‘Christmas at the Playhouse’ Presents 6 Original 1-Acts This Weekend Only

The Basile Westfield Playhouse is giving original playwrights the center stage this holiday season.

Main Street Productions is playing host to a special event that’s not part of the regular 2022-23 Playhouse season.

“Christmas at the Playhouse” features six original one-act plays by local and regional playwrights: ”A Requiem for Shermy” and “Last Minute Shoppers” by Mark Harvey Levine and directed by Jen Otterman of Noblesville; ”Clara The Christmas Tree Angel” by Enid Cokinos and directed by Kelly Keller of Fishers; “Holiday Cards” by Nicole Amsler of Noblesville and who is directing her own; “Garland, Gyros, and Gurneys” by Megan Ann Jacobs and directed by Keller; and “Tradition” by Josh Elicker of Westfield and directed by Amsler.

“They are not the traditional shows you’ll see at other venues right now,” said Otterman, one of the three play directors that also include Keller and Amsler, who will be directing her own play. And Elicker will act in one of the plays, which is not his own.

Usually, original works are free. But Otterman said, “It wasn’t anything about money. We wanted to give original playwrights a platform … We want to spotlight our local talent … Just to give the audiences something a little fresher,” said Otterman, vice president of arts for the Playhouse board of directors.

“These are all original scripts that were submitted to Westfield from a callout about a year ago.  The play committee read and then selected the final six,” she said.

“It’s going to be fun. It’s a short evening,” she said. The show runs about 90 minutes.

Each play is brief. The one-act plays that Otterman is directing are 10-15 minutes in length. “One of mine is nine pages and another one is six pages,” she said.

Logan Laflin of Carmel, who has “an excellent voice,” will sing a Christmas carol between each act, Otterman said. Anna Himes of Fishers, who is acting in one of the plays, will also play her cello to accompany Laflin’s Christmas carols. “My hope is to get a singalong at the end.”

Sets are minimal because they have to be.

“It’ll be a fun, pleasant little evening,” Otterman said. “Definitely a different flavor for audiences to partake in.”

She said audiences will enjoy all of the one-act plays. “Requiem for Shermy,” for example, is for the Charles Schultz “Peanuts” comics fans and is cleverly written.

All of the one-acts revolve around Christmas, “most of them have a creative twist to them,” she said. “They’re not the traditional shows you’ll see at other venues right now.”

How was the cast put together? “We did not hold auditions. We invited actors to join the casts,” Otterman said.

She said there isn’t a producer for “Christmas at the Playhouse.” Otterman’s usual producer, Ka’Lena Cuevas of Fishers, will instead act in Otterman’s show.

Westfield Playhouse presented one-act plays in 2020, then the “White Christmas” classic musical during the 2021-22 season and will return to a play or musical for 2023-24, and will return to original works in 2024, when audiences will likely enjoy what works the Playhouse will spotlight.

Contact Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.