By Randi Bjornstad

When the coronavirus pandemic struck, Oregon Contemporary Theatre was on the verge of staging its 12th annual Northwest 10-Minute Play Festival, and the title given for 2020 was Oh, Boise!, because for the first time playwrights from the state of Idaho had been invited to compete for a spot in the playwriting contest, along with residents of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

Then came the shutdown of theaters, concerts, galleries, museums, schools, churches, stores, restaurants, bars, and practically everything else.

“We already had the actors and directors in place — we were ready to go,” OCT associate producer Tara Wibrew recalls. “It was a shock to have that happen, but it was really important to all of us to be sure that NW10 was going to happen — and we never said that it would be cancelled completely for 2020.”

Now the production of the customary eight 10-minute original plans is back on the schedule, but as has been happening with many arts-related productions and exhibits, this year’s 10-Minute Play Festival is going to be a virtual audience in a virtual theater with viewers going online to watch it from couches, recliners, lawn chairs, or maybe even the dinner table.

There will be some major differences with this year’s festival from usual, though. For one thing, there’s no need to pay for tickets — the performances are free. For another, instead of running the eight chosen 10-minute plays back-to-back as it happens on location in the OCT theater, for Oh Boise! NW10, the plays will be divided up, presenting two being at 6 p.m. on each of the four Tuesdays in August —  4, 11, 18, and 25 — with post-performance discussions afterward for those who want to take those in.

Then, once all eight plays have been have been presented on the successive Tuesday evenings, the complete set of eight plays will be available on-demand via YouTube, from Aug. 27-30.

“It seemed to us that in the face of the pandemic the general public has become interested in participating in digital ways,” Wibrew says. “We also realized that this situation has given us a new opportunity to involve more people than before in this kind of performance, by making it accessible to people who might not have been able to participate before.”

Each of the Tuesday performances will be actors actually performing live, “so there will be all the vagaries of seeing a show in the theater,” she says. But in actuality, the actors will be doing their parts individually, in front of a camera in different locations, interacting with each other on the screen as the audience sees them both simultaneously.

“In that way, it still maintains the important aspects of live theater,” Wibrew says. “We still have a couple of nights of live rehearsals, but instead of running the show several nights, the actors will be performing it just once.”

Unlike the traditional NW10 shows, which run about 90 minutes, each Tuesday evening performance will take only 20 minutes.

“NW10 has become really popular — in terms of the total number of people who see it, it’s the biggest thing OCT does,” Wibrew says. “And of course,” she quips, “it has the advantage if you’re not really into one play, you only have to wait 10 minutes to see something completely different.”

The virtual showings will be via Zoom, and there is a cap of 100 people who can sign in to each performance, substantially fewer than the 160-person capacity of the OCT theater, “but we’re working on being able to connect to YouTube so people can get it simulcast either way,” Wibrew says. “And of course, people who watch it from Aug. 27 to 30 will be able to get it on YouTube and through the OCT website. So there will be many chances for people to see the whole thing.”

Although the Oh, Boise! Northwest 10-Minute Play Festival will be offered free, the nonprofit Oregon Contemporary Theatre appreciates tax-deductible contributions to help support its many productions and programs.

“What OCT does so well is to take risks, encouraging new playwrights and new works and new actors,” Wibrew says. “But there’s an element of courage about it all, taking the chance of doing things that haven’t been done before. What we often try to do is give the theater and the audience a chance to figure out new things together.”

Oh, Boise! The 12th Annual Northwest 10-Minute Play Festival

When: Two different plays at 6 p.m. on four successive Tuesdays, Aug. 4, 11, 18, and 25, followed by on-demand showing from Aug. 27-30

Specific play schedule on Tuesday evenings:

  • Aug. 4 —  Be Batman by Willow McLaughlin; Breath by Nancy West
  • Aug. 22 — Inevitable by Mindy Roll; Egg in Spoon by Rachael Carnes
  • Aug. 18 — Chicken Burger with a Side of Awkward by Deborah Chava Singer; The Appointment by Jennifer Chaney
  • Aug. 25 — A Nip in the Autumn Air by Jeffrey M. Brown;But Who’s Counting? by Connie Bennett

Cost: Free; tax-deductible contributions to the Oregon Contemporary Theatre appreciated

Information: 541-684-6988 or octheatre.org

Above: Vanessa Greenway and Scott Machado are among many actors who have participated in Oregon Contemporary Theatre’s 10-Minute Film Festival; photo courtesy of OCT