Previewing ‘An Improbable Peck of Plays: Volume VI’
Published on August 13, 2026
Theater Artists Olympia (TAO) is bringing back a beloved tradition for two weekends only: An Improbable Peck of Plays. Purchase your ticket here before the show sells out!
You may be wondering: What exactly is a “peck of plays,” and what makes them improbable? Producer John Serembe helps answer these questions and more, giving us insight into the heart and creative process behind TAO’s unique tradition.
Towards the end of this article, you will find a list of cast, crew, and the names of plays being performed.
With all of that in mind, enjoy this sneak peek of An Improbable Peck of Plays: Volume VI.
Sneak Peek of Peck
Benton: For those experiencing this tradition for the first time, what can they expect?
Serembe: “There will be a big mix of people and plays, including 8 directors, 8 plays, and 14 actors (some who will be playing more than one role). Each play is only 10 minutes long, and there will be one intermission after the 4th play. Content-wise, nothing goes beyond PG-13.”
“Many of the plays submitted were local plays, most of which were supplied by Bryan Willis and his Northwest Playwrights Alliance group. They’re all different: some are funny, others serious. Some are absurd, and some are realistic. This is quite a collection of plays — if you don’t appreciate one of them, stick around because you might like the next one.”
“It’s a big variety evening. You might laugh, get misty; it’s a mixed bag with something for everybody.”
“The directors selected by TAO read all the plays and picked which one they wanted to do. Luckily, there were no duplications; everybody chose different plays, so there were no arguments.”
Benton: I’m curious, how do you curate something like that? How do you know the order in which to present the plays?
Serembe: “It really depends on the play, the feeling of the play. The running order depends on the content of the plays. I am the one determining the order, and it will be sort of standard. Start big and funny, end big and funny, and scatter the rest in the middle as fits.”
“An ending play has a certain finality to it, a certain ‘call to arms’ with a nice panache for a finish. The beginning one has the purpose of hooking you in.”
“This is the seventh Peck of Plays that we’ve done. We skipped the COVID years, and the years we did not have a permanent home, we stopped. Now that we’re here, we’re doing it again. We’ll do it every summer when we can.”
Benton: Can you tell me more about TAO’s seasonal rotation?
Serembe: “Traditionally, we do four plays a year: one in the early Spring, one in the late Spring, Peck of Plays in the Summer, and a play in the Fall. This Fall, we will be doing A Spirited Manor, opening on October 23rd.”
“We prefer to do plays during those seasons mainly because the places we’ve been in have been either too hot or too cold, you know? In the past, we generally did not have heating or air conditioning in our places, so Spring and Fall were the best times for shows when it was neither too hot nor too cold. [Luckily], this theater [the Jefferson St. Arts Center] has nice air conditioning and heating, so we don’t have that constraint any longer.”
“During the run of Peck of Plays, there will be advertisements on the wall for upcoming events being held in this venue.”
“Part of the onus of receiving the Inspire Olympia grant, which we are so grateful for, is that we provide a low-cost venue for other artists and organizations. There’s a dearth of venues in this town, really very few places that people could perform without it costing them a fortune. We are helping to provide them with space by renting it out.
“We are going to have CTE in there doing workshops for kids, stand-up comics, Harlequin Productions will do some of their rehearsals here, and Sound Mosaic, an LGBTQ+ choral organization, will do a show here. John Longenbaugh with Battleground Productions is doing a Christmas Show, Christmastown, here this year.”
Benton: What does it feel like as an actor to do Peck of Plays versus a normal play?
Serembe: “As an actor, doing different roles is interesting. There is the adage that you don’t want to be typecast in one sort of role, and with Peck of Plays, there is an opportunity to play a whole bunch of different characters. Some actors are in three plays and get to play three different characters throughout the evening. It’s fun to play a variety of characters because it stretches your range, really tests you, and allows you to show your versatility.”
“Peck of Plays offers the opportunity to work with and be seen by a bunch of different directors. We had a nice crowd come to audition, and that too was a nice chance to get your face out there for other projects that these directors might take on later.”
“Plus, it’s 10-minute plays, and it is not terribly hard to memorize a 10-minute play. It’s not as big of an ask as an entire full-length play.”
“I spent twenty years doing theater in LA, and I know what it’s like when you are in a show and are trying to showcase yourself for other purposes for casting directors of television, movies, that sort of thing. Olympia is different in a few ways. In one way, actors who are truly involved in a show are not making it about self-promotion. For them, it is more about doing a really good job in a show they’re in, which I really appreciate. No one is just out for themselves; they’re more for the group and the play. It’s a bonus that you get to be seen by all these different directors, but mostly people come out because they want to do a show and get involved in our artistic community.”
“In many other arts communities, there is competition between theaters for acting talent, whereas here, everybody works everywhere, and everyone shares.”
Benton: Thinking about Peck of Plays, what set design and transitions usually entail?
Serembe: “There will be a projection screen in the back, and we will be projecting an image behind the actors that pertains to their show. Other than that, there’ll be little set pieces like a chair, table, stuff that easily brought on and brought off before the next show because they proceed very quickly one after the other.”
Benton: What do audiences gain from experiencing such a variety of plays in one production?
Serembe: “You know, it’s rare, in one evening, to have your mind twisted in so many different ways. Some are poetic, some are absurd, and some are endearing. You rarely go to a theater and experience all these things in one evening.”
“You’ve got a variety of experiences here and any one of these could conceivably, in the future, be drawn out to a much longer play. These are sort of like snippets that get a point across. In many cases, these snippets will give you something to think about and talk about afterward.”
“Ultimately, you coming out to Peck of Plays supports a lot of artistic talent in this town. All the plays, actors, directors, and crew are local. All Pacific Northwest, mostly from Olympia. Our large community of artists includes projection, prop, costume, lighting, umpteen types of designs, all of which you support by coming.”
Support this powerful peck of people & plays. Purchase your ticket here before the show sells out!
A List of a Powerful Peck of People & Plays
Peck of Plays:
A Dark Letter by Hannah Eklund
American Gothic by Mia Tierney
How the Wind Howls by Parker Curtiss-Knox
LA 8 AM by Mark Harvey Levine
Sheetcakes of Destiny by Brendan Healy
The Active Oval by John Mabey
The Awesome Power of the Black & Decker LH5000 12 Amp Variable Speed Electric Leaf Hog Blower by Bryan Willis
The Evolution of Chaos by Bryan Willis
Directors (alphabetized by last name):
Kate Ayers
Teresita Brimms
pug Bujeaud
Andrew Gordon
John Longenbaugh
Gabriel McClelland
Dennis Rolly
Brennan Tucker
Crew (alphabetized by last name):
Marko Bujeaud: Technical Director
Michael Christopher: Lighting Design
Jamie Crawford Kidd: Costume Design
George Dougherty: House Manager
Chuck Meares: Stagehand
Gail Rolly: Property Master
John Serembe: Producer/Projection
Dale Sharp: Assistant Costumer
Richard Wheeler: Stage Manager
Actors (alphabetized by last name):
Bitsy Bidwell
Celestine Buendia
Hannah Eklund
Isaac Delarme
Alex Greene
Lesley Gordon
Jeremy Holien
Brian Kahn
Kelli Midgley
Kyle Murphy
Dale Sharp
John Serembe
Andrea Weston-Smart
Gary Zinter