Get ready to laugh at and contemplate a trio of brand-new, one-act comedies at the Hatbox Theatre.
These three shows, written by Concord residents, will make their world premiere Friday.
J.J. Hunt, George Kelly and Alan Lindsay will present original plays they wrote as members of the Granite Playwrights.
“They’re funny, but they make some serious points,” Kelly said. “They’re thoughtful plays, but they are humorous.”
“Flight of the Bartailed Godwit” by Hunt takes viewers to the porch of a nursing home. There, three female residents encounter an unexpected sight, the bartailed godwit, a long-beaked bird that is far from home.
Kelly, who is directing that one-act and his own, “Analog,” said the play juxtaposes the bird’s out of place-ness with the women’s feelings of being “not from around here.”
Kelly’s play is next in the line-up.
“Analog” focuses on an English professor whose job is on the line after resisting digital technologies.
Kelly said the professor feels trapped between a penny-pinching administration and a talented poetry student.
To end the evening is Lindsay’s “Soup’s On.”
Two brothers, Russ and Sam, are working to assemble dinner for two lady friends. One brother decides to make soup, while the other criticizes saying they should be making something like steak.
The conversations also draw out long-standing family tensions – like how Russ refuses to attend their mother’s funeral – and discussion on love and war.
“The question is ‘What could go wrong?’ ” Kelly said. “And the answer is: everything.”
Kelly said the three one-acts were put together not with a theme, but because they were unique from each other to appeal to a wide audience.
“People are taking a chance,” Kelly said of watching new plays.
“We enjoy that we can do something original,” he added.
The three playwrights are all English faculty at NHTI – Lindsay as department head and Kelly and Hunt as adjunct professors. However, the group had been members of the Granite Playwrights prior to working together.
Kelly said the writers have been working on their plays, in some cases, for years, and have some one-acts as well as full-length plays. They work together to critique and improve one another’s work. Their different backgrounds also help influence their perspectives. Kelly comes to theater through directing, Hunt was a professional actress, and Lindsay has a literary background.
“Flight of the Bartailed Godwit” and other one-acts will be staged at the Hatbox Theatre at the Steeplegate Mall on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Aug. 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 27 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $16.50 or $13.50 for members, seniors and students; they are available at hatboxnh.com or by calling 938-5158.