HCC alumni perform a piece at a previous Phillips Festival.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
HOLYOKE — The annual Phillips Festival will be returning for its eighth year on Saturday, Sept. 20, starting at 7:30 p.m.
The festival features an evening of short plays written, directed and staged in 24 hours by Holyoke Community College alumni, students, staff and friends.
The festival raises money for the Leslie Phillips Theater Fund for Arts and Education, honoring the legacy of Leslie Phillips, founder of the HCC theater program.
To produce the Leslie Phillips Festival, HCC alumni, students, staff and friends register to participate as writers, directors, actors or members of the stage crew.
This year, writers will meet with the actors on Friday, Sept. 19, the night before the show, to receive props, prompts and character assignments. They have until 6 a.m. the next morning to write their plays. Two hours later, actors and directors meet for day-long rehearsals.
All the original plays will be performed on Sept. 20, starting at 7:30 p.m., but the festivities begin at 6 p.m. in the theater lobby with a green carpet pre-show with alumni, friends and fellow theater lovers.
Funds raised from the festival enable the HCC Theater Department to host master classes, make capital improvements and hire guest artists.
The festival was first organized in 2016 by HCC alumni working with now retired HCC theater professor Pat Sandoval, a 1984 graduate, as a tribute to Phillips, who died in 1988, after inspiring legions of HCC students.
HCC Alumni Relations Assistant Director Natalia Castagno talked about how special the event is for the college and community while also serving as a great way to keep alumni involved with campus.
“The Phillips Theater Festival is a wonderful celebration of creativity, connection and community. It offers our theater alumni a meaningful way to stay engaged with HCC, while also inviting local artists and supporters to help inspire and uplift the next generation of performers. The festival is a wonderful way to support the arts at HCC and carry on the legacy of one of HCC’s most beloved mentors,” Castagno stated.
To participate in the festival as a writer, actor, director or stagehand, readers can register at hcc.edu/phillips-signup or email Terry Hegarty at tlhegarty@yahoo.com.
Festival tickets can be purchased in advance at hcc.edu/phillips-2025 or bought at the door.
General admission tickets are $15; students and seniors are $10.
