Actors are strutting their stuff on stage at the Frances Marion Brown Theater, home of the Oswego Players, as they rehearse their roles in never-before performed one-act plays: the winners of the Don McCann Memorial Playwrighting Showcase.
Nearly 150 plays were submitted in the 2025 competition, and the overall quality was excellent. “These vignettes explore emotions, confront us, challenge our perceptions and provide some good-natured humor,” said the contest coordinator, Norman Berlin III. “Audience reaction is an essential part of providing feedback to the playwrights and can often entice them to develop the story into a full-length play.”
The Showcase winners include varied adult themes. “Gun Shy” by Chris Woodworth, directed by Shanya (Shy) Sims, is a provocative play which probes aspects of gun-related injury on a college student and her interactions with an older gun-shop owner. “Good Guys” by Keith Whalen, directed by Sherri Metz, is a riotously silly comedy in which a woman helps a young friend overcome the turmoil of endless breakups by discovering what actually makes a guy ‘good’.
The 2026 Oswego Players 88th Season will kick-off with the winners of Don McCann Memorial Playwrighting Showcase over the weekend March 6th – March 8th, at the Frances Marion Brown Theater located at 32 Barbara Donahue Drive, Oswego. Showtimes are 7:30pm Friday and Saturday, and 2:00pm Sunday. For more information and ticket sales please go to https://oswegoplayers.org/ or for phone reservations call the Box Office at 315-343-5138. All proceeds benefit the Showcase fund.
The Oswego Players acknowledges the generous financial contributions of Chiasson’s Heating and Air Conditioning.
Pictured L to R are the cast and director of “Good Guys” mid-rehearsal: Kevin Colvin, Tammy Thompson, Sherri Metz, Bill Cowham and Christina Burnswick.