King’s Shorts wishes to announce that the 2020 selection of eight plays for the 14th Annual Festival of 10-minute plays will take place June 11-13, 2021.

In alphabetical order, the selected plays and playwrights are:

HARD OF HEARING

by Cheryl Burchell, Yarmouth, NS

OCTOBER

by Paul Lewis, Seattle, WA

RIBETED BY YOU

by Nancy Hopps, Eugene, OR

THE COVE, 1690 AM

by Jim Prime, New Minas, NS

In 2006, Dean Taylor, local Annapolis Royal playwright, was discussing ten minute plays with some members of the Annapolis District Drama Group, as well as with the Executive Director of Theatre Nova Scotia. They all felt that a ten minute play festival was the perfect fit for the Annapolis area and King’s Theatre. Dean formed a committee that year, and in June 2007, the King’s Shorts Festival of Ten Minute Plays was born.
The Festival Today
Including the submissions for 2019, 798 plays have been submitted to the Festival from playwrights across Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Greece, New Zealand, Australia, Israel, and India. Every June eight plays are produced. The festival has included plays by first time playwrights and by experienced playwrights, by amateur writers and by professional writers, by men and by women, by young writers and by “more mature” writers.

Our Goal
Aside from being a fundraiser for King’s Theatre, King’s Shorts has two main goals. The first is to make live theatre more accessible to all: the audience, playwrights, directors and performers alike, and the second is to help them experience, or continue to experience, the joy of live theatre. To that end, each play performed is assigned its own director and that director sets his/her cast of players. At each annual performance, a first and second place winner, based on the written work, is chosen by Theatre Nova Scotia. As well, a People’s Choice Award is selected by the audiences at the three performances of the festival.

Our Challenge to You
If you have never been involved with live theatre this is your chance. The plays are only ten minutes long so it’s a great opportunity to “jump in” with both feet. We are always looking for playwrights (new or used), and actors (experienced or otherwise), for directors (we’ll even give you a little training), for backstage crew (you only need a black t-shirt) and for audience members (you simply need the ability to enjoy yourself). In whatever capacity you choose, we look forward to seeing you at the Festival in June.