Courtesy Lucy Briggs (left) and Kris Thomas rehearse Patty Sandoval Srolla's ‘My Friend Viva,' which is directed by Kathleen Lovejoy.

Mainstream society is changing, John Poole realizes. People want more, and they want it now.

Even the intellectual theatergoing crowd, Poole admits, is not immune to such inclinations.

“A lot of art covers small ends of the bell curve, but there's very little trying to address the big center of it,” said Poole, founder of the Overtime Theater. “Some people consider it pandering to the masses, but hey, we are. I think the masses are damn smart, and I have great respect for the masses. I am one of the masses.”

So it makes sense that Poole and his Overtime Theater brethren are putting on the San Antonio Playwrights' Festival, dedicated to performing the work of local playwrights. None of the six plays, slated to be performed Jan. 18-20 and 24-26, run longer than 10 minutes, and none of them feature more than five actors.

Modrea Mitchell-Reichert and her fellow San Antonio Playwrights organizers selected the six plays, most of which are dramatic in nature.

“I think it appeals to anyone who hasn't been to the theater in San Antonio in a long time, or any student in college or high school who wants to know what's going on in San Antonio,” Poole said. “They need to see this.”

As for the plays all being 10 minutes or less in duration, Kathleen Lovejoy — who is directing two of the six plays (“The Gift” and “My Friend Viva”) — said that time limit won't detract from the plays' collective quality.

“It is a play, and it will have all the emotions and everything we can get in,” she said. “We're going to analyze themes and get everything in that we can, as we would with any play. It comes out well.”

Added Poole: “In art establishment circles, these (10-minute plays) are frowned upon as quick and fast. They like long plays with lots of dialogue, because they think they're intellectual and wise. I think it's a bunch of crap.”

All of the plays being shown at the festival center on a “Viva Las Vegas” theme, and must feature some sort of tie to Las Vegas. Poole also hopes that audiences find inspiration in the performances, perhaps enough to become playwrights themselves.

“One of the big things we want to do with this is reach out to everyone,” he said. “If you want to start writing, now is the time, and a 10-minute play is a great format to get started. Theater needs to go this way.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA