A taste of short plays is coming to the Russian River. The Pegasus Theater Company is bringing a real treat to the table with the best new short plays by Northern California playwrights at their annual ‘Tapas: A New Short Play Festival.’ The venue this year is the historic Rio Nido Lodge, with the festival opening on May 21.
The Company themselves labored to turn the Rio Nido Lodge, an old Big Band venue, into a theater space. The reinvigoration of the Lodge is all part of a community effort to return the town to its former glory as a tourist attraction for musical entertainment.
This year, four of the playwrights are from Sonoma County. Pegasus Theater Company hosts short play writing workshops and three of these playwrights actually came up with their plays while attending one.
The seven short plays presented this year explore a variety of scenarios. “Send in the Clown,” written and directed by Guerneville’s John Rowan, impresses the complexity of love as a three-ring circus. “The Exit Interview,” written by David Beckman of Santa Rosa and directed by Darlene Kersnar, exposes the differences between a married couple when they are interviewed about their take on a film they just watched. “Wabi Sabi,” written by Ruth Kirschner of San Francisco and directed by Jacquelyn Wells, examines the involuntary involvement of four eccentrics waiting for a bus when a series of events take place.
The Pegasus Theater Company has produced a range of plays since its inception in 1998, turning in recent years to nurturing the development of new playwrights.
The festival runs May 21 through June 13 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. There is a sneak preview on May 21 and a champagne gala on May 22.
Pegasus Theater Company
Rio Nido Lodge
4444 Woods Road
Rio Nido, CA 95471
(707) 583-2343
