As witchy hijinks, alien investigations and spirited debates unfold on stage, a Salem theater festival is hoping to see more locals fill seats in its 13th season. “My go-to source every morning for accurate, local news.” Make Salem Reporter your trusted source for independent local reporting – every day. Stay informed and connected. Subscribe today. Since 2014, Willamette University’s Theatre 33 has helped dozens of emerging playwrights bring original works to life during its annual summer festival. This year’s festival opens Aug. 4 with six plays, including three full productions and three staged readings, which will premiere through Aug. 16.  Last year, the festival took on a new format, condensing its traditional three-month run to just a couple of weeks. The move allows people to see multiple plays in just a few days.  Organizers believe the tightened schedule took a bite out of local attendance. In 2025, Theatre 33 saw about a 5% decline in the number of Salem residents at its plays, Executive Director Thomas Nabhan said. “It is very, very discouraging, because the culture of any society, to be vibrant, has to have a strong artistic core,” Nabhan said. “People need to get out. People need to experience culture. People need to have community. People need to experience new things.” Now entering its second year with the new schedule, Nabhan hopes the drop in local attendance is a one-off. This year’s main stage lineup includes a sci-fi comedy about a UFO investigator who discovers an alien encounter cover-up, a comedy following an aspiring witch forced to choose between her brother or joining a coven and a drama surrounding a gun safety training course for teachers.  Each story is written by playwrights from the Pacific Northwest and nearby states. Sara Jean Accuardi, a Portland playwright, submitted her play “Pull” while it was still a first draft. It had been sitting unfinished on her computer for more than a year. Theatre 33 opens applications for new plays each fall, many of them in the early stages of development. For this year, organizers saw about 45 entries. “Pull” is Accuardi’s second play with Theatre 33. Her first was in 2024. Festival rules required her to wait two years before submitting another work. “I was eager for two years to pass because it really is such a unique opportunity in this area,” she said. “It’s incredible that they are doing it here in Salem.” Accuardi’s play, a drama, is an outlier among those selected for the festival. Many of them happen to be comedies.  “Pull” centers on a group of teachers participating in a gun safety training class, a concept inspired by national discourse on how schools should respond to gun violence. The subject is personal for Accuardi, whose parents both taught in public schools.  “I think that a play should try to answer those unanswerable questions. Those things that you are looking at that don’t sit exactly right with you and this was one of those for me,” she said. Theatre 33’s program is exceedingly rare, Accuardi said. “As funding for the arts has dwindled in recent years, a number of major new play workshops and development programs throughout the country have been forced to close,” Acuardi said in an email. “It’s outstanding that in a time when opportunities for playwrights are becoming more scarce, Theatre 33 is not only going strong but expanding their programing.” The company’s development process allows a playwright to refine scripts through rehearsals and workshops, helping turn it into a fully realized production. Nabhan called Theatre 33 a “playwright’s angel.” Since June, Accuardi has been working closely with five actors to bring her words to life. The group rehearses five days a week, and Acuardi often drives down from Portland to attend. She has spent much of that time quietly taking notes to help her revise the script and turn in new pages the next day. Her script was “frozen” in mid-July to allow the cast to memorize the final product. All of the company’s actors, crew and playwrights involved in the festival are paid. This year’s cast members also benefit from twice as much rehearsal time as last year, with 160 hours to study their roles and memorize scripts in full.   Admission to the festival’s productions is pay-what-you-can, meaning people can attend for free or make an optional donation. It’s a part Theatre 33’s aim to expand access to the arts for young people, lower-income adults and underserved communities. “It feels good to get new people in the audience and see young people there and see people who haven’t experienced it before,” Nabhan said. “It just feels like we’re doing something worthwhile. So, I’m proud of what we’re doing.” For those able to contribute, Theatre 33 suggests a donation of $20 for main stage shows and $15 for staged readings. The main stage is at the M. Lee Pelton Theatre at 900 State St. Contact reporter Hailey Cook: [email protected] . The post Salem theater festival hopes to draw more local playgoers in its 13th season appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less