With comedy, poignancy, and joy, these short one-acts will delight Merc audiences in the new year. Each piece, specially selected and directed by Artistic Director Ki Gottberg, is arranged around the theme of Getting Through, and all are about new beginnings. Filled with a cast of local, youthful talent, this production kicks off The Merc’s 2017 season of live theater.

Two of the one act plays, Sure Thing & Arabian Nights, were written by David Ives. Audiences loved his play, Venus in Fur, which was on stage at The Merc in July 2016. In Sure Thing, Bill and Betty meet in a café and navigate their way through a conversational minefield on the path to falling in love. In Arabian Nights we meet utterly normal Norman, on the hunt for a souvenir, who walks into utterly ordinary Flora’s shop. Together they find a whirlwind romance, spurred on by a bizarre translator.

Craig Lucas, Tony Award nominee for Light in the Piazza, wrote the third piece of The Merc’s January production, titled Credo, a one act piece in which a solitary being recounts the travails of their life as they create a credo by which they can move into their future. As the new year begins, Getting Through is sure to give both your brain and your funny bone sustenance for the long winter nights.

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DATES: Jan 19, 25-28, 7pm. Sun, Jan 22, 2pm. Pay What You Can Night Wed, Jan 25. TICKETS: $5-$18. LOCATION: Merc Playhouse in Twisp. CONTACT: www.mercplayhouse.org or call 509-997-7529.