"The Nexus Project": A mixed bag of short plays, all for a good cause

Maybe it's the variety factor, short attention spans or the bevy of local playwrights eager to join in. Whatever the reasons, minifests of new, short-short plays tend to be popular in Seattle lately.

"The Nexus Project" is the latest roundup. Devised by the fledgling company Next Stage, it features work by a dozen scribes. Each contributed a 10-minute script, inspired by a local charitable organization of their choice. All author royalties, matched by a contribution from Next Stage, will be donated to one of the charities (based on votes by audience members).

Putting worthy organizations at the mercy of a competition for bucks isn't the most graceful charitable act, but the project is indeed community spirited. And the six miniplays on Program A (there's a separate Program B with six more) include surprisingly substantial works, along with some forgettable fare.

The "A" bill opens with "Blood Love," a sweet niblet by Ki Gottberg, and a sort of fond public-service ad for the Puget Sound Blood Center. In crosscut monologues, a woman sensuously describes a new crush. Meanwhile the object of her lust, a dedicated doctor, ponders with awe the medical miracle of blood transfusions.

More ambitious (a sketch for a longer work?) is John Longenbaugh's timely "Bird Song." Inspired by the Sierra Club, the piece affectingly juxtaposes a man's lyrical memories of bird-watching with moments of attraction and moral tension between two female U.S. Army interrogators.

The most dynamic and inventive of the playlets is "The Last of the Doom Series," by Marya Sea Kaminski (designated charity: HealthPoint, a community health program).

This piece also conjures side-by-side realities. In one sphere (and perhaps within the same house), a wistful woman in an apron sighs and cooks. Meanwhile, a loutish fellow videotapes himself expounding morosely and hilariously about TV and politics.

When a Stevie Wonder oldie suddenly cranks up, the two launch into a riotous dance routine — a well-used performance-art tactic, but one that makes this nugget-size work seem fresh, off-kilter, open-ended.

Also on the bill: Joy McCullough-Carranza's "Leap" (proceeds go to the youth-literacy center 826 Seattle), an awkward skit in which Shakespeare, Mark Twain and a Chekhov character discuss creativity and try to collaborate; and "w/original features," S.P. Miskowski's unpersuasive, sketchy take on callow urbanites and a mysterious homeless woman (aptly dedicated to the newspaper sold by the homeless, Real Change).

The bill closes with Marc Kenison's "Waxie Moon: Boylesque Cinematique," in honor of the gay-film group 3 Dollar Bill Cinema. This campy skit pays homage to old-time burlesque and narcissistic preening, complete with a quite revealing strip tease. (Once you've gotten the point, the rest of the 10 minutes will either be titillating or interminable.)

Though there's not room to name them all, many actors and directors are also donating their gifts to "Nexus," which in Program B presents 10-minute plays by Seattle theater vets Stephanie Timm, Paul Mullin, Elizabeth Heffron, Lenore Bensinger, Scot Augustson and Mike Daisey.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com