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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#123: Showtime

It’s no secret that the colder months are the best time to grab tickets to see a show; it’s a festive tradition, and many of our favorite plays actually made their debuts during this time. (Fun fact! It was on this day 74 years ago that Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire was performed on Broadway for the first time.)

From the roar of the audience to the dazzling lights, there’s nothing quite like it. It’s that theater spirit, and a simple love of drama, that inspired us to create this week’s prompts. So let’s celebrate all things theatrical both on-stage and off, with stories that’ll get your audience crying, laughing, and (hopefully) giving a standing ovation.

This week's prompts

Start your story looking down from a stage.

Thriller and Suspense – 56 stories

Write about a character who always wears a mask (physical or metaphorical).

Angst – 48 stories

Begin or end your story with “Well, that was dramatic.”

Christmas – 40 stories

Write a story about a character practising a speech in front of the mirror. What are they preparing for?

Middle School – 38 stories

Set your story backstage at the theater.

Halloween – 30 stories

Stories

“Execution Day Jitters” by Thomas Giorgione

Submitted to Contest #123

TW*** Language and Violence On the evening before the execution, I drank eight cups of coffee, paced the house for a total of eighteen-hundred steps, tried on three press conference outfits, bought new makeup on Amazon, ate two tubs of double fudge, rearranged the living room furniture, and re-watched my recommendation for execution. The murder case was straight forward and easy to prosecute. Yes, I was confident—more confident than I had been on my other capital cases—of the defendant’s guilt. Hell at sentencing, I pushed Judge Marvis for ...

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“Doctor Frickle’s Mysterious Cabinet of Transmogrify” by Connie Elstun

Submitted to Contest #123

Gentlemen, I observed my audience looking positively frabjous in their waiting that night; yes, I took a little peek from the red velvets right before showtime. Curiosity killed the cat, and my magic proficiency cannot hold a candle to Carroll's 71’-word invention of frabjous. What a wordsmith as his reading audience fell for his poppycock hook line and sinker; the same will be valid for me, the magician. I pulled my red velveteen curtain open and hooked it to the left. I began my well-rehearsed opening pat...

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“Before the Play” by Ramona Scarborough

Submitted to Contest #123

Before the Play We’ve been rehearsing My Fair Lady for three months, four days a week, memorizing our lines and songs, practicing blocking and dance moves. The troupe gathered on a weekend to help paint the set the stage manager had constructed. Our costumes have been fitted and hung on a rack in our respective dressing rooms. Today, we will see if all this preparation turns into a successful production. Arriving at the theater, the excitement zings through the cavernous building, actors speaking loudly and laughing, a combination of ex...

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“That’s Snow Business!” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #123

Hey folks! And we’re back on The Run and straight into zone 2, the Snow Zone! After surviving skydiving against fireballs and plane explosions, the remaining contestants need to keep moving to stay warm and alive in this treacherous ice zone full of nasty surprises. I’m hearing the first contestant has just landed so let’s get back to the action! Johnny Landing on zone 2 first gave Johnny an immediate advantage. He ran over to the first vehicle he could find, a luge which was a glorified silver tea tray with handles either side. Grabbing the...

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“Off Book” by Amanda Van Regenmorter

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #123

Pacing the empty street, she muttered to herself under the dim glow of a streetlamp. She looked sleek in her red dress and matching elbow-length gloves, her hair piled high in elegant curls, given any more than a cursory glance she was clearly little more than a girl. The dress had been cinched in the back, but the neckline was bunched and ill-fitting. Crimson-stained lips and slashes of dark blush only marred her pale, youthful skin and highlighted the panic in her eyes. &nb...

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“Party Clown” by Ivan Cardoso

Submitted to Contest #123

It had been about an hour since the last guest arrived when the bell rang. The party had been very pleasant up to that point, even though Aunt Bea and Uncle Guy were in the same room. Jenna had been especially nervous about the two meeting up, ever since she drove Aunt Bea home last Christmas and heard her drunkenly whisper to herself that if she ever saw him again, she would shoot him right then and there. It could’ve been seen as an empty threat had we not witnessed when she pulled the steak knife on him after Matheo’s christening, three y...

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“In The Spotlight” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #123

As we take our final bows, I look down from the stage at the theatre filled with people. All of them were standing and applauding. I thought back to what brought me to this moment. Nine months earlier: My name is Jacob, a carpenter by trade. The workload has been sparse these last few weeks. A few repairs here and there, and if I were lucky, a kitchen remodel would come up. Currently, I am in between jobs, s...

