Week 1 of Be Bold! Productions' 14th annual Short Play Festival BOO Opens

Week 1 of Be Bold! Productions' 14th annual Short Play Festival BOO opened last weekend at The Players Theatre in the West Village. These spooky short plays chilled and thrilled audiences with humor and horror. Each weekend for three weeks in October, a new selection of 15-minute original plays premieres to welcome viewers into the dark.

Last weekend's audience-selected winner was "Gutted", written by Riley Fee and directed by Julian Guzman Abril.

In the early morning hours of an evening in September 1888, Jacqueline (Kathryn Loggins) comes home to her lover Edmund (Riley Fee), who confronts her about her dark tendencies. Edmund, who works for the local police force, must reconcile his love for Jacqueline and her bloodlust with his devotion to his job. But to what extent can he turn a blind eye?

"Gutted" appeared among four other spooky one-acts.

"Wee Annie's Hold", written by David Adam Gill and directed by Perryn Pomatto, introduced centuries-old spirit Wee Annie (Jade Anderson), a prostitute haunting the catacombs of Northern Ireland. Unsuspecting narcissistic American actress Stella (Olivia Pickard) stumbles upon this haunt and inadvertently sets the madwoman free. But does freedom for one mean entrapment for the other?

"Curiosities", written and directed by Dakota Silvey, features curious rooky mortician Liza (Grace Sallee) and her jaded partner Toby (Zach Wegner) who are investigating a peculiarly gruesome murder. It is soon revealed that Liza's intuition might be extraordinary - and may perhaps even help her solve crimes.

"Weird Smile", written by Dave Doster and directed by Giovanni Sandoval, follows couple Sean (Walter Petryk) and Kelly (Leslie Spitznagel) who are hiding out at their co-worker Jerry's (Esau Greene) remote cabin. They find themselves being stalked by the monstrous result of an experimental new product gone wrong. Will they survive, and what happened to Jerry?

"In the Blink of an Eye", written and directed by Joni Fritz, takes place on Christmas Eve when sisters Emma (Jessica Beitscher) and Megan (Laureen Claire) visit quirky medium Madame Darvash (Gretchen Metzloff) to attempt to communicate with their departed grandmother Helen (Elaine Hartel). What happens next shakes their world in ways they never expected. Will they be able to go on?