Seeking to fulfill a creative void left by an unforgiving pandemic that forced theaters to close their doors in 2020, several members of the Oswego Players decided to revive something that had gone dormant for far too long—a playwriting contest that had been named in honor of longtime member Don McCann. “We may not be allowed to perform but that can’t stop us from writing,” was the basic premise for re-starting a tradition that began shortly after McCann passed away in 2004.
A lifetime resident of the Port City, McCann made his mark professionally as a reporter for the Oswego Palladium Times but dove headlong with passion into his avocational interests of acting, directing, and writing by joining the Oswego Players in the mid-1950’s. Over the next four decades he would serve several terms as President and Historian for the community theater group which has had a strong regional presence since 1938. Artistically speaking, he was known for favoring edgy, message-centered plays like The Visit, Inherit the Wind, and Agnes of God, all of which he directed. As a naturally-gifted writer McCann would not only publish numerous articles and play reviews for the organization, but tried his hand penning one-act plays for the group to perform as well.
One of McCann’s contemporaries, Rick Sivers, who believed strongly that the person who perpetually encouraged and mentored new life in the theater organization should have his legacy preserved, helped develop the Donald J. McCann Memorial One-Act Playwriting Contest, meant to be an annual competition for amateur local playwrights. After a hiatus of nearly a decade, it was revived by a handful of dedicated Players volunteers who had a hand in both selecting winners and producing for the stage 2022’s co-winners, Kleptocracy and Crimes of Passion, by local authors Anton Porcari and Nicholas Gentile. These One-Acts were performed in front of three sell-out crowds in mid-March at the Frances Marion Brown Theatre, thus fulfilling the organization’s goal of encouraging works by new writers.
Anyone interested in submitting an original One-Act Play script for the 2023 contest should contact Osweplay@Yahoo.com for a complete set of rules and guidelines.
Photo 1, Pictured from left to right: Stephanie Johnson and Megan Murtha in a scene from “Kleptocracy,” by local playwright Anton Porcari.
Photo 2, Pictured left to right: Emil Christmann and Gina Mazzoli in a scene from “Crimes of Passion” by local playwright Nicholas Gentile.
Photography by Peter Mahan