By Allison Pless

The 8th Annual New Play Competition from TeCo Theatrical Productions, Inc., which opened Feb. 5, is a blast from the past -- the 1980s, the theme for this year's entries. The competition is held once again at the Bishop Arts Theater Center, 215 S. Tyler (just north of Jefferson Blvd.), and features the work of seven playwrights.

Play topics range from funny to poignant and cover dating, school days, families, historical figures -- a variety pack of emotions. And throughout, music from the 1980s provided the soundtrack. (Photo of six of the playwrights by Milton Tatum)

The plays and playwrights, listed in order as they appear in the program, are: 84 by Jonathan Norton; Waltzing Matilda's by Carol M. Rice; The Cosby's: The Lost Episode by Buster Spiller; Date Three, Date Four: '83-'84 by Rodney Dobbs; Love, Snakes and Thriller by Rodman Goode; To The Max by Camika Spencer; and Back in the Day: Or How To Transcend The Mix-Tape by Phillip Morales.

Competition rules limit the number of cast members in each play and allow for minimal sets. But while the one-act plays provide only glimpses into their particular subjects, several actors gave excellent performances -- crucial to selling the plays. This is, after all, a competition.

Because this is a competition, you will not find reviews of each play here. Audience members should be allowed to draw their own conclusions and decide what they like or dislike. All of the playwrights have put their time and themselves into their scripts and deserve to be judged fairly and without bias. You will laugh, you will remember, you may feel nostalgic for some things while being glad others are long gone as you revisit the 1980s.

At the end of each set of performances, audience members vote for their favorite play on ballots. On the last day of the competition (Feb. 21), votes will be tallied and the winner receives $1000 and two roundtrip airline tickets.

The plays -- each no longer than 20 minutes -- will be performed for two more weekends through Sunday, Feb. 21. Performances start at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 3 p.m. on Sundays. Plan on spending approximately 2 1/2 hours at the theater -- the seven plays are performed back to back with one intermission. Seating is reserved; to purchase tickets, go to www.tecotheater.org or call the box office for group tickets at 214-948-0716. Street parking is limited, but additional parking is available one block away at 10th and Tyler in the Grace Temple Baptist Church parking lot.

TeCo's New Play Competition -- based in our own Oak Cliff -- is a great opportunity to see emerging local talent and show your support for the arts community.