Review: NEW SUMMER SHORTS 2025 at Theatre Artists Studio

At a time when too many theatrical offerings chase spectacle or safety, NEW SUMMER SHORTS at Theatre Artists Studio is a welcome reminder that compelling storytelling doesn’t need grandeur or glitz—just honesty, craft, and courage. This perennial showcase of original 10-minute (give-or-take) plays by Studio members continues to present an impressive range of voices and tones, from sharply comic to deeply affecting. This year’s lineup leans toward intimate, character-driven encounters, anchored by the kind of unvarnished human truths only live theater can deliver.

The program opens with The Bassinet by Kirt Shineman, a moving exploration of anticipation and sudden loss. Two expectant fathers (Steve Fajardo and Tim Nipper) drive toward what they believe will be the start of their new family—until a phone call from an adoption agency representative (Polly Chapman) changes everything. What begins with playful banter—punctuated by the bon mots of Rebecca, the anxious Jewish grandmother-in-waiting (delightfully delivered by Sydney Davis)—gives way to raw vulnerability. Directed by Dolores Goldsmith, Shineman’s script handles themes of queer parenthood and adoption with delicacy and emotional heft, culminating in a moment that draws a well-earned gasp of relief.

Joe Bardin’s Ovation, directed by Mike Arseneault, is a slyly philosophical piece that takes place entirely during a prolonged standing ovation. Two companions—possibly, a date-in-the-making—debate the nature of performance, public approval, and behavior itself. She (Dana Donovan) questions his applause; he (Javier Santiago) insists, because it was good. But is "good" good enough? The premise is clever, the dialogue grounded in real experience. Indeed, coincidentally, this reviewer recently wrote about the cultural implications of obligatory standing ovations and what they may suggest about self-perception. In this regard, Bardin deftly turns what might seem a throwaway joke into a nicely-layered meditation on authenticity, social signaling, and choice.

The Relationship Warranty by Al Benneian pushes a clever premise to satirical extremes: in a world where love is algorithmically assigned, relationships come with a warranty—and an exit clause. Shannon Noelle Green delivers a sharp comic performance, with an energy that lands somewhere between Judy Holliday and Marisa Tomei, as a dissatisfied client racing to cancel her match before the warranty expires. David Heap plays the flummoxed agent trying to enforce the fine print. Directed by Tom Koelbel, the piece is brisk and biting, exposing the transactional view of intimacy in a swipe-right world.

Amy Hartman’s The Ice Queen of the Bingo Palace—a play about a standoff in a retirement community between a resident who believes her sexuality is being policed and her recreational therapist—was unfortunately not performed on the day of this reviewer’s attendance.

After intermission, the tone sharpens with Generosity by John Perovich. A veteran public-school teacher (Leigh Decker Armor) and her younger, reform-minded principal (Annie Rightnour) engage in a tense dialogue about educational values. The clash is both ideological and generational—one grounded in a teacher’s hard-earned sense of duty to her students, the other in a principal’s unwavering commitment to policy and institutional mandates. Directed by Richard Powers-Hardt, the piece probes the friction between lived classroom experience, top-down reforms, and the shifting norms of political correctness. It wisely resists resolution, choosing instead to inhabit the gray zones where ideals and systems collide.

Closing Time by Gary Santorella offers one of the evening’s most poignant moments. A patient with ALS (Kandyce Hughes) has come to terms with her illness but must now negotiate the conditions of her death with a devoted nurse (Javier Santiago). Director Sue Back keeps the piece grounded, never tipping into melodrama. Instead, it becomes a quiet meditation on dignity, autonomy, and the final choices we make.

Micki Shelton’s Notre Dame, directed by Judy Rollings, finds two longtime friends (Patti Moran and Shari Watts) at the famed cathedral, newly restored after the devastating 2019 fire. But rather than standing in mutual awe, the women fall into a sharp-edged argument—one exalting the building’s rebirth, the other decrying its cost in a world of widespread human suffering. The play is a compact but potent debate on values: beauty vs. justice, memory vs. need, reverence vs. reality.

The program closes with Debra Rich Gettleman’s B.A.R.F., directed by Tom Noga—a biting comic closer set in a dog park. Polly Chapman plays a sharp-tongued older woman who challenges two smug millennials (Owen Donsker and Iris Huey) in a confrontation that escalates from pet etiquette to generational warfare. It's funny, fast-paced, and hits the sweet spot between humor and social critique.

Taken together, this year’s NEW SUMMER SHORTS offers more than a survey of contemporary concerns—family, aging, justice, education, mortality, and the rituals of daily life. These plays are a reminder of theater’s power to dig deep into the human condition and give weight to the trials and triumphs that shape who we are.

NEW SUMMER SHORTS runs through June 22nd at:

Theatre Artists Studio--https://www.thestudiophx.org/--12406 N. Paradise Village Parkway E., Scottsdale, AZ--602-765-0120

Collage credit to TAS