09/16/2005: "Islands Playwrights Festival"

Although it isn't by design, this years Islands Playwrights Festival is something of a showcase of women writers. The Festival plays September 16, 17, 23, and 24 at San Juan Community Theatre. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m.

"We have presented the works of more than forty local playwrights over the years," Festival Coordinator Lynne Mercer said, "and the gender balance has been 50/50. Some years the plays chosen all have been by men. This just happens to be a year when the works selected mostly were by women."

Selected for production in the Whittier Theatre this year are: Duet for Two Voices in A-Kimbo by Kenneth Jenks (Lopez), wherein a man and woman revisit their former relationship in an accidental meeting; All Right! by Wendy E. Shepard (San Juan), where four characters explore truth and illusion in a comedic play-within-a-play; The Labyrinth by Jillian Hopkins (San Juan), where a man and woman hesitantly face their fears of relationship after coming together over a job; Ernest Biddle's Dead by Kathleen Kaska (San Juan) is a comedy about how a grown daughter copes with her eccentric and aged parents; the monologue Fly Above All by Glenda Edwards (San Juan) introduces a daredevil sister who paraglides into her happiness; a middle-aged woman encounters the need for glasses in the monologue See-Saw by Susea McGearhart (San Juan); and a woman has extraordinary car trouble in Dawn Nivinsky's monologue (San Juan) I've Always Had Trouble with Cars.

The Festival is sponsored by Key Bank. Be advised that some material contains adult language and situations. Tickets are $14 for Adults, $8 for Student Reserved. $5 Student RUSH is available one hour before any performance. A private donor has made provision for free tickets to anyone needing financial assistance to attend a Theatre event. The SJCT Box Office is open Tuesday-Friday, 11-4, Saturdays 11-2, and one hour before any performance. Call 360-378-3210, or go to www.SanJuanCommunityTheatre.org.