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“Mirrors and Misfits” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #123

All mirrors are created equal; their finish and frame decide their place. Just like all humans are created equal; their family and fortune decide their place.This is not the time to be having such thoughts. C’mon…“… and have a five hundred a year each of us and rooms of our own; if we have the habit of freedom and courage to … courage to…” Again!? Tara stared at her reflection in disbelief. She shook her head violently and threw the paper roll mike on the mirror. There was no way she was going to impress her English Literary Club member...

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“Greek Philosophers Help Launch New Venture” by Bruce Friedman

Submitted to Contest #123

A discussion at a dinner table ten years ago with my then girlfriend Charlotte and her father Jack changed my life. My ability to think on my feet was being tested that night. Luckily, I had ample support from the Greek philosophers in this contest and passed with flying colors. You need to know that I was an assistant professor of ancient philosophy at that time and teaching a course on this topic for undergraduates. I had met Charlotte when she signed up for my course during her senior year, perhaps on a whim. She seated herself in the fro...

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“Well, that was dramatic” by Wendy Bailey

Submitted to Contest #123

Well, that was dramatic!!! It all started a few years ago. One rainy bleak night I was waiting for some guests to arrive from Melbourne. They kept getting lost. I was getting anxious, so I went onto facebook to distract myself while I waited. I saw quite a funny but misogynistic joke and left some sharp comment. Immediately, some man answered. He answered quite kindly but I was irritated remember so I replied sharply. He was still quite kind in his reply. So, I calmed down and started to chat to him. We found we were quite compatible...

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“Opening Night” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #123

Shelby Rappaport stood at center stage awaiting the curtain’s rise. He could hear the audience anticipation. What a delicious moment.He loved opening night. They gathered to see him. Yes, they came for a performance. His performance. No one came for the play, when he starred.A delectable variety of women would be on display on the curtain’s rise. Most, of course, would be escorted by husbands, or other men. But the women came for him. The men were place holders. He wagered with himself. How many women stared in adoration? And how many could ...

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“Stage Door” by Sharon Harris

Submitted to Contest #123

I like to watch from the wings as you settle into the stalls, your faces upturned and expectant, your hands fiddling with your programmes and your numbered seats. There are no opera glasses for you, not here, not this close. I can see your ties, scarves, bracelets - trinkets of the real world - until the house lights dim and the leaping of the trumpets begin, and those trinkets disappear into the gentle darkness.I’m not on stage until scene two, but I’m dressed, waiting for the knock on my dressing room door. I put my mask on – carefully, so...

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“Elements of a History Teacher” by Liz Hayes

Submitted to Contest #123

The wizened old woman had to sit in the front of the classroom nowadays, her bones were too sore to stand for the full day any longer. But she still loved teaching and would gladly do this for years to come, just to see the spark come into another student’s eye as they learned about Alexander the Great or Hannibal and his elephants. She patted her silver white hair, making sure every strand was secure in her bun, while her high school students strolled in, laughing and talking among themselves. They regarded her as a kind old eccentric, and ...

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“Getting the Line Just Right” by Deborah Elliott

Submitted to Contest #123

Getting the Line Just RightDeborah ElliottThe rain was coming down and the wind was blowing fierce enough to bend the trees that shaded the front of the house. It was the kind of day that kept everyone inside. Melinda didn’t care because she wanted to work on her line anyway. She always rehearsed upstairs in the attic because no one ever bothered her there. After a lunch of chicken noodle soup and crackers, she climbed the creaking wooden steps that led to the attic. (Everything creaked in the family farmhouse.) She walke...

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“Shattered Glass” by Coltrane Rogers

Submitted to Contest #123

“Dalton, he’s got you by your fuckin’ balls and he ain’t loosenin’ up!”It was an ugly reflection – no, just an ugly mirror.Yeah, you tell yourself that, you ugly sonofabitch.He changed his stance to something more powerful, something that said, look at me now and weep for my forgiveness.Then he tried something a little more forthcoming - something inviting, like a gingerbread house where you just want to tuck in and eat up, but there were more than just sweets and candy in this house.Yeah, behind those doors – behind that hard crust – there’...

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$250

Prize money

212

Contest entries

133

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 10, 2021 EST

Won by Patrick Samuel 🏆

Title: Southern Comfort and the Kindness of Strangers

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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