Gail Thacker, Artistic Director of Gene Frankel Theatre & 24 Bond Arts Center.
Thacker, espousing her “life as art philosophy,” continues building a body of work about her experiences & people within the artistic community in Polaroid & Theatre.
About the Play
Coni’s play follows an actor’s inner journey, where language and reality begin to bend in surprising ways. On his way to an audition, Chauncey is diverted by a psychiatrist and institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital. From there we follow him as he struggles to find his way back to that audition and to the life he imagines for himself. Influenced by the work and writings of Maria Olon, the play echoes the familiar Faust story, though Chauncey has little time to bargain away his soul. Instead, this surreal piece moves quickly through a philosophical search for purpose and identity.
Trying to describe the play is itself part of what our festival, 15MOF, is about: a human bond, a one-on-one interaction. The questioning of life and the search for what it means to be human become the art. Coni, like the other playwrights who submit to our festival, is seeking a place where work can take shape. Each year we try to form a new community around that process — plays that bring people together, artists meeting one another through the simple act of creating. There are no fees and no barriers. Everyone stands a chance. It is free, so stop worrying and make art.
In the end, the choice belongs to the audience. They vote for the winner. It becomes a collective effort — a room full of people in a small theatre, all searching together for the play that shines. The Unusual Chauncey Faust!
Playwright, Coni Koepfinger
Recently dubbed a "Person of Letters" by National League of American Pen Women, Coni Koepfinger is the winner of the 2021 Olwen Wymark Awardgiven by the Writers Guild of Great Britain. She has been a member of TYA, NAMT, Lifeboat Foundation, Dramatists Guild, a board member of the International Center Women Playwrights and a chair for the League Professional Theatre Women. Seen at Manhattan Rep; Cosmic Orchid; Pan Asian Rep; Harlem ME TOO project; Untold Stories of Jewish Women; The Producer’s Circle at the Players Club; PLAYBILL’S Virtual Theatre Festival 2020;American Theatre of Actors; Open Eye Theatre; Phoenicia Playhouse and Theater for the New City, Coni's work has great mass appeal. Here plays and commissions have been read and seen all over the globe, most recently in the Phillipines. Published plays can be found at Leicester Bay Theatricals and Next Stage Press.
Director , Aviva Katz
Aviva Katz is a director, arts administrator, and theatre educator specializing in new work and theatre for social change. She recently directed new plays Madylon at the New York Theater Festival and Generational at the Queens Short Play Festival, collaborating with playwrights throughout the development process. An Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, her work centers innovative storytelling that engages complex ideas with nuance, invites empathy and connection, and sparks meaningful thought and conversation. avivaruthkatz@gmail.com @a.vi.varuth
Cast Members
Sean Ricciardi, Chauncey Faust (3/18-3/26)
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Chauncey Faust (3/27-3/29)
Kenny Harmon has appeared with various companies and venues around the city including BAM, Joe’s Pub, the Blue Hill Troupe, Fusion Theater, dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, Regina Opera, St. Bart’s Players, Theater 80, and Lincoln Center New Works. Most recently: The Table Read (Fifteen Minutes of Frame 2024 -2nd Place), Vanya! A Musical (NY Theater Festival), MEDEA (Fusion Theatre), A New Brain (St. Bart’s Players), and The Visit (Columbia University).
Dr. Stanley Morgan
Will Lippman is thrilled to revisit this story in its full glory, after being a part of the original one-act play (winner of the 15 Minutes of Frame Theatre Festival). Recent credits include a drunken Macbeth in Drunk Macbeth (Kulturkanonen), Romeo & Juliet & A Man Called Paris (Kulturkanonen), as well as readings of grease my chin (Tier5) and Missy (Ghost Light). Will holds a BFA in acting from Central Washington University, with additional training in New York from Larry Singer Studios and Anthony Meindl Actors Workshop.
Ms. Candice Appleby
Emerick King (they/them) is a Non-Binary performer based in NYC. When they’re not tapping or working on the latest Defying Gravity riff, Emerick likes to read the Twilight Saga and study Paleontology.
