Theater

Eight actors will perform 18 scenes and monologues at 2400 Kettner Blvd., while in Hillcrest 40 actors will perform as many scenes at 1531 Tyler St.

Just to keep both shows at an hour’s length, the pieces will range from two to three minutes with set changes averaging about 30 seconds. No, these are not exercises in speed, but exercises designed to interest local agents in local actors.

Mary Crosby, an agent who plans to go to both, calls the showcases “excellent” and says she has signed more than a dozen actors in the last two years from such productions.

The downtown production will be staged by Lietta Harvey Productions and is the seventh such showcase mounted in the last two years by Lietta Harvey, a Los Angeles actress and director who came to San Diego four years ago to “put down roots.”

The second will be put on by D.J. Sullivan, who has been staging such shows in San Diego for at least 20 years.

Lietta Harvey Productions will stage Friday performances at noon and 6:30 p.m. for the industry (they will include half-hour pre-show buffets) and a preview performance at 7 p.m. Thursday open to the public. The D.J. Sullivan showcase will be at 7 p.m. Thursday. All shows are free.