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American Association of Community Theatre AACT NewPlayFest Winning Plays: Volume 3 (2018) Finishing School by ELAINE LINER Making Sweet Tea and Other Secrets by PAUL ELLIOTT Eternity by MICHAEL COCHRAN Mynx & Savage by REBECCA GORMAN O’NEILL Treehouse by JOE MUSSO Sweet by DENISE HINSON Dramatic Publishing Company Woodstock, Illinois • Australia • New Zealand • South Africa © Dramatic Publishing *** NOTICE *** The amateur and stock acting rights to this work are controlled exclusively by THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC., without whose permission in writing no performance of it may be given. Royalty must be paid every time a play is performed whether or not it is presented for profit and whether or not admission is charged. A play is performed any time it is acted before an audience. 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For performance of any songs, music and recordings mentioned in this play which are in copyright, the permission of the copyright owners must be obtained or other songs and recordings in the public domain substituted. ©MMXIX by DRAMATIC PUBLISHING Printed in the United States of America All Rights Reserved (AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY THEATRE AACT NEWPLAYFEST WINNING PLAYS: VOLUME 3 [2018]) ISBN: 978-1-61959-195-0 © Dramatic Publishing IMPORTANT BILLING AND CREDIT REQUIREMENTS All producers of the play must give credit to the author of the play in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the play and in all instances in which the title of the play appears for purposes of advertising, publicizing or otherwise exploiting the play and/or a production. 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In all programs this notice must appear: “Produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC., of Woodstock, Illinois.” © Dramatic Publishing American Association of Community Theatre AACT NewPlayFest Winning Plays: Volume 3 (2018) TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..................................................................................... 6 Foreword ......................................................................................... 7 Finishing School ............................................................................. 9 Making Sweet Tea and Other Secrets ............................................ 51 Eternity ........................................................................................ 119 Mynx & Savage ........................................................................... 179 Treehouse .................................................................................... 249 Sweet ........................................................................................... 309 Author Biographies ..................................................................... 371 5 © Dramatic Publishing INTRODUCTION The American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) is proud to present the six winning scripts and playwrights of the third AACT NewPlayFest cycle. AACT NewPlayFest is an initiative by AACT to address the critical need for new, high-quality plays for community theatre audiences around the globe. It has been embraced by playwrights and theatres across the country, bringing exciting theatrical journeys to producing companies and joyful realization and anticipation to playwrights and their work. AACT is pleased to partner with Dramatic Publishing Company for this program. AACT NewPlayFest is unparalleled in new play competitions, providing full productions of the winning scripts, plus publication and rights representation by a major theatrical publisher. This third cycle of AACT NewPlayFest, ending in 2018, proved even more successful than the first two. More scripts were submitted, and six theatres across the country produced world premieres of winning scripts. This festival continues to benefit the producing theatres by giving them the excitement of bringing new works to their patrons, and the playwrights by experiencing quality productions of their work, and publication and representation by Dramatic Publishing. The benefits of AACT NewPlayFest will expand as additional theatres produce these top-notch plays. We hope you will consider one of these plays for your next season. Break a leg, Quiana Clark-Roland, Executive Director American Association of Community Theatre The American Association of Community Theatre is the resource connection for America’s theatres. AACT represents the interests of more than 7,000 theatres across the United States and its territories, as well as theatre companies with the U.S. Armed Services overseas. To learn more about AACT NewPlayFest and AACT go to aact.org. 6 © Dramatic Publishing FOREWORD Jack K. Ayre, born in Pittsburgh on July 9, 1921, celebrated his 90th birthday before passing away in December 2011. At his birthday party in Sunnyvale, Calif., he sang with a barbershop quartet—one of his favorite activities—and celebrated with his cousin and lifelong friend, Frank Ayre Lee. Though as adults they lived on opposite sides of the country, the cousins kept in touch through letters that displayed a love for the written word and an irreverent sense of humor. Jack had participated in theatre productions at Drew University in New Jersey and at a community theatre in Connecticut in his younger years, and continued that interest when he moved to California. Frank, a chemical engineer by profession, was also an avid aficionado of theatre and had dabbled in playwriting, adapting Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book for a children’s theatre production, and penning McSteg, a tongue-in-cheek discourse ribbing his cousin Jack and based on a scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The Jack K. Ayre and Frank Ayre Lee Theatre Foundation has been created by the children of Frank as a tribute to their father, who passed away in August 2012, and a legacy for the creative endeavors of Jack, who was an advertising executive and public relations director. The family is pleased to honor both men through a lasting legacy promoting new works for theatre. Jack K. Ayre Frank Ayre Lee Photos: Courtesy of the Jack K. Ayre and Frank Ayre Lee Theatre Foundation. 7 © Dramatic Publishing Finishing School By ELAINE LINER 9 © Dramatic Publishing Finishing School received its premier production at the Elkhart Civic Theatre at the Bristol Opera House in Bristol, Ind., on Sept. 8, 2017. CAST: Al.................................................................................. Dave Dufour Wizzer ........................................................................... Gail Janssen Minnie .........................................................................Melissa Auvil Shirley ................................................................. Sandra Woodiwiss Announcement Voice .................................................... Elaine Liner PRODUCTION: Director ......................................................................Kevin Egelsky Assistants to the Director .............Victoria Kucharski, Bob Franklin Stage Manager ........................................................Kristi McCreary Stage Crew ............................................................. Spencer Murphy Lights/Sound Operator ..............................................Garry Cobburn Set and Lighting Design ................................................. John Shoup Set Construction ....................................John Shoup, Kevin Egelsky Sound Design ............................................................Garry Cobburn Costume and Properties Design ..........................Victoria