By Christian Lange

Six new plays. Six local writers. One night only.

On Friday, September 4 at 7:00 PM, the Bobbie Olsen Theater will host the sixth annual Writers Playground, and the first in a format built from the ground up around the writers themselves.

Writers Playground began in 2020 out of necessity. With union talent and summer housing both out of reach, The Playhouse needed programming it could build entirely from the community it already had. Five years later the necessity is gone, but the program continues to grow and change, drawing submissions from produced and first-time playwrights alike.

This year the evening becomes a staged reading. Actors will perform downstage at music stands, with lighting and projections carrying the atmosphere that sets and blocking used to. "We want to focus on the words rather than the value of the production," says Michael Baldwin, Education and Community Director and one of the Festival Supervisors of this year's event. For the first time, every performer will be body mic'd.

The change is practical as much as artistic. A fully staged production asks a local actor for weeks of rehearsals and a memorized script. A staged reading asks for a rehearsal, a night's sleep, another rehearsal, and a performance. "A 48-hour max commitment," as Michael puts it, which opens the evening to performers who love new work but cannot give weeks to it. It also allows a single director to shape all six plays into one coherent evening rather than six separate ones. This year, Artistic Director Carl Andress will direct.

The most significant addition is for the audience. After each play, there will be a five-minute talk back, a first for the program. "We feel like this will really serve the playwrights," Michael says. In an evening named for writers, it puts the work into immediate conversation with the people who just heard it.

The six plays were chosen by a committee of seasonal staff and board members after months of submissions and reading. This year's selections are:

· Best Wine with Lemon Muffins by Charlene A. Donaghy of Torrington, CT

· Dating In the Workplace and Other Acts of Courage by Liam Castellan of Pittsfield, MA

· Loud Mary by Mary Forsell of Wappingers Falls, NY

· Love Underground by Daniel Janoff of Amenia, NY

· Priscilla, Priscilla by Hank Kimmel of Lakeville, CT

· Salt by Merideth Maddox of Ossining, NY

The playwrights are now developing their pieces with dramaturg Mallory Weiss. The ensemble cast of six local actors includes Darcy Boyton, Dana Domenick, Joseph McGrann, Marinell Madden-Crippen, Reid Sinclair, and Michael Baldwin.

Asked what he hopes audiences take from the night, Michael repeats one word: "An incredible one night only event that celebrates local playwrights, that features local actors, and that highlights and lifts up and celebrates local voices."

Writers Playground is produced by The Branches - Bill Suter's Legacy, National Iron Bank, and Oblong Books and associate produced by Michael and Carol Lynch.

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