The Riant Theatre of Manhattan presented a pair of Monmouth County natives with two awards at its 28th Strawberry One-Act Festival.
Manalapan resident Anthony Marinelli won Best Video Diary for his play “Another Famous Dead Artist” and Colts Neck native Domenic Servidio won Best Play with his play “Casper The Not So Friendly Ghost”. The awards were presented on Aug. 24 at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space in New York.
The festival had 30 short plays competing for Best Play and 10 videos competing for Best Video Diary, which is a category in which playwrights make a documentary, trailer or behind-the-scenes video about their play. Each play was performed at the Tato Laviera Theatre and the Poet’s Den Theatre, where they ran from Aug. 5-23.
“It was a very strong season of plays,” said Van Dirk Fisher, founder and director of Riant Theatre and the Strawberry One- Act Festival, which is more than 20 years old. “Everyone seemed impressed with the work and were captivated by the strong writing, directing and acting in the festival.”
According to Fisher, for winning the award for Best Play, Servidio received $1,500 and a development deal with the Riant Theatre for his play “Casper The Not So Friendly Ghost.” During the competition, audience members were able to vote until the finals were determined. Industry professionals, including casting directors and agents, judged the finals.
Marinelli is originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved to Manalapan with his wife 15 years ago. The couple has three children. He went to the Center for the Media Arts for television production, and the School of Visual Arts and the New School for film production.
Marinelli said he felt at home being able to make a documentary about his play.
“My background is more as a filmmaker and it was great because I was able to write and direct that video, Marinelli said. “It was wonderful because it was living in the best of both worlds. I could talk about my play and other works that I’ve done in the past in the video.”
“I felt confident that the video of ‘Another Famous Dead Artist’ felt professional, the production values were solid and the on camera subjects would come on as engaging. It had the elements of a winning piece, but I don’t like saying that I know I’m going to win. I’m just proud of the way it turned out,” Marinelli said.
Another of Marinelli’s short films, “Walt Whitman Never Paid For It,” based on a play by Angelo Berkowitz, won the Audience Choice Award at the Richmond International Film Festival in 2014. His other short films include “Joey’s Gonna Kill Me,” “Lunch Time” and “Subway,” which was seen on PBS television’s “Reel 13.”
Servidio is a Colts Neck native who is a senior at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, where he is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater performance. Servidio’s family moved to Florida when he was 12.
According to Servidio, he wrote the play “Casper The Not So Friendly Ghost” for a playwriting class. The assignment was to write a play about a cultural icon and put a twist on the character. He said it was the first script he ever wrote.
“I thought it would be funny if instead of Casper being a nice ghost he was a complete and total jerk,” Servidio said. “I am also very inspired by farce and Jim Carrey is my idol so I tried to implement a lot of his style of comedy into my writing.”
“What made ‘Casper The Not So Friendly Ghost’ so unique was that he put a new spin on a beloved cartoon character and made him very current, relatable — a young adult, bold, brash, funny, loud and a lovable jerk,” Fisher said. “I found myself nearly falling out of my seat and laughing out loud when I first read the play. The show was truly over the top, a farce and hilarious. It was a true crowd pleaser.”
Servidio heard about the Strawberry One-Act Festival from a friend and classmate who entered the competition last year.
Servidio said he was in disbelief when he learned his play won an award.
“I was very happy and proud,” he said. “I was sad that I could not be there in person, but I was happy my mother could accept the award for me. I was very proud of the performers and everybody involved in the play for being able to move from Miami to New York to perform the play for a month.”
Servidio said he has written more plays and can see himself pursuing a master’s degree in playwriting.
“One of the main things is that the quality of work has improved,” Fisher said of the submissions. “We are getting a lot of high-quality actors and the subject matter of the plays has been current. It has been a wide range, which has been helpful in attracting the general public.”