Aspiring authors and actors will have an opportunity to have their original works produced live before a studio audience at the Infinity Visual and Performing Arts cafe this summer.

Infinity is currently holding a new script-writing contest that welcomes submissions from its students and the community at large. The contest was recently initiated alongside the creation of Infinity’s new Repertory Theater, and is intended to pave the way for live productions of original works written by residents of the Greater Jamestown area.

“We like promoting original works of art,” said Shane Hawkins, executive director of Infinity. “We’ve done a lot with music and visual arts in the past, but have never done anything with original theater work. We wanted to start small and see what was out there to try and spark that creativity in the area.”

The contest is open to individuals of all ages, and encourages them to submit their works as well as audition for the new Infinity Repertory Theater. Various types of scripts – including skits, monologues, plays and poems – will be accepted through the March 31 deadline. Contest guidelines require: a $5 fee for each submission; inclusion of the author’s name, email address and phone number; and that all submissions be typed, completely original and have a maximum performance length of 15 minutes. The focus topic can be the writer’s choice.

“We’re starting small because we want to see what we can build. Plus, creating something that’s only 15 minutes in length is much less intimidating than writing a full-length production,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins added Infinity is promoting original works so as to generate creativity among area residents, thereby filling a niche that has not previously been explored. In this way, she said, the Infinity Repertory Theater will not act as competition to the several other area theater groups, which regularly bring quality productions of known works to the area.

“This is an opportunity to promote community and internal works,” she said. “We don’t have the budget or interest in putting on plays that have already been performed in our area, or in competing with other theater groups. We’re really interested in the creativity of our own community, and what we can do differently from what everybody else is doing really well.”

The submissions will not be read or voted upon until after the March 31 deadline. The scripts that are selected will be performed in a 90-minute production over the summer, on a date to be determined, under the direction of Adam Owens, Infinity’s theater instructor.

Anyone interested in auditioning for the Infinity Repertory Theater can do so by emailing irt@infinityperformingarts.org with their name, address, phone number and acting age range. They can also mail the above information to Infinity Visual and Performing Arts Inc., ATTN: IRT, 301 E. Second St., Lynn Building, Suite 101, Jamestown, NY, 14701.

For more information on the script-writing contest or the Infinity Repertory Theater, call 664-0991 or visit www.infinityperformingarts.org.