The Third Year theater festival opened at the Roxy Garden in Missoula, presenting eight original short plays tonight and promising eight more the following evening, producer and dramaturg Sean Gannett said.

The festival is a nonprofit production that drew more than 30 submissions and three rounds of reader selection before the roster grew to 16 chosen plays, Gannett said. "We were aiming for 10, and it grew to 16. So you're going to see 8 tonight," he told the audience. The program pairs early‑career and experienced writers with actors and is explicitly presented as plays in development.

Why it matters: the festival is intended to showcase new local and national playwrights and to give writers staged readings that they can revise based on audience reactions. Gannett emphasized the role of the audience in the process, saying, "We always say the first ear is the writer. The second ear comes from our actors. And the third ear, which is the keenest of all, is you, the audience." He encouraged attendees to submit feedback through a QR form distributed at the event and said those responses will be shared with the writers.

Event details: Gannett acknowledged two board members in the house, Rita Barkey and Jay Kettering, and credited venue staff and volunteers by name — John Budge booked the space, David Mills Lowe helped hang lights and opened for the company at an earlier showing, and Nathan Cormick also works at the Roxy. The producer said the festival is being filmed by MCAT and that the series is supported by a media arts grant from the same organization: "We're funded by a media arts grant from MCAT," Gannett said. He also said a link to MCAT's YouTube channel will be posted on the festival website so people who cannot return in person can view the second half of the program online.

Logistics mentioned from the stage included a 15‑minute intermission, directions to the restrooms (out and around to the front of the Roxy), and an on‑site request to silence cell phones. Gannett also noted a promotional pricing detail from the stage: audience members who return the next night can "get a $55 off your ticket," the announcement said.

Sponsors and community partners named during the program included Rockin' Rudy's, the Bell Pipe and Tobacco Shop, Anaconda Ensemble Theater, Miscast Production, and other local companies. Gannett closed the night's introductions by thanking the sponsors and inviting the audience back the following evening for the remaining eight plays.

The Third Year festival positions itself as a community laboratory for writers and actors; organizers said audience feedback and the MCAT recording will be part of each play's development record.