Only Town & Gown could combine men's boxer shorts, side-splitting comedy, and fundraising into one entertaining evening, as they did at the 12th annual Stillwater Short Play Festival on August 10 and 11 at the Town & Gown Theatre.
The Festival directors selected eight 15-minute "shorts" to be performed from a submission pool of over 300, choosing the best for the event. Attendees voted for their favorite plays by stuffing cash into boxer shorts representing each play in the lobby, with all proceeds benefiting Lions Meadows of Hope.
The short play A Good Fit, directed by Tana Del Prete, won both the People's Choice award and one of two judges' awards.
Set in a coffee shop, the play features two women, Tessa (played by Valerie Thrasher), on a blind date and Shannon (played by Michelle Reetz), attending a job interview. The confusion begins when they sit at the wrong tables with two men, John (played by Jacob Boyd) and Jon (played by Christopher Weimer), leading to a hilarious mix-up.
The mismatched dynamics reveal the absurdity of job interview questions when applied to a blind date, with lines like "Are you flexible and willing to try new things?" sending the audience into fits of laughter. The comedic tension peaks as the characters realize their mistake, and in a surprising twist, Tessa decides to "go in a different direction" by sparking a connection with John, the once stuffy hiring manager.
A Good Fit was just one of eight entertaining and well-performed shorts by Town & Gown actors, including Smart Pizza, directed by Michelle Reetz; License to Haunt, directed by Lucy Robinson; Sarah's Scrapbook, directed by Jason Kennedy; Will's Dramaturg, directed by Dana Ayers; Always, directed by Susan Weber; Ten Minutes 'til Christmas, directed by Christopher Weimer; and Cue, directed by Cindy Sheets.
