—by Audrey Liebross

Script2Stage2Screen (S2S2S), the theatrical group of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Desert (UUCOD) in Rancho Mirage, California, has announced that it is shutting down its operation on June 30, 2024. S2S2S’s last production, Engagement Rules, will close on June 22nd. In its fifteen financially and critically successful seasons, S2S2S has presented over one hundred  original plays and produced two motion pictures, and a documentary on marriage equality.

Shirley LeMaster, Company Manager and chairperson of the S2S2S Executive Committee Committee, noted that the company has received script submissions from all over the world. She said, “We’ve had an extraordinary run providing unique fully-staged readings of new scripts, utilizing props, costumes and sets.” Ms. LeMaster and her husband, Terry LeMaster, have been involved with S2S2S since its 2010 inception, both as actors and as Executive Committee members.

Over the years, S2S2S has received numerous Desert Star Awards from the Desert Theatre League, which recognizes excellence in local productions. “From the ridiculous to the sublime, we had something for everybody. From thought provoking, gripping drama to belly laugh comedies,” said Artistic Director Steve Fisher.

There are four more staged readings before the closure. All staged readings take place at 7:30 p.m. at UUCOD 72-425 Via Vail in Rancho Mirage.Tickets, available on the website, are $15.00. www.script2stage2screen.com. Reservations to pay by cash or check at the door may be made at script2stage2screen@gmail.com .

The rest of S2S2S’s season consists of:

Life, Love, And The Pursuit, by Shelley Chester (March 22-23, 2024) Maxine Stafford, 67, meets a successful 55-year-old writer, Ryan Allen Squire. As Maxine attempts to play matchmaker for Ryan, the two develop an unlikely friendship that changes both of their lives.

Young Playwrights’ Celebration: Main Character, by Brooklyn Rutledge (April 19-20, 2024). Cass is a completely, totally, absolutely average high school girl, definitely not anybody who would be a main character. She is overly aware of this fact, and yet, here she is dealing with all the annoyances that come from being the star of the show. 

Southlake, by Mike Byham (May 24-25, 2024). We peek in on the life-defining moments of Randall Scott – a Vietnam veteran who with his young, pregnant wife Rose settled into the quiet farming suburb of Southlake, Texas in the early 1970’s. Told through scenes that alternate between the early 70’s and 2022, it’s a story of love, regret, change and redemption. And there’s a ghost.

Engagement Rules, by Rich Orloff (June 21-22, 2024). This comedy follows the intertwined lives of two couples who have become good friends despite (or because of) their multi-decade age gap. Both couples face problems at the intersection of sexuality and spirituality, forcing everyone to face questions that none of them can answer easily.