The 25th Anniversary of The Theater Oxford’s Ten Minute Play Festival

Oxford Mississippi is gearing up for the 25th anniversary of the Theater Oxford’s 10 Minute Play Festival. The festival will take place February 16 through the 17th and will showcase works of playwrights, late-night readings of Jim McCauley’s work, workshops, and raffle drawings. 

This year’s festival will look slightly more special being that it’s the 25th anniversary. Raffles will occur for shows happening all over town such as The Orpheum and the Ford Center and multiple other venues. By doing this, the Theater of Oxford is not only fundraising for themselves but promoting local theater and shows in the community.

With entries from all over the world such as Iceland, Scotland, England, etc, the judging committee, made up of 10 to 15 readers, narrowed down 245 entries to six. The six entries are then placed in two categories, three winners, and three runner-ups. Jennifer Mizenko, the festival’s coordinator, explained the process of when the plays are initially distributed, to the end. “Each reader ranks their plays. From those rankings, we take the top three, and then we take all the reader’s top three, and we do the same thing again. We then spread the plays out again, but I make sure they go to different people. People rank them again and we keep on doing that until we get down to the top six” Mizenko said. The readers are chosen by Mizenko and are made up of a diverse group with ages, occupations, and genders. What remains constant in each reader is his or her appreciation for theater. 

When winners are initially chosen, the production process quickly starts. “The winners are chosen in early, early December, and we can’t do anything through Christmas and New Year’s. Then, of course, this year we had the ice and the snow.” Mizenko said. Due to the unexpectedly severe winter weather, auditions and rehearsals commenced right after Martin Luther King Day. 

The workshops are one of the many things to look forward to at the festival. George Kehoe, last year’s second-place winner, will be hosting his workshop titled “Expanding the Ten-Minute Play”. Mizenko explained that Kehoe had transformed his 10-minute play into a one-act play and his workshop will help others expand their works. Kate Leslie, a graduate of Oxford High School is collaborating with OHS as they are producing a play she recently wrote, will be hosting “Collaborating with Directors” and “The Art of Directing” will be hosted by Oxford High-school theater teacher, John Davenport. 

Something Mizenko said she would be interested in reintroducing would be an audience favorite pick. “I think what would be most appropriate to do at some point, and this is actually a really good idea, is to have an audience favorite vote. I think you definitely want to have people with knowledge, as part of the culling and the discerning. We might try that next year. I might even see if we can do that this year because I really like that idea” Mizenko said.

Sally Redd, a student with a theater arts minor at the University, mentioned how she has never experienced a festival such as this one. “I am an out-of-state student and was unsure of the art scene in Oxford. I have always loved theater and knew I wanted to choose the subject as my minor but was shocked my freshman year to find there was a festival such as this one. It allows myself and other theater lovers to come together and celebrate great work”. Redd said. Tess Sumerall, an Oxford local, reflects on a time she and her partner attended the festival years ago. “It is really a great place to meet people with similar interests and likes. I am by no means a theater buff and could not act to save my life but just attending to watch the talent and work that is done through the productions is truly amazing.” Sumerall said.

With the festival fast approaching, Mizenko mentioned that the set of plays that are being performed this year is very diverse. “Very rarely do you have a serious topic in a 10-minute play, and we actually have two plays that have a more serious tone to them. Most often your 10-minute plays are comedies, so we’re really excited that it’s going to be literally a comedy tragedy slate of plays for this weekend” Mizenko said. 

Be sure to attend the festival February 16th through the 17th at Oxford Powerhouse and see the 2023 winners, Judy Klass, C.A. Hughes, Kate Lechler, and Connor King works along with others as well as the work of Leonard Madrid, an award-winning New Mexico-based playwright.