See nine plays in one weekend at PT PlayFest –  a theater-lover’s feast, featuring winning one-acts by Jefferson County playwrights, open rehearsals of plays-in-progress, playwriting workshops, and more.

“Locals Weekend” (March 5-8) features the winning one-acts and precedes the jam-packed “Festival Weekend” (March 12-15), when three days of back-to-back events in two separate venues (Key City Playhouse and the nearby Pope Marine Building) will satisfy even the most voracious theater-goer.

PT Playfest is produced by Key City Public Theatre, now in its 57th season, whose mission includes “fostering artistic expression that entertains, educates and engages our community while developing an accessible and relevant theater that produces new works, contemporary plays and innovative interpretations of classics that captivate, challenge, and celebrate our audiences and artists.”

Local and National Talent Highlighted

Jefferson County talent will be showcased in premieres of six plays by the winning playwrights of the 2014 Port Townsend Arts Commission’s One-Act Play Competition: Deborah Daline, Doug Given, D.D. Wigley, Christopher Clow, Sandy Diamond, and Susan Solley. Three plays receive staged readings; three receive full productions.

[pictured above, from left-right: Deborah Daline, D.D. Wigley, Doug Given, Sandy Diamond, Christopher Clow, Susan Solley. Photo by Phil Baumgaertner.]

Two notable playwrights were also invited to spend a week in residence, workshopping their full-length plays in progress. AP Andrews brings Optimism, Or, a play about the courage it takes to love, the courage it takes to fall out of love, and the courage it takes to fall in love again. Sylvie Mae Baldwin brings skinny crazy small, the story of one quirky and strong-willed girl’s struggle with anorexia nervosa.

Each full-length play receives two staged-reading performances during Festival Weekend. These sandwich a two hour “open rehearsal,” where audiences can drop in and observe the artists at work on the play.

Workshops and Full-Length Play from Special Guest Doris Baizley

KCPT’s featured guest playwright this year is Doris Baizley, who will join audiences on the night of Friday, March 13th to attend and discuss her full-length play Neel Beaux, which tells the story of two women from Philadelphia, born two centuries apart, both battling to find their place in the art world. Directing the play will be KCPT Artistic Director Denise Winter who comments, “I’m excited about Neel Beaux because it tells the story of two artists who come into their own at completely different times in their lives. Its a perfect story for Port Townsend, in particular, because we have so many artists here that are hitting their artistic strides at different ages.”

Baizley is a founding member of LA Theatre Works and has worked at the Mark Taper Forum as resident playwright for the ITP Company for young audiences and as dramaturg for the Other Voices Program for theater artists with disabilities. Her plays, Mrs. California, Tears of Rage, A Christmas Carol, Guns, and Shiloh Rules have been performed in theaters across the country.

Doris will be teaching two workshops during festival weekend – a free playwriting workshop on Saturday, March 14th from 10 a.m – 1 p.m. and a fee-based playwriting intensive on Sunday, March 15th from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Both workshops take place at the Pope Marine Building in downtown Port Townsend.

Saturday’s free workshop, generously sponsored by the Port Townsend Arts Commission, is for new and experienced writers. Baizley will concentrate on writing exercises to discover voices, places, actions, and events that can inspire ideas for dramatic storytelling and playwriting — with an emphasis on “play.” Attendants are encouraged to bring lots of paper, writing implements, and a willingness to let go. To register for this free workshop, please e-mail boxoffice@keycitypublictheatre.org or call 360-385-KCPT.

Sunday’s fee-based playwriting intensive, geared towards more experienced writers, will focus on dramatic problem solving, developing work, and exploring new ideas. Writers are encouraged to bring sample pages of work in progress or ideas for new work for reading, discussion, and exercise writing. Participants will receive personal attention but should be prepared to participate in group exercises to stretch, explore, and inspire new work. Register for the workshop ($75) at www.keycitypublictheatre.org or at the playhouse box office, 419 Washington Street, 360-385-KCPT.

