The June 15th deadline is soon approaching for The Donald J. McCann Memorial One-Act Playwriting Contest but there is still time to submit your short play. Each year, The Oswego Players are on the lookout for aspiring playwrights eager to see their new and unique creations brought to life onstage. The Oswego Players are seeking aspiring playwrights from all over the State of New York who want the chance to have their work performed at the Frances Marion Brown Theatre. Anyone interested in submitting an original one-act play for the 2025 The Donald J. McCann Memorial One-Act Playwriting Contest should contact osweplay@yahoo.com for a complete set of guidelines. All submissions for this year’s contest must be received by June 15th and sent either electronically to osweplay@yahoo.com or through the mail, to Don McCann Playwriting Contest, P.O. Box 183, Oswego, NY 13126.

City of Oswego Mayor Robert A. Corradino presents members of the Oswego Players Board of Directors with a proclamation honoring the legacy of the Oswego Players for its extraordinary contributions to the arts, its steadfast commitment to community enrichment and education, as well as its enduring role as a beacon of creativity, culture, and collaboration in the City of Oswego and beyond. Organized in 1938 by Frances Marion Brown and fellow colleagues, Oswego Players is one of the oldest, continuously operating community theaters in the New York State. Recognized for its longevity and positive impact on the community, Oswego Players held its inaugural performance 86 years ago. Pictured above from left are Oswego Players Secretary Sherri Metz, Players President Tammy Thompson, Mayor of the City of Oswego Robert A. Corradino and Oswego Players Trustee John DeRousie. For information on the Oswego Players and upcoming performances visit www.oswegoplayers.org.

You still have a chance to come and see The Oswego Players Spring production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream” and “The Arkansaw Bear.” The first weekend of performance brought new audience members to the Little Theatre on the Water. This will be the first time in the 87-year history of the Oswego Players that a Shakespeare play will be produced. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is one of Shakespeare’s most popular and widely performed plays. It is set in Athens and consists of numerous subplots that revolve around the marriage of King Theseus and Queen Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict among four teenage Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate them as part of their own domestic intrigue. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream “is being presented along with a remount of last year’s sellout smash hit, “The Arkansaw Bear”, by Aurand Harris. “The Arkansaw Bear” is a moving 45-minute fantasy/drama in which a young girl must learn to deal with loss and how to let go of someone she loves. Director Norman Berlin has chosen to pair the two works because of their similar fantastical elements. Saddened and bewildered at her grandfather’s approaching death, Tish runs to her “special tree.” There, in a world of fantasy provided by her wish on a star, she meets The World’s Greatest Dancing Bear. She is old, like her grandfather, and is running away. In trying to help the Bear, Tish begins to understand the meaning of both life and death, which helps her to cope with her own sadness.

- The Oswego Players, a local theatrical organization, will be honored this weekend with an official City Declaration of "Oswego Players Day." The ceremony for this new local holiday will be held at 2:00 pm, Sunday April 27th, and is open to the public. The proclamation will be immediately followed by a family-friendly double-feature of “A Midsummer Night's Dream” and “The Arkansaw Bear.” "Oswego Players has been an institution since the late 1930s, and they've been presenting great shows by local casts ever since." says Mayor Robert Corradino. "The idea to create an Oswego Players Day came easily, as they've been standard bearers of culture in our community for almost a century and are certain to continue uniting our residents through the arts for another hundred years."

Two cops. Three crooks. Eight doors. Go! Auditions will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13th and Wednesday, May 14th at the Frances Marion Brown Theater in Oswego for the Oswego Players summer production: the hilarious “Unnecessary Farce” by Paul Slade Smith, directed by Tom Briggs. This award-winning production debuted in 2006 and has been a firm favorite ever since for both audiences and actors alike. It combines all the elements of a classic farce with a contemporary American plot. The auditions for “Unnecessary Farce” will be a cold reading from the script. There are parts for seven characters: four adult males (one of whom needs a Scottish accent) and three adult females. The play contains adult themes.