McKeesport Little Theater to participate in Pittsburgh New Works Festival

The Pittsburgh New Works Festival has been dedicated to producing new plays from all over the world for 33 years.

McKeesport Little Theater will stage “They-Said, They-Said,” a one-act play written by Brenda Kenworthy of Garden Grove, Calif., during the Pittsburgh New Works Festival.

Performances will be held at Genesius Theater at Duquesne University, located at 1225 Seitz St., Pittsburgh. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with two matinee showings 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

McKeesport Little Theater President Jennifer Vertullo said the Pittsburgh New Works Festival is an opportunity for camaraderie among local theaters.

“Under normal circumstances, we are so spread out across the region, sharing our art in our own little pockets of the Greater Pittsburgh area,” Vertullo said. “We try to keep up on what our fellow companies are doing and the stories they are sharing with their core audiences. This festival allows us to try something new in a shared space each and every year, and we are so happy to be part of it.”

According to its website, the annual Pittsburgh New Works Festival is dedicated to fostering the development of original one-act plays. Each September, selected new one-act plays are produced by Pittsburgh region theater companies during the festival.

Playwrights throughout North America submitted entries to the festival, which was narrowed down to 30 plays. Patrick Daniel, “They-Said, They-Said” director and MLT board member, said that MLT had the opportunity to pick which play they wanted to stage before the rest of the theater companies involved in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival.

Daniel, who is also a writer and actor, said “They-Said, They-Said” was “by far” MLT’s favorite of the 30 plays chosen by the festival. He was particularly drawn to Kenworthy’s fleshed-out characters and subtly in the script.

“It’s hard to write clearly, and it’s hard to write characters who sound different,” Daniel said. “A lot of writers are trying to prove a point, and so most of the characters will have different names and different surface level things, but they all sound the same. Brenda is just clearly much better than that. I was reading a very interesting piece where all of the characters clearly had a different voice.”

The play takes place in a Hebrew school, where two parents, Ayal and Schuyler Cagan, discuss the behavior of their twin sons with the headmaster of the school. The headmaster informs the parents that their sons have been touching other students inappropriately and staring at them — but is that really what happened?

“The parents are asking questions, the administration is giving answers, but it’s not really clear exactly what happened,” Daniel said.

There are parts of the play that indicate the twin boys’ odd behavior could be the result of being picked on by their fellow classmates.

Due to Kenworthy’s strong script, Daniel didn’t have to tweak much in the play.

“Sometimes when you’re a director, you get lucky that you don’t have to do too much,” Daniel said. “In fact, to do or invent a lot would be a detriment to the show.”

To buy tickets for “They-Said, They-Said,” go to https://pittsburghnewworksfestival. thundertix.com/?fbclid=IwAR2b83mbas5db-00peKou85phPGMbcAwfvPUznoussIWSeFbjaHdAUb7f9tw

Cast list:

Daniel LaMond (Ayal Cagan), Nancy Caronia (Rivka Blumenthal), Jess Uhler (Schuyler Cagan) and Alex Naglich (Michael Primmer).