Also this issue: Anniversary Party The Museum of American Glass at Wheaton Village celebrates 20 years of artistic wonders. -Robin Rice artquicks More stuff going on this week... Cities Without Citizens -Lori Hill An Artist's Workshop staged reading -Juliet Fletcher Blue Man Group The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight A.L.T.: A Memoir Looking Over The President's Shoulder -David Anthony Fox Songs For A New World -David Anthony Fox

July 24-30, 2003

artpicks

10-Minute Play Festival

by Andrew Parks

Theater

All she wanted was some greasy Chinese food. But when her husband came home with a dead clown instead of sesame chicken and a spring roll, it was clear something went terribly wrong. Specifics will be revealed on the fourth evening of the City Theater Company's Eighth Annual 10-Minute Play Festival. Also scheduled over the course of five nights and 25 plays are stories of a man and his stubborn kidneys (Pee Shy), a pair of Alaskans driven mad by the cold and tales of shared wives (Fits) and the media coverage of a man trying to lay his lover down for the first time (Embed With You).

"We tend to lean towards the wacky, absurdist type of play," explains festival founder and theater director Tom Shade. "Instead of a Œtheater' event, it feels like we are throwing a party."

The party preparations were rather stressful this year. First, plays were chosen at the end of May from 324 entries. Then Shade selected 10 to 15 directors and an ensemble cast in the middle of June, leaving about five weeks for rehearsals. This year, Shade is directing nine out of the 25 plays. Despite time constraints, he insists the event will run smoothly. "We've never had one that's fallen on its face, although with 25 plays the audience absolutely loves some, and others don't exactly turn out to be hits," Shade says. "But if you don't like one, there's another coming in 10 minutes."

10-Minute Play Festival, Mon.-Fri., July 28-Aug. 1, 8 p.m. (preceded by music at 7:15 p.m.), $10 ($27 for 3-night or $37 for 5-night passes), Baby Grand Theatre, 818 North Market St., Wilmington, Del., 800-37-GRAND.