In the fall of 2011, The Long Story Shorts One Act Festival was
launched, featuring performances of short plays written by
undergraduate students in the Writing for the Screen and Stage
minor, an interdisciplinary, dramatic writing program housed in the
Department of Communication at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. Marking the first five years of the festival, this
anthology showcases works written to be performed in ten minutes
with a small production budget. The festival gives students a
unique opportunity to participate in a collaborative, developmental
environment led by experienced faculty and professional actors and
directors, and the plays included here rise to the occasion.
Whether they are humorous, poignant, powerful, or provocative, they
demonstrate why the short play form has become so popular; why this
event has become one of the highlights of the university's cultural
scene; and why the Writing for the Screen and Stage program has
thrived.