The Play's the Thing: Flash Fiction That Works for the Stage

Tom Carr, Adele Annesi, Aurora López Cancino

My flash fiction piece "Days of Obligation" recently appeared as a stage play for the Ridgefield Cultural Festival, sponsored by the Ridgefield Arts Council.  "Days" was adapted for the stage by playwright and director Joanne Hudson. The part of Antonia was played by Aurora López Cancino, and the part of Mauro was played by Thomas Carr. Seeing the play performed was a wonderful experience, but even more fun was preparing — watching a talented director coaching the actors, and me, and watching dedicated performers give life to the characters. The actors had great questions that made me think about the story, and they found levels of meaning I hadn't realized were there.

The other interesting experience is that this piece was a kind of pop-up story, meaning it popped up as a flash fiction piece from a short story I wrote called "Resolution," slated to appear in Midway Journal in November 2011. Pop-ups aren't a genre, really, that's just my word for them. They're akin to flash in that they're micro-mini stories, but their origin is from a work of short fiction. A great learning experience, overall.

A big thank-you to Joanne, Aurora and Tom! Thanks also to Frank Giarratana for the pics!