The Gemco Players Community Theatre is continuing to embrace its community, with an upcoming 10-minute play festival using a number of local writers as the source for its plays.
Gemco Players Community Theatre is a not-for-profit association run by volunteers.
President Mandy McGarrigle said this year’s Take Ten Festival will be the 24th run of the festival.
“It’s a festival of 10 10-minute plays,” she said.
“People put their hands up to direct and act.”
The top ten plays selected by the committee will also be featured in a booklet on sale after the shows.
Ms McGarrigle said she was directing Night Angel, a “quite sinister” tale about a musician.
“There’s an alarming twist at the end,” she said.
Ms McGarrigle said the limited scope of the festival forced the writer to quickly wrap up the story.
“When you’ve got a dramatic climax, you have to wrap up the action,” she said.
“The writer has to be quite clever.”
Ms McGarrigle said one of the plays even features three members of Gemco’s youth group.
“That’s good experience for our youth group,” she said.
The youth theatre has grown in the last 20 years from 15 young people, to about 50 young people.
Gemco is also performing a Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs play called ‘Night Watch’ on Friday 12 July, as well as hosting the Dandenong Ranges One Act Play Festival from Friday 16 August to Sunday 18 August.
“It’s a really amazing weekend,” Ms McGarrigle said.
The Take Ten Festival will run from Friday 17 May to Sunday 19 May.
