Atlantic Theater Company in NYC presents a series of 10-minute plays annually in the spring, divided into three evenings. I attended "Series A" on Thursday night, which present 8 brief one-act plays of striking diversity.
Of course, at an event like this there will be hits and misses, but I thought there was a very high percentage of hits. I was especially engaged by John Guare's tribute to a once-famous Polish film star, Elzbieta, performed as a dialogue between two men, and David Mamet's "In a Linguistics Class," presenting a very Mamet-style dialogue between a professor and his student. The other plays included "The Redeemers," by Ethan Coen, wherein some backwoodsmen take drastic steps concerning their abusive father, "Posh Pill" by Kia Corthron, whose point I don't now remember, "Master Class with Cassiopeia O'Hara," by Kate Moira Ryan, in which a diva gives her over-the-top monologue, "Various Rigors," by Stephen Belber, exposing a peculiar physical exam, "Marriage" by Lucy Thurber, in which a bored woman finally renounces her husband at the dinner table under the prodding example of her love-bird parents, and the grand finale, David Pittu, revisiting his alma mater for a talent show enthusiastically introduced by a young Glee-like fellow.
Fast-paced, usually attention-holding, and worth the visit. There will also be a Series B and a Series C coming up.