One of the most common questions asked of stage actors is, "How do you remember all those words?" Long speeches; rambling exposition; three-page monologues. It can be a challenge, but I'll let you in on a little secret...

     It's the short lines that can make your life miserable.

     The long speeches have a flow to them, a destination. One sentence leads to the next and to the next and so on. Through practice, rehearsal and repetition, the pattern of the words becomes almost second nature. Not so with the short lines. If an actor has, for example, thirty lines in a scene, each no more than three words, the challenge is to keep them in the right order. If some, but not all, of the lines are repeated almost at random, the challenge is increased.

     It was with that idea in mind that local playwright, Todd McGinnis, wrote a short play called, "What's That?"  Three characters, two words, twelve minutes. Playing on curiosity, apathy, confusion and frustration, Todd crafted a script using every conceivable combination of the words "what" and "that" creating what he calls an irritant in one act. When I read it, I decided to write a companion piece, "Yes, No, Maybe" and we laughed at great length about how much actors would dread performing these plays.

Always one to take a joke too far just to prove a point, I submitted the plays collectively under the title "Context, Subtext, Pretext" to Bramalea Live Theatre's annual one act play showcase, the Bramalea Backstage Drama Festival.

The BBDF is Brampton's oldest annual theatre festival. It is both a training ground and a showcase for actors and directors, giving them the opportunity to develop their skills and try out new ideas. The minimal set options (various sizes of black wooden boxes, arranged as needed) ensure that the focus is on creativity and strong performances.

Auditions were held on April 22, with five directors (myself included) casting five very different plays from a group of about twenty-five hopeful actors. On both sides, actors and directors, there were varying degrees of experience, from first-timers to those with years of theatre to draw upon and everything in between. Rehearsals would take place over the next month and a half, coordinated around regular work commitments and family obligations. All of it leads up to this Friday evening when the audience decides whether or not we've achieved our goals and hit our targets.

The plays run the gamut of genres, guaranteeing that there will be something to appeal to everyone.

In The Net written by Percival Wilde and directed by Klaas Westerhof.

When a manufacturer of high-security safes claims that their newest product is completely impregnable, an infamous safecracker accepts the challenge and declares that he will open the safe no matter how well protected it may be. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues with the federal agents intent on capturing him during the attempt.

Bittersweet written and directed by Steve Kirk.

Steve Kirk wields an incredible amount of imagination and creativity as a director, especially when using one of his own scripts. Having produced some moving and poignant audience favourites for the BBDF in recent years, Steve now turns his attention to Japanese-style horror films. This play combines live performance with film footage to create an eerily haunting story.

Night Shift written and directed by Doug McLauchlan.

The show is over and the clowns have come to clean the theatre. Unfortunately, someone has left the audience here, cluttering up the place. They'll just have to cope as only clowns can. Doug McLauchlan has performed his one-man clown show across North America and has now taken on the task of training and developing a new troupe of clowns for this show.

Assassin Over Teakettle directed by Bernadette Morin.

This is a play that I wrote years ago for the BBDF and Bernadette has dusted it off for her directorial debut. One of my favourites of the plays I've written, the story deals with politics, assassins, conspiracy theories, room service and the high school chess club. No one is what they seem and everything means something else.

and, of course, Context, Subtext, Pretext.

My cast of victims has stepped up to the challenge of this experiment in thespian torture and they're making me proud.

BBDF 2006 will be presented June 9th and 10th at the Cyril Clark Theatre, 20 Loafers Lake Lane in Heart Lake. Curtain time is 7:30 and tickets are only $5.00. You can purchase tickets at the door or in advance by calling 905-793-4600.

With five plays for five dollars, you really can't go wrong, unless you miss this night of guaranteed entertainment.