The Whitman College theatre department’s annual Instant Play Festival returns this weekend with 14 new playwrights. A perennial favorite, the Instant Play Festival challenges the 14 playwrights along with volunteer actors, directors and techies to write an entire play over the course of a night and then stage, rehearse and perform it the following evening.

“[The playwrights] are really scared,” said sophomore playwright Matthew Fisher. “This is a vulnerable moment for us.”

In the three weeks leading up to the Festival, the aspiring writers have participated in writing workshops led by three professional playwrights including Kristen Kosmas, assistant professor of theatre. It is through these workshops that students learn how to write creatively during a short amount of time.

“The workshops have been extremely helpful,” said Fisher. “It’s been a lot of writing … a lot of writing down ideas.”

Performances are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28 and Sunday, Sept. 29. Both performances are at 8 p.m. Tickets will be sold throughout the week as well as at the door.