Cast and crew of Reg and Jared. (Left to right) actors Rick Benson and Duane Ferguson, director Rachael Langton, stage manager Jackie Ivers and playwright Eugene Grygo. Photo courtesy of Jackie Ivers
Aug. 13, 2024 By Shane O’Brien
A number of short plays will take place at the Queens Library Astoria branch this Saturday, Aug. 17, as part of the annual Equity Library Summer Play Festival.
The festival, founded in 2010 by Astoria resident Johnny Culver, takes place across the city over three weekends, with two events having taken place in Manhattan earlier in August.
Saturday’s event, which features five short plays, is the final event of the festival and kicks off at 1 p.m. at Queens Library at 14-01 Astoria Blvd. The event is free, but seating is extremely limited.
Astoria resident and playwright Eugene Grygo will debut his new 10-minute play “Reg and Jared” at the upcoming festival. The play tells the story of two artists living in Boston in the early 1990s.
Set in a painter’s studio in Cambridge’s Central Square in the spring of 1990, the short play follows Jared’s relationship with his partner Reg as the couple faces a major turning point in their long-term relationship.
The play is an adaptation of Grygo’s full-length play “Portrait of a Birthday Boy,” which he has been writing since 2000, but has yet to put on stage.
“This is an opportunity to experiment,” Grygo said. “So, I thought, ‘let’s pick out their scene and see if it could stand alone as a 10-minute play’.’”
The play is based on Grygo’s experiences as a freelance journalist in Boston in the 1980s and 1990s, when his work put him into contact with a number of gay couples during the AIDS crisis.
“I got to meet a lot of artists and write about them. And at the same time, many of them were hit with AIDS,” Grygo said. “Many of them were either HIV positive and just struggling with the disease, but some of them had the full-blown syndrome. A lot of their gallery shows were the last that they would have in their lives.”
Grygo added that the on-stage relationship is also influenced by his parents’ relationship.
Grygo, who has written several short plays, said it is arguably more challenging to write a short play than a full-length production.
“I love short plays because you can get to the epiphany and pretty quickly, but I’ve found that the ten-minute plays are tougher [to write]. Actually, the shorter the play, the harder the play.”
“Short plays require audiences to pick up a storyline without a back story,” Grygo said, adding that he adapted the script to indicate that the play took place in Boston in the 1990s.
Grygo said he is “excited” to take part in the upcoming Summer Play Festival, stating that the event helps bring theater to people who may have been priced out by rising ticket prices on Broadway.
“Firstly, it’s great that it’s taking place in a public library, because it seems to me that people in Queens love the libraries,” Grygo said. “Secondly, it’s free. I think that’s great because theater in Manhattan, on Broadway and Off-Broadway, is becoming too expensive for people. I think most people think of theater as something you do maybe once a year. I think it’s great to get some new stuff, new plays, and just get people excited about theater.”
Saturday’s festival will also feature four other short productions, including the comical monologue “I Ate The Divorce Papers,” performed by Bayside resident Alexis Tandit, who is making a return appearance at the festival.
Also appearing at the festival are Michael Chepiga’s “Questioning Authority,” Robert Kirkendall’s “Yellow Roses” and Youlim Nam’s “Get Out of My Head!!!”
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