The Pear Theatre’s annual production “Pear Slices” is slated to run through Sunday in Mountain View.
“Pear Slices” features eight 10-minute plays from the Pear Playwrights Guild. Troy Johnson and Tessie Corrie co-direct.
Six actors – Vanessa Alvarez, Reg Clay, Artura Dirzo, Lauren Jiang, Jessica Osegueda and Jery Rosas – portray 20 characters throughout the plays. The mini-plays are on topics and themes such as mental health awareness and the pursuit of previously unattained dreams, according to the company press release.
Barbara Anderson’s “On the Ledge” explores the story of two people living similar, isolated lives in New York City. They both live on the 21st floor of an apartment, and after a storm hits, their lives intersect. Anderson said her inspiration for the play stems from a short story she wrote about mutual loneliness.
Returning playwright Leah Halper’s “Destiny Calls” is about Elisa Garcia’s decision to take charge of her life. She has spent more than 20 years raising her grandson, Brenden, after her daughter began abusing substances. Garcia buys a camper trailer in hopes of setting out on an adventure, but her grandson does not want her to go.
“As a community college professor, I have had many wonderful Elisas and Brendens in class,” Harper said. “I wanted to honor their struggles … to cheer on Elisa as she seizes her chance at a new life, and to encourage Brenden to dream beyond Hollister, California.”
Linda Amayo-Hassan’s “Latino Souls” is based on the actual events and experiences in the aftermath of 2017’s Hurricane Maria. Amayo-Hassan wrote the play from the experiences of a Puerto Rican family in mourning. She said the resiliency of the Puerto Rican people spoke to her, inspiring her to write the play.
Anne Yumi Kobori has two plays in “Pear Slices.” Her dark comedy, “At Your Feet,” follows Zizi, a once-talented dancer with a career-threatening injury. “Coffee and Cigarettes” focuses on parents Lila and Aaron as they celebrate their son’s 15th birthday. The play fuses romance, parenthood and what could have been, all with the goal of honoring loved ones and finding peace.
Ron Rosenfeld also has two plays in the production. “Here Today” is about aging and the end of life. A rotary telephone, a copy of the Yellow Pages and an old-fashioned address book find themselves in an antiquated and obsolete closet. “On the Beach, Long Ago” follows Hector the fish and Helen the crustacean, who find themselves washed up on the beach and forced to figure out how to survive on land.
Bridgette Dutta Portman’s “The More Things Change” is about the young couple Millicent and Fendrel in a small 14th-century English town. In their conversations, parallels are drawn between our lives and their lives, with a mysterious disease, personal responsibility, human connections and masks.
Shows are scheduled 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. The Pear Theatre is located at 1110 La Avenida St.
Tickets are $35-$38.
For tickets and more information, call (650) 254-1148 or visit thepear.org/tickets.
