When Theatre 33 launches its annual festival in August, audiences will have the opportunity to see six new plays at one of the most exciting stages of their development, when audience feedback helps shape what comes next.

Entering its 13th season, Theatre 33 has steadily built a reputation for developing new plays and connecting playwrights with audiences. Including this summer’s productions, the Salem nonprofit will have produced 64 original works since its founding.

This year’s festival marks an additional investment in the process. Rehearsal hours have increased from 90 to 160, giving artists more time to refine performances before opening night. The company has also expanded its production internship program, hiring six full-time interns to help support the festival’s demanding rotating repertory schedule.

For Executive Director Tom Nabhan, the mission extends beyond staging plays. Theatre 33 has helped launch new works that went on to be produced around the country. “We are helping infuse the American theater landscape with regional work.” To date, 23 plays developed by the company have premiered in 16 cities.

Additionally, the festival is drawing audiences to Salem. Almost half of the attendees to last year’s festival came from out of town, said Tom. “We are reversing the traditional Salem-to-Portland play-attending commute.”

It’s a reminder that investing in the arts is also an investment in Salem. Every audience member who travels here supports local businesses while strengthening the creative ecosystem that makes our city a more vibrant place to live.

Theatre 33’s Summer Festival features six professionally produced new plays in repertory August 4 through 16.

Here’s what’s ahead —

Main Stage Productions

Lights in the Sky by Ricky Zipp is a political satire about the blindness of power and the violent choice human beings make. It shows how a group of people can get to the brink of world destruction — literally — and still not learn the lessons of the past. Jimmy King begins his first day of work for a government office in Washington, D.C., that investigates reports of UFO sightings. As he adjusts to his new job, he learns that his boss, Lillian, and his co-workers, Whit and Maye, are covering up a secret alien encounter that could destroy the planet.

On stage: 7 p.m. Aug 4, 7, 13 and 2 p.m. Aug 16

PULL by Sara Jean Accuardi — A group of teachers attends a gun safety training program designed for educators planning to arm themselves in the classroom. Over the five-day course, convictions are tested as they wrestle with questions about responsibility and what safety really means.

On stage: 7 p.m. Aug 6, 12, 15 and 2 p.m. Aug 9

Be Witch by Rob Smith — All Kendra has ever wanted is to be a witch. Sadly, her magik (with a K) doesn’t make for the most solid career. Down on her luck and with nowhere else to go, Kendra moves in with her brother, Huey. The fun doesn’t last long, and sibling tension grows as Huey tries to help his sister find a “real job” while running his business, paying all the bills, and most importantly, becoming the best bowler he can be. On the edge of losing everything, Kendra finally makes a breakthrough and gets the attention of one of the most prominent Covens in the world of Magik. Now, if she wants in, it’s the Coven’s way or the no-Magik highway. Can Kendra achieve her dream without pushing away the one person who has always had her back?

On stage: 7 p.m. Aug 5, 8, 11 and 14

Staged Readings

Crumbs/Migas by Rebecca Tourino Collingsworth — a play about the grief and grace we encounter on the way home.

2 p.m. Sat, Aug 8 at Capitol Auto Pavilion
7 p.m. Fri, Aug 14 at Rogers Rehearsal Hall @ Willamette University

MAJNUN by Layli Rohani — a story of family, grief, and finding our way back to lost loves.

7 p.m. Fri, Aug 7 at Rogers Rehearsal Hall @ Willamette University
2 p.m. Sat, Aug 15 at Pelton Playhouse @ Willamette University

Prodigies by Brook Bethel — a play about labor, duty, and living on the excruciating precipice of being a teenager.

7 p.m. Sun, Aug 9 at Rogers Rehearsal Hall @ Willamette University
7 p.m. Sun, Aug 16 at Putnam Studio @ Willamette University

Theatre 33 is a donation-based professional theater. Recommended donation is $15 per person for staged readings; $20 general; $15 senior; $12 student for main stage productions. Performance location varies depending on date. Click here to reserve your tickets.

Author: Carlee Wright

Carlee Wright is a community instigator with a grand love for Salem and notably fashionable shoes (Hello, John Fluevog!) who turns waste into wearable art in her "spare" time.