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Company Seeks Submissions for One-Act Plays Set on the Staten Island Ferry

By Nicholas Rizzi | September 10, 2013 8:43pm
 The Sundog Theatre Company asked for submissions for plays that take place on the Staten Island Ferry with two endings, and will let the audience decide which one they'll see that night.
Scenes from the Staten Island Ferry
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NEW DORP — The annual one-act plays based on the Staten Island Ferry has put out a call for submissions for next years performance, but this time with a little help from the audience.

The Sundog Theatre company's 12th annual "Scenes from the Staten Island Ferry" will let the audience choose the ending to each of the six one-act plays performed next year.

Each play has to take place on the Staten Island Ferry, but towards the end of the 25-minute boat ride between the two boroughs, an actor will break character and give the audience the options between two different endings, and let them decide which one they'll see.

"It should be fun," said Susan Fenley, executive director of the company. "Anything can happen on the ferry," she added. "The play can really be about almost anything."

Each year, the company sets a different theme for the plays — last year's production's was an ending with a twist — but Fenley said this year's idea was a big change from previous ones.

Fenley has already started to reach out to some playwrights who normally submit scripts for the production, and said writers responded positively to giving the audience a choice.

"One of them said, 'I always debate on how to end the play and this will be great because I can put in both endings,'" she said. "They can put both good endings in and let somebody else take that responsibility."

The group generally receives 50 to 80 scripts every year, from all over the United States and even some from Europe.

"They all know about our ferry somehow," she said.

A team of four people will read every play. The group will pick the best six, and stage them in Staten Island and Manhattan in March, Fenley said.

The deadline to mail a script in is Dec. 1, 2013, and chosen playwrights will receive $100 each. For more information, visit Sundog's website.