Mount Saint Mary College staff member Tisha Dunstan, third from left, with the other Bake-Off writers.
A short play by Tisha Dunstan, administrative assistant for Mount Saint Mary College’s Writing Center and First Year Experience (FYE) program, was recently chosen to appear in the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s (HVSF) Community Bake-Off event.
The Bake-Off is an annual event where Hudson Valley playwrights are given a list of “ingredients” surrounding a theme to incorporate into a 10-minute play. The ingredients this year were: a dare, a map, a vow, an unwanted heirloom, an unopened letter, a child, a rotten apple, a messenger bird, an act of forgiveness, and a dream. Writers needed to use at least three of these elements.
Five to seven plays are then selected from the submissions to be performed by the HVSF company of actors.
In Dunstan’s play, The Privacy Mat, an irate receptionist at an urgent care clinic tries to keep order by having patients abide by the rules of the privacy mat. The play, Dunstan said, reminds us that we never really know of the burdens that others carry.
“Seeing how an actor takes your words and transforms them based on their own interpretations and then seeing the audience's reaction is truly a moving and rewarding experience,” said Dunstan.
This is not the first time on of Dunstan’s works has made it into the Bake-Off: another of her 10-minute works was honored at last year’s event as well.