Recent roles include Dr.Catastrophe in The Superhero Show (Dakota Players/Blackhills Playhouse) and Raptor Trainer at Jurassic Quest!
Dr. Maria Olon
Hilal Koyuncu is a New York–based actor originally from Turkey. She trained in method acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York. She works across film, television, and stage while developing projects that bridge performance and emerging media.
Kendra MacDevitt, Avery Mello
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Crew Members
Production Stage Manager
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Scenic Designer
Joelle Gonzalez is a Brooklyn-based scenic and props designer working in live performance. Raised in Miami with a background in theatre and dramaturgy, she brings a practical, material-focused approach to building stages and properties. Her work spans plays, devised pieces, installations, and events, and she currently freelances in New York City as a designer and writer.
Sound Designer
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Composer
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About the Real, Maria Olon
Maria Olon Tsaroucha is an Actor, Director, Writer, and Founder of Perceptual Acting and Directing (PAD) theory and method. She is Greek by origin, living in Astoria, New York. She is a free minded woman, a Researcher and Futurist and author of Supraconscious:
When I read Coni Koepfinger’s The Unusual Chauncey Faust, I felt immediate recognition. Beneath its wit lies a question of our era: who authors the dream we inhabit? Chauncey longs for elevation and is offered a shortcut—transcendence without awakening. The potion is symbolic: the temptation to outsource identity. Koepfinger reveals how fragile ambition becomes when rooted in validation rather than awareness. This is where the Supraconscious breakthrough matters—the inner witness that chooses identity consciously. In an age of engineered realities and curated personas, Chauncey’s dilemma is archetypal. The play doesn’t ask if the dream is real. It asks whether we are awake inside it.
Window Show: Adelle Yingxi Lin
Adelle Yingxi Lin is a Malaysian artist and Technologist whose work bridges performance, language, and emerging technologies. Through installations, rituals, and participatory systems, she explores how cultural memory, environment, and technology shape collective experience and meaning. Lin is a member of NEW INC and Onassis ONX and has presented work at SIGGRAPH, the New Museum, and the ChangWon Sculpture Biennale.
A Special Thanks To:
Gene Frankel Theater
Thomas R. Gordon
Jorge Clar
Material for the Arts
Theater for the New City
The Dramatist Guild
Rebecca Frank
Gene
15 Minutes of Frame 2026
August 20th-23rd
A Celebration of New Voices: 4th Annual 15-Minute Play Competition Returns this August 2026
This August marks the 4th annual 15-Minute Play Competition — an inspiring celebration of emerging playwrights and the vibrant theatre community that supports them.
Each summer, playwrights are invited to submit original 15-minute plays for consideration in this exciting and intimate competition. Ten outstanding works are selected to compete, submissions are completely free — removing barriers and opening doors for artists who may not otherwise have access to professional development and production.
The winning play, selected by audience vote, receives development and production, culminating in a presentation at the iconic Gene Frankel Theatre. Beyond the thrill of the competition, the festival serves a deeper purpose: giving artists a platform to have their work seen, staged, and experienced live — often leading to new collaborations, representation, production opportunities, and casting connections. At its heart, this competition is about community.
In a time when so much connection happens online, the festival brings artists back into a shared physical space — fostering organic conversations, spontaneous collaboration, and the irreplaceable joy of live theatre. It’s about less time scrolling and more time laughing, creating, and building something meaningful together.
15 Minutes of Frame remains intentionally small and intimate, cultivating a supportive environment where artists feel seen and audiences feel connected to the creative process. (While another larger festival that take place in August under new ownership of the space formerly connected to Gail Thacker, this competition remains a distinct and independent event with its own mission and structure.)
More than a contest, the 15-Minute Play Competition is a launching pad — a place where new voices are nurtured, bold ideas are celebrated, and theatre artists find real opportunities to advance their careers.
Gail Thacker