Be Bold! Reveals Week One Winner Of SPF LUV 2026 Short Play Festival 

Week One of the 14th annual Players Theatre Short Play Festival - LUV ran last weekend at The Players Theatre in the West Village, presenting tales of love, loss, and romance to sold-out audiences. Each weekend for three weeks in February, a new selection of 15-minute original plays premieres to welcome viewers into the season of love.

Last weekend's audience-selected winner was "At Least It's Shark Week", written by Brendan O'Dwyer and directed by Skylar Fisher-Duddy.

After a serious accident and while under the influence of heavy medication, Danny (Brendan O'Dwyer) provides the E.R. with his old flame Rosie's (Halle Kaufax) phone number as his emergency contact. When Rosie actually shows up, the two discuss their fleeting fling head-on between consultants with Dr. Truman (Eric Aschenbrenner, Josh Romeo) and Nurse Hathaway (Nicole Arcieri). Danny learns that his perspective of what happened with his relationship with Rosie isn't the same as what she experienced.

"At Least It's Shark Week" appeared alongside four other sweet and sensational short plays.

"Personal Purgatory", written by Reginald Jackson and directed by Kubbi, welcomed audiences to purgatory, where recently deceased Chad (Michael Pichardo) witnesses a meetup between Michael, who died in a hospital of pancreatic cancer, and Silvia (Jasmyn Green), who died in a car suddenly while yelling at her Uber driver. The trio is informed by the Gate Keeper that there is only space for one person to be admitted to Heaven that day, which sets off a battle as the hopeful souls try to argue their cases.

"The Gentleman Caller", written and directed by Maisa Chiang, is a modern reimagining of a scene from Tennessee William's The Glass Menagerie. Laura, a shy young woman, has stepped into the living room after having just dined with her family and Jim (Lee Baladejo), a friend of her brother's that she'd always admired in high school. Jim follows her, and the two hit it off. Slowly a flirtation between the two builds, ending in a dance and a kiss. Unfortunately, it is soon revealed that Jim's feelings were more experimental towards Laura, who is crushed by the disappointment.

"The Google Affair", written by Jonathon Ward, directed by Tish Brandt, and assistant directed by Kathryn Goshorn, features Hey, Google as the third wheel in Maggie (Danielle Scheller) and Michael's (Michael Kowalski) marriage. Maggie is convinced that Michael is having an affair, and turns to Hey, Google to try to prove her point, while Michael resents the role Hey, Google is playing in his marriage and has a surprise planned. Piano music was provided by Minyi Zhang.

"Canapé", written by Grace O'Brien and directed by Pearl Merson, introduces Joey (Jules Rivera), who is panicking before her maid of honor speech and has just gotten locked outside of the venue with one of the caterers - who happens to be her ex-girlfriend, Kendall (Mo Fitzsimmons). While trapped outside, the two exes discuss their relationship and what went wrong...while realizing the spark might not be completely gone.