Festival of new plays to be read at Forum

Gallimaufry Performing Arts, in association with the Orange County Playwrights’ Alliance, will present the Laguna Beach New Play Festival onstage over the Halloween weekend at the Forum Theatre on the Festival of Arts grounds, 650 Laguna Canyon Road.

Eight plays have been selected to be performed as staged readings Saturday and Sunday. Centered on Halloween, Gallimaufry conducted a competition in conjunction with the Orange County Playwrights’ Alliance to find full-length and one-act plays from its members that gave a nod to the macabre.

The eight plays chosen “” four one-acts and four full-length “” all have “off-balance” or “dark” themes that celebrate the spirit of the holiday.

“Producing a New Play Festival has been a dream of mine since the inception of Gallimaufry,” said Executive Artistic Director Steve Josephson.

“Being involved in the evolution of new voices in the theater has long been my passion. I believe Laguna’s place in the arts is to create more than simply produce.”

In the past year Gallimaufry has expanded with the addition of five associate artistic directors, he added.

“The playwrights involved in this festival are award-winning playwrights and authors who have had their work produced in New York and Los Angeles, as well as elsewhere in the country.”

A single $15 ticket will allow the audience members to come to any or all of the staged readings. A schedule is at www.gallimaufry.info.

Orange County Playwrights’ Alliance (OCPA) began in 1995 by members of South Coast Repertory’s Advanced Playwriting Workshop and has become the fundamental group for playwrights in Orange County.

Making this festival possible is Kym Sawtelle-Castuera, who has taken on the duties as associate artistic director of new works.

The plays that have been chosen are:

?”Kvetcher in the Wry,” by Jordan R. Young. Young has been published in the New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times; he is the author of “Acting Solo,” “The Beckett Actor” and “Spike Lee Off The Record;” noon Saturday.

?”Sonya & Leo,” by Arthur Kraft, a published playwright, whose plays have been performed in Los Angeles and New York; 2 p.m. Saturday.

?”The Family That Eats Together,” by Jerry Berning, whose plays have had readings at venues in Southern California including First Stage in Hollywood; 2:45 p.m. Saturday.

?”God’s Waiting Room,” by Joni Ravenna Sussman and Eric Donald; Sussman writes for Earth Trek on PBS and Hello Paradise for KVCR-TV, her plays have received nominations and awards from OC Weekly, Palm Springs Writers Guild and Playwrights Circle National Playwriting Competition; 4:20 p.m. Saturday.

?”House of Ravens,” by Sue Parman; writer, professor; author of “Scottish Crofters,” productions and staged readings in venues in Southern California such as South Coast Repertory; 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

?”Coyote Rising,” by Tira Pamlquist: writer, director, teacher; finalist in the 2007 John Gassner New Play Festival and the Coe College Playwriting Festival; works have been featured in the Theatricum Botanicum Seedlings Series; 2 p.m. Sunday.

?”Mad Leo,” by Frank Farmer; an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced in several theatrical venues in Los Angeles; he is the nephew of the late film star Frances Farmer, and his work as an actor spans across four decades in television and film; 4:20 p.m. Sunday.

?”Rattlers” by Johnna Adams: recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Reva Shiner Award, the Abington Theater Company’s Christopher Wolk Award and a semifinalist for the O’Neil and Playlabs Festivals; she has twice won the OC Weekly’s Best New Play Award; 5:10 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, call (949) 499-5060 or visit www.gallimaufry.info.