PORT TOWNSEND — Play-goers and playwrights have a chance to mingle and nosh this Thursday, then have a trio of short plays for dessert.
Key City Public Theatre’s Festival of New Plays — the 18th annual, formerly known as the Playwrights’ Festival — is in its final weekend of performances and workshops, all designed to satisfy local appetites for live theater.
And as a kind of warm-up, a potluck will be open to the community at the Pope Marine Building, 603 Water St., at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Admission is free, and attendees are invited to bring a dish to share.
Next comes a set of one-act plays by local writers: “It’s Just Coffee” by Henry Feldman, “Somebodies & Sylvia” by Deborah Daline and “Field Guide” by D.D. Wigley will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St., a five-minute walk from the Pope Marine Building.
Admission is $15 at the door or via www.KeyCityPublicTheatre.org.
“It’s Just Coffee,” a bittersweet comedy about Internet dating and honesty starring Michelle Hensel and David Natale, is based on Feldman’s own story.
He and his wife, Nadine, first met in a coffee shop and, like the pair in the play, navigated their share of travails before marrying.
Feldman moved from Houston to Port Townsend a couple of years ago and soon became part of the theater community, appearing in the Key City productions of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” and “Much Ado About Nothing.”
But having his original play chosen for the festival is “the first time anything I’ve written has been memorized and acted out,” said Feldman.
Festival offerings, including six more plays, two playwriting workshops and a panel discussion on writing as a healing, continue through Sunday at the Pope Marine Building and Key City Playhouse.
For details about venues, curtain times and tickets, visit www.KeyCityPublicTheatre.org or phone 360-379-0195.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.