About Love Festival 2020
A Festival of Short Plays
We accepted script submissions for About Love: Festival of Short Plays. Unlike previous years we did not hold performances.
From the 111 submissions, we had a panel of Judges determine the 8 plays based solely on the script.
We fully intend to return to live performances in 2021, vaccine permitting!
This year we got submissions from England, Ireland, Jersey, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, America, and Canada.
Judging was based on the judges reading of plays only.
In light of that each chosen play will be awarded $50CAD.
Winning plays are:
AT HER DOOR
by BRIDGET GRACE SHEAFF
BUG RESCUING
by JUDY KLASS
CHECKERING JACK
by JOHN YARBROUGH
COEFFICIENT OF EXPANSION
by PEET COCKE
LOVE’S DISENLIGHTENMENT
by JEFF DUNNE
THE BENCH
by ROMNEY HUMPHREY
THE BOTTOM SHELF
by PAUL BOWMAN
THE BUBBLE
by ROBERT KEHEW
The Hubbard Prize
The Hubbard prize is being given to the one play that was judged to be the outstanding winner of the play submissions.
The prize award is $150 CAD.
This prize is sponsored by Mother Hubbard's Cupboard Productions. A Vancouver based theatre focused on contemporary issues.
The winner of the Hubbard Prize is:
LOVE’S DISENLIGHTENMENT
by JEFF DUNNE
Vancouver, like much of the world, has had an interesting year. We are hopeful that during 2021 live theatre will return and be better for this year of forced reflection.
I'd like to thank all the writers for their submissions.
Readers this year are:
Amira Marseilles
Donna Webb
Elle Reimer
Gilles Nduwimana
JoAnn Cleaver
John Ennis Graham Hannah
Johnny Wu
Kassidee Campbell
Ken Spry
Kim Machholz
Lane Oliver
Larry Ghini
Mark O'Neill
Michael Pigeon
Mostafa Shaker
Rita Danielle
Stephen Conlon
Theodore Steckler
Judges are:
Bill Hubbard, Theatre Producer, Writer
David McCane, Opera Stage Manager
Justin Anthony, Actor, Film Writer, Producer
Kelly Sheridan, Actor, Theatre Producer
Lesli Brownlee, Actor, Writer
Rylan Oleksyn, Film producer, Actor, Writer
FAQ we've been asked about this year.
Why are we not doing any productions?
Rehearsal is the most precarious part of the process. With 8 plays there was no way we could control all the variables in rehearsals and ensure the safety of all.
Why are we not doing on-line readings?
Personally, this pandemic, I have been involved in a number of on-line productions, as a writer, a director or an actor. I've found the results to be less than I would hope for. As a writer I've found the results to lack what I think my work was created for. We did not specify on-line in our request for scripts, thus the plays submitted were written for the stage. As a result, I'd rather have the judging be strictly by the writing.
What happens in 2021?
We fully intend to return with plays being performed live and judged based on their performances.We look forward to working with directors, and actors to bring plays to the life they deserve.
We look forward to 2021!