Festival Showcases Original Works

Troupes Highlight Intense Dramas

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By Michael J. Toscano

Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, June 12, 2008; Page VA17

The 27th annual NVTA One-Act Festival, two weekends of shows beginning tomorrow night at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church, provides an opportunity to see a wider range of plays than might be available during the regular season on community theater stages.

Continuing a trend, the number of new and original works by area playwrights dominates the event, giving the writers a rare chance to showcase their work.

NVTA, formerly the Northern Virginia Theatre Alliance, uses proceeds from the festival to fund two annual scholarships, one each for performance and technical theater study.

Ten theater companies from Northern Virginia and Maryland will compete over four days on two weekends for awards to be handed out at festivities June 22. This year, there are no entries from District troupes.

Scholarship recipients also will be announced June 22. There will be a reception at 6 p.m., followed by the awards and scholarships at 7 p.m.

This year's shows include comedy and intense dramas, with most described as having a mature theme. Knowing that the festival tends to attract more serious theatergoers than their regular shows, many participating companies seem to feel more free to explore themes that might be considered daring or edgy.

Falls Church's Providence Players, for example, usually stay very close to family friendly fare during the regular season. But they open the festival with a new play from Keith Donaldson, "A Touch of Spring." The work focuses on a relationship between a married college professor and a student and its effect on her marriage.

Elsewhere on the theatrical spectrum, Arlington's Dominion Stage will present the musical "Believing Ruth." With original material by Jessie Roberts and book and lyrics by Larry Zimmerman, the musical is a look at the first part of the Book of Ruth from the Old Testament.

Beginning at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow:

· Providence Players, "A Touch of Spring." Original, by Donaldson. Drama. Mature theme.