By Kat Bryant

Grays Harbor News Group

Despite Grays Harbor College classrooms and the Bishop Center officially shutting down for the season, creative juices continue to flow at the drama department.

Last spring, department head Andrew Gaines presented GHC’s first 10-Minute Play Festival to showcase short works by students as well as members of the community. It wasn’t a requirement of his class, but rather an extension of it.

Rather than cancel the second annual event, he has decided to take it online. He’s announced a public call for short scripts, and he plans to act as co-director and producer of each one chosen, using the Zoom videoconferencing platform to broadcast the live event at the end of the spring quarter.

“Sometimes limitations ignite creativity,” he said. “I’m trying to envision this as an opportunity, an exciting challenge. Hopefully, it’ll even be fun.”

The plays can be no more than 10 minutes long, and can be much shorter than that. Gaines encourages submissions from local theater companies and the general public, in addition to his drama students.

Complete drafts must be submitted by end of day April 17 for consideration. He noted that priority will be given to those that include how the writer envisions the presentation — full screen with one actor shown at a time versus split screen, for example.

Gaines already has five scripts in hand that were submitted last semester by students from Tom Stearns’ creative writing class. Some of those — written before the pandemic threatened Washington — will need some revisions given current social restraints.

“There are some important dramatic moments with characters connecting physically. How do you convey the same story without face-to-face communication?” he said. “We’re going to be playing with the digital divide and trying to transcend it at the same time.”

Gaines will take on much of the technical burden of each production to ensure a smooth presentation of each live performance. He’s prepared to deal with the potential glitches brought on by unstable internet connections and other issues.

“I hope audiences will be forgiving. It’s an experiment,” he said. “I’d rather produce an imperfect festival than nothing at all.”

He added: “I secretly hope that the cracks in the system that become exposed only make us yearn to come together for a live performance in the near future — because there really is no substitute.”

To submit a script or ask questions, email Gaines at andrew.gaines@ghc.edu.