Playwrights on hand for premieres

When "Now You're Talking 2017" opens Thursday night at The Belfry, three dramatists will be in the audience anticipating the premiere performances of their newest plays.

Playwright Albi Gorn is coming to Sisters from his home in Hastings on Hudson, New York, for the world premiere of his latest play, "Missing," a poignant story of a young woman, a Vietnam veteran, and the ice cream shop where they first met in 1980. Gorn's plays have won numerous playwriting contests and have been produced throughout the United States, England and Mexico.

Cricket Daniel, mainstay of the 2nd Street Theater in Bend, is bringing her latest play, "A Baby Baby," to The Belfry for its world premiere. Daniel has an extensive background in stand-up, theater and improv, and "A Baby Baby" reflects her lively take on a 30-something couple's inevitable talk about their future.

Larry Anderson of Sisters loves to see and write from the odd angles, and the world premiere of "All Sales are Final" makes that quite clear. Anderson admits to being heavily influenced by his love of 1930s and '40s crime romps with a touch of dark comedy, and his first play takes the audience on a wild ride with a cast of slightly off-kilter characters trying to make the best of an extremely awkward situation. Anderson has lived in Sisters since 2004; he has been performing stand-up comedy as Larry Lloyd in the Bend area for years.

After the final curtain call, the playwrights will meet with audience members to share their experiences. Performances of all seven one-acts are set for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with a special matinee performance at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are available at bendticket.com.

Audiences will also be treated to the Oregon premieres of four other plays: "My Scale is Lying to Me" and "Stuck" by Scott Mullen; "The Kindness of Strangers" by Jim Gordon; and "Verbatim," also by Albi Gorn.

The theatrical community of Sisters has also provided directors for each of the plays: Marla Manning, who is also the producer for the show; Joan Upshaw, Lisa Fetrow, and Michelle Pwddyr. Actors include Evan Leiser, Raechel Gilland, Christian Trask, Mia Burton, Melinda Jahn, Ann Nora Kruger, Deri Frazee, Melodin Trammel, Vicki Kouns, Nancy Harris, Jim Hammond, Rhonda Schantz, Gracie Conant, Tyler Santos, Shawn O'Hern, Michelle P. Ehr, Dyut Fetrow, and Larry Lloyd.

"Now You're Talking 2017" is the second major production of Silent Echo Theater Company, which incorporated in Sisters as a nonprofit community theater in July 2016, following the well-received one-act plays in "Now You're Talking 2016." More information can be found at www.silentechotheatercompany.org.