The rules are simple: no musicals, no more than four characters, no helicopters, and no longer than 15 minutes.

The concept behind BMDS? ?Famous for Fifteen Minutes? playwriting competition seems easy enough upon first blush, but any of the five writers who have made the final cut can tell you that it?s more complicated than it sounds.

Ask anyone who?s attempting to develop interesting characters, tell a story that has a certain level of dramatic tension, create a believable shift in perspective and/or ensure proper resolution ? all in less than 15 minutes.

And what?s that bit about the helicopters?

It means that the sets and props need to be fairly basic, explains playwright Stuart Doyle. With six short plays being shown back-to-back, the focus is on the material versus extraneous bells and whistles.

This year?s battle for The Golden Inkwell Award sees the return of writers from previous competitions including last year?s winner Andra Simons with a submission titled ?White Cedars? as well as Henry Godfrey?s futuristic ?2152?.

For the first time in the competition?s four-year history, two plays have been selected by the same author ? Jean Hannant has penned both ?Happy Endings? and ?Old Sailors Never Die?.

Salil Bhalla?s provocatively-titled ?Full Frontal Male Nudity? and Stuart Doyle?s comedy ?The Brothers Four? round out the list of short plays which will be shown beginning tonight at the Daylesford Theatre.

Although obviously not much can be said about such short plays without ruining the surprises, three of the playwrights spoke with about the basic concepts for their scripts.

Mr. Godfrey?s ?2152? is about an ordinary couple 150 years into the future. The heart of the plot rests on the considerable changes which have occurred in those intervening years.

?Producing children is not done in the traditional way,? he explained. ?People are not allowed to touch each other.?

Another comedy, Mr. Doyle?s ?The Brothers Four? is about four men meeting for the first time. However, the meeting occurs in the most unlikely of places ? in a doctor?s office as they await vasectomies.

Mr. Doyle said he wrote the nucleus of the play in just a single day, but the 15-minute limitation was one of his major obstacles.

?My challenge was to trim it down, so ? no pun intended ? I had to lop off parts,? he chuckled.

He said he wrote the play specifically for a female audience, and warned that some aspects were quite sexist. However, Mr. Doyle assured that the different perspectives of these four men become challenged by ?a steep learning curve.?

The double feature by Miss Hannant occurred because she entered two, thinking that she would improve her odds by doing so. ?When they picked both, I couldn?t believe it,? she added.

The first, entitled ?Happy Endings? takes place in heaven. One character, played by Nicola Wilkinson, is an angel and the other, played by Evelyn MacGregor, is someone who has recently arrived at the Pearly Gates.

?The second play, ?Old Sailors Never Die,? is about friendship and how the most unlikely of people can become friends,? said Miss Hannant.

She said her greatest challenge was developing real characters within the 15-minute time limit. Miss Hannant said she does this by ?giving them a past, which they talk about, so the audience will know where they?re coming from and what they might do next.?

All three of the playwrights agreed that it is easier for them to create plays with a real person in mind - either as a basis for the character or as an actor for the part.

In addition to providing budding playwrights with a forum to experiment and develop their craft, ?Famous For 15 Minutes? also allows burgeoning actors and first-time directors to try their hand at the stage.

?Full Frontal Male Nudity,? for example, is being directed by Carol Birch and the cast features James Cooke, Andre Labonte, Liz Knight, and Donna Nicholson.

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?Famous For 15 Minutes? will show at BMDS from tonight until Saturday. Tickets are $20 and are available at the BMDS Box Office between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. or online at www.bmds.bm