More info and tickets

All events occur at either Key City Playhouse (419 Washington Street) or at the nearby Pope Marine Building (Water & Madison Streets). For a full schedule of events go to keycitypublictheatre.org

The $35 Festival Pass grants access to all performance events both weekends. Writers Passes are $95 and additionally include the playwriting intensive taught by Doris Baizley.

Single show tickets and passes are available online at keycitypublictheatre.org or at the playhouse box office, 419 Washington Street, 360-385-KCPT.

Key City Public Theatre, in association with George Rezendes/Toolshed Soundlab, is pleased to announce the lineup for its first ever Winter Concert Series. Jazz Songstress Sylvia Herold takes the stage on February 20th, and Americana Folk-Duo Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore perform on February 25th.

All concerts start at 7:30 pm at Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington Street, Port Townsend. The lobby bar, serving beer, wine, and other refreshments, opens at 6:30. Tickets ($18) can be purchased online at keycitypublictheatre.org, by phone at (360) 385-5278, or in person at the Playhouse Box Office, 419 Washington Street.

Sylvia Herold, February 20, 2015

Singer, guitarist, and song sleuth Sylvia Herold masterfully mines the motherlode of American jazz and popular song from the 1930s through the 1960s. Songs of wit and romance by composers Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, George Gershwin, and Harold Arlen are lovingly rendered in a voice the San Francisco Examiner calls “mesmerizing.” Herold was a member of the swing vocal trio Cats & Jammers and played extensively with The Hot Club of San Francisco.

Currently, Sylvia tours and records with Wake the Dead, Sylvia Herold and the Rhythm Bugs, and Euphonia, as well as The Sylvia Herold Ensemble. She has appeared on more than 25 albums, including five solo recordings. Herold is a resident teacher at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, California, and has also taught at Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, California Coast Music Camp, Port Townsend Voice Works, and British Columbia Swing Camp. Chuck Ervin will be joining her at Key City Playhouse on bowed and plucked upright bass.

Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore, February 25, 2015

One voice and one guitar. That’s all it takes for Grammy Award-Winner Mollie O’Brien and her husband Rich Moore to reach crowds with their soul-satisfying brand of Americana-Folk. Through the intimacy of this sparse arrangement, Mollie’s powerful inflections, phrasings, and nuances shine clear as Rich’s articulate guitar fills and interludes provide poignant counterpoint.

Of their most recent release, Love Runner, Gretchen Peters from Songwriter Magazine says, “One part Maria Muldaur, one part Suzy Bogguss & one part Ella Fitzgerald, Mollie O’Brien’s voice with its seemingly limitless range is the perfect vehicle for this eclectic set of songs. It takes serious talent to play and sing this effortlessly.” That effortlessness undoubtedly results from Mollie’s extensive, 20+ years musical career in which she has perfomed with a plethora of different artists, including Chris Thile, Jerry Douglas, Todd Phillips, Sally Van Meter, Nina Gerber, Pete Wernick, and, of course, her brother Tim O’Brien.

The 2015 Victorian Festival will celebrate Port Townsend’s extraordinary maritime traditions and history and is scheduled for March 20-22, 2015.

The Victorian Heritage Festival is organized by Olympic Peninsula Steam with support from Victorian Society: Northwest and celebrates Port Townsend’s unique role as an exquisitely preserved historical seaport surviving and thriving as a modern city.

Join us March 20-22, 2015, for a celebration of our region’s 19th Century history – bringing together scholars, enthusiasts and curiosity-seekers from across the Pacific Northwest to present historic exhibits, steam boats, fashion show, firearms presentations, manly arts of self defense, insiders historic building tours, sea shanty singers, and more!

Kick off Friday night with our pub crawl – featuring saloons, “shanghai tunnels,” and fine vintage cocktails through a staggering selection of Port Townsend’s (in)famous watering holes.

Saturday looks back to Port Townsend’s maritime tradition along Water St. As always enjoy the stunning Victorian Fashion Show and the Grand Victorian Ball.

Visit http://www.vicfest.org/ for continuous updates on events!