The Shoreline Shorts gives voice to students’ issues, creativity and talent

"During what was supposed to be a simple lunch, the lives of four people are torn apart after suppressed memories are uncovered. Erin Gunsul, Phil Quartararo, and Damien Charboneau (from left to right) play three of the characters in the raw drama “Sunday 1:26pm”."

The Shoreline Shorts will run from June 4 – 7 at 7:30pm in the Shoreline Community College Theater Building (#1600), 16101 Greenwood Avenue North, Shoreline, Washington 98133-5696. Tickets are just $5 and available at the door. There is a small fee for parking on campus.

A young man is forced to meet his ex-girlfriend from the past when his wacky roommate turns a broken microwave into a working time machine. A young woman introduces her new boyfriend to her brother, but when suppressed memories surface they find themselves on an emotional roller coaster. A man who lost the love of his life in an armed robbery just can’t let her go. Five college roommates have to figure out what to do when they find a horrifying surprise in the sofa they found on the street.  

These are just a few of the stories that will take the audience on a wild ride during The Shoreline Shorts. For the 10th consecutive year, Shoreline Community College is hosting a collection of one-act plays and monologues written, directed and acted by SCC students. And this year’s plays are … real. Some are dark, many are serious, a few are hilarious. Together, they offer a kaleidoscope of life that is well worth experiencing.

The subtitle of The Shoreline Shorts is “New Playwrights Workshop”. According to Tony Doupé, faculty lead of the Performance Arts/Digital Filmmaking department, “The Shoreline Shorts is a huge workshop of ideas and art. The pieces are in process. We open them up to the audience and see the reaction.” Based on these reactions, writers may change or expand on their pieces. 

In the early years of the Shorts, faculty brought in playwrights and other professionals. But over the years, the production has morphed into a student-controlled production. Doupé has been involved with the Shorts, in some capacity, since the beginning. He believes that giving students a voice is important in an academic environment.

“We don't want to censure students,” explains Doupé. “Besides, who am I to say what’s good and what’s bad.” He feels that there are times when faculty need to “back off and let students be creative”.  

He described the tone of this year’s Shorts as being “heavy”. “In past years, the Shorts has explored hard subjects like sexual abuse, drugs, etc. But even during the worst part of the recession, topics for the Shorts were lighter than this year.”

"A group of college roommates (played by Suzanne Ballout, Amanda McGee, and Shane Wynn and Joshua Abrahamson--left to right) argue over what to do with the sofa bed they found on the street in the hilarious comedy "Finders Keepers".  It’s beautiful and looks pricey, but it stinks and they are shocked by what they find inside."

 
In an effort to provide some relief for the audience, Doupé invited a professional playwright, Wally Lane, to write a comic piece. With the exception of Lane and one SCC staff person who wrote a monologue; every writer, director, and actor involved in the Shorts is a student at SCC.

This group of talented students have been working together throughout the quarter to bring these important (or wacky) themes to life. The Shorts are sure to be entertaining as well as thought-provoking. And isn’t that what creativity is all about?