4 Views of "Pass the Salt, Please.".

Stephen Trovilion and Elena Maria Garcia in Miami.

Linda and Dave Parke in Los Angeles.

Gary Benser and Julia Kent in Cedar Rapids.

Michael Blum and Heather Ward in Seattle.

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"Pass the Salt, Please." - The Lost Photographs!

Finally! Some photographic evidence of my 10-minute, dirty play, "Pass the Salt, Please." , that was performed at UNcover: a two night art exhibition with an erotic vibe, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (my old theater stomping grounds) in March 2007. The person who was supposed to get pictures to the coordinator of the event dropped the ball, but I got these two from my friend Shannon in Cedar Rapids, who's married to my theater buddy, Officer Jim Keller (Follies) of the Linn County Sheriff's Department.

My actors, Gary Benzer (Follies and TCR) and Julia Kent during one of the performances. I flew in from LA to direct it 'cause I couldn't find anyone that could - or would (too risque - go figure). Gary jumped right in and Julia (who I knew from WMT) hadn't acted in 30 years. They were perfect. And the play won Best of Show honors and a nice little cash stipend that paid for the trip.

My very good friend Jim Keller, me and one of the painted models in attendance. Yes - she's nude. Nice personality, too.

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"Pass the Salt, Please" Shortlisted for Short & Sweet/Sydney

My award-winning short, "Pass the Salt, Please." has made the shortlist - 317 out of 1550 - for Short + Sweet/Sydney.

How does "shortlist" sound on a resume? Hmmm...let's call it, "semi-finalist", eh? This is a record number of entries for this competition, dubbed as the world's largest 10-minute play festival, with entries from every state and territory in Australia, as well as from Canada, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, the USA and the UK. The largest percentage of the 317 are from Australia - with 45 from the U.S., 13 Singapore, 9 UK, 3 New Zealand and Ireland, Croatia and France rounding out the rest. And me! Its parent competition - Short + Sweet/Melbourne - maybe that one's the largest. Anyway, neither of my plays were selected for Melbourne but the kind folks there forwarded my entries to Sydney, free of any fees (standard for Melbourne entrants). The festival runs over five week-long blocks from Jan 16, 2008 until February 23, 2008.

The Short+Sweet Sydney 2008 adjudication team was comprised of 60 theater professionals - writers, dramaturges, directors, producers, actors, designers and literary managers. All plays were read and assessed anonymously. If the play scored high with the first two judges, two more read it. If the play scored high again, you made the shortlist of 317.

What happens now? From the 317 shortlisted entries, 130 will be chosen to form the production season for the festival in January-February, 2008. There are the “Top 90” plays that will run in a weeklong season of 10 plays at the Seymour Centre and Newtown Theatre venues, plus an extra 40 “Wildcards” that are shown in programs of 10 for an industry-focused one-off matinee performance, also at the Seymour Centre and Newtown Theatre.

A little re-cap. "Pass the Salt, Please." won BEST OF SHOW in the inaugural juried show, UNcover: An Art Exhibition with An Erotic Vibe, which was this past March in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It also had its LA premiere at the grand re-opening of Drake's Erotica Emporium on Melrose in West Hollywood this past August. Big success. For a synopsis on this 'dirty little play' (as my friend, Justyna refers to it), to my play blog at http://playsofjeffreyjamesircink.blogspot.com/2007/07/pass-salt-please_27.html
I normally wouldn't mention even this honor, as the final list will be ready next week. But when you're a writer - well, you have to enjoy the little victories as I may not make the final cut list. Wish me luck!

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The Biggest Little Play Festival in the World

Short & Sweet in Melbourne, Australia, showcases bite-sized dramatic treats – each less than 10 minutes. Over 200 new plays are premiered at festivals in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore annually. The Sydney season alone features 90 main stage theatre productions (one week run), 50 wildcards and 10 music theatre pieces. It's anticipated that 1400+ scripts will be submitted from around the world – the bulk of them from Australia and New Zealand.

I submitted two 10-minute plays – "PASS THE SALT, PLEASE." is a dinner conversation between a married couple in their 50’s which resembles the script pages of a scene in a pornographic film. It won BEST OF SHOW honors at UNcover: An Art Exhibition with an Erotic Vibe, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 2007. The other new play is 4 1/2 MINUTES (give or take) TO CLIMAX, a drama about three couples attending a Christian swingers convention who are trapped in a janitor's closet by a gun-wielding religious fanatic.

This is my first year submitting to Short & Sweet – they offer over $20,000 in total prize monies and only a small percentage of their submissions come for the U.S. You Aussies and Kiwis will rue the day you met Jeffrey James Ircink. Wish me luck.

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BREAKING NEWS!

I received official word that "Pass the Salt, Please." - my 10-minute erotic play - won BEST OF SHOW in the inaugural juried show, UNcover: An Art Exhibition with An Erotic Vibe, which was last weekend in Cedar Rapids, IA (see below post from April 2). Wow! So-o...I'd like to thank my actors - Gary Benser and Julia Corbett (who were fantastic, by the way), Casey Kasparek, artist and organizer of the event (and those who helped him), and everyone who attended the event and voted for us. In particular, thanks to my friends who showed up. It was fun, wasn't it? It would've been a different experience without you. My mother thanks you; my father thanks you; I thank you.

If you missed UNcover, and are curious as to what all the hub-bub's about concerning "Pass the Salt, Please.", I'd be happy to email you a copy of my "dirty play" - keeping in mind plays "read" much better when seen "live". Or go to my play site: http://www.playsofjeffreyjamesircink.blogspot.com/
for a sampling of "PTSP." The website for the event is at: http://www.uncovercr.com/

It was a wonderful event and I hope Casey puts it up next year.

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UNcover was the Tits - Tops, I mean

HUGE success! More details to follow on my long weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for UNcover: An Art Exhibition with An Erotic Vibe. Between 350-400 attended over the two days and the crowds loved the event. "PASS THE SALT, PLEASE." - my 10 minute erotic play - was a SMASH! Honestly, it was a second-hand tick away from perfection, and...AND they wanted to do an encore later Saturday evening as the crowds were changing throughout the night but my actress had already left. No problem - anyway, an orgasmic thanks to Gary Benser and Julia Corbett for their hard work (my actors). You BOTH stared controversy in the face and said, "Pass the Salt, Please.".

Like I said, more to follow when I get my pictures in. You're gonna wanna see these.

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