Reopening its doors later this month to live audiences and events, the Garfield Center for the Arts has been hard at work rehearsing the eight short plays that make up this summer’s installment of their annual Short Attention Span Theatre. Also known as SAST, the production opens July 23rd and runs through August 8th.

Once again featuring a large cast of local performers and directors, along with premiering several original plays, SAST is produced by Worton resident Mark Sullivan. A champion on the yearly event and active in it almost every year since its inception, Mr. Sullivan is also a regular volunteer for the GCA and currently serves as the GCA Board President.

Nic Carter directs the comedy An Emoji Named Desire, by John Minigan. In the play, young intern Sterling is torn between charismatic, creative Blanchard DuBois and tough-minded project manager Ms. Stanley as he tries to chart his future path at a leading emoji building company. The play features Brad Chaires, Brianna Johnson, Hester Sachse and Dylan Lyles.

Brad Chaires is the director for God on the Couch, a comedy by Dan O’Day. In the privacy of his therapist’s office, God grapples with an existential crisis of biblical proportions. Gil Rambach and Dan Guidice are the performers.

Mark Sullivan also wrote and is directing one of the plays, Look Into Your Heart, which will feature performances by Steven Arnold and Nic Carter, the Garfield Center’s Executive Director and Theatre Manager. In the comedy a chance meeting in a park leads to surprising revelations and self-reflections.

Steven Arnold directs Shannon Whitaker, Dylan Lyles and Dan Guidice in Domestic Disturbances, a play by Steven Korbar. In this comedy, a woman admits during a police interview to becoming so unhinged by one of her husband’s tendencies that she’s attempted to murder him.

John Mann directs another comedy written by Dan O’Day, Deadman’s Curves, a play about a private eye, a dame and a mysterious box. Nevin Dawson and Heather Joyce-Byers are the performers.

Melissa McGlynn directs “A Day At The Ballpark,” a hilarious and, perhaps, familiar take on language and misinterpretations. In a classic pairing, McGlynn teams up alongside Jen Friedman to perform this great comedy piece.

Melissa McGlynn also directs the comedy The Possessthion, by Ron Burch. In the comedy, a precocious young girl has become possessed by a demon; but is that really bad news? The cast includes Jen Friedman, Sharon Herz and Patrick Pearce.

Performances begin July 23rd and run at 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 PM on Sundays through August 8th. Tickets are $18.00 (plus Eventbrite processing fees) for general audiences and $10.00 for students and can be purchased online anytime at www.garfieldcenter.org or by calling the box office at 410-810-2060 Wednesdays through Fridays from 10 AM to 3 PM.

The Garfield Center for the Arts is pleased to announce audition dates for the fall comedy Clue On Stage by Lynn, Foster, Price, and Rustin. Auditions will be held inside the theatre, at 210 High Street in Chestertown, on Saturday, July 24th at 2:00 PM, Tuesday, July 27th, and Thursday, July 29th, both at 6:30 PM. Callbacks are TBD as needed. The play will be performed Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons starting September 24th through October 10th.

Director Bradley Chaires asks those who audition to bring a list of conflicts for August through performance dates. Auditions will consist primarily of cold readings from the script. Prepared monologues of 1-2 minutes are encouraged, but not required.

Rehearsals will be held primarily on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6, and Saturdays at 11 until tech week when they will be daily.  Additional rehearsals may be called depending on cast availability.

ROLES AVAILABLE are: WADSWORTH, a traditional British butler in every sense, uptight, formal, by-the-book, he is the driving force of the play; YVETTE, a sexy French maid with her own aspirations; MISS SCARLET, a dry, sardonic D.C. madam who is particularly interested in the secrets of her clients; MRS. PEACOCK, the churchgoing wife of a senator, a bit batty, neurotic, and quick to hysteria; MRS. WHITE, a pale, morbid, and tragic woman who may or may not be the murderer of her five ex-husbands; COLONEL MUSTARD, a puffy, pompous, dense blowhard of a military man; PROFESSOR PLUM, an academic Casanova who woos women with his big brain; and MR. GREEN, a timid yet officious rule follower, anxious and a bit of a klutz.

