Community Theatre’s One Act Play Festival is March 17-18, 24-25

Las Cruces Community Theatre’s (LCCT) One Act Play festival has six performances, which are free and open to the public.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 17-18 and 25-26 and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 19 and 26, at LCCT, 313 N. Main St. downtown.

No tickets or reservations are required to attend any of the performances, and seating is open.

The festival’s six plays were written by local playwrights and feature Las Cruces actors, directors and crew members.

“This is an excellent way for actors and directors to gain experience for longer productions,” said festival coordinator Gail Wheeler, who is also directing one of the festival’s plays and starring in another one.

Wheeler said some of the plays “may not be suitable for children, and there is some adult language.”

The plays in this year’s festival are

• “Don and Ana’s Green Chile Roast,” written and directed by Jessica Cunningham. The cast is comprised of Aryanna Llanez, Kelly Speckhart, Cassandra Galban, Riley Donoghue, John Hulette and Gale Madson;
• “Rosemary; Hidden Thorns,” written and directed by Joseluis Solorzano; cast: Gina DeMondo and Xanthe Phillips;
• “Birthday Party,” written and directed by Katherine Martinez; cast: Cassandra Galban and Christian Nieves;
• “A Safety Pin Romance,” written and directed by Robin Korody; cast: Aryanna Llanez and Yvette Ruiz;
• “Bring a Shovel,” written by Peter Davis, directed by Gail Wheeler; cast: Nathan Harper and Christian Nieves;
• “David Lee,” written by Roxana Gillett, directed by Katherine Martinez; cast: Cassandra Galban, John Hulette and Gail Wheeler.

“This is Roxana’s third time in our festival, but all other playwrights are new to LCCT this year,” Wheeler said. “While it has been a competition in the past, this year we are just celebrating being able to present the festival again after a two-year absence.”

“Lennie Brown, Vanessa Dabovich and I have worked as a team to put this together,” Wheeler said, “collecting/building props and sets, bouncing ideas off one another and generally working almost as one person. Groups are sharing actors, so we have juggled space and schedules. It's quite a commitment to bring small, interesting stories to the stage. We want to bring in new people and faces each year both on and off the stage,” she said.

Visit www.lcctnm.org and www.facebook.com/lcctnm.