We videotaped the performances during the 2008 711 Theatre Project and they are now available on DVD. For only $10, you can have a DVD of all the performances (Friday and Saturday - 13 short plays in all). Contact Dave Williams at 3062414@gmail.com for more details.

For a sample of what is on the DVD, here are some short scenes in low-res format from each of the plays from 2008.

Before we get to the winners’ list - first a big thank you to everyone who joined us Friday and Saturday for the 711 Theatre Project 2008. Our audience grew over last year - 132 for Friday evening and 169 for Saturday evening - 301 in total! This has been a wonderful experience (now we can get some sleep).

Get ready for 2009 (yes, we’re coming back - bigger and better than the last two years!). If you have any comments or suggestion on how we can make next year even more enjoyable - please email us at info@711theatre.com.

Before you read the recipients of the awards - we could tell it was a difficult choice each night listening to the judges in their deliberations. For each award, there were about 3 possibilities they agonized over before making their decision. Great job to everyone!

Photos of the Awards & Wrap Party at the Vaudeville Mews June 8

(click on the image above for the Awards & Wrap Party slideshow)

Friday’s Awards Recipients:

Judges Awards

• Rising Star for Performance: Cecelia Morelli, Alpha Psi (Grand View College), Aurtistic
• Best Individual Performance: Maureen Korte, 8th Row Productions in Association with Lucubrations, Why Jason Never Called
• Best Ensemble Performance: The Coffee Pot Players, Time Wrap
• Best Playwriting: Cecelia Morelli and Jeff Rost, Alpha Psi (Grand View College), Aurtistic
• Best Direction: The Coffee Pot Players, Time Wrap
• Judges Choice: The Coffee Pot Players, Time Wrap

Audience Award

• Audience Choice: The Coffee Pot Players, Time Wrap

Saturday’s Awards Recipients:

Judges Awards

• Rising Star for Performance: Nick Cornelison, The Dreams & Bones Company, Where’s Dr. Winterbottom?
• Best Individual Performance: Eric Sharp, Maroon Troupe, Twisted Innocence
• Best Ensemble Performance: Maroon Troupe, Twisted Innocence
• Best Playwriting: Ken Hartsook, Situational Irony, The Gift
• Best Direction: Laura Lundberg, Bomphrat Theater, Inc., The Tyrone O’Blarney Show
• Special “Tip Ho’ The Hat” Award: Rabid Dog Theatre, Gallery: The Musical
• Judges Choice: Maroon Troupe, Twisted Innocence

Audience Award

• Audience Choice: Maroon Troupe, Twisted Innocence

2008 Best of Show

The Coffee Pot Players, Time Wrap

Congratulations to the this year’s 711 Theatre Project Award Recipients - see you next year!

Thank you to our judges: Jeffrey Bruner, John Busbee, Michael Morain, Scott Steel, and Sam Tuomi.

Keep in mind, Dave Williams is currently working on the 711 Theatre Project 2008 DVD that has all the performances from each night on one DVD for only $10. We’ll let you know when that is ready and how you can get it. Makes a great gift!

Don’t miss out on this year’s 711 Theatre Project - with 14 troupes (close to 100 Iowa theatre artists) - it’s this year’s largest theatre event in central Iowa! Each night we’ll have 7 different original short plays on our stage! Check out photos from this weeks rehearsals:

(click on the image above for a slideshow of all 63 photos!)

Buy your tickets today at IowaTIX.com

Also, as part of this year’s 711 Theatre Project - we will be spotlighting the visual art of Brent Houzenga, Michelle Phillips, and Sam Tuomi in our lobby.

711 Theatre Project 2008
Grand View College Viking Theatre
2811 E 14th St - DSM
June 6 & 7 at 8 pm

The 711 Theatre Project 2008 Kick-off was a great success! Over 60 artists showed up from the 14 troupes entered in this year’s Project to get their first look at the set they must create an 11-minute play for within 1 week!

And the set is ….

An Art Gallery (set in “theatre in the round”) - click photos to see larger versions

The 14 troupes are writing and rehearsing their little hearts out for their 11-minute play they will perform June 6 & 7, 2008 at 8 pm. All 14 troupes drew their genre at random. Then, they had one opportunity to discard that genre and draw from the specialty genre. Almost half of the teams chose the opportunity to draw a second time from the more specific genres. Troupes listed below with an asterisk (”*”) are specialty genre selections.

Friday, June 6 @ 8 pm

Required elements (the stuff every troupe on Friday must include in their play):

• Character: Luca/Lucy Manicotti - Furniture Salesperson
• Prop: Battery-powered hand fan
• Line: “I’m in it to win it!”

Troupes & the genre of play they are required to fulfill (in order of their performance slot):

1. The Comedy Co-Operative: Cooking Show*
2. Solva lora infernis: Tragic Drama
3. Project 641: God-like Narrator*
   –intermission–
   
4. Alpha Psi: Puppet*
5. Coffee Pot Players: Tragic comedy
6. DCHS #1: Superhero drama
7. 8th Row Productions in association with Lucubrations: Epic*

Saturday, June 7 @ 8 pm

Required elements (the stuff every troupe on Saturday must include in their play):

• Character: Tyrone/Tyra O’Blarney - Spiritual Leader
• Prop: Hand-held magnifying glass
• Line: “What if the phone rings at 3 am?”

Troupes & the genre of play they are required to fulfill (in order of their performance slot):

1. The Dreams & Bones Company: Sci-fi/fantasy comedy
2. Maroon Troupe: Horror comedy
3. Rabid Dog Theatre: Musical*
   –intermission–
   
4. Bomphrat Theater Inc.: Children’s play*
5. Omega Beta: Superhero comedy
6. Situational Irony: Sci-fi/fantasy drama
7. TFAC (exhibition): Western comedy

* denotes specialty genre selection

Buy your tickets now for Friday and/or Saturday and join us June 6 & 7 to see which artists rise to the challenge of producing an 11-minute play in one week … or see which ones might fall flat on their face … Time is ticking …

Don’t forget about the FREE “711 Awards & Wrap Party” at the Vaudeville Mews, 212 4th St, Des Moines on Sunday, June 8 at 1:30 pm - cash bar, prizes and more! All ages invited to attend.