THEATER : Students’ Own Work Is Put in the Spotlight : OCC troupe’s festival, which begins tonight, marks the first time the college has staged a collection of full-length works created, directed and acted by members.

Rick Golson expected the usual when he asked members of the Orange Coast College Repertory Company for suggestions on what to stage for the troupe’s annual summer festival: maybe a Beckett, a couple of Mamets and, of course, a Shepard or two.

What Golson wasn’t expecting were all the original, student-written dramas and comedies that ended up in his office. Sixteen in all--a pretty big haul for the small but feisty troupe that is run, for the most part, by the students who belong to it.

“Some were quite good (and) it just seemed natural to put this together,” said Golson, an OCC drama instructor and the repertory’s faculty adviser.

The eight-play festival, which begins tonight with a double bill (“Born in Brooklyn,” a musical by Joe Mulroy, and “Concentrate on You,” a comedy by Scott Aukerman and B. J. Porter) and continues nightly through Aug. 11 in the Drama Lab Studio, is the first time OCC has staged a collection of full-length works created, directed and acted by students.

The campus regularly presents a series of student one-acts, but Golson said this represents an ambitious step in the repertory’s development. He added that many of the productions, while mounted on a tiny budget, should, at the least, be provocative.

“It really does run the gamut, to be honest,” Golson said. “Some of the shows are really good with very intriguing ideas, and others are pretty rough. . . . We have shows that are more fantasy-oriented and ones that are more naturalistic. Some of the writers focus on their own experiences, others project and imagine. . . .

“The ones that are the best are marked by believable dialogue and interesting plots. The ones that aren’t, unfortunately, are less witty and missing that special quality of dialogue.

“If people show up with an open mind and realize that these are all works-in-progress, I think they’ll be entertained. I think (the best of them) take some chances.”

That’s been the repertory’s history: Over the past seven years, it has tackled such difficult works as Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” with an enthusiasm approaching giddiness. The troupe hasn’t always received high marks for sophistication--many productions yuk it up, too often missing a play’s finer points--but at least it picks challenging and unusual material.

Golson stressed that the repertory was created to give students the freedom to make mistakes, all with the goal of learning firsthand the demands of real theater. The festival is an ideal working example of that, he noted.

“This is really their program. They’re the ones who are getting the experience of producing and putting on their own plays. They are learning how to adapt writing to fit the needs of the stage.

“They find out what is funny and what isn’t, within the theatrical limits. They also find how much work, from acting to directing to setting up the scenery, it requires. It’s a growing experience.”

Scott Aukerman, the only repertory member with two plays (besides co-writing “Concentrate on You,” he wrote “God’s Comic,” which opens Thursday night), is one who has benefited. The 21-year-old said his involvement with the repertory should help him as he pursues a professional career combining screenwriting and acting.

“To me, it’s the best program of its kind in the Southern California area, as far as (community) colleges go,” he said. “What’s good about it is that you have the opportunity to try things out without a lot of censorship.”

As for his two festival contributions, Aukerman explained that he turned to a few theatrical heavyweights for inspiration. His full-length “God’s Comic,” Aukerman noted, is in the style of Mamet, Harold Pinter and David Rabe, and focuses on five characters who “find out about themselves” during a trip to Las Vegas.

“Concentrate on You” is “more clearly a comedy, with snappier dialogue and more jokes” about a small-fry con man who gets involved in a scheme that’s over his head. “I really liked the (Jonathan Demme) movie ‘Something Wild’ and it was probably the main influence.”

* Orange Coast College Repertory Company’s student play festival begins tonight with “Born in Brooklyn” at 5 and “Concentrate on You” at 8:30. New plays will be offered nightly at 5 and 8:30 through Aug. 11 at the Drama Lab Studio, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Tickets: Free, but a $3 donation is requested. Information: (714) 432-5880.