The Stray Kats Theatre Company is planning to present the Third Annual Still Crazy After All These Years! festival of one-act plays celebrating the lives of today’s senior citizens: healthier, more active and engaged than ever before.

The Newtown festival will consist of eight new one-act plays culled from more than 130 submissions, showing passionate, lively seniors whose lives have taken interesting new twists and turns.

Kate Katcher, artistic director of Stray Kats Theatre Company, says she has a special interest in finding and creating new work for older actors.

“We are living longer with greater quality of life than our parents or grandparents ever dreamed of,” she said. “We are vibrant, active, using our time to fulfill lifelong dreams, rekindle relationships, and make the most of the retirement we have earned. We are funny, curious, tender, and wise. We should be celebrated!”

The festival aims to do just that with eight new one-act plays written by a group of award-winning playwrights, including one by Ms Katcher, who is also a playwright and producer.

“We’re very excited with the high caliber of writing from playwrights around the country and the world!,” she said. “The parameters for submitting to the festival were that the plays be 15 minutes or less, not have been published or produced in Connecticut, and that all the characters be over 55 years old.”

This year’s playwrights include Glenn Alterman and Albi Gorn, both of New York; Steven Hayet from New Jersey; Ken Levine and Scott Mullen, both of California; Rex McGregor from New Zealand; and Faye Sholiton of Ohio.

The eight short plays will be performed script-in-hand by a cast of professional actors appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association. This year’s cast features Ms Katcher and Don Striano of Newtown, Bob Ponturo and Nancy Ponturo of Redding, Tom Zingarelli of New Haven, Nadine Willig of Stratford, and Carole Schweid of Westport.

The plays selected for the 2019 presentation of Still Crazy After All These Years are as follows:

*Yours and Mine by Glenn Alterman, in which a secret passion brings a couple closer;

*Wishes by Albi Gorn: If you had three wishes, what would they be?

*The Presidency of William Henry Harrison in Real Time by Steven Hayet, in which the Hall of Presidents is running out of space;

*Blue Sky with Approaching Storm by Kate Katcher: a painting in a gallery conjures memories of first love;

*The Reunion by Ken Levine, during which a chance encounter with an old acquaintance awakens a businessman’s inner child;

*Prepper’s Nightmare by Rex McGregor, in which an obsessed American builds an Undetectable Survival Suite on a remote New Zealand island;

*The Appraisal by Scott Mullen, which finds the host of “The Antiques Roadshow” asked to appraise an unusual item; and

*Heal Thyself by Faye Sholiton: In town for a Psychic convention, an elderly medium delivers a personal message.

Performances are scheduled for The Alexandria Room at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown, on Friday and Saturday, June 7-8, at 7:30 pm; and Sunday, June 9, at 2 pm.

Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for senior citizens, and reservations are strongly suggested.

Tickets may be purchased online at [naviga:u]straykatstheatrecompany.org[/naviga:u] or by calling 203-516-0606. They may also be purchased in person at Queen Street Gifts and Treats, 5 Queen Street in Newtown.

Founded in 2006, Stray Kats is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit professional theater company with a mission of presenting contemporary classics, radio shows from the golden age of radio and new works.

The company has “a considerable collection of plays and can bring presentations of any length to organizations, senior centers, and active 55-plus communities around the region,” according to Ms Katcher.

Groups interested in hosting a performance are encouraged to contact her at the phone number above or [naviga:u]info@straykatstheatrecompany.org[/naviga:u].