Circle Rising, a mini-festival of 12 short plays by writers who went to "boot camp" with Paula Vogel in a seminar sponsored by A.S.K. Theater Projects in 1997, will take place Feb. 16-22 at the Zephyr Theater. The plays are fully staged workshops (not readings) and are presented free of charge to the public, though reservations are required.

The playwrights represented on bills of three plays each are: Jake Jay Clark, Heather Dundas, David Rambo, Monica Palacios, Matt Pelfrey, Cody Henderson, Julie Hebert, Mildred Lewis, Victor Lodato, Jennifer Maisel, Doug Cooney and Paula Cizmar.

The seminar, which took place during 1997's El Nino, was led by Vogel, who is the author of How I Learned to Drive. "For five days we talked, read, and most importantly, wrote," Vogel said. "This remarkable group of writers has since formed a tight circle, meeting monthly and committing themselves to supporting each other and taking pride in their accomplishments as a group. And the results have been stunning: work from bootcampers has been seen at the Humana Festival in Louisville, the Women's Project in New York, the Royal Court Theater in London, the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, Ojai Playwrights Conference, and the A.S.K. Theater Projects reading series."

Zephyr Theater is located at 7456 Melrose Ave. Call (323) 461-7037.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent