Gary Fulkerson, from left, Rebecca Fender, Steven Jackson and David DaCosta read through “Mark of Cain” during a rehearsal for the new Playwrights Platform at 2nd Street Theater in Bend.

Psst.

Hey, you. C’mere.

Yeah, you, with the newspaper in hand and an interest in local theater.

Oh, that’s an iPad? My bad. Anywho … want a say in which productions get staged at 2nd Street Theater?

Well, now you can have it. Theatergoers are invited to vote in the finals of the Playwrights Platform, a competition in which two scenes from each of four new plays will be presented on Saturday and Sunday at 2nd Street (see “If you go”).

The chosen play will be workshopped throughout the fall and winter with an eye toward full production in May.

“It’s not like presenting a new play was foreign territory at 2nd Street,” said actor and director David DaCosta, the mind behind Playwrights Platform. Audiences in recent months and years have seen new plays from the likes of local playwrights such as Howard Schor and Cricket Daniel.

“I just wanted to streamline the process a bit,” DaCosta said.

Submissions came in over the summer, and an advisory board of five people — actors, directors and playwrights — offered their take on them.

“I just wanted for people who have a certain amount of longevity in the quote-unquote business to give their thoughts,” he said. DaCosta advised the advisors to consider how well-written and marketable each of the plays were.

Finally, “Is it something that could be produced on the 2nd Street stage?” he said. “We didn’t want to get a giant show like ‘Spamalot,’” he said, referring to Stage Right Productions’ recent smash hit at the Tower Theatre.

The theater received twelve plays from nine playwrights as far away as Buffalo, N.Y. Most, however, hailed from the area.

The four finalists chosen were “Home Cooking,” a whodunnit by Bob Woodward; “Turn the Hourglass, Quickly,” a farce by Kathleen Tomko; “Blemished the Musical,” by Katelyn Alexander; and “Mark of Cain,” a drama by Gary Earl Ross.

The Platform’s finals are structured so that the three judges’ votes count for 60 percent, the audience vote for 40 percent, toward selecting a winning play.

The winner will see his or her play included among 2nd Street’s other productions this season, which includes “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” by comedian, actor and bluegrass and current GO! Magazine cover star Steve Martin.

“They’re all winners. We were so lucky. We have four fabulous plays by talented playwrights,” DaCosta said. “We would love to produce them all, and we’re not going to forget they’re out there.

“And they’re certainly welcome to submit them again next year. Because we’re hoping to do this annually,” he said.

If you go

What: Playwrights Platform

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: 2nd Street Theater, 220 N.E. Lafayette Ave., Bend

Cost: $5 in advance or at the door

Contact: www.2ndstreettheater.com or 541-312-9626