2015 playwrights festival opens

Eight finalists vie for TCT's coveted Playwrights Festival Quill awards.

"I have been the producer for the Tehachapi Community Theatre's Playwright's Festival for six years now," says Kenny Chugg. "Every year has been a challenge to create the best possible festival, and this is not a one person effort. In October 2014 the announcement and call for submissions was sent out, once received they were logged and sent to a panel of judges who read the plays without knowledge of the authorship or where the authors reside. The judges scored the plays and the scores were entered and tallied with the eight highest scores becoming the featured finalists. I couldn't have accomplished everything that needed to be finished without the help of my assistant producer, Emily Stults-Estrella. Thank you, Emily!"

This year Tehachapi Community Theatre has eight fantastic plays to present from new playwrights and previous winners. Everyone is working very hard to polish this year's festival selections and all are eager to offer you "Another Way" by Deborah Hand-Cutler, directed by Gary Mazzola; "Cherry" by C. Gregory Thompson, directed by Nick Altieri; "Pro-Choice" by Nick Mata, directed by Persephone Devereaux; "Eleanor's Yearning" by T. Y. Joe, directed by Kenny Chugg; "Happy New Year" by Gerry Michael Kluger, directed by Emily Stults-Estrella; "Silver Linings" by Felix Racelis, directed by Kendric Bertram; "In The Bag" by Doris Sadler Davis, directed by Greg Hahn; and "Blueberry Muffins" by Deanna Alisa Ableser, directed by Ali Whitlach.

The festival will have a two-week run, with the first showing on Friday, June 19.

During each evening performance, all audience members will be issued an official festival ballot along with their program and asked to vote for their top three favorite plays. These will be tallied and the winners announced after the final matinee performance Sunday, June 28.

The final Sunday, June 28, is an event filled day of celebration beginning with a Playwrights Brunch for the finalists, with the TCT Board of Directors, where all finalists will receive a TCT Festival medallion with their name and the name of their play. The final performance matinee is at 2 p.m. with the awards ceremony immediately following, where $100 Gold Quill, $75 Silver Quill and $50 Bronze Quill monetary awards and accompanying trophies will be presented. Immediately following the awards ceremony, the party will be moved across the street to Tehachapi Depot for a reception and "meet the playwrights" event which is open to the public.

All seats are $10 for this event, some plays may contain adult themes. Performances will be June 19, 20, 26, 27 at 7:30pm, doors open at 7 p.m., with one Sunday matinee on June 28 at 2 p.m., doors open at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at http://www.TCTonstage.com, at TCT ticket outlets, and at the BeeKay box office 30 minutes prior to the performance.