Stepping away from professional theater companies for more amateur (and sometimes, surprisingly sophisticated) stagings can be a refreshing, experimental experience. That's even more so when the works are original, like those of Uni-Wrights, a playwright group that meets regularly at UNC Charlotte. The group has teamed up with UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture and the Department of Theatre for Center City Scenes, a newbie festival showcasing plays by local playwrights. In total, the inaugural event features six short plays — each about 15 minutes long — with both university students and professional actors. This includes Mark Pizzato's A Bite in the Brain, about a UNC Charlotte senior who returns home after her mother's death to find an magical doorway through her iPod and bedroom wall, and Jeanmarie Higgins' Getting In, a play that debates what's better: getting into a concert or the overall waiting process. Others include Stacey Rose's Tis Passed By, Don Cook's 6-Foot Under/5-Foot Over, Timothy Baxter-Ferguson's Some Assembly, and Ann Marie Oliva's Cleopatra's Nose — which stars Warehouse PAC's Marla Brown as a professor who faces a serious dilemma when two of her grad students confront her with some unsettling news.

Anita Overcash

Price: Free admission.