Strawberry One-Act Festival to HOld Awards Ceremony and Performance on August 24 at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space

The Riant Theatre's Strawberry One-Act Festival will announce winners for Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Video Diary at the Strawberry One-Act Festival Awards Ceremony & Performance on Monday, August 24 at 7:30pm at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street.

Over 30 short plays have competed for top awards in the 28th Season of the Strawberry One-Act Festival at Harlem's Tato Laviera Theatre and Poet's Den Theatre from August 5 - 23. "The performances have been extraordinary. Audiences have been voting in the theatre and On Demand. This has been a festival filled with exciting and exceptionally produced productions from mainstream to multicultural to LGBT," said Van Dirk Fisher, founder and artistic director of the Riant Theatre and Strawberry One-Act Festival. "It's been an amazing experience being part of the Harlem cultural scene. Art is thriving in Harlem. Bringing one of the most renowned play festivals to Harlem was a natural progression."

The four finalists competing for the Best Play Award are:

"Forgive Me, Brother," written by Barry Slater and directed by Dennis Gleason, it stars James Lentini and Zach Tuckness. A small time gambler dying of cancer asked his alienated brother, a priest, to help him die. The priest thinks it means Last Rites. The gambler has other ideas. "Casper the Not So Friendly Ghost," written by Domenic Servidio and directed by Christopher Ferrer, it stars Aly Pentangelo, Christopher Michaels, Krystel Mills and Aflie Ramirez. This comedy is about a misunderstood spirit that's haunting a home recently purchased by a newlywed couple. The spirit, who just wants to hang out and watch TV, doesn't understand why his roommates want to kick him out. "Poor, Poor Eleanor," written and directed by Armando Santana with stage manager Freddy Valle, it stars Jean Louis Droulers, Armando Santana and Sheri Wieseman. Horror faces poor Eleanor as she sits down to dinner with her husband. It's a story filled with the macabre. "The Prophet," written by Lewis Payton Jr. and directed by Laurence Schwartz, it stars Isaac Dean and Harrison Lubel. In 1831in South Hampton, Virginia, Nat Turner, America's most famous insurrectionists, killed over 60 white citizens in a rebellion against slavery. In his death cell, he meets with a white lawyer named Thomas R. Gray, who has been sent to document his confession.

The Nominees for BEST DIRECTOR are: Christopher Ferrer for "Casper The Not So Friendly Ghost," Dennis Gleason for "Forgive Me, Brother," Michael Hauschild for "Mr. Invincible Explains it to the World," Cameron McIntosh for "Adele in Berlin," Armando Santana for "Poor, Poor Eleanor" and Eric Wimer for "i am so so so lonely, or, the omegle play."

The Nominees for BEST ACTOR are: Jacob Betts for "CECI N'EST PAS UNE MÉTAPHORE," J. Dolan Byrnes for "The Unsalable Thing," Michael DeBartolo for " i am so so so lonely, or, the omegle play," James Lentini for "Forgive Me, Brother," Andres Montejo for "Mr. Invincible Explains it to the World," and Armando Santana for "Poor, Poor Eleanor."

The Nominees for BEST ACTRESS are: Carlotta Brentan for "The Unsalable Thing," Hollis Fox for "Same Time, Same Bench," Nikki Pope for "Deadline Daters," Sarah Murdoch for "i am so so so lonely, or, the omegle play," Tana Sirois for "Adele in Berlin" and Sheri Wieseman for "Poor, Poor Eleanor."

The Nominees for BEST VIDEO DIARY are: "Another Famous Dead Artist" by Anthony Marinelli, "Mr. Invincible Explains it to the World" by Michael Hauschild, "The Old Gang" by Kyle Giller and" i am so so so lonely, or, the omegle play" by Philip Anatassiou.

The Strawberry One-Act Festival judges are from the literary and casting fields. Alexis Williams is a literary agent with Bret Adams Ltd who works with playwrights. Maria E. Nelson and Ellyn Marshall, founding partners of Orpheus Group Casting, specialize in theater, film and television production. Orpheus' casting credits include Michelle Rodriguez in "Girlfight" and America Ferrera in "Real Women Have Curves."

This year, the festival is also presenting five full-length plays. Fisher has produced over 1,500 one act plays at the Strawberry One-Act Festival, which was established in 1995. Under Fisher's direction, seven anthologies of The Best Plays from the Strawberry One-Act Festival have been published. Several of the plays have gone on to be produced at college and regional theaters. The Strawberry One-Act Festival has been called "The American Idol for Playwrights" by the New York Daily News.

Tickets are $35.00 - $45.00. For tickets call the Box Office at 212-864-5400 or go to http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/8862/Theatre/awards-performance-strawberry-one-act-festival. For more information on the Strawberry One-Act Festival's 28th Season, please check out the website at www.therianttheatre.com or 646-623- 3488.