Arianna’s play The Marcy Case is this year’s site-specific play which will be performed at the Fredericton Public Library July 30, August 2 and August 5.

Arianna Martinez makes her NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival debut this summer with her play, The Marcy Case.

Marcy’s serving serious time at the library for committing a serious crime. Will she be able to find the man who can restore her Great Expectations and deliver her from one Dickens of a problem?

In advance of the play’s July 30 debut, we caught up with Arianna for a quick chat about the play, playwriting and what it means to be part of this year’s NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival lineup.

How did you first come involved in theatre?

I first became involved in theatre in high school being a part of the musical productions and drama club. I continued my involvement at St. Thomas University by majoring in English with a Concentration in Drama and participating in Theatre St. Thomas.

Your work is this year’s featured site-specific play. Can you tell me a bit about the play and why you chose to set it in a library?

The site-specific pieces are often held outside, highlighting the variety of beautiful and historical parts of Fredericton. I love the public library and thinks it’s a wonderful spot in downtown Fredericton. It’s an amazing resource that I think many people forget about. I thought it would be a fun spot to feature a piece, and ideally would be done indoors, so I wrote The Marcy Case around the idea of it taking place in there.

Have you done a lot of playwriting in the past?

This is only the second play I’ve ever written. The majority of my writing is for film. There’s a huge difference in the way you write for stage and for the screen, so having a location in mind for this piece was essential for me. For both film and theatre, I started out on-stage/on-screen and then jumped into the behind the scenes work.

Finally, let’s have some love for NotaBle Acts. Tell us why you think this festival is so important. 

This festival is INCREDIBLE. It showcases an incredibly wide variety of talent. It gives writers, actors, directors, and stage hands an opportunity to shine and flex their creative muscles. It’s a safe space for people to try new things and be surrounded by supportive artists that want to see the creative community grow.

I can tell you right now if it weren’t for NotaBle Acts, I never would have started writing plays. The Festival is always a summer highlight for me and many others!

Catch Arianna Martinez’s play The Marcy Case, July 30 (4 p.m.), August 2 (7:30 p.m.) and August 5 (3 p.m.) at The Fredericton Public Library. | Admission is free. View Event