The Future is Short

This rich collection of short plays offers an array of wildly imaginative and distinct new voices. It is a wonderful resource for students looking for plays that range from funny and whimsical to heartbreaking and inspirational, and delivers a multitude of unexpected and welcome perspectives. * Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and professor of playwriting, Columbia University *
The Future is Short is full of the best kind of plays, the ones that wrestle with what it means to live in the world right now. The writing is formally daring and theatrically bold. Though the plays may be short, each one is a full meal. They thrum with life and energy. The writing is at turns haunting and provocative, hilarious and profound. I wish this anthology had existed when I started teaching, and I’m so glad it exists now. * Naomi Iizuka, Playwright and UCSD Distinguished Professor of Graduate Playwriting *
Most successful theatre artists I know began seriously practicing their craft in high school or college. The Future is Short fills a critical gap by bringing together contemporary, relevant, diverse short plays geared for this group by some of today’s most exciting younger-generation playwrights. As theatre funding in high schools and colleges continues to be slashed, this invaluable volume will help launch the theatre makers who will be creating the future of our art form. * David Henry Hwang, Playwright and Librettist *
Far too many people don’t know what it’s like to be slapped. These plays woke me up. They shook me. The best of the theatre in punk-sized blasts. Buy a copy, tear it in half and find a teacher, an artist, a friend who wants to join the coming shake-up… These piping hot plays make me believe the future’s going to be more different than the past could ever manage to account for. * Kirk Lynn, Playwright and Novelist (Rude Mechs, UT Austin) *
Reading The Future is Short… is a one of a kind one stop theatre shopping. Not only do you get exposed to some of today’s most creative and original minds, you get a how to create your own hive - all for the price of one. But don’t be fooled - while acclaimed theater artist Mitchell Thomas makes this look easy, the work that it took to build this energized hive is beyond impressive, as are these resulting plays. This book is a gift to actors, directors, writers, educators, and plain old theatre-lovers; having taught, learned from, and been inspired by many of the playwrights in this volume, I can personally attest that while life might be short, your life will be richer, wilder, more poignant and playful after experiencing this book. * Liz Engelmann, Executive Director Tofte Lake Center, Dramaturge (Actors Theatre of Louisville) *
How well I remember being a theatre student, trying in vain to find material that spoke to me, my generation, my time. With this lively and necessary anthology, Mitchell Thomas gives young artists the chance to discover new theatrical pieces curated specifically for their needs. Long renowned for his work with playwrights at Westmont College, Thomas has given student actors and directors a diverse and compelling range of short plays by ascendant professional playwrights — dynamic works that will challenge them to engage with the characters of their age, the stories of their time. The Future is Short is a generous and timely gift to our field. * Steven Dietz, Playwright, Director, Teacher *

Here is a collection of plays as compact, pungent, and intense as chili flakes, fennel or other concise and mighty savors. The pieces are written quickly to teach fearlessness and trust. And the collection includes useful, equally concise notes that match the volume’s inspirations with practical provocations. The work covers a range of styles (absurdism, romantic fantasy, apocalyptic sci-fi), and conjures a range of moods (romantic, outraged, elegiac, forgiving). The complete, satisfying scripts offer production teams edifying challenges – calling for puppetry, rapid shifts in given circumstances, translation across ages and identities… The plays can float easily across the field, serving diverse collectives and reaching all sorts of audiences; young performers in particular will be able to: recognize themselves as rounded, complex social agents; play beyond their years and imagine their way into adult crises and accomplishments; project themselves beyond years altogether, into abstract, poetic spaces, full of movement and transformation. There are texts that require strong ensemble work, and others that celebrate personal uniqueness.

These are plays with shape, and core live-ness. The process is clear (but not restrictive), replicable, and generative of community. Something fairly massive and radically joyful has been accumulating over time at Westmont; this book invites a jump into the leaf-pile.

Mitchell Thomas is an award-winning actor, director, and professor at Westmont College, specializing in devised theatre and new plays. Since 2005, he has created or commissioned over 120 original full-length and short works. Mitchell has performed, directed, and taught workshops in Poland, Macedonia, Armenia, Romania, Georgia, Italy, China, England, and the United States.

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