Marietta College’s New Plays in One Day Festival will return to the Friederich Theater during Homecoming weekend for its 20th annual event, a 24-hour program in which students write, produce and stage short plays built around a central theme.

The festival begins Friday, Oct. 17, at the Hermann Fine Arts Center, with auditions at 8 p.m. Playwriting takes place overnight, and performances are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. Admission is free and seating is first-come, first-served.

The student-run festival, known as NPIOD, was launched in 2006 by former faculty members Jeffrey Cordell and Jason Hall at the request of then-Director of Theatre Steve Rader. Organizers modeled the format after the University of Pittsburgh’s Redeye Theatre Festival to create a hands-on learning experience for student playwrights and production crews.

Alpha Psi Omega, the college’s theatre honorary society, oversees the festival’s logistics and selects the annual theme, typically aligning it with Homecoming. This year’s college theme is “Serenade.” Each playwright will be assigned a song and a prop chosen by APO members, and both elements must inform the plot.

Performances will be staged in thrust configuration, with audience members on three sides, rather than the Friederich Theater’s traditional proscenium setup.

Unlike some similar programs, NPIOD invites participation from students outside the theatre department and from alumni returning for Homecoming. The condensed schedule also allows first-time performers and non-majors to take part without a long rehearsal period, organizers said.

“It was kind of chaos … barely controlled. But it was a day where every single one of us got to be creative,” said Nathan Bradley, a 2013 graduate and the college’s Head of Design and Technology, recalling his student participation. “NPIOD was our first opportunity to do it ourselves. It reinforced that our classroom education was working, and let us know that when we graduated, we would be able to succeed in the industry without our faculty there.”

APO President Maurice Riley, a junior, said organizers are seeking broad involvement.

“We really want to focus on involving community members and non-majors this year,” Riley said. “If we bring in non-majors, it provides a lot more engagement with the department and opens the door for people to experience theatre creation on their own.”

For participation details, contact Riley at mwr002@marietta.edu. For information on the theatre department’s 2025-26 season, contact department chair Casiha Felt at cas.felt@marietta.edu or visit marietta.edu/theatre-season.