Sandwich, MA - In keeping with Sandwich being "The Oldest Town with the Newest Works", the Sandwich Arts Alliance proudly hosts two staged readings each year. “Six by Ten: Fast and Fun” is the latest of these readings, taking place on Friday, February 15^th at 7 pm at the Masonic Hall, 175 Main Street in Sandwich. A $10 donation is requested at the door.

With the performance date so close to Valentine’s Day, the Alliance put out the call for short plays on the theme, “Love Gone Right or Wrong”.

“As of December 30th, we’d received 247 submissions from all over the country, as well as Hong Kong and Australia!”, says event coordinator, participating playwright and director June Bowser-Barrett. “Our play-reading committee spent a good portion of the holiday season glued to a computer screen and as a result, we feel that this years’ selections represent an exceptionally fine group of plays and playwrights.”

The six readings, all directed by Ms. Bowser-Barrett, feature short plays by Karen McGarr, “Cold Feet”; James McLindon, “Hot Gecko Space Love Action”; John Minigan, “Monogamy of Swans”; George Smart, “Worrier and the Not”; Karla Sorenson, “Honeymoon in Lahaina”; and June Bowser-Barrett, “You Who?”.

“The mood for the evening will be light-hearted, romantic comedy interspersed with many memorable one-liners, continued Ms. Bowser-Barrett. "It will be fast-paced, moving from the real to the surreal and back again. The Sandwich Arts Alliance is delighted to have this line-up of new works by some of the area’s most accomplished, award-winning playwrights."

James McLindon was a finalist for the Kaufman and Hart Prize for New American Comedy, and the three-time winner of the Firehouse Center for the Arts New Works Festival (Newburyport, MA). George Smart’s plays have been produced nationally and internationally in Ireland, England, and the Philippines. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild of America, and past president of Playwrights’ Platform, Boston.  John Minigan’s work has been included in anthologies such as the Best American Short Plays, The New American Playwrights Project, and New England New Plays. Karla Sorenson’s play “Tapped Out” was a semi-finalist in the 2013 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and her “Greetings from the Cape” was a finalist in the Firehouse Center for the Arts 2018 New Works Festival.