After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Island Theatre’s Ten-Minute Play Festival is back.

Tickets are free and can be reserved at https://link.islandtheatre.org/tmpf.

The plays will be fully staged in four shows Aug. 18-20 at Bainbridge Cinemas. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. each day with an additional matinee at 3 p.m. Aug. 20.

In its ninth iteration, the festival features 10 of Kitsap County’s best short plays penned by local playwrights. The plays have been selected from over 60 submissions. Plays are helmed by 10 local directors and cast with over two dozen local actors. Works range from serious drama to light-hearted comedy, from fantasy to social commentary.

The 10 plays are:

• “A Murder of Crows” by Lee Lawing: A gift of art from a friend brings affectionate gratitude into conflict with aesthetic tastes.

• “A Nip in The Autumn Air” by Jeffrey Brown: A retired couple share a round of pre-dinner cocktails and a slice of conversation that adds up their life together in rumor, truth and unresolved grievance.

• “Best Case Scenario” by Dan Rosenberg: What if the results of your creative writing caused a visitation by an agent from the future?

• “Hijab” by Catherine Rush: An immigrant couple struggles with fitting their cherished culture into their bold new lives in a confusing new country.

• “Losing Tucker” by Paul Lewis: There seems to be some confusion about the whereabouts of a beloved pet; comedy ensues.

• “Maisie, Max and Milo” by Maria Viera Beatty: Maisie is looking for something when met by Max and Milo. Street denizens with philosophical pretensions, when a director materializes, and … they’re making a movie?

• “Nacirema’s Revenge” by Henry Bacon: A contented couple has an unexpected caller leading to a surreal and satiric rumination on the Cultural Divide in America.

• “The End” by Olivia Vessenes: Two youths attempt to define and align their mutual perceptions of their emerging relationship—or if there is a relationship.

• “The Winner” by Lori Londagan: A trio of young associates endeavor to use their theater skills to launch their careers with an edgy writing contest that will attract and inspire wounded misfits… like themselves.

• “Vesper” by Miranda Ray: A pair of co-workers at a technical enterprise discuss a kind of apocalyptic couples therapy as a possible solution to an existential dilemma.

The festival is partly supported by grants and donations from the city of BI Cultural Fund and One Call For All.