Also needed are an ENSEMBLE WOMAN to play the roles of: The Cook, a threatening presence, The Motorist, a benign traveler who rings the wrong doorbell, the Singing Telegram Girl, a cute perky tap dancer, and Assorted Extras during scenes of theatrical trickery. Last, also needed is an ENSEMBLE MAN, to play the roles of: Mr. Boddy, a slick James Bond-type fella, The Cop, a regular Joe, and Assorted Extras, during scenes of theatrical trickery.

For any additional questions about the auditions or characters, please contact the Director, Bradley Chaires, at bradchaires@gmail.com.

The Garfield Center for the Arts at the Prince Theatre is pleased and excited to announce it will fully reopen for live, in-house audiences starting with their annual Short Attention Span Theatre opening July 23.  A yearly tradition, SAST was produced last year for an online audience only. All remaining productions and programs for 2021 are also being planned as live, in-house presentations, including Clue: On Stage in September/October and Shrek The Musical in December and any music or other events that will appear on their stage. Tickets for SAST are already available for online purchase. The GCA will not begin staffing the Box Office until early July, so it is strongly recommended that ticket buyers should visit www.garfieldcenter.org to purchase tickets for SAST.

For public safety, The Garfield Center has issued the following set of policies and protocols for patron attendance in 2021:

GCA’s Covid Reopening Public Safety Policies

The Garfield Center for the Arts is passionately committed to the safety of its patrons, volunteers and staff. The GCA thanks you for your understanding and support!

THE GARFIELD CENTER FOR THE ARTS’ COMMITMENT:

• Common areas (bathrooms, box office, concessions, etc) will be cleaned and sanitized prior to the building opening to the public before each performance.

• Plexiglass will be in place at the Box Office and Concessions windows.

• House seating armrests will be sanitized before each performance.

• Hand sanitizer will be available in multiple locations, with an emphasis on the bathrooms, box office, concessions and on dedicated tables just inside the house area and in the balcony.

• Patron social distancing will be emphasized in seating configurations, with the use of clustered seat sections, separated from one another, of various seat counts. Similar seating clusters will be created in the balcony by taping off sections of seats (signage will announce which seats are unavailable). Capacity limits, as determined by clustered seating, will be determined in advance of each season program.

• Due to onstage proximity and activities, actors will be expected to be fully vaccinated prior to any involvement in a production. Controlled rehearsal rules for the cast and crew will emphasize performer safety, possibly including (but not limited to): participant temperature checks, adherence to cleanliness and sanitation guidelines, the controlled use of PPE (if necessary and for a particular reason), etc.

• All production crew volunteers, house staff, box office personnel and GCA staff who are present will wear masks while in the building for performances.

WHAT THE GCA ASKS FOR FROM THE PUBLIC:

• If you are not fully vaccinated, the GCA asks that you continue to wear a mask unless actively enjoying food or drinks. In accordance with State of Maryland mandates, masks are not required for guests who are fully vaccinated, but the GCA encourages the use of masks by all patrons for the safety of other members of the audience.

FINALLY:

• The GCA’s policies and procedures are subject to change based on any new mandates, regulations and/or recommendations from Kent County, the State of Maryland, the Federal Government and/or the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). The GCA also reserves the right to make decisions based on the needs of our organization and staff.

As part of its efforts to reopen to public performances, the Garfield Center for the Arts is planning an outdoor summer edition of its popular annual Short Attention Span Theatre (also known as SAST). The location for the performances is still being finalized, but the performances are set for July 23, 24, 30 and 31.

Auditions for SAST will be held at the Garfield Center on Thursday, June 10th at 6:30 PM, Sunday, June 13th at 2:00 PM and Tuesday, June 15th at 6:30 PM. Anyone interested in performing in SAST this year should plan to show up at one of the audition dates. Auditions will consist of cold readings from some of the scripts being considered for presentation.

SAST is the Garfield Center’s annual short play program. It had its earliest roots in 2005, when it was called 8×10 – The 10-Minute Play Project. The name was changed to Short Attention Span Theatre in 2008. Over the years, iit has seen both the premiere of many original plays by local playwrights as well as featured the performances of hundreds of local actors. The Garfield Center’s SAST has remained a successful, yearly program that has grown every year in attendance and popularity.

For any additional inquiries about auditions, please contact GCA Executive Director Steven Arnold at sarnold@garfieldcenter.org.