The world premiere of six short plays all in one night at one venue in front of the same audience.

That's what took place on Wednesday night at eight o'clock at Daylesford Theatre for the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society's Famous for 15 Minutes night.

There was nervous tension in the room as playwrights, directors and actors all wondered if it would come off smoothly. The playwrights might have been the most unsettled of the lot as the attention was focused most on them.

Afterall they were the only ones competing for the second ever Golden Inkwell.

I'm not the judge who decides that winner but in my opinion there are really only two contenders out of the six - Julia Pitt's "Chewing the Fat" and Deborah Pharoah's "What's In a Name". "Chewing the Fat" is actually the better script and well deserving of the award but the truly moving acting thanks to great direction by Andra Simons, makes the best of "What's in a Name".

Four women in a health spa trying to loose weight, is the scene for "Chewing the Fat". The comedic story reveals interesting depth as the audience learns each woman's reason for wanting to shed the pounds. Best of all, the ending seems so natural. But it's the ending that lets down the writing in "What's In a Name".

The story about sibling rivalry between two grown sisters becomes emotionally charged as one discovers all is not well with her pregnancy.

On the evening she decides to break the news to her mother, her sister comes over to boast about an essay her young son has written. Tempers flare as feelings are aired in truly moving performances by actresses Ashley Rockwood and Rebecca Payne. But those tempers have not yet cooled when you're plopped into the next scene with a clich? ending.

There was a strong performance by Robbie Godfrey as Jason in "Convergence" by last year's winner Margaret Hammond.

But the play was too preachy in its message of how the homeless are shunned and how those who think they are doing good may not be doing enough. If other awards were being given out, I'd give the best actor designation to Angus Brown who played Jock in John Gardener's "Old Jock". But while this piece set in a vintage motorcycle and parts shop held my attention throughout - I have no idea what it was about.

Perhaps it was based on a well-known legend that I've never heard of. I felt cheated at the end of it. Can't get the Golden Inkwell "The Spider's Web" by Carol Birch was completely uninteresting apart from the performance of Evelynn Macgregor as Flora. Better directing may have helped Barbara Nicholls' acting, but as delivered it was a yawn.

Awful on every count was "Stella and Her Steelheaded Men". The directing: Very bad; the acting: Very bad - and the script is a short story and not a play at all. My heart sank for actress Shella Udoh who truly needed better direction to pull off this script.

She certainly needed to make much better use of the space on the stage. She needed to be interacting and holding her conversation with the other actress - Denise Astwood, instead of talking directly to the audience and making us feel badly for her.

Famous For 15 Minutes runs until Friday March 14 and is sold out. Some seats are still available for the matinee performance at 4 p.m. on Saturday.