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This weekend, things in Starkville will take a turn for the dramatic as the city plays host to the Mississippi Theater Association's annual conference and festival competition.

With events held at Mississippi State's McComas Hall and Starkville Community Theatre's Playhouse on Main, the MTA conference offers the public an unprecedented opportunity to sample a variety of dramatic performances.

Beginning Friday morning and continuing through Saturday night, performance “blocks” of plays performed by high school and community theater troupes will be staged in MSU's McComas Hall theater as the groups vie for acting honors and the chance to compete at the Southeast Theater Conference in Orlando, Fla., this spring.

Some 10 high school groups and five community theaters have plays entered in the competition.

During their allotted time in the performance block, the groups will put up a set, perform their show and then take town the set to make way for the next group.

Included in the competing performances will be SHS' “Wiley and the Hairy Man” in the 9 a.m. Friday performance block and SCT's entry, “Comfort's Broken Light,” which will be performed at 7:30 p.m. today in McComas in a special preview for this weekend's competition.

With a variety of shows on the schedule - a full listing for each performance block will be published in Friday's newspaper - this weekend's MTA festival offers plenty for area residents to see and do. Information on ticket prices will be printed again in Friday's newspaper.

As a community so rich in artistic talent, we encourage residents to take in some of the performances at this weekend's festival. We believe people will find that Mississippi is indeed rich with talented actors and actresses in addition to our rich musical and visual arts heritage.