The event, today through Sunday, showcases the works of six playwrights. A symposia, "Power, the Press and Plays," led by playwrights Bernard Weinraub and Tony Award winner Terrence McNally, will begin at 7:30 tonight.

All performances and the symposium will take place in the Zalk Theater at Besant Hill School, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road, Ojai. Tickets cost $30 per play or symposium. Call 640-0400 or visit http://www.ojaiplays.org.

Play schedule

"I Am Montana" by Sam Hunter, 6 p.m. Friday. In this "dark take on the destruction of the small-town American landscape and minimum-wage employees," Eben Shamir, after a stint in the Israeli army, returns home to Montana to work for his mega-retail employer, Valumart.

"The Sandreckoner" by Dan Dietz, 9 p.m. Friday. Harold Bix tries to figure out why his life has fallen apart in this "darkly comedic mystery about violence, the suburbs and the search for answers."

"Language Rooms" by Yussef El Guindi, 4 p.m. Saturday. This dark comedy centers on two Arab-American translators at a CIA interrogation site for prisoners.

"Eclipsed" by Danai Gurira, 8 p.m. Saturday. Five women in a Liberian war zone make unexpected connections.

"Nine Circles" by Bill Cain, 2 p.m. Sunday. The U.S. government seeks the death penalty for a 19-year-old American soldier.

"Unusual Acts of Devotion" by McNally, 4 p.m. Sunday. Five people meet on a New York City rooftop to explore what they do in the name of love.