• "A Happy Valley Picnic," by Jessica Lepinkski; directed by James Arrington; stage manager, Melissa Chung. Cast: Jake Snyder as Bobby and Shelly Thurman as Ruby. Following a similar theme as "DTR," this dating scene takes place at a picnic. The play's message seems overshadowed by too much giddy laughter and gum-chewing. In the end, it almost seemed like one had just watched two people finding a place for a blanket, having some blah-blah discussion, one big hug and kiss and it was over. This script needs a little work.

• "In Cradling Arms," by Melissa Stevens, directed by Kenneth Brown; stage manager, Kimber Starling. Cast: Cody Sorensen as the lieutenant, Elizabeth Vogley as Gretchen, Kristy Knippenberg as the deceased, Gary Reimer as the major. This was a powerful short story about a young Nazi soldier mourning his first victim — a female. His commanding officer makes it worse by ordering him to kill others. The lieutenant finds a woman in Nazi uniform hiding a baby. Events leave him as the caretaker. This short is powerful, emotional and well done.

• "Safe," Karen Richards, directed by Jeffrey M. Van Winkle; stage manager, Melissa Kmetch. Cast: Andrew Fox as Tom, Kaela Keel as Susan and Brian Van Winkle as Leo. This is a twisted story of a young couple who has been taking care of a father whose mind is apparently going downhill. The wife has had it and wants the dad in a home. The son does not. But what does the father want? This piece was well done and catches you off guard.

• "A Radio Play," by Joel Petrie, directed by Mahonri Stewart; stage manager, Mandy Lyons. Cast: Cooper Howell as Herbert, Jeremy Minagro as Rockford, Jamie Denison as Samantha, David Lopez as the radio voice-over, Ashley Rader as Ellie, Jordon Cummings as James, and Ashley Forsythe as Gwendolyn. This short is a lighthearted look at the foibles of putting on a live radio show. The story is fun to watch, particularly the voice-over. It was a good effort, there just could have been more character interpretation on some of the cast's part.

Also featured during the evening were three quirky motion plays that are a part of the National 365 Project, which features a play a day for one year all written by national playwright Suzan-Lori Parks.

Sensitivity rating: Nothing offensive but may be boring for young children.

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E-mail: pugmire@desnews.com