Future present tense
12th Annual
The Plays
The Writers
This year, we present Montana Short Cuts, a set of ten-minute plays, Open Range, a set of one-act plays and Solo Act, for individual performers.
Montana Short Cuts
Ten-minute plays on the theme "Life Goes On."
Excaliber by Ross Peter Nelson
Missing Ivy by Rebecca Ryland
Post-op by Benji Cosgrove
Some Far Shore by Steve Palmer
The Things We Keep by Perrie Frydenlund
Universal Donor by Leigh Ann Ruggerio & Brent McCafferty
Open Range
One-act plays not tied to the theme.
Self-Inflicted by Lily Hoelscher
The Big Oh by Barry Stambaugh
Zoloft Tango by Ross Peter Nelson
Solo Act
Short plays for a single actor.
<Selections go here>
Benji Cosgrove <bio here>
Perrie Frydenlund <bio here>.
Lily Hoelscher is a recent Carroll College grad with degrees in Theatre and Spanish. Originally from Oregon, she acted in community theatre productions for several years before coming to Helena, where she continues to be active both onstage and behind the scenes. An aspiring writer and musician, she recently collaborated with a classmate and faculty advisor to create an interactive murder mystery.
.jpg)
Brent McCafferty lives in Billings, Montana, with their partner, Leigh Ann; their rubber plant, Jack; and their paradoxical unworthiness of and need for human affection. They will spend their next life as a Norwegian forest cat.
Ross Peter Nelson has a creative writing MFA from the University of New Orleans and his work has appeared on three continents and won awards in Washington, Nevada, and Louisiana. In addition to his dramatic work, he has published two computer books and short fiction. He is an associate producer of the Last Chance New Play Fest and president of Raven's Feather Productions.
Steven Palmer Steve Palmer is an artist, performer, playwright and a 4th generation resident of Helena. His first play, performed before a paying audience, was in the Seattle area in 1979. As an actor he's toured with Shakespeare in the Parks and also worked briefly as actor/director/playwright with the Vigilante Players. As one of the organizers for Helena's, Last Chance New Play Fest, Palmer has written and performed a number of one-man shows including, BOXED, which was also performed at the United Solo Festival in New York City in 2017.
Leigh Ann Ruggiero is a novelist, playwright, and Assistant Professor of English at MSU-Billings. Her debut novel, Unfollowers, won the Juniper Prize for Fiction in 2021 and went on to win the National Indie Excellence Award for Multicultural Fiction and the Foreword INDIES Silver Award for Literary Fiction. Leigh Ann's most recent work onstage includes the roles of Serena in Legally Blonde: The Musical and Frederick in Pirates of Penzance; they also directed The Magic Flute, adapting it for a punk aesthetic at the University of Providence.
Rebecca Ryland holds an MFA in Acting/Directing and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. She has performed in Equity theatre and directed professionally for the past 30 years. Her plays have been produced off-Broadway, at colleges & universities and at community theatres across the U.S. and Canada. She is the owner of Heartland Plays, Inc. and the founder of ETC.
Barry Stambaugh moved to Helena in 2014 from Austin, Texas with his partner Vicki, who’s from Butte. Barry has acted in several Grandstreet plays, and in the Fest, including Ross Peter Nelson’s Colter’s Hell. Big thanks and hugs to Vicki.