"Hungarian Rhapsody: An Electroglide in Blue" will be one of three short plays staged Saturday at the Succop Theater on the Butler County Community College campus. Rehearsing, from left, are Jim Weed, Dean Weiland, Susan Changnon and Tabitha Kupec, examining the stolen violin at the center of this original script by Don Orwald. The entry won first place in the 76th Annual Writer's Digest competition.

BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College will present "An Evening of Short Plays by Don Orwald" at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Succop Theater.

The three short plays include "Hungarian Rhapsody: An Electroglide in Blue," a prize winning script from the 76th Annual Writer's Digest competition; "Armageddon Forgiven," an honorable mention recipient in the 77th Annual Writer's Digest competition and "The Spirit of '76' 2004."

None of these plays has been seen before.

"I've had plays staged before, but not these," Orwald said.

A Butler native, Orwald resides in Granbury, Texas. He taught English and theater at Knoch High School for 31 years. He is a graduate of Slippery Rock University and Indiana (Pa.) University.

A local director is in charge of each of the shows. They are Larry Stock, Bob Meals and Rikki Stupka. They have auditioned their own casts.

"I'm not doing the shows myself since I'm 2,000 miles away, but I'm comfortable that the people who are directing tell me it's going OK," Orwald said. "They haven't asked me to change anything with the scripts."

Orwald said he has staged shows long distance before and is always impressed with the quality of work that results.

While residing in Butler, he was active as an actor and director for the Butler Little Theatre and Musical Theatre Guild. Orwald's original one-man show, in which he performed as Mark Twain, is well-known throughout Western Pennsylvania. He also appeared as General Richard Butler for the 200th anniversary of the founding of Butler County.

Saturday's performance is dedicated to the memory of Mary Jo Mohn Covert, Orwald's long-time friend and local theater patron and supporter.

Single show ticket pricing is $15 in advance, $18 at the door and $10 for students. To order reserved seat tickets, call 724-284-8505 or toll-free 888-826-2829 Ext. 8429, or order online at bc3.edu/theater.

Orwald, who said he writes every day, is working on a play about actor Lew Ayres, who played the lead in the original version of "All Quiet on the Western Front" in 1930 but then became a vocal pacifist and disappeared from the movies for awhile.