After taking submissions for the better part of a year, Olympic Theatre Arts Center representatives have selected six short plays by local authors and is producing the community theatre’s first ever New Works Showcase.
A team of both established and new directors to OTA are working with a cast of local actors, also ranging from veterans to beginners, to bring the stories to the stage for the first time.
The works include:
• “Goodbye Cruel World” by Susan Noyes and directed by Kyle LeMaire
Two woman make a suicide pact, but fate intervenes.
• “Dance Your Dance” by John Painter, directed by Christy Holy
A poignant comedy about five souls whose conversations in death reveal their perseverance in life.
• “City of Sequim: Heart of Darkness & Lavender Capital of the World” by Gabriel Mills and Sarah Brabant, directed by Marissa Meek
A satirical romp through our beloved town that dips its toes in both absurdism and the avant-garde.
• “Joie de Vivre” by Suzanne Bailie, directed by Christy Holy
A dark comedy that explores how far humans will go to keep their zest for life in a future where they can live forever.
• “I Dance for Purple” by Aurora Lagattuta, directed by Ginny Holladay
A woman in isolation finds freedom and connection through imagination, music and dance.
• “Searching for a Heart” by the late Jim Guthrie, directed by Tia Stephens
A sweet and funny tale reminding us that our best legacies will live on in the hearts of others.
OTA’s New Works Showcase runs just one weekend: July 16-18. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 16-17, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 18.
Tickets to this debut performance are $15 for the general public, $13 for OTA members and $10 for students with school identification card. Tickets are available at the theatre box office from 1-4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, or online at OlympicTheatreArts.org.
For more information, call the theatre at 360-683-7326.
Back on stage
“This showcase is all about highlighting the written voices of our community,” said Ginny Holladay, OTA interim executive director and stage director.
“There is no rush like producing a brand new work, and there is nothing more creatively inspiring to me than music and dance. This show is stunning.”
Director Christy Holy said it has been fun for the chance to collaborate with playwrights and actors to create something from the ground up that has never been seen before.
“And it’s been great to return to live performance,” Holy said.
“It’s exciting to not only be rehearsing live theatre again, but with completely new, original material,” director Marissa Meek said.
An all-cast read-through was held earlier in June in the main auditorium. This was the first time the entire cast met to read the complete show, and it will be the last until dress rehearsal early in July.
Several authors of the selected plays were also there to hear their words read on the stage for the very first time.
“Everyone was thrilled to be there,” Suzan Noyes, author of ‘Goodbye Cruel World.”
Noyes said, “I think there was a lot of energy going and I felt really comfortable with the reading. There were a lot of very different plays which were all very well received, and that’s good. It’s always wonderful hearing your own words come to life.”
OTA is also announcing that this very first annual New Works Showcase will be dedicated to the late Jim Guthrie, long time OTA volunteer, playwright and much more.
His submitted work, “Searching for a Heart,” will close the six-play series each night.
“The late, great Jim Guthrie was making us laugh until the end and beyond,” director Tia Stephens said. “I’m so honored to be directing his final work with a cast that admired him.”
