For about the price of a matinee movie theater ticket, you can see two brand-new and award-winning plays live in May during the Playwrights Festival at Burien Actors Theatre.

The 2015 Bill & Peggy Hunt Playwrights Festival offers four weekends of four new shows written by Washington State Playwrights from May 1 through May 24.

Tickets are just $10, and each ticket includes admission to two plays--a one-act followed by a full-length.

From May 1-10, the one-act The Study Group is paired with the full-length The Skilled Use of Blunt Objects. The Study Group, written by Stephan Feldman, is a one-act comedy-drama in which a hare-brained prank involving a mouse and a desk leads to issues of sexual ethics. The Skilled Use of Blunt Objects, written by Thomas Pierce, is a full-length drama that explores just how far people will go to get elected.
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From May 15-24, the one-act Dr. Kritzinger’s 12 O’Clock is paired with the full-length Four Gone Conclusions: Some Brief Field Trips into the Absurd. Dr. Kritzinger’s 12 O’Clock is a one-act study in evil about the 1942 meeting in which Nazi and German officials set in motion the “Final Solution” for the Jews. Four Gone Conclusions: Some Brief Field Trips into the Absurd, written by Kevin Boze, is a full-length comedy that offers an absurdist look at life, the afterlife, whales, aliens and more.

After each play is performed, audience members are invited to participate in a talk-back with the director and playwright. These talk-backs provide the playwrights with fresh ideas, valuable comment and honest audience response.

The shows are suitable for ages 13-plus due to some adult language and content.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Festival sponsors include the Mark Restaurant & Bar, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax and the City of Burien.

For tickets and information, go online to www.burienactorstheatre.org or call 206-242-5180.

ABOUT THE BILL AND PEGGY HUNT PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

The mission of the Bill and Peggy Hunt Playwrights Festival is twofold: to encourage Washington State playwrights to pursue their craft and to showcase previously unproduced plays written by Washingtonians. Playwrights are invited to submit their scripts, which are evaluated by a panel of judges who select the winners. BLT produces the winning plays in the festival. Top winners in the one-act and full-length script categories are produced as fully staged performances on BLT’s main stage.

The Festival was named to honor Bill and Peggy Hunt’s dedicated service to theater and their devotion to and involvement with BAT. Peggy Hunt joined Burien’s theater scene in 1960. Over the next 35 years both Bill and Peggy appeared in and directed plays, designed and built sets, served on BAT’s Board of Directors, and were involved in some aspect of every theater project.

BAT officially launched the Bill and Peggy Hunt Playwrights Festival in 1999. This year, BAT has chosen four playwrights to be honored with awards.

ABOUT BURIEN ACTORS THEATRE

Incorporated in 1980, Burien Actors Theatre (BAT) has been a leading producer of quality live theater serving residents of the Seattle and south Puget Sound areas.

Burien Actors Theatre gives audiences an intriguing and invigorating theatre experience with unusual and fantastical productions they can’t get on a DVD or see anywhere else. The company’s mission is to treat audiences to productions of the highest artistic integrity that excite, engage and involve both the local and expanding theatrical communities in the Puget Sound region.

BAT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity and operates on revenue from ticket sales, donations, grants, sponsorships and volunteers.

TICKET PRICES AND PACKAGES FOR

Tickets at the Box Office or Online: $10 ticket provides admission to 2 plays.

Dinner and a Show Package: This package includes a two-course meal at the Mark Restaurant & Bar plus a ticket to the show; cost is $25 per person. Contact the Mark at 206-241-6275.