10-minute plays take center stage at Weathervane Playhouse's 12th annual festival

When Copley playwright Patrick Dukeman learned that this year's 10-minute play festival at Weathervane Playhouse required that all plays submitted for the competition be set in a castle, he knew exactly what tale he wanted to write.

What could be funnier than some of Shakespeare's most tragic heroines hanging out in a castle for "Shakespeare's Ladies Book Club"? Set in modern times, they'd meet at the catty, imperious Lady Macbeth's castle to discuss "Romeo and Juliet" and engage in girl talk.

The short work is like a sit com, with the tragic women of Shakespeare dishing on their dilemmas. Other characters are the angsty Gertrude, played by Sarah Durham, and ditzy Desdemona, portrayed by Kellie McIvor.

"There's a lot of wit, there's a lot of sarcasm, tongue in cheek, there's a lot of screaming, yelling and just a lot of mayhem," Dukeman, 57, said of his 10-minute work.

He has the distinction of being the only local playwright chosen among eight finalists for Weathervane Playhouse's 12th annual 8X10: The Eileen Moushey TheatreFest. The theater received a total of 135 play submissions from as far away as New Zealand.

The other seven festival finalists are playwrights from Germany, England, California, Illinois, Georgia, New York and Maryland.

All of their works are performed by local actors in a large, beautifully lit castle set designed by Weathervane technical director Richard Morris Jr.

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The 8X10 TheatreFest opens Thursday and runs for eight performances over two weekends in Akron. Audience members vote for first-, second- and third-place winners of the festival. The winning playwright receives a $500 prize and second- and third-place winners get $350 and $250 respectively.

Weathervane actress is muse for playwright Dukeman

Dukeman grew up in Norton and graduated from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and Kent State University, with degrees in English and theater. He received his MFA in acting performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

He has acted in a Shakespeare festival in Coral Gables, Fla., performed on a cruise ship and lived for 25 years in San Francisco, where he performed with New Conservatory Theatre Center. His acting there included work with famed playwright and librettist Terrence McNally.

As Dukeman was writing "Shakespeare's Ladies Book Club," he could hear Weathervane actress and good friend Amanda Vigneault's voice in his head as the sophisticated Lady Macbeth. As luck would have it, Dukeman's play was selected as a festival finalist and his muse Vigneault was indeed cast in the role of Lady Macbeth.

Dukeman, a regular actor at Weathervane, has starred in numerous shows with Vigneault at the theater since he moved back to the Akron area in 2011. Their shows together include "The Drowsy Chaperone," "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and more.

For the 8X10 TheatreFest, he wrote a rough draft of "Shakespeare's Ladies Book Club" in just two hours.

"How I write, it just comes out of me," Dukeman said.

Next came a full week of finessing the play, fine-tuning the dialogue and more.

True to Shakespearean form, in Dukeman's play, Lady Macbeth is trying to get her husband to kill the king, Desdemona has a jealous, controlling husband and Gertrude's main problem is her brooding son who's just returned home from college. The women live in modern times where there are things like telephones, hors d'oeuvres and book clubs.

Dukeman hadn't submitted a play for competition before but he has written musicals, including dialogue, music and lyrics for the children's musical "Across the Pond" and a Gilbert and Sullivan revue that was produced in Parkway Playhouse in Asheville, N.C.

He credits his KSU mentor and professor Rose Bank with fostering his playwrighting skills. He believes she'd be proud of his work with "Shakespeare's Ladies Book Club."

"The more specific you are when you're writing, the more universal it becomes," he said of his comedy writing. "I didn't go for the nonspecific to make it funny. I went full hog and put the Shakespeare in it and found ways to make that funny and interesting, too."

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Even if audiences don't know Shakespeare well, he hopes they recognize the universal traits in the play's three characters that will make the humor shine.

"You have to choose not only what's funny, but what's funny when it's real," the playwright said.

There are plenty of zingers in his play that mine the Shakespearean tragedies "Macbeth," "Othello" and "Hamlet." They include this line from Lady Macbeth about Desdemona being late to book club:

"Desdemona's not here. I'm not surprised. She'd be late to her own homicide."

As far as Dukeman's concerned, he's already won when it comes to the festival, since his goal was to see his play performed.

"I wrote something that I thought would be fun, exciting and a good time for the audience," he said. "I just wanted to be chosen so that I could see three capable actress, see what they do with it."

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Event: 8X10: The Eileen Moushey TheatreFest

When: Opens 7:30 p.m. Thursday, continuing through Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays

Where: Weathervane Playhouse, 1301 Weathervane Lane, Akron

Onstage: Sue Jeromson, James Rizopulos, Jeannie Clarkson, Patrick Downing, Makenna Bird, Lauren Koleszar, Dan Reichert, Laura Niehaus, Samaria Murry, Spencer Morgan, Jason McGloin, Mason Shuman, Allison Cirner, Gia Maglione, Emily Schrader, Ozzie Casino, Al Klesh, Amanda Vigneault, Sarah Durham, Kellie McIvor

Offstage: April Deming, director; Tiffany Bird, stage manager; Richard Morris Jr., set designer/technical director; Jack-Anthony Ina, lighting designer/master electrician; Robin Ungerleider, sound designer; Patti Alderson and Karen Burridge, props designers; Brooke Larkin, intimacy director; Adam Alderson, assistant director; Kathy Kohl, assistant technical director; Wittman Sullivan, associate lighting designer; Ashton Lee and Van Wornkey, assistant lighting designers; James Boyd Jr. and Michael Slane, carpenters

Cost: $16-$24

Information: weathervaneplayhouse.com or 330-836-2626

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Copley playwright Patrick Dukeman finalist in Weathervane festival