Samuel French Off Off Broadway Play Festival Reveals 2016 Finalists

The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the nation's premier short play competition, announces the 30 finalists for its 41st festival. Chosen from 1,500 submissions from the U.S. and abroad, these 30 plays will be presented during a week-long festival August 9 - 14. All performances will take place at the East 13th Street Theater (Classic Stage Company).

The Sunday, August 14 presentation is the culmination of a week-long festival, beginning August 9, at which the finalist short plays (running 10-30 minutes in length) are presented on stage at the East 13th Street Theater. (For a complete list of this year's 30 finalists, see the list at the end of this release.) Throughout the week, a distinguished panel of judges representing all aspects of the theatre industry, will narrow the finalists down before the winning six will be selected by the Samuel French staff. The winning plays will be presented together on August 14, and published in an anthology of short plays that will become the 41st edition of the Off Off Broadway Festival Plays series.

Originating in 1975, the OOB Festival is one of Samuel French's primary initiatives to work with the next wave of emerging playwrights. In the 41 years of the OOB Festival, over 500 theatre companies and schools have participated. Applicants have included companies from coast to coast as well as from Canada, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The Festival has served as a doorway to future success for many aspiring playwrights, and has helped launched the work of such notables as Theresa Rebeck, Shirley Lauro, Sheila Callaghan, Bekah Brunstetter, Steve Yockey, Saviana Stanescu, David Johnston, and Daniel Pearle. In many cases, participation has sparked agent contracts for Festival finalists. Many past Festival playwrights have gone on to win major playwriting awards and honors, as well as to have major theatrical productions of their works staged with the support of such theatres as The Public Theater, The Royal Court, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Flea Theatre, The Living Theatre, and Naked Angels, and with the backing of prestigious university playwriting programs such as The New School for Drama, Columbia University, University of Iowa, and Tisch School of the Arts' Dramatic Writing Program.

Tickets for all performances are $18. For tickets and a complete performance calendar, visit www.OOBFestival.com. Be sure to connect with us on Twitter and Facebook, using #OOBFestival.

THE 41ST ANNUAL SAMUEL FRENCH

OFF OFF BROADWAY SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL FINALISTS

The Duet by Gwynn Ballard

Tight Curls Today by Jennifer Barclay

Risen from the Dough by France-Luce Benson

Madeline 14 Billion Jumps the Track by Kellen Blair

The Journey by Keith Burton

Bleed by Renee Calarco

Ambush! by John Connon

The Woman American by Samantha Cooper

Room 313 by Carey Crim

A Sari for Pallavi by Sunita Deshpande

Depths by Sharon Farrell

Los Demás by Perry Guzzi

Missing Karma by Timothy Huang

28 Years Later by Uma Incrocci, Nicole Greevy and Erica Jensen

Grandpa and the Gay Rabbi by Jonathan Josephson

The Cleaners by Lindsay Joy

Green Card by Mustafa Kaymak

Uniforms by Jeffrey James Keyes

Wedding Bash by Lindsey Kraft and Andrew Leeds

Easter at the Entrée Gold by John Minigan

Dust and Ash by Alex Rubin

Welcome to The Fall by Angela Santillo

The Mysterious Life, And Even More Mysterious Death, Of That Guy Who Lived Below Max And Beth by Mark Staufenberg

Mama's Eggnog by Angela Stern

Valkyrie in the Roller Disco by Seamus Sullivan

Human Resources by R. Eric Thomas

clarity by Korde Arrington Tuttle

Monsoon Season by Lizzie Vieh

That Kid by Jane Willis

Mama's Seeds by Pia WIlson