A new decade, a new format. Kind of.

The crowd favourite (and apparently sold out) 10-Minute Play Festival finds itself in its 11th year, complete with a new presenting company, a new host and a slightly modified concept. Giving a handful of local theatre companies a single prop and a single line of dialogue, each have approximately 24 hours to brainstorm, write and perform a play. The twist this year: each prop and line of dialogue is different. No longer is it a chance to see what different companies can accomplish with the same thing, which is arguably a missed opportunity. But in an attempt to still maintain thematic unity, all the lines are Neil Diamond lyrics.

This latter decision is courtesy of new host Karen Johnson-Diamond, whose rabid fandom inspired even her stage name. If nothing else, her Diamond obsession left enough of an impression for the first host since Doug McKeag, who stepped down after hosting the first ten.

So how were the plays themselves? Solid, no doubt. It’s a wonder how smoothly everything always seems to come together, despite lack of sleep and sometimes a lack of ideas. Downstage themselves admitted to scrapping their idea halfway through and starting over. Their final piece borrows generously from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with a nice dose of physical comedy, but remained light and without much of a conclusion.

Ellipsis Tree Collective, the winning company of last year’s audience choice award, presented a manic trio of children’s TV show hosts, with backstage antics that reveal them to be the worst of role models. Ground Zero Theatre also came up with a set of foul-mouthed characters, even working Neil Diamond into the work itself. It was rambling, it was unwieldy, but it may also have been the most dedicated of the bunch.

The most fun piece came from improv group Dirty Laundry, who were given their line and prop at the show, giving them a chance to showcase what can be done with zero preparation. Salty sea captains, sexy mermaids, and paint thinner as makeup remover. It may very well have been the highlight, despite requiring the least prep work. 

What’s slightly disappointing is that almost every company went straight for comedy. In past years, there were works with distinct moods and tones, and a greater sense of experimentation. It may have been more hit-and-miss, but it was the variety of effort that counted. This year, only Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre attempted something serious, making great use of blue-and-white tissue paper, tossed across the entirety of the stage with sombreness and subtlety. Even Ghost River Theatre, though making an impressive start-to-finish rhyming musical with Kris Demeanor, ultimately resorted to fake blood and potty humour. 

But it’s all in good fun. Plenty of laughs and a handful of great moments. Only it fell short of being just a little bit more. Last year, at least two of the plays were successful enough to have been developed and expanded into longer works. How many of this year’s will have that honour?