For years, theatre festivals have showcased some of the most amazing pieces of work. From Shakespeare to George Bernard Shaw; theatre festivals give us a taste of some great material. Many places in America have put on theatre festivals for a long time; places like New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., and many more have put together some well-known festivals.

  Tampa has always been excluded from that list – until now. This past Labor Day weekend, Tampa hosted its first ever theatre festival at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and at Stageworks Theatre.

  The man behind this inaugural theatre festival is actor and producer Rory Lawrence. Lawrence is from Mulberry, Florida, and was in high school when he decided that acting was what he wanted to do. Lawrence began attending plays and taking acting classes in high school with the hope of one day becoming a professional actor.

  After high school, Lawrence moved to Tampa and decided to attend an acting school where he was introduced to method acting.

  After participating and writing his own plays and applying his method acting to his work, Lawrence founded the RL Stage Company and began checking out theatre festivals all over America.

  Fairly quickly, Lawrence began wondering why there was not a theatre festival in Tampa – Tampa was already supporting other festivals like the Gasparilla Film Festival and the Gasparilla Music Festival so a theatre festival felt like the most logical step for Lawrence. He got together with his company and contacted the people that work at the Straz Center and worked to create Tampa’s first theatre festival.

  The festival consisted of five plays that were shown at the Straz Center and a variety of workshops by professional performers held at Stageworks Theater. It also consisted of competitions, a meet and greet with some agencies and directors, and an awards party to congratulate the winners of the various competitions that were held.

  The five plays there were shown during the weekend were “Death Row,” “Saul’s Juke Joint,” “Seasons,” “The Year of Independent Living,” and “East Lansing.”

  “Death Row” is a thrilling play that tells a story about a murderer, a child molester, a preacher, and a man abused as a child who find themselves on death row. It makes you question whether these men should be on death row and if they even are the ones responsible for the crimes that they are facing. It is truly a play that will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you feel like you are going through this journey along with the actors.

  “Saul’s Juke Joint” is a musical about Florida in 1938. At first everything is fun and people are dancing and drinking at Saul’s having the time of their life. Very suddenly their lives turn upside down because of their mayor trying to shut down the popular juke joint. Their lives go from carefree to secretive and dangerous all in the blink of an eye.

  “Seasons” is a musical that shows us that love is an essential part of life. It goes from showing how Hope and her mother, Mrs. Jones, are dealing with a cancer diagnosis, to how Paul and Helen are falling in love after they, unexpectedly, have a baby. This play makes you really see love in a different light, and makes it something that we all need to go through in order to live.

  “The Year of Independent Living” is a hilarious play about a husband and father that have been separated after the son tells his dad he must move out because the son’s wife doesn’t want the father living with them anymore. After the father leaves the son’s house, the wife goes on to give the son divorce papers and leaves him all alone. The son and father must now learn to live on their own for the first time ever. This play takes us through a funy and humerous journey that’ll leave you in tears from laughing so much.

  The last play, “East Lansing,” is about a grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Ryan, living alone and depressed. During a dinner, Mary decides that she has had enough of this life and wants to live a completely different life. She changes her entire life and engages in a much more enjoyable life.

  Along with the plays, the festival offered many workshops to teach us about the business. The workshops were about the business of acting, auditioning, improvisation and playwriting. These workshops weren’t just workshops where a professional talks the entire time about the topic; these workshops gave you the chance to walk up to the stage and get involved in the activities.

  The workshops were run by some big professionals in the theater world. The names included Tasha Smith, from Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married?” and “Why Did I Get Married Too?”, Libya Pugh, Gavin Hawk, Georgia Mallory Guy, Nate Jacobs, Corrine Broskette, Anne Brennen, Jayne Trinette, and,Keith Arsenault.

  The festival turned out to be an amazing event and the plays were packed – two of the plays, “Saul’s Juke Joint” and “East Lansing,” were completely sold out.

  For 2015, Lawrence hopes to add more plays and get more celebrity guests to participate. For more information visit: tampabaytheatrefestival.com.