Chapman University Hosts OC-Centric New Play Festival, Now thru 8/25

OC-centric presents the best of Orange County playwriting... great stories with guts, wit, laughter and drama, brought to life by skilled actors and directors from across the Southland. Two plays igniting the conflicts concerning troubled students and teachers and a pair of plays unfolding the transforming world of the movies make the 3rd annual edition of OC-centric: Orange County's New Play Festival something special. It all happens at Chapman University, which hosts this destination new play event for the third consecutive year. OC-centric is produced in conjunction with Tamiko Washington (Actors Circle Ensemble & Chapman University) and Eric Eberwein.

THE FULL-LENGTH PLAYS:

THE GOD-SHAPED HOLE by Abbe Levine (Orange)

As she moves in with her dying mom, 34-year-old Jane searches for something to believe in - sampling this and that faith indecisively, all in an effort to fill the empty place in her heart. But it is only after meeting Nico, a 14-year-old atheist taking her world history class, that Jane manages to ground herself. Where will the feelings between them lead?

Directed by Neal Kowalsky. Featuring Heather Cadarette, Lucas Gust, R. Anthony Martinez and Donna Walp.

SKIRT by Julie Tosh (Irvine)

After a tragic accident disables Bethany Gallagher's brother Del, he is all her teachers talk about ... so she wears a short skirt to school to change the subject, unwittingly unleashing a competition for dominance between her biology teacher and the new student teacher who was once her brother's best friend. As the story unfolds, we learn who among them is actually fit to survive. Developed at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, Skirt was a co-runner-up for the David Mark Cohen Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Directed by Tamiko Washington.
Featuring Jordan Goodsell, PatRick Peterson, Jinny Ryann and Joseph Santos.

THE ONE-ACT PLAYS:

LES HOLLYWOOD HILLS by Andrea Sloan Pink (Irvine)

Juliette, a UCLA film student, takes a job caring for Ralph, an ailing, acerbic set decorator living in the Hollywood Hills. She doesn't know that the experience will change her forever, and open her eyes to the true meaning of both art and life.

Directed by Stephen John. Featuring Jordan Goodsell, Katrina Klein, R. Anthony Martinez, Joe Parrish and Donna Walp.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE by Travis Snyder-Eaton (Stanton)

A play about love and love lost, with the first half performed like a silent film and the second half with dialogue. Robert Falls in love with Anna, the woman of his dreams, as America enters World War II. Pearl Harbor is bombed, Robert Is drafted and the world is no longer the same. Will they see each other again? A story that says silence is golden, but love is pure.

Directed by Doug Oliphant. Featuring Jack Paul Clark, Vince Dalba, Matthew Domenico, Angelia Formisano, David Glazer, Paul Jasser, Zen Josey and Laura Zenoni.

The festival runs Th-Sun for successive weekends, with Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday evening performances and Saturday & Sunday matinees.

Thursday, August 15 @ 8:00pm: THE GOD-SHAPED HOLE
Friday, August 16 @ 8:00pm: THE GOD-SHAPED HOLE
Saturday, August 17 @ 2:00pm: LES HOLLYWOOD HILLS, THE SOUND OF SILENCE
Saturday, August 17 @ 8:00pm: SKIRT
Sunday, August 18 @ 2:00pm: SKIRT
Sunday, August 18 @ 7:00pm: LES HOLLYWOOD HILLS, THE SOUND OF SILENCE
Thursday, August 22 @ 8:00pm: SKIRT
Friday, August 23 @ 8:00pm: SKIRT
Saturday, August 24 @ 2:00pm: THE GOD-SHAPED HOLE
Saturday, August 24 @ 8:00pm: LES HOLLYWOOD HILLS, THE SOUND OF SILENCE
Sunday, August 25 @ 2:00pm: LES HOLLYWOOD HILLS, THE SOUND OF SILENCE
Sunday, August 25 @ 7:00pm: THE GOD-SHAPED HOLE

Visit occentric.weebly.com in the coming weeks to see more about the playwrights, actors and directors, festival parking information, and all kinds of interesting ephemera. Call 714.902.5716 for information and reservations.