Celebrate literary talent in the community. The Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park and Theatre is presenting the 2024 Playwrights and Poets Festival on Friday and Saturday, January 19 and 20 at 7:00 pm. Attendees have been enjoying original one-act short plays and poems presented by the authors in the intimate theatre downtown Joliet since 2018.

The evening is a celebration of a writer’s creative skills. They are given full control of taking the spark of their idea, to their writing to their directing the action on stage. Many local entries and from across the country were received. The panel of judges have given their feedback and selected 4 writers who will present at this weekend festival. Below are the selected one-acts for 2024:    

Andrea Berting (Chicago) presents “Little Kasia Meets the God of Death.” Andrea is a live theatre professional, having spent most of her career backstage in the world of wardrobe. It took a global pandemic closing down theaters worldwide to get her to sit down and give writing a shot, but now that she’s started, she can’t stop. Her dramedy feature screenplay, “Breast in Show,” won Best Original Comedy Feature at the 2022 Richmond International Film Festival, as well as earning her a position as an ISA Fast Track Fellow. Additionally, her 90-second pitch of the project won the 2023 Austin Film Festival Pitch Competition. She was also recently named one of Network ISA’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2024. Andrea received her BFA in Theater Education from VCU in Richmond, VA. She lives in Chicago with her husband and very anxious rescue dog. This piece is dedicated to her great-grandmother, Kasia, whose real-life immigration story inspired this short play.

Maria Fischer (Channahon) presents “Gerasim Drowned Mumu.” Dr. Maria Fischer is an adjunct professor at Joliet Catholic Academy, with her doctoral in education. Recently, she received her MFA in Creative Writing from Lindenwood University. She has performed in many theatre productions at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre and presented her poetry at previous Playwright Festivals. This will be her debut as theatrical director with her one-act about a Russian grandmother and her granddaughter, who debate leaving their village at the end of the world. The actors will be portrayed by Jan Novotny and Taitum Lee – grandmother and granddaughter in real life!

Steph Prizhitomsky (New York) presents “Vincent’s.” Steph is a playwright/screenwriter, co-founder of the White Rabbit Film Festival, and editor in chief of Suits and Sage Magazine. Her plays have been featured at Off Broadway theaters, the Chain Theater and the Player’s Theater and published in magazines 3elements Review and Fleas on the Dog magazine. She is a sophomore studying film at New York University.

Allison Whittenberg (Pittsburg) presents “Choice.” Allison’s novels are Sweet Thang, Hollywood and Maine, Life is Fine and Tutored (Random House 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010).  Her work has appeared in Flying Island, Feminist Studies, Iconoclast and The Ekphrastic Review. She is the author of the full-length short story collection, Carnival of Reality (Loyola University Press, 2022). Whittenberg is a six-time Pushcart Prize nominee.

The poets presenting will be Maria Fischer (“This is My Daughter”), Brian Carlson (“The Code” and “This Poem Disappears”), Uxmar Torres (“Release Yourself”) and Judy Quilty Smith (“Grandma Says”). 

Admission is $5. Tickets are available at the door or in advance online, with no additional fees, through a link on the park’s website and social media. The lobby doors will open at 6:00 pm, with a cash bar and light refreshments.  

Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park and Theatre is at 201 West Jefferson Street, downtown Joliet, 60432. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.bicentennialpark.org or contact the office: 815-724-3761/ bipark@joliet.gov.