PlayFest Santa Barbara will present the Tenth Annual Festival of New Plays, featuring a free staged reading of Jon Klein’s Honoree Play, “FAITHLESS,” 6 p.m. Saturday, April 22 in the Santa Barbara Central Library’s Faulkner Gallery, 40 E. Anapamu St.

“FAITHLESS” was selected as the 2022 Honoree Play following an international competition.

For the fourth year, PlayFest is partnering with the Santa Barbara Public Library.

“Partnering with the Santa Barbara Public Library, and hosting the event at the Central Library, enables PlayFest to reach the greater Santa Barbara community and offers participants a unique opportunity to learn about the playwriting process,” said Michael Gros, artistic director. The library offers free programming to the community.

“FAITHLESS,” a comedy/drama takes place in the present. It is about an aging atheist named Gus, recovering from cancer, who is forced to deal with two grown stepchildren: a Presbyterian minister who is suffering from a crisis of faith, and a young woman who seems to have had a glimpse of the afterlife after a head injury. 

Gus is also dismayed by his adopted child, a teenager who suddenly decides she’d like to be a nun.

A talk-back between the audience and the playwright will follow the reading.

The festival also incorporates a free playwriting workshop taught by Klein, 10-11:30 a.m. April 22 in the Faulkner Gallery.

Open to anyone age 16 and older, the workshop offers a series of short individual and group writing exercises. Participants will explore and deepen their playwriting skills and begin to create a short written theatrical work.

Klein will share aspects of his professional playwriting career. No experience is necessary, however, an interest in playwriting is a plus.

While free to attend, reservations are required as capacity in the workshop is limited. Reserve your spot int the library’s calendar.

Klein is the author of more than 30 produced plays, staged Off-Broadway and in regional theaters, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage in D.C., Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, and Seattle Children’s Theatre.

For more, visit www.jon-klein.com/about.