PCA Presents FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES Today, 7/14

Following the success of last year's Dirty Laundry Female Playwrights Festival, Little Black Dress INK and the Prescott Center for the Arts have partnered again to produce From the Mouths of Babes Female Playwrights Festival today, July 14 at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. This year's festival line-up will feature productions of nine original plays, three of which are by Quad-City area playwrights.

From the Mouths of Babes will be the second installment of the Female Playwrights Onstage Project, created by Prescott Valley resident Tiffany Antone. The event at the Prescott Center for the Arts will serve as a kick-off for the "traveling" festival, which will also feature a reading in Los Angeles and a production in Minneapolis.

"After the response to Dirty Laundry last year, I immediately started making plans for this year's festival," said Antone. "It's incredibly encouraging that Prescott audiences are so supportive and I'm thrilled to be expanding in such a unique way."

With the PCA serving as the hub, Prescott directors, actors, and crew members will present the first production of the nine plays. "We managed to get a really nice mix of genres this year, and the plays are actually a little bit more comedic than Dirty Laundry," said Antone. "I think it was the prompt, From the Mouths of Babes, that just lent itself to all sorts of silly, odd, and surprisingly poignant ideas." Antone promises that audiences will be taken through a range of emotions as they are entertained and enlightened through the humor and pathos of the various plays.

In addition to the unique structure of the festival, an added bonus is that the public can follow the process along at www.littleblackdressink.org where the playwrights, directors, and other participants will be blogging prior to the festival. Patrons will also get the opportunity to interact with the playwrights in attendance following the festival.

However, the women who have written the plays won't be the only beneficiaries, as a portion of the proceeds from the festival will be donated to Stepping Stones Agencies. "Like the Prescott Area Women's Shelter, who we partnered with last year, Stepping Stones is an important organization in our area providing crucial services for women in need and their children," said Antone. "I see these festivals as a way of creating opportunities for all women, not just the ones being represented onstage."

From the Mouths of Babes will be performed at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM, today July 14. $15 at the door or can be ordered online at www.pca-az.net or by phone at 928-445-3286. Prescott Center for the Arts is located at 208 N. Marina St. in Prescott, Arizona.

Be advised: The plays do contain mature subject matter and language.