NAPA’S LUCKY PENNY PRODUCTIONS is currently hosting this year’s “8×10” festival of short works, eight new plays created especially for the event, culled from 123 submissions from playwrights across the U.S. and Canada. All eight pieces are presented at each performance.

It is quite a unique experience, watching so many plays in short order. As it was at Napa’s first such festival a few years ago, each play in the current production is thoughtfully crafted by an accomplished writer; in fact one of them, “Just Desserts” playwright David MacGregor, boasts a Pulitzer Prize nomination from a previous dramatic work. Each play contains food for thought — but those thoughts must be held onto for later mulling if one is to give adequate attention to each of the10-minute works, as they proceed one after the other in quick succession.

Barry Martin, Lucky Penny co-producer and the festival’s coordinator, aptly chooses Susan Shafer’s “A Clean Sweep” as the opening piece. As the house lights go down, the spotlight is on a young man and woman sitting to either side of a small table, staring off in opposite directions and uttering barely a word at a time for the first few moments. The work has a nice progression, beginning quite slowly yet gathering momentum until the two players not only find something to talk about, but happen upon a subject that captivates both so strongly that they ultimately leave together, excited to reach their next destination. In retrospect, I find that the play’s progression mimics the overall rhythm of the festival — beginning at a blank page, starting with a kind of quiet uncertainty but soon reaching a point where viewers are engaged and curious to see what the next chapter will hold.

Paul Lewis’s “Timmy Perlmutter Goes Flying” is second on the program and couldn’t be more different from the first. The setting changes from an anonymous café in the modern dating world to a backyard family barbecue out of a Norman Rockwell painting. A new toy that Timmy has received from an offer in the back of a comic book gets varied reactions from him, his father, his mother and his grandmother. The writer skillfully contrasts the different perspectives of each family member, and shows how it all comes together for one excited little boy.

“Make-A-Wish,” by Lori Eaton, is perhaps the most surprising in the group. When a young fan approaches an older guitarist as he packs away his instrument after a show, the intimate focus shifts gradually from one character to another (some unseen) and wends its way to a heartwarming and hopeful conclusion.

The first half of the eight-play program concludes with Joe Starzyk’s “The Blind Date,” a raunchy and predictable skit that hits on a theme that will repeat during the second half of the program. (I would not recommend the production for children for that reason.)

The second half kicks off with an exposé about lesbian mothers, Donna Hoke’s “A Mother’s Privilege.” Mom and Dad have apparently already accepted and embraced their daughter’s same-sex relationship, but Mom is quite taken aback when the two announce that “they” are pregnant. While Dad tries his best to remain jovial, Mom is openly dismayed. “Privilege” does a remarkable job of taking an honest and compassionate look at some of the emotions peculiar to nontraditional families, especially considering the restrictive format of the 8×10 festival.

“Interrogation,” by James R. Colgan, is the second play of the set to focus on an intimate relationship between two people decades apart in age. In this one, the relationship is also illegal, hence the “interrogation” by police. Though I found the acting here to be up to snuff, the story itself felt superficial and static.

Number seven on the slate, Bruce Boeck’s “Be Seeing You,” is the most contemplative item on the festival’s menu, wisely placed near the end of the series — moving and captivating, but too somber to be placed earlier in the lineup. As a man sits alone with an urn, reminiscing aloud about his married life, the spirit of his deceased wife narrates beside him, giving us different views of some of the major breaking points in their lives together.

Finally, David MacGregor’s “Just Desserts” caps off the festival with an office lunchroom skit — a funny, guilty pleasure for anyone who has experienced the petty interpersonal dynamics that can develop in a small office environment.

As Martin writes in the festival program, “the ‘8×10’ is always a roller coaster ride.” It is a lot to take in over a short period of time, but the ride is lively and diverse. Audience members get to pick a favorite, and at the end of the run the most popular playwright will be awarded a cash prize.

This year’s 8×10 offers a nice assortment of stories that span a broad spectrum of topics and perspectives. A few fine actors bring the tales to life under the direction of a team of accomplished directors. The production is not flashy — the set is plain and props are minimal — but these plays will definitely give you something to talk, and think, about.

If You Go
“8 x 10: Ten Minute Play Festival” continues at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center, 1758 Industrial Way, Napa through May 10. Tickets are $15 to $25 and are available by calling 707-266-6305 or online at www.luckypennynapa.com.

Elizabeth Warnimont is a freelance writer specializing in the performing arts. She is also a substitute teacher for the Benicia Unified School District.